An Olympic Surprise

Finding myself with a few free days, I made plans for an impromptu camping trip to the Olympic Mountains on Sunday and Monday with my dad and brother-in-law Mike. While just getting out and camping was a big part of the draw, the river flowing through the valley is what really had me interested. Especially since my last attempt at getting in some mountain stream fishing had failed so miserably.

Due to some prior obligations on Sunday, we got out of town later than I would have liked and didn't end up getting up to the campground until late-afternoon. After quickly setting up camp, Mike and I headed out to try some fishing. I had heard tell of some large Rainbows and Cutthroat in this drainage, as well as the off chance of running across a Bull Trout and as such I rigged us up with some flies that have treated me well on Olympic Mountain streams before. I was using a small streamer, while Mike put on a soft hackled Jumbo John.

We first tried out some pocket water downstream of our campsite, but had no luck. I knew about a couple of great looking holes upstream of the campground and decided that we should head up there next. I found a small gravel bar on the edge of some fast deep water and started fishing with a standard downstream swing, which I have found Olympic Rainbows to be very receptive too. On my second cast my line stopped mid swing and I instinctively set the hook. The second that I did so, I knew that I had a good fish on as my 6WT doubled over and line started peeling off of my reel. This was a down and dogged battle, with lots of head shakes and a few strong runs but no jumps. Not very typical for a Rainbow Trout...

As soon as I got the fish close I saw that I wasn't hooked up with a Rainbow, but instead there was a huge Bull Trout on the end of my line. I was shocked but extremely excited, as Bull trout were the only native species of salmonid that I have not caught in Washington State. Over the past five years I have made number of trips up to the Skagit River system, which is noted for its healthy population of these fish. However, I had never had any luck and here while fishing for Rainbow Trout I finally caught one. Thankfully Mike was right there to assist with netting the Bull and snapping a few photos.

The big Bull Trout

This was one heck of a nice Bull Trout too. The basket of my net is 16" and this fish had a half a net length on that, pegging it at right around 24".

Another shot of the Bull Trout showing off its spots and colors a little better

From here we headed downstream to another pool with a couple of downed old growth trees across it. At the head of the pool right under the logs I caught a small white fish, which I quickly released. Mike took a great looking seem near the back of the pool and after a couple of dozen casts, he got a perfect drift and a fish came out from under the logs and grabbed his fly. As Mike brought the fish in, the colors showed that it was a decent little bull trout at about 14". Unfortunately, as I went to net if for him the Bull Trout made one last bid for freedom and the barbless hook popped loose.

Mike fishing the pool along the log

After hooking up with the little Bull Trout, Mike decided to head back to camp while I went further upstream and try out some new water. I covered a good half mile of river before finding a great looking pool. However, after about a half an hour of fishing I only had one take so I decided to work my way back downstream.

Some good looking but fruitless water

A little ways downstream I was swinging my fly through the middle of a pool when I finally got another fish. My fly had completed its swing and I let it hang in the current for a while before stripping it in. One the second strip a fish grabbed my fly and when I brought it in I saw that I had another slightly larger Mountain Whitefish. With the light failing at this point I decided it was time to settle into camp for the evening, but made plans to explore some promising looking water downstream in the morning.

The Mountain Whitefish

The next morning I woke up at first light to a dizzily, foggy morning and made my way down river. I found a nice run, but couldn't effectively fish it from my side of the river, so I crossed the river then bush whacked through the old growth forest until I emerged on the gravel bar at the run. This was a classic Olympic Peninsula run, which looked like it should hold some Steelhead if only they were still in this river. There was a deep slot on the far bank with some nice large boulders that looked like prime holding water. Over the last few seasons I have found a great technique for Rainbows in this type of water, where I cast upstream and high-stick nymph the first part. As the line gets below me I though, toss a big upstream mend in the line and then allow the fly to swing across the deep slot until it gets below me. The strike can come at any part of this drift and it ensures that your fly is down on the bottom where it needs to be as the swing begins.

A good looking run

I don't know what was going on in this run. Every three or four casts I would feel a tug from a fish, but just couldn't hook up with anything. I covered the run twice using two different flies, but even with one fish that hit so hard it almost yanked the line out of my hand I couldn't get the hook to stick in anything. After this I headed down even further to a similar pool where the same thing seemed to be happening. I did get a few fish to hold on a little longer including a large Rainbow or Cutthroat, but they all still managed to shake loose before I got them in. This was the last pool that I had time for though and I was sure glad that Sunday had been such an amazing day because Monday was a bust.