Olympic Peninsula Fly Fishing Report

What a great Steelhead Season!

Our Winter Steelhead season is now over, as of Today April 1st the rivers in our area are all closed to fishing until May or June(see river info below). It’s a good idea to let the Steelhead do their thing for a few extra weeks so then can keep coming back year after year, and we can keep fishing for them for years to come.

We’d like to give special thanks to all of you who fished with us, or supported the shop in store or online. We couldn’t do this without you. Stay tuned for our new and improved website to help us serve you better.

We are very thankful to have the opportunity to pursue these incredible fish. In this age of river closures and limited opportunity, we are lucky to have one of the last strongholds of Wild Steelhead right in our back yard. Now more than ever it’s important that we handle them with care.

There’s been a lot of talk recently about the effects of catch and release on Steelhead. While it’s very difficult to prove exactly what those effects are, here are some tips for sustainable Wild Steelhead catch and release:

1. Fish barbless hooks – this is an easy one, it’s the law. It makes it much easier to get the hook out of your ear.
2. No Bait – another easy one, also the law. One of many awesome things about Steelhead is how willing they are to bite a huge variety of lures and flies. You don’t need bait
3. Use enough rod/line to land the fish quickly – The longer the fight, the more exhausted the fish gets, the less likely it is to spawn successfuly. Fish 12 pound test line minimum, we typically fish 15 or 20
4. Keep them in the water – they need to breathe to recover from the fight, and they need water to breathe. Plus the pictures look way better when the fish is in the water. DO NOT drag them up on the dirt/rocks.
5. Use a knotless rubberized net – it helps protect the fish’s slime layer, a key component of their immune system.
6. Take the gloves off and wet your hands before touching the fish – dry hands, fabric gloves and even those silly net gloves strip the protective slime layer off fish which reduces their chances of surviving and spawning successfully.

Following these will help make sure that Steelhead you caught and released not only swims away, but also makes it to spawn the next generation. So your kids and their kids can continue to enjoy these amazing creatures.

As always, feel free to give us a call at (360)417-0937 if you have any questions.

Please help us preserve our native runs fo fish by releasing wild trout and salmon. These fish are unique and special.
If you’d like to harvest fish, there are still plenty of hatchery opportunities in Washington. Click here to find a hatchery river near you(opens in a new window)

The immense variety of fisheries in Washington state unfortunately leads to some confusing regulations at times, especially with in-season regulation changes. Thankfully WDFW has addressed these complaints by creating the Fish Washington App. This is an extremely handy tool we use every day, it shows a map of fishable waters in the state and the current regulations respective to those waters. Allowing you to plan your outings, and also find new water to fish. Best of all it is completely free! More details at WDFW Fish Washington App Page.