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#1 Apr-07-16 9:52PM

Fishfry
Northern Snakehead
Registered: Jul-06-14
Posts: 111

Chasing Chrome on Washington's Olympic Peninsula

So, I had a day off and decided to check off another item from the fishing bucket list:  Chasing Chrome aka Spring Run Steelhead on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula.  Signed up for a fishing guide of the Bogachiel and Ho rivers near Fork Wa…..yes, as in Fork, the town in the movie Twilight....okay its about the fish.

First for Capt. Mike...here are the trees:

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb18/MSAuto/Fishing%20Washington/WP_20160406_06_51_01_Raw.jpg

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb18/MSAuto/Fishing%20Washington/WP_20160406_16_26_05_Raw.jpg

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb18/MSAuto/Fishing%20Washington/WP_20160406_13_04_19_Raw.jpg

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb18/MSAuto/Fishing%20Washington/WP_20160406_13_04_00_Raw.jpg

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb18/MSAuto/Fishing%20Washington/WP_20160406_13_03_51_Raw.jpg

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb18/MSAuto/Fishing%20Washington/WP_20160406_09_42_17_Raw.jpg

Absolutely gorgeous day….beautiful scenery…bald eagles, elk, and perfect weather…not a drop of rain….okay, its about the fishing.

Pulled up to the meeting site and a mountain of a man unfolded himself as he crawled out of his pickup truck….this guy was 6’ 8”+ at least 300lbs…beard, flannel shirt…yeah, he introduced himself as “Squatch” as in Sasquatch….and while his face was covered in a full beard…I want to believe he was smiling when he cautioned me not to call him Chewbacca...despite his haunting resemblance to the movie character.

We were fishing egg patterns…I used an 8wt single handed rod…most of folks up here use two handed spey rods....and after 12hrs of casting, eating several Aspirin, and using up the sports cream…I understood why…yeah, I have to get me a couple of those Spey rods….13 to 15 feet of kick ass rod technology.

It is near the end of the Spring run and the guide warned me that it was going to be slow…anddddd it was…we worked hard on both rivers….brought seven fish in the boat….five Steelhead and two whitefish…I missed countless others, had two come off close to the boat…and then there was the “Heart breaker.”  See below.

Here are a few pic’s of the most photogenic fish:

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb18/MSAuto/Fishing%20Washington/V__98ED.jpg

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb18/MSAuto/Fishing%20Washington/V__C8E21.jpg

Squatch said it is a female and she was 6-7lbs…he called it “bait size”….but it was fine for my first Steelhead…until I met the Heart Breaker.

So, after drifting a 10mile section of the Bogachiel, we drove over the Ho river.  As we put the boat in the river, Squatch warned me that the Ho has bigger fish than the Bogachiel (which made me wonder why we even bothered with the Bogachiel…but who argues with Sasquatch).  He also warned me that the Ho river has rapids…..!

And he wasn’t joking….nothing that would make a whitewater Kayaker nervous, but imagine a standing in a small drift boat, bobbing around like a cork…while trying to throw a line with seven feet of leader, a strike indicator, two flies and weighed down with tungsten putty….oh, and while trying not to snag Squatch’s fur…aka the Guides beard..which would have been bad…like unexpected ejection from the boat…swimming bad.

After several attempts, I finally put a 35’ cast into a calm spot of the white water between three submerged boulders…..and BINGO…FISH ON!!! AND HOLY CRAP it was freak'n huge!!!

When it first came to the surface I thought it was a small submarine…no a large submarine….like one from the Puget Sound Submarine Base…it was friggen Trident Missile huge!!  Even Squatch gasped…and then muttered something like “Loose that fish and I’ll use your bones to make my bread…” Hell, it was like a fishing show…River Monsters….but with a fat Asian guy fishing and Sasquatch rowing the boat.

After a momentary pause on the surface, it headed down stream towards the ocean with passionate intent…like a bullet train that's behind schedule… and then we were off chasing that damn fish down the rapids. 

We were bobbing around like a wine cork…it was like a bad movie….a comedy….me look’n like some fat old Asian hobbit guy hanging on to whatever I could grab, while trying to keep tension on the line….Squatch was roaring “Keep that rod tip up…that’s a barbless hook!!!” and rowing like mad to dodge rocks. 

After a few moments of me doing my drunk'n sailor cussing and him roaring…we both started laughing and giggling like school girls…yeah, it was that fun. 

That fish jumped four times, made three hard runs that took me deep into the reels backing and after a quarter mile of chasing it….the fish came off….just like that…gone…no tug, no spectacular jump…just gone….sigh….I slumped down in the boat….an exhausted piece of beat’n humanity….I felt like a soggy wonton stuck in the bottom of a crumpled box of bad Chinese take out….beat’n.

Sasquatch was roaring and beating his chest…yes…beating his chest….after the adrenaline wore off he estimated that the fish was 25-30lbs…called it a “fish of a life time”…as if that would make me feel better (not).

The rest of the drift was uneventful...not even a single fish....

At the end of the day, Squatch asked “you coming back?”

Damn right I am coming back…I have Chrome fever…bad….and the only cure is catching a 20lb Steelhead!!

Regards,

FishFry aka Capt. Ahab

Last edited by Fishfry (Apr-07-16 10:25PM)

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#2 Apr-07-16 11:11PM

captmikestarrett
Patagonian Toothfish
From: Potomac River
Registered: May-06-08
Posts: 2164
Website

Re: Chasing Chrome on Washington's Olympic Peninsula

Very nice report and thanks for all the trees.

Capt Mike


Light Tackle Fishing Guide on the Potomac

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#3 Apr-08-16 3:48AM

Ernie
Administrator
From: Ashburn VA
Registered: Feb-03-06
Posts: 15561

Re: Chasing Chrome on Washington's Olympic Peninsula

I. Must. Go. There.

Have to figure out a way to get out there.

Great report Ahab!


Time to go fishin' again!

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#4 Apr-08-16 5:05AM

Curly
Patagonian Toothfish
Registered: Mar-15-10
Posts: 5414

Re: Chasing Chrome on Washington's Olympic Peninsula

Nice write-up.  Can you post a pic of Sasquatch?


Hell or High Water...........I'm Fishin!!   big_smile

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#5 Apr-08-16 8:42AM

firemunkee
Patagonian Toothfish
From: Ashburn, VA
Registered: May-23-13
Posts: 1766

Re: Chasing Chrome on Washington's Olympic Peninsula

Great report! Really enjoyed reading it. I second the vote for a picture of Sasquatch.


Together we'll fight the long defeat.

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#6 Apr-08-16 3:39PM

drxfish
Patagonian Toothfish
From: Sterling
Registered: Jan-04-14
Posts: 2974

Re: Chasing Chrome on Washington's Olympic Peninsula

Awesome report!  All the stuff that makes a great "fish story"!


Always wishin' I was fishin'

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