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It's the allure of big fish that bring so many anglers to Forks.
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Forks, Washington:
Steelheading Heaven
Though many steelhead make their way into Peninsula waters throughout the winter months, it’s the allure of big fish that attracts so many anglers.
Sporting multiple streams, all of which produce
fish over 20 pounds, this area could well be the
best winter steelhead fishing on the planet!”
Scott Haugen
“Get ready, that should be a fish,” pointed Joe Schmitt as he lightly pumped on the oars.
We were bobber-doggin’ on the Clearwater, one of five rivers situated only minutes from
one another near Forks, Washington. No sooner had the presentation hit the sweet-spot when the bobber went down. The scenario would repeat itself several times over the course of the day, and again on other nearby rivers on the days that followed.
Running plugs, bobber-doggin’, using floats and jigs and side-drifting, we got on fish every day. Most of the time the weather was less than ideal, but that’s what makes this area so attractive: should one river be unfishable, the likelihood of another being in shape at least somewhere, is good.
Noted guide, Bob Kratzer, owner of Angler’s Guide Service (800-577-8781) knows the rivers as well as anyone. The fact he moved his family here nearly 20 years
ago to make a living on these world-classwaters says it all. Combine this with the fact he fishes them nearly every day from early fall through April, and you can understand why he’s the chosen one for this interview.
STS: What rivers do you concentrate on and what can anglers expect?
Bob Kratzer: There are five rivers we primarily fish: the Hoh, SolDuc, Calawah, Bogachiel and Clearwater. These provide about 120 miles of floatable water, and every one is different.
The Sol Duc has rocky, big drops with major rapids, and the Calawah is more intense than that. It’s a small river that lies down inside a rugged valley, with rough water and very technical rapids and a steep gradient. Boaters who choose to fish this river will want to have some experience on the oars.
The Bogachiel is steep on the upper end with shallow runs providing lots of good little pockets. Farther down the river it flattens out and broadens, making for easier boat navigation. Where it joins the Calawah, the water gets quite a bit bigger.
The Hoh is a real glacial river with a good bit of log jams. There’s lots of classic steelhead water here, but the river moves so much during the course of the season,
you have to pay close attention. One week you might float down one place, the next
week you may be on the total opposite side of the river.
The Clearwater could be the most classic looking steelhead stream of them all. It has lots of great pockets to fish, as well as many ledges and big, long pools. This is a great river when using multiple approaches to catch fish.
STS: What are your favorite techniques for fishing these rivers?
Bob Kratzer: Personally, I like using different techniques. Bobber-doggin’ (side-drifting
with an inline, weighted float setup) is good, almost too good, too easy. Ten years ago
steelhead fishing was tough, now with all the advanced gear that’s available, it’s really
changed how we fish. The mistake I see many people making is concentrating on one technique, then not being able to apply other approaches as river conditions require. I think the person who will find the most success on these rivers is the one who
can pull plugs, drift-fish, side-drift, run bobber and jigs, bobber-dog, and more, depending on the conditions of the rivers. The more diverse your approach, the more water you can fish.
My favorite fishing is in low, clear water. I like this because few people are out there in these tough conditions, and because there are so many fish. This makes me a better fisherman, and our clients seem to appreciate this, too. They like learning techniques they can take and apply on other rivers. They also like covering a wide-range of rivers, which keeps everyone’s interest level high, and forces us to figure out how to catch fish. We might fish five rivers in five days, and all in different ways.
There’s not one piece of water on the Peninsula that doesn’t have a steelhead in it all the time during the season, and this allows me to go to rivers where there are fewer people and still catch fish. The key is being able to use a specific technique to catch those fish, and it’s always changing.
The key in any of these rivers is covering water, especially if searching for big fish. We catch 90% of our big fish on the first or second cast in a hole, especially when fishing regular (non-floating) worms beneath a float. This natural presentation is hard to beat up here, and the fish respond very aggressively to it.
Generally, sidedrifting, backtrolling plugs and bobber-doggin’ in the Sol’, Bogy’ and Calawah are very effective. In the Hoh, there’s not much float-fishing due to the glacial till. Here, I tend to float more water, concentrating on dialing in to one hole, making sure I get the depth right in order to pinpoint where the fish are. The end of the Hoh does offer good sidedrifting.
STS: How fast do these rivers get blown-out, and recover?
Bob Kratzer: The Hoh is the first to go out when the rain falls. This is due to the clay banks and glacial till that’s present in this stream. The Bogy’ and the Clearwater are the next to go. These two rivers almost always react hand-inhand with height and clarity. If you go to one and see what it’s like, chances are high the other stream is in the same condition.
The Calawah is next to go out, followed; last, by the Sol Duc. So, knowing this, if we get any amount of rain, I head right to the Sol Duc, so I can maximize my fishing time before it becomes unfishable.
When the rains subside, the first river to come back into shape is the Calawah. This drainage recovers very fast, and is the first one to focus fishing efforts on in this situation.
About 12 hours later, the Sol Duc is next to recover to a fishable condition.
The Bogy’ and Clearwater are next to re-cover, about 12-24 hours behind the Sol Duc.
How quickly these recover depends on how intense the rains were. The Hoh takes the
longest to recover, due to its glacial nature. It’s another 72-90 hours behind the Bogy’ and Clearwater, as long as there’s no rain.
STS: Where should anglers focus their fishing efforts?
Bob Kratzer: In all these rivers, when they are high, I fish as high in the system as I
can go.
This is because the fish move up stream very quickly in these conditions, especially early in the season. When they drop, look for that good, green-colored steelhead water, and you can catch fish just about anywhere. When the rivers get real low, go low in the system, as the fish will congregate there.
It’s important to understand that from December to mid-February, the majority of fish entering into the systems will go high in the rivers to spawn. From mid-February
to mid-March, the middle-river spawners come in. The late arrivals, from the end of
March through April, will hold lower in the systems. Knowing this, anglers can gauge
the runs and concentrate fishing efforts on where the most fish are holding.
If fishing rivers in January to early February, I spend very little time in the main holes. Instead, I always hit pocket water and little side currents. This is because the fish are moving quickly upstream at this time. You won’t find them holding in big, classic holes, yet. They swim right through those, pushing upstream.
For bank anglers, the Hoh is the most accessible. If coming up here to bank fish, watch the water levels. Once it gets down to 2,000 CFS, it fishes really well. Bank fishing on the Clearwater and Sol’ is pretty much limited to boat ramps and campgrounds. The
upper Bogy’ is a great piece of water to hit. Simply drive to the end of Unde Road, park,
walk down the hill then up river, into Olympic National Park. From here you can fish
your way back to the car. This river is flat, so it doesn’t take long for fish to move into it.
Anglers should note that on all these rivers, there are barbless hook, no bait, no retention laws in effect in the upper watersheds. Make sure you know the rules, wherever you fish. In these upper stretches, I love the plastic 6-inch, custom-made worms in pink, fluorescent orange and bright, almost fluorescent red.
STS: When is the best time for the big fish?
Bob Kratzer: Everyone talks about March and April being the prime times for catching fish over 20 pounds up here. But there are lots of big fish that come in starting in late
January and early February; this is my favorite time. Overall there are less fish in the
rivers, but the percentage of big fish is high.
Any river up here can kick-out big fish. We’ve caught high 20-pound fish out of all of them. Any cast you make has the potential of hooking a 20-plus-pound fish, or even the Holy Grail, 30-pounder. That, in itself, is what makes this area so alluring, so addictive to steelhead anglers from around the world.
With fish of this caliber, it’s easy to see why Bob Kratzer chooses to call this paradise, home.
Contact: Bob Kratzer is the owner of Angler’s Guides Service in Forks, Washington.
He spends his summer months guiding for king salmon in Alaska. To learn more, call 1-800-577-8781, or visit www.anglersguideservice.com.
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