Olympic Peninsula Fall Fishing Opportunities
Everyone always asks me when is the best time to go fishing during the fall. I always tell them whenever it starts raining, and not just a little but a lot. There is not a set calendar date for that, it just happens sometime between September and November 25th. You see because without any rain after a long dry summer, its basically still summer here. And summer is great for summer fish but not for fall fish, these guys need rain. The next question most people follow that up with is "what river fishes the best'. Each and every single river here on the entire Olympic Peninsula have returning salmon. I focus on guiding the Quileute system, (Sol Duc, Calawah, Bogachiel) along with the Hoh and Queets rivers because these are the streams that I grew up fishing and know best, along with being close to home (Forks, Washington). Conditions play a huge factor in deciding where to fish but also do you want to take fish home or just catch and release? We practice catch and release on ALL WILD fish species. That means we do not kill wild fish, even if the rules allow it in a particular river. However, we have no problem retaining hatchery fish. If thats something that you are into, you have the option to catch and release fish here in any of our rivers in the Forks area. If you want to kill fish, we will be fishing the Sol Duc river and that river only because it's our only river here in Forks that has a hatchery for salmon on it.
If you've ever swung flies with 2 handed Spey rods for winter steelhead, you'll need the exact same equipment to catch Chinook and Coho. The most significant change are the color pattern of flies you will fish, and sink tips. Chinook will sit in different water type than a majority of steelhead will, and with a little bit of training you can get pretty good at finding them with a spey rod. But this fishery isn't all about the 2 hander. Actually, a single handed 8wt is the real MVP of the fishery, as long as you can cast and strip set. Coho love to chase things down and eat it, and theres no better way to mimic that other than with a single hander.
Maybe salmon fishing isn't your thing. Lucky for you September-November can have some really awesome cutthroat fly fishing, arguably some of the best trout fishing all year.
The months of October and November can be comfortable at times, but I wouldn't plan on a sunny and 75 degrees. Just check the weather for forks Washington before coming up and that should give you a great idea on how to dress.
Transform your fishing dreams into reality with Anadromy Fly Fishing. Reach out today to book your guided adventure and explore the wonders of the Olympic Peninsula!