Doug Rose Flyfishing

Well, the rain must have a calender. After weeks without a hint of precipitation–and some of the lowest river levels on record–it rained hard on September 2, and we had a rare thunderstorm a couple days later. All of the rivers came up nicely, but dropped down just as fast. Then we had the deluge over the Labor Day weekend. It brought in fresh pulses of cutthroat, salmon and steelhead. Now the rivers are low again.

In other words, autumn has arrived on the Olympic Peninsula.

Of course, with temperatures in the 60s and 70s, mostly dry weather, and low water, September is really usually an extension of summer on the peninsula. It makes up for the less than pleasant weather we typically get in June. (more…)

                           . . . random observations on the many ways to pursue cutthroat on the Olympic Peninsula in autumn.

                          THE SECRET ESTUARY

The Olympic Peninsula is rich with estuaries. They range from sprawling bays such as Dungeness to the snag-strewn coastal pools at Kalaloch. There are low gradient rivers like the Hoquiam, where tidewater pushes far upriver, and tea-colored creeks that corkscrew through salt marsh flats.

My all time favorite estuary is one of the latter. It rises on low forested hills but quickly drops to a virtually impenetrable freshwater marsh. The last half-mile or so sidles through saltmarsh before braiding across oyster bars and driftwood into Hood Canal.

Before the salmon restoration folks replaced three culverts with a $600,000 bridge, you could hardly tell that the creek existed from the road. It flowed, mysteriously and darkly, within earshot of 18 wheelers and SUVs. It was a virtual refugia for cutthroat and coho, little green herons and green-winged teal, otters and mink, even a bear. It was a secret estuary.  (more…)

I opened my ”Fall 2008 Newsletter” with this citation:

“The golden period of sport for the angler on this portion of the Spey is from the 26th of August to the 15th of October.”

One of the classics of Atlantic Salmon fly fishing literature, Autumns on the Spey was published in 1872. Its author,  A. (Arthur) E. (Edward) Knox, was a frequent guest of Charles Gordon-Lennox, the 6th Duke of Richmond and Gordon, at northern Scotland’s Gordon Castle. The book documents Knox’s experiences hunting, hiking, birding and, most importantly, fly fishing Speyside. (more…)

I haven’t posted in a while because I’ve been working on the fall newsletter. In addition to the regular newsletter, it will have a new essay, “Equinox Cuttroat,” and a book review of A. E. Knox’s wonderful volume, Autumns on the Spey–more than 130 years after it was first published!

We were doing pretty well on cutthroat and summer-runs until the deluge last weekend. I fished the upper Hoh on Friday, between the rains. It was a little on the south side of marginal, with less than knee deep visibility. I only had an hour and didn’t get anything, but it was clearing as I fished. I left in early afternoon, but I bet it was in fine shape by that evening. I imagine it would have been even better on the lower river, because the glacial silt often tends to settle out by the time it reaches the lower river in late summer.

As of yesterday morning, the Hoh was up to around 4,000 cfs from less than 600 the week before, and the Queets, which has been running lower than the Hoh all summer, was nearing 6,000. Even the Calawah spiked dramatically, and it also took on that olive “sour” color that doesn’t usually produce good fly fishing. The Sol Duc is your best bet right now.

I expect really good fishing, perhaps the best of the year, to begin once the river drop into shape. It should last well into October.

Meanwhile, for those of you who haven’t already heard, Les Johnson had a stroke last week. Les is a good friend. He has  also been a good friend, mentor and champion for all fly fisherman and woman in the Pacific Northwest for decades. When you get a chance, please drop him a note. His address is Les Johnson, Room 5-146, Evergreen Hospital, 12040 NE 128th St., Kirkland WA 98034.