THE ANNUAL OCCUPY Bogachiel free-for-all hath finally arrived.
It may have started a few days late, but winter steelhead season is officially underway.
From the Hoh all the way to the Dungeness — yes, I said the Dungeness — fish are raiding rivers like some crazed Black Friday freakfest.
“It’s definitely starting to take off,” Bob Aunspach of Swain’s General Store (360-452-2357) in Port Angeles said. “There’s lots of hatchery fish in the Bogachiel and the Calawah. The rivers have cleaned up.
“This whole week is probably going to be fantastic fishing as far as that system goes.”
That probably won’t be the only one, either.
Thanksgiving weekend is traditionally considered the start of winter steelhead season.
Thanks to all of the rain that greeted the weekend, however, things were put on hold until Tuesday when rivers finally dropped into shape.
The one good thing about all that water: It allowed scads of steelies to swim into rivers and creeks across the North Olympic Peninsula.
“I’m assuming all these streams and creeks have fish now,” Aunspach said. “It’s just a matter of if you like to fish the big rivers or the smaller creeks.”
Just like their salmon counterparts, steelhead tend to be quite finicky once they enter area rivers.
These fish are not feeding. Rather, they are looking for that special someone to make thousands of babies with.
For that very reason, lots of anglers like to use roe as bait. Corkies and yarn are also popular, as well as spoons, spinners and plugs.
Another method that has gained popularity in recent years is float and jig fishing in slow-moving water.
“Jig and floats is a great way to get steelhead,” Brian Menkal of Brian’s Sporting Goods and More (360-683-1950) in Sequim said. “It’s a sight strike rather than a feel strike, so that’s a good way to go.
“[Steelhead] can be aggressive at any time. It’s just a matter of what the water conditions are going to be. They are not traditionally aggressive fish, but if you agitate them, you get that strike.”
Right now, things are perhaps a little easier if only because there are more hatchery fish around than at any time during the year.
I’ve always had my best luck hooking steelies right at daybreak, but that’s certainly not the only time that one will hit gear.
“When the runs are thick and heavy, it can be any time of day really,” Aunspach said.
“They might be getting them good early in the morning down low, but they might not come up to you until later in the day.
“That’s really what it boils down to. If the fish are there, they will bite any time of day.”
Hunting stop
As hunting season winds down, it’s becoming more and more clear that this wasn’t the banner year some might have hoped for.
While Aunspach and his three co-workers in the Swain’s General Store sporting goods department all scored some horns this fall, their success was not a common theme.
“Was it gang busters? By no means,” Aunspach said. “I talked to some pretty good hunters, and they just looked at me like they just couldn’t figure it out.”
There are only a couple of weeks left in the big-game hunting season on the Peninsula.
Late muzzleloader and archery seasons remain open in select Game Management Units until Dec. 15.
Hunters will be able to target birds well into late January, however.
That should be heads up just as the weather cools down.
“They are definitely getting some ducks,” Aunspach said. “There have not been a ton of guys on it, but there are guys who are definitely getting some.
“With the weather getting colder, driving the birds out of the north . . . it’s just going to get better.”
Clam check-in
Those who made it down to the southwest coast fared pretty well during last weekend’s razor clam digs.
Mocrocks, Copalis, Twin Harbors and Long Beach all opened to clam harvests on Friday and Saturday, with each producing double-digit averages.
The most productive of the three was Mocrocks — that is where Moclips is located — which saw diggers average 14.4 and 15.0 clams per digger during the two openers.
State biologist Dan Ayres took his own family down to Copalis near Ocean City and they all got limits within 30 minutes.
“The surf was no problem, there was very little wind and it wasn’t too cold . . . a perfect dig,” Ayres said.
The next set of evening digs are tentatively set for Saturday, Dec. 10, at Long Beach, Twin Harbors and Mocrocks.
Kalaloch isn’t likely to open until April.
Also . . .
■ Fishing guide, author and humorist Pat Neal will speak at the Olympic Peninsula Fly Fishers monthly meeting Monday night.
The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at the Campfire USA Club House, 619 E. Fourth St., in Port Angeles.
■ A special showing of the award-winning documentary “The Irate Birdwatcher” is set for next Friday, Dec. 9, in Port Angeles.
The movie features Pacific Northwest writer and conservationist Harvey Manning as he tours some of Washington’s wildest places and explains his own personal crusade to protect it for future generations.
The showing begins at 7 p.m. in the Port Angeles Senior Center, 328 E. Seventh St. Admission is $5, with proceeds benefitting Hurricane Ridge Winter Sports Club.
■ The Coastal Conservation Association-North Olympic Peninsula Chapter monthly meeting will be held Monday, Dec. 12, in Port Angeles.
The meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. at Wine on the Waterfront, 115 E. Railroad Ave.
The results of the latest state chapter meeting will be discussed.
■ Waters West Fly Fishing Outfitters hosts a spey-casting class on the Sol Duc River this Saturday at 9 a.m.
The full-day class will take place on the water.
Students will learn the essential concepts of spey casting, which involves a two-handed rod often used to fish for steelhead and salmon. Cost is $95.
To sign up, call Waters West at 360-417-0937.
■ Washington Trails Association will hold a volunteer appreciation party in Quilcene on Saturday.
The party will run from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Quilcene Community Center off U.S. Highway 101.
Send photos, stories
Want your event listed in the outdoors column?
Have a fishing or hunting report, an anecdote about an outdoors experience or a tip on gear or technique, why not share it with our readers?
Send it to me, Matt Schubert, Sports Department, Peninsula Daily News, P.O. Box 1330, Port Angeles, WA 98362; phone, 360-417-3526; fax, 360-417-3521; email matt.schubert
@peninsuladailynews.com.
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Matt Schubert is the outdoors columnist for the Peninsula Daily News. His column appears on Thursdays and Fridays.
