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Great to hear your observation about #'s of steelhead redds on the Quil. system! February 6th this year was my last day out there this season. My impression from the three trips I made out to the OP in Jan & Feb was that it was shaping up to be a good run. April has been my favorite time to...

There were some cabins associated with the UW monitoring station next to the road by the bridge that were torn down 2-3 years ago. It would have been amazing to see and fish Big Beef in that era like your friend's dad did. The Big Beef upper watershed old growth forest was logged off in the...

I read the article. Pretty interesting. Some of the steelhead being monitored in this study come from Big Beef Creek. I live in Seabeck so pass over a causeway on the Big Beef Creek estuary on the Seabeck Highway every time I drive into Silverdale or Bremerton. I knew there was a fish...

I have used an Okuma Guide Select Pro 9', medium, 8-17 lbs. spinning rod for the last 2 years to swing spoons and spinners on the OP for steelhead. Okuma makes the same model in a casting version. The Guide Select Pro rod is light, stiff and has a carbon fiber handle that transmits lure...

I use 40 lb. Lazar Line with 7 & 8 wt. Spey, 30 lb. with 4 wt. Spey on the initial recommendation of Dave Steinbaugh of Water's West. I don't pre-stretch my running line before fishing, the Lazar Line seems to stretch out enough for me after casting a few times. I thought I might have to use a...

Check out OPST videos on single hand spey. Water borne casting rather than airborne casting technique. Using various sink tips on head to anchor the line so you can load your rod and cast. Can work with either a 2 hand or single hand rod. My experience is with a 2 hand rod. Jaredconnor...

From saltwater beaches, when I switched to a sinking line (Coastal Quickshooter) from a floating line (Outbound Short F) my coho catch rate went up dramatically. When I later switched to a full intermediate (OBS I) with some use of a faster sinking line (OBS S3/S5) my catch rate improved some...

Beautiful fish and scenery!

Thanks so much for the advice! I pasted your comment in my beach fly tying document that I use to record what materials I use. I'm relatively new to the SH beach coho game. I feel like I have smaller fly patterns dialed in but not so with clousers; both with my casting and tying.

7/32 eye, 3.5" long, 2/0 hook for shank with a size 1 octopus stinger also tie a 2.75" long one with 7/32 eye, 2 hook shank & size 2 octopus stinger

This has also been my angst. I have a 9'6" 6 wt. Sonic that has been great for me the last 2 seasons. I've landed a number of nice coho on it and believe it can handle any ocean returning coho that I may encounter from the beach. The difficulty is that with my casting ability I am not able to...

I didn't mention in my recent post that I was also checked on the upper Sol Duc in January. That was at the take-out on a guide trip. I must be a magnet for those guys... It will be interesting to see if and when the WDFW posts the coastal steelhead creel results for 2023

This is a sidebar to the original question but somewhat relevant IMO. While bank fishing, I have been surveyed by fish checkers regarding my experience fishing winter-run steelhead in Forks area rivers 4 times in the last 2 years...yet surveyed only once in previous 10 years. A checker was...

In Feb 2022 I swung up a chrome bull approximately 26" from the lower Hoh River. Made one good run and I initially thought I had a smaller steelhead. Not to be... It was a skinny fish. I would expect a chrome fish to be filled out more. Any thoughts?

Some ramblings: I have fished the OP for steelhead since 2010, gear and swung fly. I'm mainly a DIY angler hiking into runs but have done an occasional guided gear or fly trip over the years. I've been out to the coast 3 times this season...all gear fishing. I landed a nice chrome buck on...

My understanding of Lamson products is that all the cast parts are imported. The machined parts and the drag system are made in the US. The design and the reel assembly are done in the US. All my fly reels are Lamson...from the fully cast Liquid to the fully machined iterations of the Guru...

I've had some Simms G3 vibram sole boots for 5 years. I do as much hiking as fishing in them. I fish walk-in spots on the OP for winter steelhead. I drive from spot to spot so cleats on soles will tear up my car. The Simms G3 have great ankle support. Felt sole boots do not work for me...

I landed several kings on the fly in August from Area 9 beaches. They were mainly in the low 20" range, some clipped, some not. Because of the size, I assumed that they were all "resident" fish but was surprised to see unclipped fish in the mix. I chalked the "nates" off as "unclipped"...

Amazing pics! I read that the lava flow crossed the road to the Weather Observatory on N side of Mauna Loa yesterday. My son and I backpacked to Mauna Loa summit crater in 1998 from trailhead originating at that Weather Observatory. 11K' to 14K' elevation at summit in 4-5 miles. Backpacked to...

I have fished CQS for several years w/o a problem. I fished an OBS intermediate hard this year without any problems. I fished an OBS I/3/5 hard for 6 weeks this year and the outer coating of the terminal loop cracked and broke down. I clipped it off and put a braided loop back on the end...