| Around 10% of the world's total fish species can be found just within the Great Barrier Reef. |
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| The toxin in puffer fish is 1200 times deadlier than cyanide. |
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| Strange fish facts |
| Many Fish can taste without even opening their mouths. |
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| Fish Facts |
| Most brands of lipstick contain fish scales |
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| Did you know? |
| American Lobsters have longer life spans than both cats and dogs, living over 20 years. |
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| When you need a good reason to go fishing! |
| Going fishing outdoors increases your vitamin D, which helps regulate the amount of calcium and phosphate in your body, keeping your bones and teeth healthy. It boosts your immune system and has been linked to fighting depression. |
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| Some fishes lay their eggs on land instead of in the water |
| The mudskipper even takes this further, even mating on land. These fish burrow and lay their eggs in mudflats before returning to the water. |
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| In three decades, the world's oceans will contain more discarded plastic than fish when measured by weight, researchers say. |
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| As of 2020, there were 34,000 known fish species around world. That’s more than the number of species in all other vertebrates: birds, reptiles, mammals, and amphibians combined. |
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| God Bless The Troops |
| We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm. - George Orwell |
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| One fish is called a fish. Two or more are still called fish. |
| However than one species of fish are called fishes. |
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| Did you know that |
About 60% of US Anglers practice catch and release.
Women make up about 33% of fresh water anglers and
about 85% of fresh water anglers begin fishing at 12 years old. |
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| Just how man species of fish are there? |
| As of 2020, there were 34,000 known fish species around world. That’s more than the number of species in all other vertebrates: birds, reptiles, mammals, and amphibians combined. |
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| Even Catfish are finicky |
| Taste Buds ? Catfish have a more refined sense of flavor than humans. Our 10,000 taste buds may seem like a lot, but catfish can have as many as 175,000. This helps them find the exact location of their next meal. |
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Jan 19, 2003; 05:48PM
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Category: Looking for
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Name for Contacts: Dee Katt
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Phone:
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City: Maui
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State: Hawaii
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Country: USA
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| Description: |
If you will be visiting Maui in the future, I am available as your personal assistant (business and personal services).
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2022 Best Fishing Photo contest
The entry with the most votes will win a prize of fishing tackle miscellaneous.
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Connor Sabohigh teens 1...Winter Steel... |
Click the image for full story |
| Connor Sabo, 25 |
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| swung my lure across the pool and let it drift threw nice and slow ... |
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2130 vote(s)
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Mar 23, 2004; 01:15PM - In depth spinnerbaiting
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Category: Freshwater Bass Fishing Tips
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Author Name: Steven Narup
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Tip&Trick Description 1:
The equipment that Steven Narup
prefers to use is a Pflueger Trion. |
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Tip&Trick Description 2:
Gambler Pro Series Spinnerbait
In-depth Spinnerbaiting
By: Steven Narup
When most people are asked, “what is a spinnerbait?” They will more then likely reply with this, “it has a hook with a wire attached to it, with a lead head and a silicone skirt, with either one or two blades.” The majority of the time they will automatically describe the clothes pin spinnerbait. Well in essence, there is much more to that. There is more then just that style of spinnerbait, this is what most people do not understand. Two other spinnerbait types are just as productive when presented in the right situation. These two baits are the tail-spinner and the in-line spinner. These baits are slowly catching on to the clothespin spinnerbait.
There are quite a few styles of spinnerbaits, including tail spinners, in-line spinners, and clothespin style spinnerbaits. Each style has there own time and place. The most widely used of these spinnerbait choices, is the clothes pin style.
Tail spinners can be a great choice when fishing for smallmouth bass and or finicky largemouth due to the bait’s compact size.
In-line Spinners became obsolete for many years by most bass anglers. Until now, they are slowly catching on to both Smallmouth and Largemouth anglers.
In-line spinners are a great bait when the fish are active but they can also be great when presented it other situations. Most people use in-line spinners when the fish are in a negative feeding mood, due to the bait’s smaller more compact size. There is one problem with in-line spinners, which keep the majority of people away from them, the fact that they will give you line twist. To help with this scenario try a high quality stainless steel ball bearing, this will cut back on the line twist. A ball bearing helps prevent line twist like so, when the bait starts to spin and twist in the water column the line will most likely twist without a ball bearing. However, if you have a ball bearing connecting the leader to the main line, when the bait twists the ball bearing spins the line back so that the line will not twist. If by any chance you do have line twist, let out a couple hundred feet of line into the water and turn your trolling motor on, this will get most of the twist out of your line. Another trick is the tie your line to a heavy object and stretch the line out by tightening your drag and pulling the line.
The clothespin style spinnerbait comes in many different combinations including blade size and style and different size heads. There are Steel and Titanium wires. The Titanium version is nearly indestructible, and needs little or no tuning at all. Titanium also lets off quite a bit more vibration then steel. The heads on clothespin spinnerbaits are starting to be produced with different materials as well, such as Lead, and Tungsten. Spinnerbait anglers are slowly starting to make the switch to Tungsten spinnerbaits, due to the fact the head is almost ¾ the size of lead, making the bait work through cover almost effortlessly.
. In general, spinnerbaits are a very versatile lure, which is one main reason why most bass anglers use them. Bass anglers have been using them for many years now and they still produce fish as if they came out yesterday, you just have to know the different ways to fish the bait.
Tail spinners can be great finesse baits and they can be fished shallow or deep, because the body of the bait is lead, with a little blade on the back. The majority of tail spinners come with a single treble hook, making them not as easy as the clothespin style spinnerbait when trying to fish through thick cover. To work the tail-spinner you can just reel the bait back to the boat, but doing this you will reduce the odds of catching more fish, but it does work. Instead, you should give the bait a little action. You can yo-yo the bait by letting the bait fall to the bottom, then pick your rod tip up to about a 10 o’clock position, just keep repeating this procedure unless you are not producing. On the other hand, you can do a combination of things, to give the fish something different to look at. You can yo-yo the bait during part of the cast, then reel, or twitch it back to the boat. One last way to fish this bait would be to vertical jig it, in deep, clear, cold water. This technique will work in different conditions, but works best in deep, clear, cold water. When you vertical jig a tail spinner you cast the bait out a few feet and let the bait fall vertically, on a semi-slack line then you slowly lift your rod tip and shake the bait, let the bait fall and keep repeating this process. I like to use baitcasting gear when fishing tail spinners, but there are times when you need to fish lighter baits and that is when spinning gear comes into play. I mainly fish Pflueger rods and reels. The rods are very nice they come with premium Fuji guides and a Fuji reel seat, making the rod one nice package. I really like the Trion Baitcasting reel because they come with five ball bearings, one roller bearing and a smooth multi-disc main gear applied star drag system, making this a great reel for mostly any type of fishing. The reel is great if you want to fish a lighter line, because you can set your drag and the drag is so smooth that when a fish pools there will not be as much stress on the line itself.
In-line spinners have been around for over fifty years, and they are still going strong, Mepps has been in the in-line spinner business for a while now, and they still sell great. Most anglers do not use in-line spinners while fishing for bass instead they are using bigger in-line spinners fishing for pike or musky. However, I know they are missing a lure that can catch bass like it can pike and musky. I have had great success fishing in-line spinners in creek openings, where the creek empties into the main river, fishing for smallmouth bass. In-line spinners can be worked shallow or deep, they come with or without tails, painted blades or non-painted blades. When you work an in-line spinner, the best possible way to fish these is to reel them in. If you try to jerk the bait, you will lose a lot of action, because in-line spinners are not made for jerking. In-line spinners let off a lot of flash, and maximum flash happens when you just reel it in. When I fish in-line spinners I like to use spinning gear preferably the Pflueger Trion spinning rod in a 6 ½ foot medium action, with a Pflueger Trion spinning reel, because they come in a 6:3:1 gear ratio which will allow you to speed up the bait without getting as tired out. They are very smooth and cast light baits a mile.
Clothespin spinnerbaits are one of your more versatile bait in the spinnerbait family. You can work them quite a few different ways, and give the bait a great action if you desire. When I work a safety pin spinnerbait, I really like to use a Pflueger Trion Baitcasting rod, anywhere from 6-foot medium to a 7-foot medium heavy action. The 6-foot rod will help you when you want to make accurate casts, and the 7-foot rod will help when you want to get distance with your bait. With the Trion rods, they are extra sensitive high modulus graphite, which will give you the ability to feel the blades turn on your bait. I will throw the bait on 15-20 pound test Berkley Trilene XL. When you work a safety pin spinnerbait, you can just reel it in, but again you are going to be missing some fish. When I fish a safety pin style spinnerbait, I sometimes jerk the bait, doing this gives the bait sort of an injured baitfish presentation. You can also let the bait flutter down, then you pick up your rod tip, and repeat, doing this gives the bait a yo-yo type effect. If I am going to be fishing a spinnerbait in cold water, I will look for anything that lets off heat because this will warm up the water just a little bit, fish do feel the difference, and I will fish the bait around that. If the fish are just coming up and nipping at the bait, you may want to add a trailer hook for extra insurance. I will usually throw a spinnerbait with a trailer hook in any tournament situation. If the fish are coming up and hitting that bait and not taking it you can use a soft plastic trailer, I like to use the Gambler Pro Series Spinnerbaits, beacause they come with high quailty blades and ball bearings, making it almost effortless to slow roll them and let them flutter down. To dress the Gambler Pro Series spinnerbait up I prefer the three-inch Bear Claw Grub from Bearpaws Custom Handpoured Baits. I like the Bearpaws grub because it comes with the scent baked right in to the bait, this will give you a definite edge on other anglers, because you will not need to use scent on the exterior of the bait.
Spinnerbaits are a great and versatile lure that have made a lot of many for companies in the fishing industry. The only thing I can say is next time you go out on the water I dare you to tie on a spinnerbait, and I know that you will not regret it.
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May 13, 2019; 08:07PM - OCEAN-TAMER Marine Grade Bean Bags
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Category: Boats
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Price: $79.95 - $139.95
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Name for Contacts: Frank Abruzzino
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Phone: (941) 776-1133
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City: Palmetto
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State: Florda
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Country: usa
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Description 1:
Are you tired of the pounding and fatigue on your
body caused by a rough boat ride? Do you hate
slowing down and getting bounced around in rough
sea conditions? Now with an OCEAN-TAMER Marine
Grade Bean Bag you can enjoy a more relaxing and
comfortable ride and spend more time on the water.
Every OCEAN-TAMER product is 100% marine grade and
built to last right here in the USA. These marine
bean bags have been tournament tested and approved
by professional offshore fishermen all over the
country. With our vast color selection, styles, and
sizes you are sure to find the right marine bean
bags to fit your boating and fishing needs. Come
visit our user friendly website and customize yours
today.
WWW.OCEAN-TAMER.COM |
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Nov 12, 2010; 07:33PM - Fall Steelhead Fishing
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Category: Canada
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Author Name: Noel Gyger
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http://www.noelgyger.ca
Weekly Fishing Reports (Smithers, Terrace, Kitimat, Prince Rupert and Meziadin North)
Noel Gyger
September October 31 to November 7, 2010
Dear Fishing Friends:
SUMMARY: Weather has been fair all week with sun, rain and cooler temperatures. Lots of snow in the mountains. Steelhead is the only river target fish now along with the smaller resident Cutthroat Trout, Dolly Varden Char, Bull Trout and White Fish. Fishing for Steelhead, Trout and Char using fly, spin and conventional gear has been good.
The Skeena River was up and down all week and is now in poor to fair shape. Fishing for Steelhead continues although most fish are in their tributary rivers by now.
The Kalum River is in good shape and fishing for Steelhead is fantastic!
The Kitimat River was low and clean early in the week but in the middle of the week the river rose dramatically and was high and dirty. The Kitimat River is dropping now but it is unpredictable from day to day what the river conditions will be. Cutthroat Trout fishing has been excellent when the river was low and clean. There were many reports of anglers catching lots of Cutthroat Trout when the river was low. The Kitimat Harbour is Red Hot for Winter Chinook and Dungeness Crab. Book your charter now noel@noelgyger.ca . Check out the Ron Wakita report below.
Bulkley, Morice, Babine and Kispiox Rivers report all in one as follows: Wow! Fishing has been great! All the rivers are clear and dropping thanks to the cooler weather. Kispiox, Bulkley, Morice, Babine and everything downstream are all in great shape. Rivers are not busy at all so put on your ‘woolies’ and get out there. Most rivers are no longer classified as of November 1st but if you are fishing for Steelhead you still require a Steelhead stamp. With this cool weather it is especially important to remember not to wear cotton under your breathable waders. Cotton absorbs any moisture that your body creates and it will stay wet which will then steal all the heat that your body produces. Make sure that you wear a polyester base layer that will wick away any moisture from your body and move it out so you stay dry and warm! There is some awesome fishing to be had out there so now is the time! Report from Oscars Source for Sports in Smithers, BC.
The Zymoetz (Copper) River is clean enough to fish and I have many reports of some great Steelhead catches with both fly and spin rods. This week guide reports came from Ron Wakita and Jeff Carlson. Thank you to the fishing guides and anglers who sent reports and photos. It is very much appreciated!
RIVER FISHING Lots of day bookings available for Zymoetz (Copper River) in November. BEST fly fishing for Steelhead in the world awaits you. Contact Noel noel@noelgyger.ca to book NOW!
OCEAN FISHING Winter Chinook and Crabbing in the Kitimat Harbour is Red Hot right now. To book your charter boat please contact Noel Gyger anytime. Phone 250-635-2568 E-mail noel@noelgyger.ca
NOW BOOKING for 2011: Let me know if I can be of service to book you with the 'best' fishing guide and/or fishing lodges for both river and ocean. There are NO extra charges to book through me, just a lot of free information and advice from a person with years and years of fishing and fish guiding experience. It is like hiring two guides for the price of one. I will promptly answer your questions and concerns. Contact Noel noel@noelgyger.ca to book NOW.
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New Items on Website
- October 27, 2010 For Sale: (market place) Skeena River front home 22km E. of Terrace, BC
http://www.noelgyger.ca/market-place.htm (New! last week)
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River Reports Weather - Normal temp - Sunrise & Sunset - Tyee Test Fishery – Tides – Hydrometric Data
Bulkley, Kispiox, Babine and Morice River report as follows:
Wow. Fishing has been great. All the rivers are clear and dropping thanks to the cooler weather. Kispiox, Bulkley, Morice, Babine and everything downstream are all in great shape. Rivers are not busy at all so put on your ‘woolies’ and get out there. Most rivers are no longer classified as of November 1st but if you are fishing for Steelhead you still require a Steelhead stamp. With this cool weather it is especially important to remember not to wear cotton under your breathable waders. Cotton absorbs any moisture that your body creates and it will stay wet which will then steal all the heat that your body produces. Make sure that you wear a polyester base layer that will wick away any moisture from your body and move it out so you stay dry and warm! There is some awesome fishing to be had out there so now is the time!
Kalum River
Is in good shape both upper and lower end and fishing is excellent for Steelhead. Please do not target the Coho as it is closed and most of them are on their spawning reds now. Both spin and fly is working well.
Lakelse River
Is in good shape and fishing for Steelhead and Trout is excellent. Please do not target the Coho as it is closed and most of them are on their spawning reds now. Both spin and fly is working well.
Skeena River
The Skeena River is in poor to fair shape. Fishing for Steelhead and Trout is fair but it is getting late for Steelhead.
Zymoetz (Copper) River
The water is in fair shape. I have had reports of excellent Steelhead catches using both spin, conventional and fly gear.
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Fishing Guide and Tackle Shop Reports
Summary for Skeena and Tributaries
Fishing This Week
FAIR
Type of Fish Caught
River: Steelhead, Cutthroat Trout and Dolly Varden Char.
Ocean: All five species of Salmon, Halibut, Bottom Fish and Dungeness and King Crab for ocean.
Largest Fish of the Week
River: 20-pound Steelhead from the Zymoetz (Copper) River. Ocean: 25-pound Winter Chinook.
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BOOKING NOW for fall Steelhead and all Salmon and Steelhead NEXT YEAR. Let me know if I can be of service to book you with the 'best' fishing guide and/or fishing lodges for both river and ocean. There are NO extra charges to book through me, just a lot of free information and advice from a person with years and years of fishing and fish guiding experience. It is like hiring two guides for the price Your “dream trip” awaits. Please Contact Noel noel@noelgyger.ca anytime…to start planning your trip. Everything will be to your entire satisfaction.
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Ron Wakita: Reliable Guide and Charters, Kitimat BC
Website: www.kitimatfishingguideandcharters.com and
Home Hardware Tackle Shop E-mail wakita@telus.net Phone 250-632-1275
Kitimat River
The Kitimat River was low and clean early this week but in the middle of the week the river rose dramatically and was high and dirty. The Kitimat River is dropping now but it is unpredictable from day to day what the river conditions will be. Cutthroat Trout fishing has been excellent when the river was low and clean. There were many reports of anglers catching lots of Cutthroat Trout when the river was low. Amongst these reports were reports of some very large Cutthroat Trout. One angler reported 2 Trout in the 4 to 5lb. range, other anglers reported many Trout that were 24 inches long. The Trout anglers on the Kitimat River were very happy campers when the river was fishable but understandably disappointed with the high and dirty water.
Nov 1 Tom Orr reports 'These pictures were taken on the 1st of November on the upper Kitimat. Shane and I float fished a combo of real worms from Home Hardware (Bubba's Bait Dew Worms) http://www.bubbasbaitbarn.com/ and pink 3' Berkley http://www.purefishing.com/ Power Worms. The Power Worms worked really well and are a great way to fish now that the weather has gotten colder. No more frozen fingers replacing live bait'. Nice Trout Guys. Thank You for the photos!
Summary
Trout fishing on the Kitimat River will continue to be good throughout the winter months but will be weather dependant. When the weather is good so will be the fishing. Float fishing with Gibbs http://www.gibbsfishing.com/ Floats and either 3' Berkley http://www.purefishing.com/ Power Bait Worms and/or Bubba's Bait Barn http://www.bubbasbaitbarn.com/ Worms are the most effective lures. Fly fishing for Kitimat River Trout is also very productive and enjoyable. Smart money says that when the weather is good and the river conditions are good get out and fish!
Douglas Channel
Oct 31 Wes Owen was chartered by Brenda Miller and Stephen King. Brenda and Stephen hooked 6 Winter Chinook and landed 3 beautiful, bright, silver Winter Chinook. I had the pleasure of joining Brenda and Stephen on their Charter with Wes and discovered that Brenda and Stephan were very nice folks who had just purchased a house in Kitimat. Congratulations on your catch and Welcome to Kitimat! Wes and I had a wonderful time fishing with you folks. My official scoring on your competition was that Brenda caught the first and the most. Stephen caught the biggest and a Great time was had by all!
Nov 2 Lorie Johnson from MK Bay Marina reports 'The Humpbacks are back in this morning along with lots of seals so they are feeding on something.' The last time the Humpbacks were in, the Winter Chinook fishing was awesome! Stay Tuned! A 'Big Thank You' to Lorie for sharing these photos.
Nov 5th Wes Owen invited Noel Gyger and me for a morning trip in the Kitimat Harbor to fish for Winter Chinook and do some Crabbing. The forecast was calling for 'Cloudy with Showers'. We were pleasantly surprised with calm seas, sunshine, good fishing and even better Crabbing. With honorable mention to Gail's Cookies. We hooked 6 Winter Chinook boating 3 beauties. The largest Chinook was 25lbs or better. The Stars of our fishing trip was the 'E Clip' which is marketed by Pro Troll, Pro Troll's Hot Chip 11' Green Flasher and Hot Spot's Blue Green Flasher. 4 of the 6 Chinook were caught with these lures. Pro Troll products are not new on the market but this was the first fishing trip that I have fished with them. I spent some time with Russell Gahagan, Pro Troll's Regional Sales Manager at the Redl Show http://www.redlsports.com/ who impressed me enough to fish these Pro Troll's products. I am sure glad we did because they sure worked great this morning and the proof is in the pictures! The other 2 Chinook were hooked with Wes' favorite Winter Chinook set-up which includes a Luhr Jensen http://www.rapala.ca/ Abe and Al #1 Prism Flasher with a Rhys Davis Blue/Green Anchovy Teaser and a Rhys Davis Anchovy. Noel, Wes and I had a great time catching Chinook as well as harassing each other and eating Gail's cookies while watching the rods.
The 'piece de resistance' of our trip was the Crabbing. The Star of the Crabbing portion of our trip was as always 'Brutus' Ace Line Hauler http://www.acelinehauler.com/ Crab and Prawn Puller. Vartan you are a genius! We were also using Crab traps distributed by
Redl Sports http://www.redlsports.com/ that have an upgraded hinge design on the doors which are excellent. We were using Lead rope from Danielson which reduces the potential for getting the Crab Trap ropes into the prop. The 'Right Tools for the Job' sure making Crabbing a lot more enjoyable. We kept our limit of 18 Dungeness Crab and put another 12 more back. Wow!
Good Weather! Good Fishing! Good Crabbing! Good Friends! Life is Good!
Nov 5th Victor Lick was also fishing in the Kitimat Harbour for Winter Chinook in his sailboat. We watched Victor boat 3 Chinook all by himself. Victor kept his Daily Limit of 2 Chinook and released a third. It requires a lot of patience and skill to be able to hook, fight and then net these Chinook with one person onboard. It was amazing to watch Victor in action and take photos of his catch! Well done Victor! Victor was fishing with a Gibbs http://www.gibbsfishing.com/ High Liner Flasher and his favorite Hoochies. If you are ever looking for a partner to fish with give me a call. 250 632 1275. :) I would be more than happy to help out.
Summary
Winter Chinook fishing in the Kitimat Harbor is starting to get really good. This fishery is very unpredictable at the best of times because the Winter Chinook are primarily feeding Chinook stocks that are following Bait Fish. If the Bait Fish continue to school up in the Kitimat Harbor as they did this week so will the Winter Chinook (as we refer to them). Wherever the Bait Fish go, the Winter Chinook go. In previous years when the Bait Fish lingered in the Kitimat Harbor all winter so did the Winter Chinook. Here's hoping that this is one of those years.
The Humpback Whales also follow the Bait Fish. We have been experiencing more sightings of Humpback Whales in the Kitimat Harbor than normal and the Winter Chinook fishing has been very good. This phenomenon was also kindly clarified in an email I received from Karen Hansen who is a DFO Fisheries Technician who reads this Fishing Report. Thank You Karen. The bottom line is that if the Bait Fish hang out in the Kitimat Harbor, so will the Humpback Whales, so will the Winter Chinook and so will !! Stay Tuned…
Thank You to everyone for providing photos and info to this Fishing Report.
Good Health and Good Fishing!
Sincerely and Cheers Ron Wakita
NOTICE: Winter Chinook and Crabbing in the Kitimat Harbour is red hot right now. To book your charter boat please contact Noel Gyger anytime. Phone 250-635-2568 E-mail noel@noelgyger.ca
BOOKING NOW for fall Steelhead and all Salmon NEXT YEAR. Let me know if I can be of service to book you with the 'best' fishing guide and/or fishing lodges for both river and ocean. There are NO extra charges to book through me, just a lot of free information and advice from a person with years and years of fishing and fish guiding experience. It is like hiring two guides for the price Your “dream trip” awaits. Please Contact Noel noel@noelgyger.ca anytime…to start planning your trip. Everything will be to your entire satisfaction.
_______________________________________________________
Gary Miltenberger Northwest Angling Adventures
Boy Scouts of America & the Olympics
The Olympics of which I am writing now are not the athletic competitions held every four years, summer and winter, at revolving locations all around the world. The Olympics of which I write are far, far older, and way more enduring, than a set of athletic games which last for only for two weeks in a four-year period.
'The Olympic Mountains is a mountain range on the Olympic Peninsula of western Washington in the United States. The mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are not especially high - Mount Olympus is the highest at 7,962 ft (2,427 m) - but the western slopes of the Olympics rise directly out of the Pacific Ocean and are the wettest place in the 48 contiguous states. The Hoh Ranger Station in the Hoh Rain Forest records an average of 360 cm (142 in) of rainfall each year. Areas to the east of the mountains, however, are located in a rainshadow and are much drier relative to other places in coastal Washington. Most of the mountains are protected within the bounds of the Olympic National Park. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Mountains).'
It was quite awhile after the first Europeans settled in Puget Sound before these mountains were fully explored. Early on, it was rumoured that inside the core of the mountains was a small, tropical ecosystem, with warm weather year-around, palm trees, and trade-wind breezes. 'In 1890, a second exploration was organized by the Seattle Press, a Seattle newspaper. The exploration party met with misfortune, including sinking boats, blizzards, and running out of food. The Press Expedition was forced to hunt and eat bears. The party took 6 months to cross the mountains. Due to the expedition, many of the peaks in the Olympic mountains are named after prominent newspaper publishers and editors of the late 19th century.' Needless to say, the intrepid explorers who undertook this journey, did not find the tropical paradise that was rumoured to exist in the centre of the mountains!
The Olympic Mountains form the core of the Olympic National Park. They are some 890,000 acres of remote and rugged wild lands, with giant firs, spruce, hemlock and cedars, tall peaks with year-around snow fields and glaciers, deer, elk, cougars and black bears, many lakes, and a very wide variety of rivers, streams and creeks. Most of the waters of these Olympics hold fish. Some of them hold very, very big fish!
Starting north of Shelton as one drives up the state Highway 101, you first cross the Skokomish River, then you come to the southeastern shore of Hood Canal. After the tiny canal community of Hoodsport, the highway follows the canal as you then come to the Hamma Hamma, Duckabush, Dosewallips, and Quilicene Rivers, in that order, all of which flow into Hood Canal. You pass through the villages of Brinnen and Quilicene along the way. Next, you cross the Dungeness River, which flows into Discovery Bay of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. After that, the highway swings west, to the farming and retirement town of Sequim (which receives the lowest annual rainfall in western Washington, due to being in the 'rain-shadow' of the Olympics). Then onward to Port Angeles, the Olympic peninsula's largest city, and home of Peninsula College, where I attended my first year of college.
Continuing west from Port Angeles, you cross the Elwha River (which drains into the Strait of Juan de Fuca), you go past Sutherland Lake, drive along the south shore of Lake Crescent, then upslope to the Soleduck River headwaters, where you start heading south. You cross Soleduck and the Calawah Rivers, and next pass through the logging town of Forks. Then the Bogachiel River, next the Hoh, Queets, Quinalt, which all flow directly into the Pacific Ocean, then you cross the Humptulips River (drains directly into Grays Harbor) before coming to the cities of Hoquim and Aberdeen, which are positioned at the inside shore of Gray's Harbour, where the Chehalis River meets the ocean. Heading east from Aberdeen, you cross the Wynootchie and then the Satsop Rivers, before re-entering Mason County and getting back to Shelton. The Wynootchie and Satsop drain into the Chehalis River, which drains into Gray`s Harbor. If memory serves me right, it is about a 350 mile drive to 'make-the-loop'.
I have fished all of these rivers, except for the Soleduck, Quilicene and Dungeness. It’s good to have a reason to return, in my retirement years!
To my knowledge, nowhere is there a greater concentration of rivers, which all support Salmonid populations, in such a short distance and small geographical area, than on the Olympic Peninsula. While each of these rivers has their own individual characteristics, they all also share one thing in common: each forms the spoke of a wheel, radiating outwards from the centre of the Olympic Mountains, this source of their origin.
I wish that I had a nickel for every mile hiked by Boy Scouts through the Olympic National Park. I would be a VERY wealthy man! Scout troops from all over the western US arrive to hike and camp along the wilderness trails of the Olympics every summer.
With its close proximity to Shelton, the Olympics were ideally suited for Scout troops, for both taking short, week-ender treks, and for longer, week-long summer-time treks through the core of the of the those mountains.
Little did I know, when I signed up for the Scouting program, that it also meant signing up for treks into the Olympic Mountains! And that meant gaining access to their fabled waters, where I could dunk a worm, work a fly, or even bait a hook with a small hunk of a hot-dog, when I had nothing else for bait. Overall, it provided adventures beyond my wildest dreams. For the farm-boy, who started his angling days tramping the banks of Coffee Creek in Shelton Valley, and Goldsborough Creek, the Olympics were as close to heaven as I ever wanted to be! At least, that’s what I thought back then!
On a clear day, we could see the tops of Mount Washington and Mount Eleanor, when looking north from our farm. These two peaks are located at the southeastern corner of the Olympics, and the headwaters of the Skokomish River flows past their bases, via Lake Cushman and the Skok's North Fork.
My first trek into the Olympics, with Scout Troop 110, was a week-ender “yo-yo” trip.....drive out to Hoodsport, up past Lake Cushman, to the Staircase, then up the trail along the North Fork of the Skokomish River, and back out the same way. It was the same drill as our Goldsborough Creek camp-out. We met at Mountainview school late Friday afternoon, drove to the Staircase Ranger station (a little over an hour’s drive). We signed in at the Ranger station, then we then hiked the 5.6 miles to the Big Log Camp, where we set up our tents, made campfires, formed our little k.p. four-scout units, and 'cooked out' over open fires.
After our evening meal and completion of k.p. duty, it was time for evening 'campfire', a scouting tradition.
Songs were sung, stories told, skits were performed which had be prepared during our Wednesday evening weekly meetings (in anticipation of this trip), and of course, marshmallows were roasted on sticks. All was very well in our world!
On Saturday, we all took a day hike to the '1st Divide', which was the height-of-land between the North Fork of the Skokomish, the Duckabush and the Quinalt Rivers...then we returned back to our camp at Big Log. Much of the trail from Staircase to the 1st Divide followed the river, and at every chance I was eyeing-up the water, and making mental notes for future piscatorial explorations. It all looked really, really 'trouty' to me! As I recall, I hadn't been allowed to bring along fishing tackle on this junket. I was only 12-years old at the time, and we weren't allowed to take off exploring on our own on such trips. But I knew that I would eventually be returning here, with fishing tackle. And I did several times in my late teen years, once I could drive!
Sunday morning, after breakfast, we packed up, and hiked back out to Staircase.
Next week: 'Olympic Fish Tales'.
Tight lines, Gary Miltenberger
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