Today’s fish du jour of the day…

We might not have many more fish than last week, but they sure bite a hell of a lot better in the warmer weather.  We had one dead day out of the last 6 and a couple of really excellent ones.

Native?

There have been a few hatchery fish in all the usual places, Bogachiel, Callawa, Hoh, and  Queets.  The fish in the Hoh are of a new variety.  Two years ago the Hoh tribe started their own hatchery near the mouth of the river using native brood stock.  This year we are seeing the first return.  Either we are getting more two salt December natives than usual or they did not do a great job of Ad clipping them.

Because of the IHN virus three years a go there are not any three salt fish, which is noticeable.  Five pounders are cool, but its a whole lot cooler when every 5th one is 8 pounds.

Shad with a sweet hatchery steelhead

Anyway, we are seeing a few native steelhead slide into the mix and if you can find them this low warm water has them as bitey as hell. The hatchery fish just go bat shit when you hook them, and are great on the grill, it should be a nice mix of fish for the next few weeks.

Jim Kerr

Rain Coast Guides