( My Washington State fishing friend Tom Gion trades fishing tips and tales with me regularly. His adventures are so well told that they leave me looking for my fishing gear)  

At 11 am November 27, buddy Stan and I arrived at the parking area for the Queets River trail, the confluence of the Salmon and the Queets River. We hiked the half mile in on a very mucky trail and were very thankful for waders.  The rain forest is beautiful here with large ferns, huge old growth trees clothed in thick blankets of bright green moss. Mushrooms abound, and light and sound are muted by the thick canopy. When I arrived I was confused and surprised by the change at the river mouth though. The Queets was running at a low 4500 CFM  (normal is 6500 CFM) and the very low water had shifted the river mouth downstream a couple of hundred yards creating a long stretch of slow water perfect for floats.

I immediately checked the bank to see what had been caught. There were two beautiful chrome hens on the bank weighing in at around 10 pounds each and that got me excited.  I was on the NW side of the Salmon River, a small river approximately 60 feet across.  Against the far bank I could the occasional steelhead roll at the surface.  To my right, and just downstream, the Queets joined with the Salmon River and immediately made a strong 90 degree turn.  The junction created a very fast turbulent slot, which could only be fished with considerable lead and conventional drift gear techniques.  There were 3 guys down there working the bend.  As I wanted to do some float fishing I chose to fish the slower water above the confluence.  With the low clear water, it was easy to spot the underwater tree snags and it was easy to identify good looking slots to pursue Mr. And Mrs. Steelie maximus.  Unfortunately the fishing was not fast.  There were about 7 anglers working the stretch of water I liked and one younger guy got a nice fish on a nightmare jig (white head, red, black tail) while I was tying a jig on.  Over the next few hours that was to be the last fish caught as I tried roe of various types, assorted jigs in colors black, white, red and peach.  I tried throwing a spoon through the faster waters.  Several other anglers appeared for the evening bite and two kids caught 2 steelies on  #4 silver bladed Blue Fox spinners with a hot pink body.  Aha, I thought…pink!  

I tied on a pink jig I’d made with crystal chenille and a pink tail and caught a beauty on my first cast.  My buddy Stan had quit fishing some time earlier vowing not to set foot in the freezing glacier-fed waters until I caught a fish and true to his word he raced out and caught a fish in his first cast, just where I’d been standing.  After recording my fish I stepped back into the line where I was previously and caught my second fish on the next cast.  Yahoo…limited on beautiful steelies.  Not a fast day, but a very beautiful one where persistence paid off.  We hiked out through the forest and made it to the Blazer just as total blackness set in.

I went back out Dec. 3, (yesterday) and landed several beauties on some new pink jigs I made up that worked superbly...except their hooks do tend to straighten out.  I brought home a chrome hen 32 incher that was plump and gorgeous and a nice smaller buck around 12 pounds.  I also landed a beautiful small hen around 8 pounds and about a 4 pound fat and sassy Dolly Varden trout (endangered species here).  I lost several fish and missed several strikes.  

You would have absolutely been in heaven here yesterday.  There were some very nice large fish mixed in with the normal 8-10 pound hatchery brats and there was tons of room to cast, no crowds what-so-ever and absolutely gorgeous scenery.  We arrived and left driving thru monsoon rains, sleet, icy roads, etc. but as we arrived the skies cleared and as we left the storms rushed back in.  The weather gods were smiling upon us.  My secret weapon was a new jig I made with a light pink tail (several small strands of cerise mixed in and some crystal flash) a light pink body with a spiral of crystal chenille wrapped on it and a deer hair collar like on a muddler minnow.  The end result is a very buggy, shrimpy looking critter. I am getting to know the Game Warden quite well, he was very impressed with the big hen and the small jigs I make.  "You must have had one Hell of a battle with that one on that little jig of yours!" He said, and I just smiled and replied; "You got that right."  

It was the first real steelhead battle I have had.  Unfortunately until the steelies get into the 15 pound range they really cannot compare in fighting prowess to the big coho or chum salmon we have around here.  It was just a very, very nice day on the river.