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Ambush big, wild steelies on Calawah River
Washington fishing map feature
By Joel Shangle
Fishing and Hunting News
That nagging desire to square off with a steelhead of Butterball proportions just so happens to coincide with the arrival of the first serious waves of wild winter-run steelhead on the fishiest of the big-fish rivers in Western Washington. \The tackle-wrecking, drift boat-eating, 20-pound-steelhead-producing rock gardens of the Olympic Peninsula await, my friends, and they're filling fast with Oncorhynchus mykiss of the large variety. As (January) goes on, we'll see more and more of those big native fish in all these rivers over here by the end of January, the big boys will really have started to show up. Why the Calawah? Singling out the best big-fish river on the Peninsula is like choosing which member of the Rat Pack was the coolest. The Sol Duc and Hoh are the Frank and Dean of the group they get the most attention. But the Calawah she's the Sammy Davis Jr.: the least understood and quite possibly the best of the bunch.
The Calawah doesn't get fished nearly as much as the Sol Duc or Hoh because you can't really float it all that well when the water gets low. There's a limited amount of time that it's boatable because of the water conditions, but it's an excellent river for big fish. The Calawah is similar to (the) Sol Duc in that it's rough and snaggy, but it's much smaller, It has a lot of big rocks and rough water where a big fish can find their spots and hide.
When the Calawah? Best fishing on the Calawah is highly subject to timing: Catch it after a rain and you're golden. Water disappears out of that drainage fast you have to have been down the river a few times to get a feel for when and where to fish it. You can get yourself hung up in there pretty good if you don't know how to fish the different water flows. Where the Calawah? The lower Calawah upriver roughly a mile from its confluence with the Bogachiel, 2½ miles west of Forks is Bank Angler Central through the heart of the hatchery run, but pressure gradually, steadily decreases through January and February as the clipped-fish harvest slows and the overrun of fish bound for the Bogachiel Hatchery dwindles. But for the dedicated corps of local bankies who hang with the lower river through February, drifting bait or fishing floats can result in a shore-skating battle with 20 pounds of muscle. The lower couple of miles of river is heavy on bank access, but once the hatchery fishing slows down, most of those people start branching out and doing other things Easiest walk-in access is via the backside of the Bogachiel Rearing Ponds. Head west out of Forks on Bogachiel Way to the hatchery parking lot, and hike up and over (north) to the south bank of the lower Calawah. The best, easiest way to fish the north bank is via the Tall Timbers access: Take La Push Road west off Highway 101 for 4 miles to a blue and white gate on the left-hand side of the road, and follow the road behind the gate to Tall Timbers on the Bogachiel (just below the mouth of the Calawah). The 10 or 11 miles of the Calawah between the Highway 101 launch and the Wilson's takeout on the Bogachiel, however, isn't nearly as simple for drift boaters. The first few miles are gentle enough, but by the middle and lower end of the day's drift, the Calawah turns into a nasty, dangerous mix of superfast chutes and dropoffs that only the very best oarsmen should even attempt. The good news (if you survive the drift) is that you'll find natives from top to bottom on the Calawah. How the Calawah? Bring the entire arsenal, because you'll find good runs to side drift bait, pull plugs and fish floats. It's a great float and plug river
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Copyright © 2007 Last Modified 8-21-07
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