One of my best guy pals is headed to the Quinault River again this fall. Last year he caught 20 silvers! Thank you to the Perfect Fly website for this description of fall fly fishing on the river.
When to fish the Quinault?
In the fall Coho and Chinook Salmon fishing starts about the second week of October when the river levels start rising from the Fall rains. Summer steelhead fishing continues. Sea-run cutthroat fishing is best during the fall months.
Winter run steelhead fishing begins about the middle of November. December and January have the best hatchery runs of steelhead. February to April is the best winter steelhead fishing time.
More about the Quinault
The Quinault River is a 69 mile long river located on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. The North Fork of the Quinault River converges with the East Fork – main stem several miles above Lake Quinault.
From the lake, the Quinault River flows to the Pacific Ocean at Taholah. The entire section from Lake Quinault to the ocean is within the Quinault Indian Reservation. A native guide is required to fish this part of the river.
The Quinault River’s main tributaries are the North Fork Quinault River, Graves Creek, Fox Creek and Cook Creek. There are two fish hatcheries on the river including the Quinault National Fish Hatchery at Cook Creek and a hatchery operated by the Quinault tribe at
the outlet from Lake Quinault.
The hatchery at Cook Creek has a huge steelhead return during November and December. The hatchery near the lake gets its return of steelhead during February and March. Some of these steelhead are huge and this is a good place to catch a true trophy.
Access to the lower 33 miles of the Quinault River is limited. Basically, you fish the lower river up from Toholah or downstream from the lake. U.S. Highway #101 crosses the river near the lake’s outlet providing access, but there isn’t any public access upstream from the highway to Toholah.
For more information, visit http://www.perfectflystore.com/wquinaltr.html
