Here are my favorites.
Sol Duc River
The Sol Duc River is open to fishing year round. We fish the winter run steelhead until about April when the Spring Chinook appear. These are the “First Salmon” that every tribe in the Pacific Northwest celebrated as an annual renewal and thanksgiving of life. Spring Chinook don’t feed once they are in the river. They come out of the ocean with enough fat to swim upstream and survive without food until August when they spawn. This makes a fresh, bright spring Chinook rich in the alpha-omega oils that is both a food and medicine to humans. The appearance of the spring Chinook means the sea-run cutthroat and summer run steelhead are not far behind. Along about August the Sol Duc is home to runs of Sockeye and summer run Coho. When the first rains of autumn arrive we fish the fall run Coho and king salmon until December first when the steelhead return.
Bogachiel River
The Bogachiel River supports good runs of both hatchery and native salmon and steelhead. Every year along about the Thanksgiving weekend the Bogachiel puts out a big run of hatchery steelhead that will run through Christmas. Along about the New Year the native steelhead come into the Bogey until it closes in April. In June the Bogachiel opens again to a good run of hatchery summer steelhead and sea-run cutthroat. In September it opens for Coho and king salmon until the end of November when the steelhead return.
Quileute at Twilight
The Sol Duc and Bogachiel rivers flow together just west of Forks to form the Quileute (Quillayute) River. This is a short and lazy tidewater river that flows into the Pacific Ocean at Lapush. While the Quileute is open year round fishing it is a gamble on what came in on the latest high tide. Pick the right tide and season on the Quileute and it is often possible to see schools of fish swimming up the river by the hundreds.
Hoh in the Snow
The Hoh River. From its source on Mt. Olympus to where it flows into the Pacific Ocean the Hoh is only a little over fifty miles long. This is a relatively short river that is divided into six different administrative zones, each with their own seasons, limits and gear restrictions. Unfortunately, there are no signs or markers along the river that tell you what zone you might be in. The Hoh is a river where you don’t want to be shy about asking the locals what the fishing regulations are just remember, they might not know either.
Despite the confusing legal challenges, we fish the Hoh anyway, beginning with the winter run steelhead that run from December through April. The spring Chinook season on the Hoh generally opens in May. The summer steelhead season opens in June. You are allowed to keep hatchery salmon or steelhead identified by their clipped adipose fins. After September first you are allowed to keep wild salmon on the Hoh. It is a fishery that is not to be missed.
For current information on Washington State fishing rules and regulations: