Late Fall Hoh River Float
Introduction
A little over a week ago, Teagan and I trucked to the Olympic Peninsula for the third time in four weeks in search of a Fall Coho bite. The first trip out was early season, conditions were very low and clear, with few fish having made it up the systems. The second trip out we hit an atmospheric river that blew out all rivers on the OP. With this third attempt, we were hoping that B run (late run) coho would be up many of the systems ready to bite. On the Saturday of this weekend trip, we planned to float from Morgan’s Crossing to Allen’s Bar.
The Float
Just before putting in at Morgan’s
Morgan’s Crossing to Allen’s Bar. A float I have done twice and rowed once before. An earlier post of mine provides a detailed retelling of my first time rowing this section, and at that time the river was at around 800 cfs, near its yearly low. This time the river was at 4000 cfs. Upon arriving at the launch we could tell the river was in pretty rough shape. It wasn’t quite unfishable, but conditions weren’t great. Visibility was low and the river was very fast. A couple weeks before we were forced to abandon our float as the river was completely blown out, at about 14000 cfs, so we were not going to be turned away this time. I was excited to at least focus on the rowing aspect of the day, putting fishing on the backburner.
To be honest, that really was most of the float. This time around the float took us a little over 3 hours. We blew through it, stopping only a handful of times to investigate a few of the more low and clear side channels. A tricky part of rowing the glacially fed rivers of the Peninsula is that they can change dramatically, so I really think it’s quite valuable to get as many trips in as possible to really learn how these rivers can change.
The lead up to the Oxbow rapid
No fish were jumping, we had no bites, and in fact the only sign of life was one of my oars actually making contact with a coho traveling upstream, momentarily popping him out of the water. So with such a brutal day of fishing, we decided to push through the float quickly (and safely) so that we could pack up and hit another river on the OP that is not glacially fed. Glacially fed rivers tend to blow out more dramatically, as opposed to spring fed rivers that tend to be a bit more stable. The rapids at the infamous Oxbow near the end of the float were a bit more menacing than our previous float, but we handled them with ease after scouting a safe line.
In case there are folks reading this that are interested in fishing / rowing that stretch of river that have never done so before, here are some things to consider before your trip:
Familiarize yourself with the river gauges - USGS tends to have excellent, updated river data
Scout the river first. Know your put ins and take outs, and really try to analyze the river conditions as you drive along it.
Talk to locals who know and have known the river
In some cases those who run shuttle services tend to be helpful and updated on the current status of the river
River conditions can change quickly. Trees can fall after a storm causing dangerous obstacleds / channels to be formed
Come prepared
Make sure your tackle is in order and your have leaders pretied. Futzing around with tackle whilst on the water is a waste of time and can be avoided with even basic prep the night before
Know your safety equipment. Throw ropes, PFD’s rain gear, food/water
Focus on learning the water, not catching fish.
Conclusion
No fish caught, not even a bite, but it was still a valuable experience to row that section of river in the conditions that we did. Part of being a good angler is being competent, even masterful with maneuvering the water you are fishing. Whether it be through wading or piloting rafts or motorboats, using those tools to better understand and access the water is essential to becoming a better angler.
