Calawah River Forks Washington;
A smaller sister to the Sol-Duc, this river has the ability of producing the largest, hardest fighting steelhead on the Peninsula. With spectacular rapids, gin clear water and spooky steelies the Calawah demands the most from every angler. There are three sections to this gem, two divided by 101, and the ever-present bait and kill area boundary. The upper by intimidating rapids and an early closing of February 28th. A good percentage of my guiding is spent on two of the three sections. The lower river, below 101, calls for a long float and some class 111 water, ending in the Bogachial at Wilson boat ramp. With beautiful tail outs, long runs, and the entrance of the Bogy. This section swings best of the three but must be done with speed as there are so many good runs that an angler will find himself floating in the dark down the Bogachiel. With the middle being so short, I often do a double float, taking out and finishing on another river or swinging it all and ending the day with a push out whenever wanted. When the upper is open, it makes for a very fun and challenging float including sections like hells half mile, note: not just an intimidating name. All in all, the Calawah river will test you in every way and a must do by the ADVANCED rower and angler.

As I drove around today looking at the rivers to see how soon they may be fishable I was inspired to add this gem to my steelhead waters catalog knowing that I will soon be embracing it’s waters in the quest for it’s giant steelhead. It along with the upper Sol-Duc are probably the most stable of all Washington Rivers and have provided the refuge used for thousands of years to the wild steelhead we seek out today.

Jeff  Feb 13, 2010 Steelhead water

I had the opertunity to fish with a young man today on the Hoh river, Nathan Ereth is the son of  Rick Ereth a very good friend of mine and one of my mentors in the field of steelhead fishing. Rick has taught me more than I remember about Salmon and Steelhead, I have many great memories of our time togeather fishing all of western Washington. Rick is currently a LIFER in the WDFW management team out of Montesano. Nathan and I had spoke many times in the last few seasons about fishing, steelhead and management policy or lack there of. He is hot in the footsteps of his father attending Evergreen College and has one more year to go for a degree. Nathan is a young man that will be forging the future management of our beloved Steelhead or whatever the next hot topic may be of his choosing.

The last I had seen Nathan he was in his gangly years, living with his dad and well basically running amuck. He has allways had a passion for fishing and if I remember right he caught his first steelhead on the Dickey river at the age of four or so, beat most of us to that feat by at least 10 years. His uncle had mentioned his angling prowess a few months back and I was pleasently suprised to find a fantastic angler ready for anything the rivers could bring. I refrained from coaching too much as these kids are sponges these days and we don’t want to make it too easy. As the day progressed the fish took over the NOT making it easy routine but Nathan never lost focus or intencity for that next bite. We fished Spruce creek to Minnie Petersons, the sun was out and the river on the low side, we chose this run to stay out of the Gill Net zone down river,(don’t want to open that can of worms with an Ereth) and to see how the runs would fish that low. As I had seen before the Disco Ball effect was in play and the angling was rather tough by recent standard, we did have a bite or two in shady spots but nothing heavy happened till low sun angle.

Nathan, again hitting a good slot hammerd into a nice 12 pound buck that battled well above his size, the fish was his first on a fly rod and he faught it as if he had handle the fly pole many times before. We had another good bite in the tail out then stuck a decent hen in the next run landing two for two in a short day very good for the first time fly fishing an eight weight and my JUNK. Now if I can get him to roll away form the tree just a little farther:)!

Jeff  Feb 8, 2010 Fly Fishing Reports

Warm weather and daily showers have us all confused, great fishing with the warm water temps and a fairly good run of steelhead, will it continue?

I have been fishing every day and every day we are looking for that next delluge to bring the high flows and cold weather of any normal February but it just stays like spring, I only hope its not some sick trick by mother nature and she will unleash here wrath come March when the big push of clients and steelhead are coming. Just a few pics to let us look back on when its gone!

Jeff  Feb 5, 2010 Fly Fishing Reports

Some very good fishing on the OP right now, been fishing different rivers and stretches every day with pretty much the same results good angling has good catching. Even with the tribe netting non stop to fill there DAYS quote for the season there are enough fish getting through to have some fun,,,,,it’s not too often you will hear me say that!

Still running into the daily monster and sometimes wining the battle.

won this battle

Net Marked

Got to this one after it escaped certain death by gill net, it was one hot puppy, probably why it was able to free itself.

Jeff  Feb 3, 2010 Fly Fishing Reports

Hello, and we are testing the blog at Jeff Brazda’s Blog.

admin  Feb 1, 2010 All Categories

Another season on the coast of Washington has begun with great weather and fantastic early wild steelhead. I generally spend three months a year chasing the wily chromers of the temporal rain forest surrounding the Olympic National Park. This season has the making of another great run with even bigger results, the steelhead have started there migration earlier than in the past few years with the tendency to be larger too. In just five short days of scouting the seasonal changes in the Hoh, Sol-Duc and Bogachiel we have encounterd more than normal sized steelhead with regularity. The first ten fish hooked where simply too hot to handle even on the big Spey rods. Generally these early wild fish run 9-14 pounds but what we encountered had the liking of Chinook with blistering runs and chaotic jumps revealing there shinny sides and white bellies. The Ten day forecast is for normal or average rainfall so with all considerations NOW is the time to fish as the March mob is yet to come and the fish are here now!

I am presently lightly booked in early February and any anglers wanting to jump on this early run of natives should do so soon wile weather is cooperating.

Jeff  Jan 27, 2010 Fly Fishing Reports

After thirty five years fly fishing in the NW chasing steelhead and trout a guy gets,,, well,,,,for lack of a sophisticated word,,,, bored with it. Now don’t get me wrong I love my job and lifestyle I crave the next big pull from a pissed off steelhead and the painstakingly slow take of a big brown trout to a dry fly. But for one that is in limbo between the peak fisheries I have re-found the passion that has been simmering in me for many off seasons. The same passion that burned so strong when I caught my first steelhead at 13 has been rediscovered on the flats of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. Not only has it re-ignited my desire to fish more but also my excitement for discovery, a thrill I thought scarred out of me on many trips searching for steelhead in SE Alaska twenty years ago. There is a whole world of angling out there that is now newly available to me, a fishery that has eluded my attention for way to long.

Some of it could be the fact that it takes place in a much warmer climate, a habitat as diverse as any on the planet, now instead of grizzly bear’s there are alligators, instead of drift boats there are Pangas, and instead of  driving rain and rising rivers, there are sunburns and north winds, hardly as annoying.

The fine people of the Yucatan are Mexican and Americans, the homes for lodging are mostly Americans and the guides are true indigenous Mexicans. The country of Belize is a short water taxi away, another world yet to be fished on a later date.

I feel the urge to spend days on the flats camping on remote beaches hunting in an all new way, picking through mangrove rivers to undiscovered lagoons where one may find tarpon and snook that have never seen a fly, once again my fishing imagination can run wild.

I can hardly wait for my next trip to the region; I won’t have to wait long as it’s already in the works. The first ten days in May 2010 will find me and whomever I can convince to go along on the search for that next big Permit, Tarpon, Snook or Bonefish.

Any Takers?

Jeff  Jan 15, 2010 Fly Fishing Reports

This an article I wrote back in 2006 when an influx of increased comercial pressure was evidant on the Quiliute and Hoh systems, there has been a slow turn in the direction of awareness towards this issue and I felt that it needed to be reiterated now as the wild winter steelhead we all love are begining there run for the spawning grounds. The letter was not too well recieved by any political parties and mostly ignored but that will not stop me from fighting for what I feel is right.

No Wild Steelhead on the menu

This will be a campaign for the survival of wild steelhead in the Pacific Northwest.

We are totally committed to the future runs of wild steelhead. With the increasing pressure of commercial netting the steelhead may go the same way of the salmon, near extinction. There are too many steelhead runs on the endangered species list already it must stop now.

Without huge funding, lawyers, politicians, or the help of Washington dept. of wildlife, we the anglers of these great fish must change the PUBLICS view of the steelhead. We must inform the public of the recent over harvest performed by tribal comercial fishermen.

The entire image of angling in the North West is based largely on the famed Steelhead trout. We all have had some romantic dream of battles with the greatest game fish in our region. Those dreams will all be illusions if something is not done to prevent the slaughter of wild steelhead. Throughout the United States the Olympic Peninsula is considered the last stronghold of the giant wild winter run Steelhead. The steelhead has been a cornerstone of the angling world much like the striped bass of the upper east coast, Redfish on the Gulf coast, and Billfish worldwide. These fish have been brought back from near extinction and are thriving today. It is now time to bring back the Wild Steelhead runs to there former glory days when Forks Washington was the steelhead capitol of the world. These fisheries were all saved by grassroots participation, starting with public opinion of these fish as a food source locally and eventually a buy out of commercial anglers. 

 Now classified as a salmon by the Wildlife Department, Steelhead have been thrown into the pot as a food fish not as a game fish, this opened the door for the tribes to sell them abroad. Coupled with self-policing and poor reporting ethics of commercial buyers the steelhead market is wide open to fraudulent activity.

 As sport anglers we have taken big strides to save the steelhead runs by virtually eliminating any sport kill fishing, we have clubs and groups that volunteer extensively on habitat projects. We simply pay the lions share for the survival of the steelhead and we get blamed for there downfall. All the wile the tribes are claiming forgone opportunity and fishing more days and taking a higher and higher percentage of the run. The tribal biologists say there are more fish than our wildlife biologists say there is, and unless we go to court with the tribe again the wildlife dept. just steps aside and lets the tribe do what they want. 

With tribal commercial gill netting of the rivers up to 5.5 days a week and the price for wild steelhead at nearly 2.00$ a pound ( four times more $ than previous years) the tribes have more than doubled there fishing vessles. These are just a few of the actions that concern many others and myself. We don’t wish to impose that the tribes should not fish just that they need better regulation. Regulation that provides for a quality fishery NOT an under escapement commercial fishing get them all now and do something else when they are gone philosophy.

There is but one bright light in this equation and that is freedom of speech. With that we can change anything. We must change the opinion of all possible consumers of Wild Steelhead. They need to be informed that there are not enough steelhead in the North West to accommodate a non selective unsustained commercial fishery. They need to be informed that a gill net fishery in a river can and will wipe that species from existence. We need to let those restaurant owners know that we will not dine in their establishments with steelhead on the menu. We must find and protest against the purchasers of wild steelhead. We must also find out if they market the fish under other names, ie: silver trout. Eventually a total buyout of the tribal gill netting is all that will save the anidramous fish of the Pacific Northwest.

Finally I would like to invite anyone with truthful information about this subject to tell others and us so we can someday stop all killing of wild steelhead. Please feel free to correct us on any of this information. This is based on first hand visual, personal and historic information obtained abroad.

Thank you for your support.

 Brazdas fly fishing.com

Jeff  Dec 31, 2009 Rants and Raves

Hoh River:
A beloved jewel. A must fish when fish-able. As soon as you start the drive through the rain forest, you know you’ve entered a special place. With the ever present Elk herd alongside the road and the long flowing moss canopies, one gets the feeling of a relatively unchanged wilderness. The Hoh has the longest boat able selective fishery section, of all the rivers I fish on the Olympic Peninsula. It even has a small “fly fish only section” in the park region. I cannot say enough about this system, and I suppose it is really the fish that make it great. It is possible to catch chrome bright 20lb steelhead here as early as December and right through the season till closing. There are a good number of bull trout inhabiting the drainage so be very careful when encountering these prehistoric predators.

The glorious thing about the Hoh is its ability to change. It has resisted mans attempt to contain it every time he tries. You can literally catch fish, where a month earlier, there was a gravel bar 4 feet high. Entire log jams move within the system, one can actually recognize logs reappearing from within gravel bars once fished, two decades before. It in itself is a testament to the tenacity within Hoh river steelhead. The Hoh with its relatively short system, 38 miles mouth to glacier, produces massive steelhead. These fish love there log jams, they can be found in the smallest side channel, holding with any sized pieces of lumber, boulder patches and undercuts. These steelhead will move up the system at any time, low water, high water, usually does not matter when they want in they go. Each season will have it’s section that fishes best as each season the holding water moves. The color of the Hoh River with its glacial beauty gives them a confidence to run and best of all to bite !

Jeff  Dec 29, 2009 All Categories, Steelhead water

Jim Brandt with the first steelhead on self made Bamboo 8wt.

Jim and Mike steelhead day of days #3

Time does fly when fishing has been good, I get into the day to day roll of guiding and feel as if I am never looking up. The weather is on another change to partial snow and rain mix with 50 mid day temps, I knew this when I walked outside this morning, before I even looked it up. This will be great for the hardened steelheader’s but tough on the boy anglers. The leaves have turned into there beautiful orange and yellow hews much sooner down here on the Yakima than upon the Methow where green and brown still prevailed when I left Friday night.
The rains are raising the rivers again and that will shuffle the deck and spread out the fish already in the system, new ones are sure to arrive. The salmon will be hard on the spawn with the shortening days and the lower light of cloud cover. The first of the Coho I seen arriving Friday will already be finding there zones, rustling in with the steelhead and cautiously avoiding the Chinook.
I will be happy to find the rivers nearly blank from anglers and full of fish upon my return from a short week-end off. These respites always renew my already eager enthusiasm to find the next pod of biters. The next few weeks will be the best in my world, I may get a day off to fish, the Chinook will finish there spawn and the steelhead will be very curious biters again, sampling my swung presentations, some with HATRED on the minds, as one good friend and client once said.
The rivers angling inhabitants are of a slightly different breed in November, they are of the seasoned sort. Old tattered leaky waders and heavy wool sweaters with sticks from the Kispiox or Dean still stuck into the fabric. Anglers down to there oldest left over spey rods cause they have broken three this season and the return time will not be waited on.
Upon the banks we hear stories from around the pacific coast on how the steelhead runs are doing and what new or old flies worked again this season often told over a dented old silver flask of scotch.
For me this is the best fishing in my world of guiding, colors abound, life and death in every run, steelhead eager to bite a good presentation. We can catch them ANY way we want, skated dries, deep nymphing, swung wets you name it. I am living my childhood over and over again every fall, I have birds on the horizon, salmon on there beds and steelhead in every run.

Jeff  Oct 25, 2009 Fly Fishing Reports