This nice winter steelhead is indicative of the trophy-sized fish of the Olympic Peninsula coast. Photo by Gary Lewis.

The Sol Duc, Bogachiel and Calawah rivers all feed into each other, and that's where you can get into some of the best steelhead fishing in the world. And wouldn't you know it? February is one of the best times to hit them!

Known as Three Rivers, they're all found along the Pacific side of the Olympic National Forest. The great thing about fishing this area is that all the rivers are close to each other, so when one doesn't produce, there are two others that might.

It's more than reasonable to fish all three in the same day. But when fish are on the bite, any other anglers along with you will want to stay put. This particular region of the Pacific Northwest is home to legendary giants that draw anglers from all over the world. Most go home with great fish stories.

This area is all about timing. Start downriver to make sure that you maximize each fishing trip and season, at least for reconnaissance to find out where all the fish are.

So it all starts at the Sol Duc River.

SOL DUC
The Sol Duc system is well known for its huge coho and chinook salmon runs, as well as for its winter steelhead. With diverse fisheries and rivers, it's a prime location for fishing any time of the year.

To get to the Sol Duc River, follow State Route 101 to Highway 110 just north of Forks. Follow 110 to the first boat launch where 110 crosses Lapush Road. You'll find trails and other access points along that stretch of the river until it pours into Quillayute River, which is the lower basin of the Bogachiel.

This particular section is equally friendly to drift-boaters and bank-fishermen. The techniques that hook fish are varied. But the consensus is that pink corkies and chrome spoons get more hookups with the lethargic fish of this glacially fed system.

Corkies are best used for seams, slots, and eddies between 3 and 6 feet deep. Since the river runs green and clear during high-pressure systems, leaders should be no longer than 4 feet, although there's some debate on this point among guides and locals. Most who drift-fish it for the first time usually use leaders about 18 inches long because they don't know the lay of the bed. But longer leaders are best when winter steelies feel pressured.

And that pressure can come be from Mother Nature, too. This river doesn't have a hydrograph attached, so monitor it for severe level changes by watching weather forecasts. You can also keep an eye on it by monitoring the Hoh River, which lies south by about 15 miles. The Hoh can indicate relatively how the water rises and falls. One day it's running high enough to scour the substrate; and the next, it's meandering where whitewater had been the day before.

The single best way to fish this river is either to recon it first or to have a guide take you out. At this time of year, opt for the guide if you can. He can give novices the lay of the river without their spending too much time investigating, rather than fishing. Other plusses of hiring a guide are shared costs of travel, lodging, and extra eyes to pick out some of the better holds to fish.

This portion of the Sol Duc River is relatively hard to get to, so any existing pressure is not that intense. Getting finicky fish to bite bait and corkies is not hard.

The river runs relatively clear most of the time, making it perfect for drift-fishing with long leaders, which is key to get steelies to bite. The Sol Duc's lower stretches don't get a lot of fishing, so all the fish are looking for natural presentations.

Real shrimp bait, or the scent from a shrimp, will get the hardest strikes. Three to four cured eggs in a bait bag on a No. 4 hook will garner some pretty hard strikes and keep bait on the hook just a bit longer than conventional baitcasting.