Chad with Olympic Peninsula Steelhead
Winter fly fishing for Sea-Run Cutthroat on Hood Canal just might be one of the most underrated fly fishing options for anglers looking to wet a line in Washington State during the winter months. Yes, it is winter and steelhead fishing on the famous Olympic Peninsula Rivers are in full swing and many of you have the itch to swing intruder style flies for large wild Olympic Peninsula steel – no doubt a good option! However, the rivers have to be in shape and fishable and you have to have the day off. All those factors have to line up just right, including a fairly long drive up to the Olympic Peninsula.
So, whats the next best option – try fly fishing Hood Canal for it’s wild and genetically diverse populations of Sea-Run Cutthroat. Hood Canal does fish well throughout the winter, and offers anglers an option to go 
fishing any day – all the time. Hood Canal in the winter is a year round saltwater fishery where the water doesn’t freeze over, and frozen guides on your rod aren’t of any concern. Water temperatures in Hood Canal are very consistent this time of year usually hovering around 50-52 degrees. In the summer they do fluctuate some, but mainly in the central to southern portions of Hood Canal. Unlike most of our eastern streams, rivers and lakes – fishing Hood Canal is never frozen over and always an option for fly anglers. About the only factor that will drive me off the water or I will have to cancel guide trips are high winds, and even then I know areas where I can find protection and experience success. Depending on the direction the wind is blowing from, the lee side of peninsulas and islands can offer protection. Sometimes these areas are so protected, anglers are virtually out of the wind.
So, why is Hood Canal a viable fishery in the winter?
The answer is simple, mother nature at her best. Due to the fact that all of the Sea-Run Cutthroat in Hood Canal are native, they are engineered by mother nature to diversify their spawn timing throughout the winter months. This gives anglers a shot at catching them throughout the winter months. In the big picture, what this means is that if there is a catastrophic event and a river system is completely wiped out there will be other populations of native Sea-Run Cutthroat that will repopulate this system as it heals. On creeks and rivers throughout the Hood Canal basin, Sea-Run Cutthroat will be spawning throughout the winter and into March. This varies significantly from hatchery produced fish, where they all return to the hatchery together within a short window.
Very limited data is available on Sea-Run Cutthroat spawning , migration cycles and overall life cycle habits in Hood Canal. Luckily the Coastal Cutthroat Coalition – a new non-profit researched based group in Southern Puget Sound – is working towards solving these Sea-Run Cutthroat mysteries. Currently, they have projects going in the Southern Areas of Puget Sound with more research planned starting in Hood Canal soon.
Hood Canal Sculpin Pattern
The diet of Sea-Run Cutthroat on Hood Canal in the winter does vary from their spring through fall diet. Don’t get me wrong they are always on the hunt for a good meal, but I focus primarily on fishing sculpins, larger streamers and marine worm patterns during the winter. Sea-run Cutthroat are opportunistic specimens and eat what is available to them on a seasonal basis.
One of my favorite sculpin patterns (the one in the picture) fishes great with an intermediate line such as the Rio Coastal Quickshooter. This line allows a slow intermediate sink rate of approx. 1.25 IPS and is a great winter fishery line. I particularly like a intermediate line for the winter, since through experience, I have learned that Hood Canal SRC’s tend to lie up on the rocks closer and shallower then they do at other times of the year. Therefore a slow sinking intermediate allows an angler to fish all types of water. Overcast days and darker conditions don’t make SRC as shy, and with some rain fishing just gets better. Sea-Run Cutthroat also like to use the shade along the shoreline as cover to ambush sculpins, baitfish and marine worms – just like a river under he brush – they are a sea trout after all!.
Hood Canal Squid pattern
Squid comprise a portion of Hood Canal Sea-Run Cutthroat’s diet during the winter also. Hood Canal boasts an excellent shrimp population and recreational fishery during the spring. Cutthroat will readily take a variation of squid patterns such as the one seen in the picture. Used with an intermediate line and a varied strip pattern, these can be deadly effective at certain times – winter being one of them. Generally, a strip-strip-strip-pause pattern is what I like to use while presenting the majority of my streamers. However, vary this strip pattern if you are not getting strikes. Some days they want it slower or faster than others. Variations of pink shrimp patterns are also effective an enticing SRC to strike.
Marine Worm Pattern
Large streamers = Big Fish. Yes, the saying is true that big flies can catch big fish – particularly with larger SRC. The big guys like the big streamers. Put on a marine worm pattern, such as the one pictured here, and you will entice larger fish. The little 10-12 inchers will still over zealously go for your fly sometimes, but the big guys will definitely be interested. Fish these patterns with a slower 4-6 inch consistent strip pattern. You are trying to mimic a slow moving marine worm in a saltwater environment.
Fjord Fly Fishing is currently guiding boat style fly fishing excursions right now on Hood Canal, and these trips are offered at our winter rate (December through February 28th) of $375.00 for 2 anglers based around a fully inclusive 6 hour guided adventure. You can find out more about these trips on our guided trips page.
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Capt. Chad Gillespie
Fjord Fly Fishing
chad@fjordflyfishing.com
www.fjordflyfishing.com
Hood Canal and Puget Sound Guided Boat Style Fly Fishing Adventures
