Upper Elwah

I finally broke down and bought a pair of breathable waders. (my neos had a hole the size of a dime in the crotch, not fun) So I have been fishing the upper Elwah. First hiked back into the park behind lake mills into Rica canyon. beautiful area. The fish back there really make you work for the right to catch them. The next day I fished the area just before you drive into the park (Olympic Nat) did pretty good there. Nice to hit it on a weekday then the weekend. Bunch of dinks and one nice 14". All CR. Yesterday I went into the Park and fished a few spots there. Caught 2 more decent ones 10" and 13".
If you have never been here or fished the Elwah you might want to try it. I don't know what will happen to the fishery after the dams are taken out which is suppose to happen next year. Not sure I agree with it. Maybe they should not have been put in place to begin with, but now that they have been there for so long what about the eco systems that have adapted to them and grown around the lakes. (Mills and Aldwell) I saw the massive boulders up above when the snow melts, what happens to the folks that live on the river below. Will there be a flood control of some sort in place to prevent them from being washed away or will the public be paying every year for them to rebuild. We all know the natural salmon runs That were there are not coming back and that is very sad. But does taking down the dams at this point really justify what has already happened and cant be changed. Only time will tell. Until then, and hopefully after I will enjoy what we have here because it is so great.

We all know the natural salmon runs That were there are not coming back and that is very sad.

We do?   

Way to get out on those Elwah fish.  That's a beautiful river.

-Allen

We all know the natural salmon runs That were there are not coming back and that is very sad.

We do?   

Way to get out on those Elwah fish.  That's a beautiful river.

-Allen

I'll second Allen. I am always impressed at how resilient Mother Nature and her creatures are, when given half a chance. There are still some steelhead and kings spawning below the dams and I would be shocked if they don't re- colonize the upper river. Did you see what happened to the Toutle R. after Mt. St. Helens blew? People were stunned at how fast the fish recovered- lots of folks thought that river would be dead for years.

The rainbows you're catching in the upper river have steelhead genes and can recolonize the river, too.

I wish they would just get on it with the dam(n) removal, but my understanding is that there have been a bunch of baseline studies done, so that the effects of removal can be well measured.

I second Allen and Pisco, --since the river quickly runs into the Olympic National Park there is no reason to think there will be significant loss of habitat due to human development.
Very few rivers have runs of salmon  like the Elwah did ---and I think that potential is still there.  Just get on with the damn dam removal.   

Rob.

Thanks for the report. I hiked in to Humes Ranch area three summers ago in late August and also found the fishing tough in the daytime.
No surface feeding evident mid-day, so went down to the fish. Small Beadhead Flashback Pheasant Tail nymphs turned out to be the ticket. Used a larger BH Stonefly nymph  to help get it down, and the #16 BH Pheasant Tail was a trailer. Got a few 9" to 11" on that setup.
Another fly fisher showed up with a whole box of them in several sizes and colors. He was using a large Conehead Sparkle Bugger to get them down, and he confirmed that it was his "go to" daytime setup. He liked size 18 at this time of year. Turned over a rock and showed me a natural, and it was close enought o what we were both using.
In the last half hour of light at dusk, a large pool near where I was camped came alive. There must have been 15 or so different trout rising where I saw nothing in the daytime. I tied on a #16 Parachute Adams and started casting to risers. Got a nice 11"-12"er, missed some strikes, LDR'd another, and then got the best fish of the trip, a nice 16" that really taxed my sanity, hoping the knots on my 5X tippet would hold and the barbless hook stay in.
All I can say is that those Elwha Rainbows ARE Steelhead! That had to be the hardest fighting 16"er I have ever had the pleasure to C&R. I plan to fish there again very soon, within a couple of weeks.

Can't leave here now, as the tides are coming around for morning salmon fishing, and I "need" to catch a King.

We all know the natural salmon runs That were there are not coming back and that is very sad.

We do?   

Way to get out on those Elwah fish.  That's a beautiful river.

-Allen

I'll second Allen. I am always impressed at how resilient Mother Nature and her creatures are, when given half a chance. There are still some steelhead and kings spawning below the dams and I would be shocked if they don't re- colonize the upper river. Did you see what happened to the Toutle R. after Mt. St. Helens blew? People were stunned at how fast the fish recovered- lots of folks thought that river would be dead for years.

The rainbows you're catching in the upper river have steelhead genes and can recolonize the river, too.

I wish they would just get on it with the dam(n) removal, but my understanding is that there have been a bunch of baseline studies done, so that the effects of removal can be well measured.

Hey I agree with you, and it would be great if they all come back. This is not something I made up, the college here has been doing studies on the river and the impact of dam removal from sediment in to the flats of the mouth and even into freshwater bay,and when I asked one of the biologist that is working on the project that is what they have determined. There might be a bit of difference here between the Elwah and the Toulte R. The dams have been in place for such  long time, (before all of us) which had prevented return stock to make it to the redds that they used. From what I understand there are only coho that are native that return to the lower part ofthe river. The river runs from the park and there are some homes along the mid section between the two lakes. I do believe it will all turn out ok, but it does make you wonder.

I hit it again last night and started with a lead wingcoachman. Lifted a few rocks found some green larve so I tied on green latex larve. IthinkI will need to tie some with a little more wieght. Lots of terrestrial on the river so I know the feeding is just as heavy below as above. I also found a crawdad ? don't know if someone brought it in or if it was a natrual. I always thought it to be to cold for them. Maybe not. Any way I love that river it is so great, and its only 15 minutes from the house.