Bardo and I fished the lower Quinault today with Inky Charlie. The water was a bit on the murky side, and the river level came up about 9 inches to a foot while we were fishing, but we had a great day on the river. Can you say "We were the ONLY boat on the river!", and mean it? We could. :p

We had a number of fish hit, and landed two steelhead, both hatchery hens. Neither one was a bruiser, but they were still nice bright fish. One neat thing was that we caught about 7 or 8 cutthroat from 12" to 16". Saw two otters, a few eagles, lots of mergansers and 6 other fishermen.

The thing that I brought away from the trip was how much Inky Charlie knows about the river. He has an intimate knowledge of the Quinault and has participated in a number programs to make the fishery what it is today. This man makes his living off of that river, and does so in a respectful manner.

If Bardo doesn't have him booked up solid, a trip with him is well worth the price.

P.S. Brad, If your pictures turned out, could you please post them, my $30 camera decided not to download the one you took. Must have been the camera.

Andy

Dogfish,
Yeah Inky knows that river like your backyard!
Do you think she'll hold up for Tues, or should I go for plan B in my schedule.
Thanks,
Mav.

Pretty interesting guy to listen to. Did they make you wear the ceremonial head gear??

Fishhead5

Dogfish,
Sounds like you had fun. How big were the fish? I had a lot of fun yesterday. Did you get a pic of the fish I got yesterday?
Chris

Mav,

The river was starting to clear when we pulled out, so if it doesn't rain, the river should be great.

FH5,

No, I was spared the "honor" of wearing the headgear, but I do have to warn you, a bear chewed off the tip of the fish knocker. The sight was a bit disturbing. It hit too close to home. Inky was on his best behavior today. He only mention H***, P****, tampons, and *&$#@@*&& about fifty times.

Chris,

It seems that something went wrong with my camera. It stored the Chad's picture, and my fish, but anytime I try to use a flash, your fish, I get a black screen. Bardo's fish was about, well, it was pretty small :p , maybe 6 lbs. His fish was chrome bright. My fish was about 10, maybe a bit bigger, and had just a hint of color to her. Those cutthroat were a kick and we saw one bank gut with a nice dolly. That was the first one I ever saw in person.

I may be getting a "real" digital camera for my birthday, so hopefully my photofailure won't happen again. Sorry.

dogfish, looks like i posted two pics of the same fish for you.inky was being polite, cause he doesnt know you very well. after the first trip, anyone is fair game for the inkster. if i was a betting man, i would hold off on the quinalt. i think it needs to clear up a bit. depends on the weather. i discussed fishing up at the lake with radioshack. that would be an interesting proposition. perhaps the upper quinalt.

Way to go Andy! Sounds like you had a great weekend. I'm glad to see you're out catching bait for our springer trip.

ron

Nice fish bro, are you standing right at the mouth of cook creek? Looks familiar.
Bill

Andy,
No problem abou thte pic. That's a very nice looking fish. Glad you had a lot of fun on the Quinalt. Talk to you later.
Chris