I'm going to try fishing the Queets next weekend and was hoping someone could give me some pointers on how to be maximize my chances of being successful. I understand the Park has closed the river to Chinook retention (both adult and jacks which seems ridiculous to me since all Jacks do is die) so I'll be targeting silvers only. Anyone know of the best hardware to use for this? I know there are a lot of variables that are unknown at this point (clarity of the water, visibility, level, flow, etc) but assuming the stars are aligned what would you recommend I try for the best luck?

Thanks.

Hire a guide. Oh yeah kind of a hard thing to guide on the queets with current restrictions. Spend the hunski and some odd bucks and roll your dice like everybody else does. Get their ass kicked by the river or apply knowledge to application and change when appropriate. Probably not the first post I would make if I were joining a fishing community. But all in all be careful floating the river it canbe tough. Good luck

I should have made clear that I'm not planning on floating the river, just bank fishing it. I know this limits my options even more, but hiring a guide is out of my price range. I'm just looking for some tips that will increase my odds of being successful. Don't expect to slay them but thought if I could at least use the right gear I wouldn't necessarily be wasting my time.

Target silvers with spinners. Big spinners. Or spoons. (There have been many recent pics of the 'hootchie' style, with bright colors preferred)


The olds are good that the river will be 'unfishable' due to flows and visibility. Become familiar with the USGS Gauges...

If the river is big and brown, fish the slow water close to shore and the seams, even the "pond" type water.

If you do not know that area, be prepared to drive around a bunch and walk a bunch...

Go to the Salmon River bridge, walk down to the Queets and join the crowd. You'll likely be casting into quick water with drift gear, plugs, or spinners/spoons if you can keep them down. Good luck. It can be a frustrating river to fish but there are some slabs that call it home.

You pretty much have it laid out from everyone else. Find a hole, fish a spinner, or spoon. If you don't see anything jumping in the hole, move to another one.

The first time I ever fished for Salmon on the Q, I hooked and landed a 40 +/- lb buck chinook, on my very first cast. By far my biggest salmon ever. I hooked it below the mouth of the Salmon on a blue spinglo, with a big gob of eggs. I have never landed a salmon there since.

The country is beautiful though, and you just never know when you will hit it right.

Spinners.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

It's all been spelled out for ya in the above post.

Float and Eggs Baby !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last year when I fished it everyone was throwing spinners and I was fishing bait and catching coho about every 5th cast and everyone else was getting spanked by FLY !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Peace
Fly