The Queets and Clearwater Live Up to thier Names

I apologize for the lack of postings as of late. I recently moved into a new place and then went through a bout with a nasty summer flu that has been going around Quinault recently. I’m well now and almost fully relocated, so expect the posts to pick up.

I got out today for the first time in a week or so. Shayna and I drove north to escape the tourist nightmare that is the Upper Quinault right now, I planned to fish several spots on the Queets. When we pulled over the Salmon River Bridge it looked low and very clear. For some reason It didn’t click in my head that the recent sunny weather would put the Glacier into overdrive, and I didn’t give any though to the Queets being silty. That’s almost always a fatal mistake on the Queets, and it was today. There was maybe three feet of visibility, and the color was the sickly grey that often makes itself present on the Queets this time of year. This is not water for a floating line, and seeing how that’s all I brought, I decided to head fro greener, er, clearer pastures.

 I don’t know how much truth there is to it, but a common tale in my community is that the word Queets means “Dirty Water”. I can’t think of a more appropriate name, and to keep irony going I decided to alleviate my disappointment on the Queets largest tributary, the Clearwater.

 I had never fished the Clearwater from the bank or during early summer, so I set my frame of mind to exploratory and we headed down Clearwater road. The view at the confluence with Queets made my stomach lurch with desire for the camera that was stolen a month ago, and the drive through the Clearwater community is always pleasant. We found some good water and I plan to make subsequent trips back here. I had one good pull, but other than that the clear, cool water had just enough green to hide a fly line, and enough pocket water to make me regret heading out so late in the evening.