Here’s an early warning.
The Elwha River will close Nov. 1 above its two dams as they get ready to turn it into a free-flowing river.
The short stretch below the dams will close March 1.
If you haven’t heard, they’ll be destroying the two dams in the largest such project in U.S. history. It’s important because the Elwha, located in the Olympic National Park, is surrounded by uncut timber. If they ever wanted to restore a river back to its original beauty, the Elwha is one of the best candidates in the U.S.
It’s great fishing already.
The fish below the dams love dry flies and are lots of fun to catch. They’re genetically solid. When the dams are gone, they’re expected to repopulate the river with rainbows that go to sea, a.k.a. winter and summer steelhead.
The Lower Elwha Klallam tribe isn’t taking any chances. It just finished building a new fish hatchery that will help repopulated the river with steelhead and salmon. that have been off limits to about 60 miles of the river for nearly a century.
But that will take time.
Nobody knows for sure when the river will be open to fishing again.
I’m writing more about this for Sunday’s newspaper. The story and photos will wind up online also. It will include more on where to go and what to bring.
But I wanted readers of this blog to get the first reminder.
I recommend you fish it this summer so you don’t have to wait for its revival. My favorite time is right after Labor Day, when the numbers of visitors to the park drops way down.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
