The Bogachiel River, often referred to as “the bogey” can be a great place to fish for salmon and steelhead throughout the year.
A mix of hatchery salmon and steelhead compliment robust wild runs of salmon and steelhead that make the Bogachiel River well worth our angling pursuits.
The Bogie is also quite a drive from most population centers such as Seattle, Tacoma, or Kitsap making it a true destination river, set in the heart of mostly unspoiled and beautiful Olympic Peninsula forests and foothills.
Originating deep within the western flanks of the Olympic mountains, the Bogachiel winds its way westwards towards the city of Forks until it eventually dumps into the Quillayute River very near where the Sol Duc also joins up.
From there the Quillayute runs a few more miles to the Pacific Ocean near the town of La Push on the western edge of the Olympic Peninsula, Washington State.
This page is different than other pages you might find while searching for fishing information on the Bogachiel River. It is meant be dynamic and give you relevant information about what’s going on right now on the Bogachiel River. The graphs will update automatically and more resources will be added to help you plan a trip to fish the Bogachiel River.
Recent Blog Posts about the Bogachiel River
- Will we get to fish for Washington Coast Steelhead in 2024-2025
- WDFW Announces 2023-2024 Coastal Steelhead Season
- Washington Coastal Steelhead update after Oct 2023 Townhall
- Washington State Steelhead update January, 2023
- Washington Coast Steelhead 2023
Bogachiel River Salmon Fishing 2024
There are both chinook and coho salmon runs on the Bogachiel River. There is no salmon hatchery on the river though which means all of the chinook and coho migrating up the Bogachiel are wilds or strays.
There are more strays of hatchery coho than you might think due to the number of hatchery coho typically returning to the Sol Duc River which is very close proximity to the Bogachiel mouth on the Quillayute.
When to fish for salmon on the Bogachiel River?
Salmon can be found in the Bogachiel River from September through November, but actual run timing will be strongly influenced by water flows.
The entrance to the Bogachiel River is quite wide and flat, meaning if there’s not sufficient water flow, salmon will tend to just stack up in the Quillayute waiting for higher water.
The problem has been significant enough in recent years that WDFW has even temporarily closed things until the rains bring the river level up.
Additionally, the rains often determine when the season is finished. If there’s a significant push of water in early November, it can spell the end of the salmon runs for the year, or salmon could trickle in all the way until Thanksgiving before petering out.
Forecast for the 2024 salmon fishing season on the Bogachiel River
I’ve included the forecast for the Quillayute wild returns of chinook and coho because the PFMC does not break them out by Bogachiel and Sol Duc Rivers.
Returns of chinook salmon were forecasted to be slightly lower over recent years in 2024 compared to 2023.
Returns of natural spawning coho salmon were forecasted to be down from the previous year.
How to fish for salmon on the Bogachiel River?
The Bogachiel can provide an incredible salmon fishing experience due to its small-medium-ish size and abundant runs of wild salmon.
I think the best experience is with an experienced fishing guide going down the river in a drift boat, but I’ve also enjoyed many bank fishing adventures on this river.
Bank access can be limited though.
I’ve found the most success float fishing with really good, wet salmon eggs cured with a product like Pautke’s Fire Cure.
I also like to rig a big red BnR soft bead under a float at times such as the mid-late morning periods when the bite on eggs has slowed down.
My 2nd favorite technique is twitching jigs. I’ve not actually done as well with spinners on this river for some reason.
I like a twitching jig color scheme with contrast, especially like a chartreuse head with black feathers.
There are several resources from PNWBestLife that can help you learn to be successful with these techniques.
The most important thing is that you know how to float fish for salmon. You can follow that link or take a look at the video below.
For twitching jigs, you can take a look at the below video:
In general, if you’re new to this stuff, I highly recommend checking out our comprehensive guide to river fishing for salmon.
I’ve looked at the other free how-to guides, and the PNWBestLife one is more comprehensive than those and is more like a mini-book than a free internet resource.
Bogachiel River Winter Steelhead Fishing 2023-2024
When it comes to early returning hatchery winter steelhead fishing, you won’t find another river in the state that provides quite the opportunity that the Bogachiel provides.
Why is the early winter steelhead fishing on the Bogie so prolific? It’s simple, the run size of early returning steelhead combined with the average flow or CFS of the Bogachiel means that the number of steelhead returning relative to the size of the river is a distinct advantage.
Mixed in with the early returning hatchery winter steelhead, will be some of the legendary wild steelhead many anglers look forward to each year.
However, wild steelhead are far more numerous in the later winter months peaking around late March time frame.
Updated status on hatchery winter steelhead returning to the Bogachiel River
When to fish for winter steelhead on the Bogachiel River?
In 2021, any time from early-mid December to mid-January was a great opportunity to target hatchery winter steelhead on the Bogachiel River.
In 2022, with a smaller escapement, you needed to focus on mid-late December to early January.
The 2023 hatchery forecast looks less robust than the forecast in 2022 (though I believe the total run-size in 2022 was quite off from the forecast based on 2021 strength).
As always, timing runs of anadromous fish returning in the “wet season” requires timing the water flows correctly.
Here’s a link to the Bogachiel River gauge on the USGS site for doing just that.
The wild runs of winter steelhead will see fish returning from February to April typically.
Before you ever go fishing on any river in Washington State make sure you know the regulations determining when a river is open, what part of the river, what gear you can use, and what fish can be retained.
WDFW Permanent Regulations can be found at this link, and we (PNWBestLife) “attempt” to make sure the table at the bottom of this page is also updated with the current permanent regulations.
You also must check the emergency regulations in case there are any changes to the permanent regulations.
Forecast for the 2023-2024 winter steelhead fishing season on the Bogachiel River
Bogachiel River winter steelhead hatchery forecast is down quite a bit for 2023-2023 compared to the 2022-2023 run-size as the 2022-2023 run-size/escapement came in lower than expected.
Returns of wild steelhead are not broken out between the Bogachiel and the Sol Duc Rivers. The forecast for 2023’s return was dead on and the 2024 return forecast is crafted to be similar.
Perhaps the primary reason for the reduced adult forecast is a lower smolt plant in 2022.
How to fish for winter steelhead on the Bogachiel River?
I have several important resources on PNWBestLife.com and the YouTube channel to help you become a better winter steelhead angler.
It all starts with reading water. Check out our guide: How to read water for winter steelhead.
Also, check out the YouTube video.
I’ve also got a complete guide to Winter Steelhead Fishing you should check out and again, an accompanying YouTube video below:
Bogachiel River Summer Steelhead Fishing 2023
Updated status on hatchery summer steelhead returning to the Bogachiel River
When to fish for summer steelhead on the Bogachiel River?
There have been some very slim returns and low water flows during some of the recent summer months.
I also wonder if these numbers have been updated accurately as I’ve experienced really good summer steelhead fishing in early June on the Bogachiel River.
Escapement numbers have not been great in recent years for summer steelhead on the Bogachiel River.
Fishing Regulations on the Bogachiel River for 2024-2025
| Species | Date | Additional Rules |
from mouth to Hwy. 101 Bridge CRC (398) |
||
All species |
Internal combustion motors prohibited. Only 1 single-point barbless hook allowed. |
|
Feb. 16-Apr. 30 |
Bait prohibited. |
|
Sat. before Memorial Day-Aug. 31 |
Bait prohibited. |
|
Trout |
Sat. before Memorial Day-Apr. 30 |
Statewide min. size/daily limit. Except: Release wild rainbow trout. Cutthroat trout min. size 14”. |
Steelhead (hatchery) |
Mar. 1-Apr. 30 |
Statewide min. size/daily limit. |
Sat. before Memorial Day-Oct. 31 |
Statewide min. size/daily limit. |
|
Nov. 1-Last Day of Feb. |
Min. size 20”. Daily limit 3. |
|
Other game fish |
Sat. before Memorial Day-Apr. 30 |
Statewide min. size/daily limit. |
Salmon |
July 1-Aug. 31 |
Min. size 12”. Daily limit 4 including no more than 2 adults. Release wild adult Chinook and wild adult coho. |
Sept. 1-Dec. 15 |
Min. size 12”. Daily limit 3. Up to 1 adult may be retained. Release wild adult coho and sockeye. |
|
from Hwy. 101 Bridge to Olympic National Park boundary CRC (398) |
||
All species |
Internal combustion motors prohibited. Bait prohibited. Only 1 single-point barbless hook allowed. |
|
Trout |
Sat. before Memorial Day-Apr. 30 |
Statewide min. size/daily limit. Except: Release wild rainbow trout. Cutthroat trout min. size 14”. |
Other game fish |
Sat. before Memorial Day-Apr. 30 |
Statewide min. size/daily limit. |
Here’s the text of the special rule change as part of the 2023-2024 Washington coast steelhead season being announced:
The Quillayute River System will follow similar rules as last year’s emergency regulations with some expanded boat fishing on the Sol Duc River. Fishing from a floating device will be allowed in the mainstem Quillayute, downstream of the concrete pump station at the Sol Duc Hatchery, below the Highway 101 bridge on the Calawah River, and downstream of the mouth of Mill Creek on the Bogachiel River (approximately 3/4 mile above the Bogachiel Hatchery).
WDFW Washington Coast 2023-2024 Winter Steelhead Season
You should always check WDFW’s Emergency Rules page before you go to ensure you have the latest information about what the regulations are.
Where to fish on the Bogachiel River
My policy is that I don’t give away fishing spots on my blog. However, there are several well-known spots, anyone can find with a little bit of online research that I would be mistaken to not include as just a “start here” fishing spot.
I’ve got 3 spots on 3 different sections of the river.
Wilson Bridge is a boat launch that gives drift boat launchers access to the lower river. There’s usually some bank access near boat launches, and on low enough water you can navigate more of the shoreline.
Fishing the lower river is ideal for targeting runs of coho and chinook salmon. You can target them higher up, but they will be brighter lower in the river system.
The stretch around and below the Bogachiel Steelhead Hatchery is the prime place to target hatchery early winter steelhead.
You will see bank anglers and drift boats all clustered around this stretch of prime water.
The last spot is on the upper stretch of the river at the Bogachiel State Park.
This is where I would target wild steelhead or even coho that might still be bright if I wanted to get away from crowds during salmon season.
Although the salmon season is not nearly as busy in general on the river.
Conservation and Habitat concerns on the Bogachiel River
The salmon runs on the Bogachiel River are considered healthy, and so are the wild steelhead runs.
However, the entire Washington Coast is on a razor’s edge when it comes to wild steelhead conservation concerns.
There are much greater steelhead conservation concerns on rivers like the Queets and the Chehalis, but as these rivers close off fishing opportunities it focuses on all remaining angling effort river systems like the Quillayute, and then it’s only a matter of time.
