As Good As it Gets 2

The junkies are easy to find, just head to the Diner in Forks before the sun comes up and they'll be there. They're always there early in the morning this time of year. They say things like "3 for 7 on the Dimmel", and "you know…pitch it in the bucket below the tree"…and the ones wearing bright colored clothes will make statements like "it was a pluck, not a grab", or "a fee snitch of me scotch was poured into the river". To the uninformed it all sounds like jibberish and, well, it might as well be jibberish, but to a veteran member of the steelhead junky nation it symbolizes the heart of the wild steelhead run on Washington's Olympic Peninsula and the people that spend their lives chasing them. 

One of the junkies that lives and works in the heart of steelhead country is Mike Zavadlov, owner of Mike Z's Guide Service in Forks, Washington (www.mikezgs.com). Mike is everywhere out there, literally. I once saw Mike doing a looooong float on the Hoh River and later heard that he caught a huge steelhead on the Duc on the same day. "How in the hell does he do that," was all I could muster.

Whether it's good clean livin' or the guys just got a nose for the fish, he's built a solid reputation as a stellar guide on the "Nince" and todays brief conversation with Mike was like adding a dollop of butter to a fully-juice-ified Ruth Chris ribeye steak. I was starving after a long day of steelhead fishing when I talked to him, what can I say? 

"How big was that total !HAWG! Oclair Enstad caught with you a couple days ago," I babbled while oogle'ing at the photo of the metalhawg on his website. Mikes response, "I'm not sure, we didn't even measure it. Maybe mid-20's or something like that…pretty nice fish." "Nice fish"…that's what the handful of uber-experienced guides in Forks will call a nice little mid-20's wild steelhead, the fish of a lifetime…shoot…the fish of 5 lifetimes!

Now is the time to be there folks…it's as good as it gets!

Oclair Enstad and the mid-20's buck he caught with Mike Z on March 1, 2010 on one of the Olympic Peninsula rivers.