April is a great time to experience some of the best steelhead fishing in the world, on the Olympic Peninsula’s Hoh River. Yesterday, April 9th, friend Robert and I joined famed steelhead guide, Pat Neal for a 10 mile float on the lower Hoh River.

Our float began at the Cottonwood Campground and wound 10 miles downriver to a private land pullout that costs $5 upon retrieving your drift boat.

During our float trip, Pat Neal entertained us with stories of Mick Dodge, local politics and of course plenty of fishing stories. Pat has been a full time guide since the mid 1980s and also writes for the Peninsula Daily News, as a “Wilderness Gossip Columnist.” I’d heard stories of Pat for years and now I know why. He is super humble with his expert skills, claiming not to be the best guide, just friendliest. His intimate knowledge of the…