Although the weather forecast doesn’t sound that great for this weekend, there are lots of opportunities out there for salmon anglers. That includes chums in local rivers, the peak of late coho action in southwest rivers and a new (and hopefully better) fishery for winter blackmouth.
So throw on the Helly Hansons, put the ought-six back in the gun safe for another year, and break out the salmon rod.
Popular Marine Area 9 opened for chinook retention on Nov. 1 and while early reports were sketchy, All Star Charters owner/skipper Gary Krein in Everett (425-252-4188) predicts at least a couple of weeks of fishing there superior to the mediocre results so far in areas 8-1 and 8-2.
“You haven’t been able to keep chinook in Area 9 since last April 15,” Krein said, “and it stands to reason we’ll see more legal-size keepers there than we’ve been finding in Area 8, at least for a while.”
There might not be a whole lot of elbow room available on Possession Bar this weekend, however, since a lot of participants in the Everett Bayside Derby almost certainly will be heading in that direction. The Saturday-Sunday event offers $2,000 for first place and tickets are $30 (with a $5 discount for those donating five or more non-perishable items to the derby’s food drive). Tickets are available through 5 p.m. Friday, at Everett Bayside Marine, or Bayside Outboards, in Everett (call 425-252-3088).
Krein said the “blackmouth triangle” of the west edge of Possession Bar, the Double Bluff/Useless Bay area, and Point No Point again will be the spots to fish in Area 9 for resident feeder chinook.
And remember the bonus this year. Recreational crabbing also reopened in Area 9 (and some others) on Nov. 1, because quotas were not met earlier. That means you can set a pot and fish for blackmouth on the same trip, always a very popular combo. Krein said Useless Bay is a good crabbing spot, along with the entrance to Cultus Bay and the shoreline from the shipwreck south to Picnic Point. Possession Bar carries crab in places.
Krein advises starting in about 50 feet of water, checking your gear every hour or two and moving in or out, depending on success – or lack of it.
“You really need to work your gear; to try to find one of the sweet spots,” Krein said.
Meanwhile, Port of Everett ramp checks of blackmouth anglers fishing 8-1 were not encouraging last week. Some 37 boats were checked Saturday, for example, with only three chinook. Krein said there was some encouragement, however, in the fact that at least a few of the Saratoga Passage blackmouth, which were just sub-legal shakers when the season opened, are now just-legal keepers. He found two smallish keepers on Saturday and three on Monday while fishing the Langley area, from Sandy Point north to Fox’s Spit, 70 to 120 feet deep in 80 to 250 feet of water.
Some of those blackmouth are suspended, Krein said, and finding bait seems to be the critical factor. He’s been using 4-inch Tomic plugs in green spatterback and 6-inch Coyote frog racer spoons.
Southwest Washington rivers are producing good mixed-species fishing for steelhead and coho, with coho drawing most of the attention. On the Cowlitz, Lewis and Kalama, anglers are averaging about a half-fish per rod.
Guide and Arlington resident Sam Ingram reports taking still-decent coho and good numbers of chums in the Skykomish on Tuesday, drifting from Sultan to the Ben Howard takeout. One of the coho was about 7 pounds and was taken in the Sultan hole and the other, about 10 pounds, was taken in the area of the Taylor drift, both on small firetiger Hot Shot plugs. The chums hit K13 Kwikfish in a variety of colors: chrome, purple, pink, and various green shades.
Ingram recently returned from a guided steelhead trip on the Snake River above Lewiston-Clarkston, a first for he and his wife, Susan. Great trip, he said, with impressive scenery, lots of sheep, deer and other wildlife and (if you hit it right) top steelhead and bass fishing. The steelhead season on the Snake and Clearwater is just getting started, being a fall/winter/early spring fishery, primarily. Anyone interested in information on the outing can call Ingram at 360-435-9311.
The Skagit is a good bet, thanks to recent rains, for chums and a few late coho, according to Bob Ferber at Holiday Market Sports in Burlington (360-757-4361). Both bank fishermen and boaters are taking fish on a wide range of gear, from Dick Nite spoons to a Spin N Glo with shrimp to sardine-wrapped Kwikfish, and all the way from the Spud Bar/North Fork all the way up past the Burlington/Sedro-Woolley area. The Cascade at Marblemount is reported full of coho, but most are getting pretty dark.
Ferber said tackle shop personnel have seen a couple of unusual fish recently. One was a 45-pound king taken on the Vedder River in British Columbia by a customer on Oct. 20, and the other was an Atlantic salmon caught by a regular customer in the Samish. Ferber said the customer left the fresh, bright Atlantic for a state biologist who wanted to run some tests on it, and to determine whether or not it had previously spawned (Atlantic salmon, like trout, don’t die after spawning). Exotic species spawning would, of course, ring a lot of bells.
The south Sound chum fishery at the mouths of several small streams is underway in earnest, with checks on Kennedy Creek Friday through Sunday showing a total of 66 fishermen with 22 salmon, averaging 8 to 10 pounds.
Steelhead: If you’re a steelheader, this should send a shiver down your spine: 11 winter steelhead returned to the Cowlitz hatchery last week, according to state biologist Joe Hymer in Vancouver, and the guys at Holiday Sports (above) weighed their first winter fish of the year from the Skagit a week ago.
And just in the nick of time comes the Everett Steelhead and Salmon Club with its annual steelhead and river fishing clinic, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Nov. 18 in Floral Hall, Forest Park, Everett. Experts will discuss techniques, tackle and where to go to successfully fish for steelhead and salmon in local rivers. For more information call Jim Brauch at 425-745-0444.
Smelt: Limit smelt jigging has been reported from Cornet Bay for those who hit it right the past couple of weeks, usually on an incoming and high tide. Access is easy on public docks in Deception Pass State Park, with parking and portable toilets. Cross the Deception Pass bridge southbound, go through the small business area and turn left (east) for about a mile to the ramp and pier. Good crabbing, too, when the area is open for crab.
Deer: If you didn’t nail a deer during the general rifle season, you probably weren’t alone. It’s way too early to have data available from harvest reports, but anecdotal evidence indicated a down season, said Jerry Nelson, deer and elk manager at the Olympia office of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
“Particularly in Western Washington blacktail habitat,” Nelson said, “and that’s primarily a function of too-good weather and a lack of rain and wind. I’m hearing that hunter participation was average to slightly below, but that harvest may have been down substantially during the general season.”
The upside is that there should be plenty of animals left for the late season, Nov. 16-19 in selected units, which generally is the best time to hunt the westside.
“We had roughly the same situation last year,” Nelson said, “but the late hunt was a good one so that for the year as a whole, we ended up with an average harvest.”
Waterfowl: Duck hunters did fairly well last week on middle Skagit Bay, and in the vicinity of the farmed island segment of the Skagit Wildlife Area, said Rone Brewer, president of the Northwest Chapter, Washington Waterfowl Association. He said birds should soon begin using the Samish Unit (on Samish Bay) as more of the ponds fill with water.
Potholes Canal was closed last week, improving access to the sand dune area of upper Potholes Reservoir and the waterfowl hunting there. Low water levels had kept most boaters out of the dunes since the opener.
Upper Columbia trout: It’s getting to be Rufus Woods time of year, according to Anton Jones, guide and Chelan resident (antonj@aol.com), when the Columbia pool above Chief Joseph Dam starts putting out top winter fishing for three distinct types of fish: Spokane-strain rainbow going 12 to 18 inches; jumbo kokanee in the multi-pound range; and the huge net-pen triploid broodstock rainbow into the teens or larger. Jones said he’s now guiding for all three, through January or into February, depending on water flow and temperature.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
