Anglers can pretty much pick their fishing emphasis this weekend, as pink salmon are still providing top action on the Snohomish, Skykomish and Stillaguamish rivers, and coho are hitting in at least fair numbers at the Shipwreck and other spots. Between the two extremes, it’s possible to pick up a few of both species.
All Star Charters owner Gary Krein, in Everett, said early this week fishermen down around the south end of humpy hollow were commonly reporting a couple of humpies in the boat, along with a silver or two. There has been a good bite after low slack, he said.
Members of the Everett Steelhead and Salmon Club have been taking coho fairly consistently over deeper water in the Browns Bay area, according to club member Jim Brauch.
The combination fishery in local water is a tricky one, Krein said, and you must pretty much target one species or the other. Speed up for coho and stand a fair chance of nailing a couple of pinks; slow down for pinks, and stand a fair chance of hitting a coho or two.
Standard humpy tackle — white dodger and pink mini-squid — will also tempt the occasional coho, while a green flasher and glow white squid will also take the occasional pink. The correct depth, thankfully, has been about the same for both humpies and silvers, at 40 to 80 feet.
State Fish and Wildlife Department personnel checked 177 fishermen at the Port of Everett ramp on Sunday with 62 pinks and 74 coho. Coho numbers coming down the Strait have been up and down, but checks Sunday at Van Ripers Resort in Sekiu showed 97 fishermen with 59 silvers.
Up on the Skykomish, guide and Arlington resident Sam Ingram said there are still lots of pinks coming in, many of them bright and fresh. Ingram likes to anchor against the bank and cast Dick Nite spoons in 50-50 to showing schools of fish. There’s a lot of bank access on the Sky, so keep moving until you see fish jumping and splashing.
Jim Strege at Triangle Beverage in Snohomish said there is also top pink fishing still to be had on the Snohomish, with the stretch from town upriver the best bet now. Early morning is prime time to get after ‘em, he said, until about 9 or 10 a.m., plus the period around tide changes and on the incoming flood. A lot of different gear will work – Buzz Bombs, pink or red jigs, Dick Nite spoons.
“I’ve heard the occasional report of a coho being taken,” Strege said, “but not many yet.”
THE BIG EVERETT COHO DERBY is scheduled for Sept. 22-23, and tickets go on sale at many local tackle shops Saturday, so reports of decent numbers of silvers in local waters is encouraging. So is the fact that the Edmonds Derby last week weighed 120-plus coho for 450 entrants – not super-great, but at least better than last year at this point.
Boaters planning to fish the derby might want to look into guest moorage available south of the 10th Street ramp, which would enable them to have their boat in the water and not have to fight the derby-morning lineup. Jim Brauch (above) said club members and Port of Everett personnel will be at the ramp Friday morning by 10 a.m. to arrange for moorage rental at a reasonable rate – 75 cents per foot, according to information Brauch provided. There will be security provided at the guest moorage, he said.
METRO LAKES: Lake Sammamish is open for salmon fishing, with a two-fish daily limit, no sockeye, and closed within 100 yards of the mouth of Issaquah Creek. This is an interesting but little-known chinook fishery, mostly right off the mouth of the hatchery creek, using downriggers and diving plugs, which at times can be pretty good.
Lake Washington opens Sunday for coho, north of the Hwy 520 bridge, but it’s a little early for top fishing.
SOUTHWEST RIVERS: The Cowlitz, Kalama and Lewis rivers are putting out pretty good fishing right now for a mix of kings and silvers. Checks on the North Lewis last weekend showed averages of close to one coho per rod, and WDFW biologist Joe Hymer in Vancouver said the next two weeks should see peak numbers of chinook in the Kalama.
UPPER COLUMBIA: Fishing for summer chinook above Wenatchee on the Columbia has been slow to fair recently, according to guide and Brewster resident Rod Hammons, with the occasional limit taken on herring or Super Baits. Action has spread out below Wells Dam, Hammons said, making the fishery a little less crowded and a little more productive. He also said the fall walleye bite in the area is just getting started, and some nice-sized fish are being boated.
TIGER MUSKIE TOURNAMENT: The Lake Mayfield Tiger Muskie Tournament is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday on the popular lake near Mossyrock, Lewis County, providing a cash prize pot of $2,800. Registration is $100 per two-person team, sponsored by Lake Mayfield Resort and Marina. For more information and/or to register, contact the resort at 360-985-2357, or www.lakemayfield.com/tournamentap.htm.
TROUT STUFF: The annual list of lakes scheduled for treatment with rotenone is out, meaning that daily bag and size limits, and gear and motor restrictions have been lifted to enable anglers to catch as many trout prior to treatment as possible. The lakes, all in Eastern Washington, include: Lake Chopaka and Blue Lake in Okanogan County, and Corral, Blythe, Chukar and Scaup lakes in Grant County. Chopaka will be open to fishing only through Sept. 24; the rest through Oct. 22, with no limits.
Rotenone is an organic substance used to rid trout-only lakes of undesirable species so that trout can be replanted.
WDFW biologist Bob Jateff in Omak also said the Methow River catch and release trout season has produced some good fishing for resident rainbow and cutts in the 16- to 18-inch range. He said selective gear lakes such as Big Twin near Winthrop and Ell near Tonasket should all start to produce top fall fishing as soon as water temps start to cool.
Down in Yakima County, attractive fall stream fishing is available in portions of the Yakima River, Naches, Little Naches, and Bumping, and in the upper reaches of Taneum Creeik, Naneum Creek, Manastash Creek, and the forks of the Teanaway, all in Kittitas County. Be sure to check the regulation pamphlet, as limits, minimum sizes and gear requirements vary widely.
MORE TROUT STUFF: Anton Jones of Darrell and Dad’s Family Guide Service in Chelan said fall is a spectacular time to fish dry flies in the upper Stehekin Valley, way up there above Lake Chelan. Getting there is a bit complicated, but it’s gorgeous country and Jones said rainbow and cutthroat fell over themselves to nail a size 12 or 14 Stimulator (or almost anything else, for that matter). The small-stream fish averaged 8 to 12 inches, with a few going to 15 or 16 inches.
“And these may be the prettiest fish in the world,” Jones said.
SOCCER: Yep, soccer. I’m going to slip something in here completely unrelated to fishing or hunting.
Longtime readers of this column may remember that Judyrae and I are soccer fans, and we recently subscribed to Fox Soccer Channel. We’re enjoying it immensely, but we have a question we’re hoping someone out there (Brit, perhaps?) can answer for us. There’s apparently a fairly high-level English soccer team named Sheffield Wednesday, and I hope someone can tell us how the side came by that strange name. We know about Sheffield, of course – we’ve been there as a matter of fact – but the rest defies logic. Reply to kruse@heraldnet.com.
DEER PROSPECTS in the Okanogan this fall are about average, according to WDFW biologist Scott Fitkin of Winthrop. “It won’t be outstanding hunting,” he said, “but not poor, either. The low fawn recruitment from two winters ago will start to affect the availability of legal bucks this year, but will be offset by reduced harvest last year due to wildfires.”
Don’t discount recently burned areas, he said. Scouting hunters have reported significant deer activity in those areas — even in last year’s Tripod fire area.
WOLVES: What appears to be the first confirmed wolf kill of domestic livestock in Washington is under investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. All the data isn’t yet in, but investigators seem to feel a wolf did indeed kill a calf in early September in northern Stevens County.
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