That thud you heard Friday was the Tulalip Bubble chinook opener falling flat. Oh, sure, there were a few kings taken on opening day and over the weekend, but not enough in any sense to call it a great start to the 2006 season.
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife creel checkers at the Port of Everett ramp tallied only six chinook Friday and Saturday for 234 total anglers, and knowledgeable fishermen say there were probably only eight or 10 fish taken over the first three days.
Not all those anglers were in the bubble, however, or even looking for salmon. The lingcod season continues to produce, and there were 20 lings checked at the Everett ramp Saturday and Sunday, and 16 more at Mukilteo on Sunday.
“So it looks like a typical bubble opener,” said Nick Kester with All Star Charters. “Slow early on and gradually getting better as more fish stack off the Bay.”
Kester said there were a couple of kings taken in the upper 20-pound range, but most were going 12 to 14 pounds or so.
“The bulk were caught by trollers out over deeper water, looking for suspended fish at 50 to 80 feet,” Kester said, “but only because that’s where 90 percent of the guys fish.”
Kester, who prefers to fish along the edges of the bar, north of the red can buoy, said he was marking fish on bottom and fair amounts of bait, and felt that there were fishable numbers of salmon in the area.
Free Fishing Weekend: It’s Saturday and Sunday. No licenses are required to take rod in hand and hit the water. Neither will a vehicle access permit be required for the two days, but you will have to complete a catch record card if you take a salmon, steelhead, sturgeon or halibut. All other rules – limits, seasons, closures – remain in effect.
Rivers: Rivers opened June 1 to spotty results for steelhead and chinook. High, murky water on the Skagit pretty much limited those chasing kings to the mouth of the Cascade, and the clearer water below the mouths of several feeder streams between Rockport and Marblemount. Those small spots can be productive, however, said Don Ferber at Holiday Market Sports in Burlington.
“We have one customer who has taken limits for three days, just working float and shrimp in those little windows at the mouths of clear feeder streams,” Ferber said.
Hatchery chinook are running 8 to 12 pounds and unclipped natives – in the majority – are going 12 to 25 pounds or so. Ferber said bait is better in the murky water than spoons or plugs, and recommends eggs or shrimp drifted with red or pink Spin N Glos, or hung under a float.
The Skagit chinook season runs June 1 to July 9, from the Rockport bridge to the Cascade, and on up the Cascade to the Rockport-Cascade Road bridge.
The Skykomish was perhaps slightly more productive over the weekend, although it, too, was running too high and discolored for optimum fishing.
“It was kind of a mixed bag over the weekend,” said guide and Arlington resident Sam Ingram. “I was out on the opener and we released two native summer steelhead, about 10 pounds each, and kept one hatchery chinook of 15 pounds, chrome bright. But that was the exception, because the river has been running better than 9 feet at Gold Bar and best fishing is usually between 6.5 and 7.5 feet.”
Ingram had to work diver and bait right up tight to the brush, he said, between Sultan and Monroe. He said plug fishermen should probably stick with Fatfish or magnum Wiggle Warts, because there’s too much water running for Kwikfish.
He also said that with the river dropping and clearing, this weekend could offer some top opportunity.
The next two weeks should be peak of the season on the Icicle, and there are kings to be had. Guide Tom Talbot, working out of Hooked On Toys sport shop in Wenatchee, drifted the river early this week, hooking five kings and landing four.
Bob Gooding at Olympic Sporting Goods in Forks said the rivers in his area are in good shape now, except the Hoh, which is still a little dirty. Some summer steelhead are showing (Bogachiel, lower Calawah) and still some springers being taken (Sol Duc). King fishermen in boats are pulling Kwikfish, while bank anglers by the salmon hatchery throw spinners or bait. The Wynoochee is one of the best prospects on the coast for steelhead this summer.
The Cowlitz, Kalama and Lewis are all producing pretty good numbers of both spring chinook and summer steelhead.
Shrimp: Iceberg Point on the south end of Lopez Island remains the hot area for spot shrimp, according to Ferber, but hit it quick, as it might not be open much longer. Meanwhile, seasons for smaller coonstripe and pink shrimp opened June 1 in marine areas 8-1, 8-2, 9 and 11, with a 150-foot maximum depth restriction. Spot shrimp must be released.
Lings: Good ling fishing continues in the San Juan Islands, through June 15, in a number of different spots with rocky habitat along edges and dropoffs. Checks at Cornet Bay ramp (fishing Deception Pass, Biz Point, and other nearby spots) showed 24 boats with 17 rockfish, 21 lings, 11 greenling, and 2 cabezon on Sunday. Checks at the Washington Park ramp west of Anacortes late last week tallied 25 rockfish, 25 lings, 21 greenling and 7 cabezon for 26 boats.
South Sound salmon: Marine Area 11, Vashon Island south to the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, opened June 1 to pretty good results on the opener, but declining catches thereafter. The June 1 check at Point Defiance ramp showed 84 boats with 27 kings, but that dropped to 5 fish for 40 boats on Saturday.
Halibut: Entrants in the Sekiu Halibut Derby on Saturday and Sunday didn’t load their boats, with 186 anglers taking a total of eight fish, according to the state.
Shad: Sunday’s shad count (100,000) over the Bonneville Dam fish ladders was the largest single-day count so far this season and considerably lower Columbia River flows have made fishing a little easier. Boat fishermen below the dam averaged 18 shad per rod late last week, and bank anglers were also doing well.
Sturgeon: Lower Columbia sturgeon fishing is improving, with most recent checks showing charter boat anglers out of Ilwaco and Chinook averaging two-thirds of a legal fish kept per rod.
Kids’ trout event: The Northshore Chapter, Trout Unlimited, sponsors a free kids’ fishing pond from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on June 17 and 18 at Biringer Farm in Marysville. The event is for youngsters under 16 accompanied by an adult. Experts will be on hand to assist, the pond will be stocked with rainbow trout, and if families don’t have their own tackle, the club will provide gear and bait. Take I-5 exits 195, 198, or 199 to Highway 529 between Everett and Marysville. Follow signs to Biringer Farm.
Kokanee: It’s prime time now on Skagit County’s Lake Shannon for nice kokanee on the upper end of the lake to 15 or 16 inches. The folks at Holiday Market Sports in Burlington say liberal chumming will draw the fish, and a Pautzke egg with a maggot, 10 to 12 feet deep, will take ‘em.
High quality kokanee fishing in several local lakes has persuaded the firm to stock several new products designed for the species, including some really interesting things from Pautzke: the new, scented, Kokanee Fire Corn, in a variety of colors, excellent for still fishing or tipping a Wedding Ring, and the unique Kokanee Fuel, a chum by Pautzke consisting of a blend of Balls O’ Fire salmon eggs, natural proteins, and various scents, including the very popular Krill scent used in Pautzke’s liquid and gel formulas.
The stuff has proven very effective, and you wonder if it might work in Lake Stevens. Granted, most kokanee anglers on Lake Stevens are trollers, but a little experimentation might show this new Pautzke’s attractant drawing both kokes and triploid rainbow to anchored bait fishermen. And yes, chumming is legal on the lake.
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