Wow! We’ve hit August in a
flash and by now anglers have gotten their chances to hook salmon in what’s clearly
turning out to be a memorable summer.
And while we’ve just eclipsed
the midway point of summer, one shouldn’t let a lack of sleep or the ever
growing “must do” list of house chores hold them back from getting out on the
water.
In early June, my fishing
journey began when the early summer chinook run ramped up in south-central
Puget Sound (Area 11) around the Tacoma area off the Clay Banks, Flats and even
as far south as Fox Island!
Fast forward to mid-July
when the hatchery king fishery in northern and central Puget Sound (Areas 9 and
10) started off on a high note with anglers averaging more than half-a-fish-per
rod during the Area 9 opener. Fishing was so good that WDFW had to shut-down
the chinook season – it’s still open for hatchery coho –
earlier than anticipated.
This kind of success and
pure fishing fun reminded me why I enjoy being on my boat during this short
window of opportunity in the summer chasing migratory kings from Puget Sound
into the Strait of Juan de Fuca and down to the Columbia River mouth.
We’re all limited to how
much time we get on the water especially when we’ve got jobs to hold down,
family vacations to take and spending time with the kiddos. But, being smart
and choosing where to fish locally will often lead to “fish-on” time-and-time again.
Looking at the month of
August and September, anglers will still have plenty of choices to hook into
kings and silvers.
Some of my favorite spots
are Buoy 10 located near the Columbia River mouth; Westport on the
south-central coast; Willapa Bay; Puget Sound in the Vashon Island/Tacoma area;
and Long Beach just outside of Ilwaco off the southern coast.
While the Columbia chinook
and coho returns aren’t as glamorous compared to recent year averages – the
total fall chinook forecast is 365,000, which is about half of the 10-year
average and falls below the 582,600 forecast and actual return of 475,900 last
year – it will still provide ample hook-ups to make for a worthwhile trip to
Ilwaco.
I first got hooked on the
shallow water fishery off Long Beach by Tony Floor (a long-time sport-fishing
advocate and dear fishing partner for many years) where we’d troll in 20 to 50
feet of water with just a banana weight and whole herring. Trolling through the
huge schools of anchovies would constantly make your rod tip vibrate.
Keeping up the speed on
your boat by going at a fast clip of 3 to 3.5 miles per hour is vital and you
only need 13 to 15 pulls of line off the reel. Then kick back and watch those
kings smash your bait and head out into the horizon like a fast-moving
locomotive.
Just inside the Columbia
River mouth is the famous Buoy 10 salmon fishery where on busy weekends will have
an armada of boats stretching in all directions as far as the eyes can see.
Look for hungry salmon at
places like the “Wing Walls” on the Washington side of the river, Desdemona Flats,
above and below the Astoria-Megler Bridge and the Blind Channels just above the
bridge.
If you want to stay close
to home it’d be wise to hit central (10) and south-central Puget Sound (11)
since the South Sound-bound hatchery chinook forecast of 227,420 is up 21
percent from 10-year average and a 35 percent increase from 2017. Be sure to
check the WDFW website or hotline just in case the fisheries close sooner than
expected.
As of press time Area 10
was under a hatchery king quota of 4,743, which is twice as large as last
year’s quota, and scheduled to remain open until Aug. 30. Look for good fishing
from Kingston south to Jefferson Head, and other locales like Point Monroe,
West Point, Yeomalt Point and Skiff Point.
Look for hatchery kings around Dolphin Point, Redondo
Beach, Brace Point, Three Tree Point and Point Robinson.
Further south of the
Narrows Bridge is where “13” could be your lucky number! This deep-south sound
region is known as Area 13 and will be the final staging area of the strong
hatchery chinook returns. Anglers were already hooking up on good numbers of hatchery
king around Fox Island in July, and seek them out at Anderson Island, the
Nisqually Flats, Dover Point near Zangle Cove, Itsami Ledge, Dickenson Point,
Little Fish Trap Bay, Big Fish Trap Bay and Johnson Point.
Another sleeper spot in
late-summer is the San Juan Islands and is open to wild and hatchery kings
through Sept. 3.
Great summer warm-water fish action
Fish species like yellow
perch and rock bass just don’t get the attention as much as our beloved salmon,
but I will often sneak away to my favorite lakes for these fine tasting fish.
The cool thing about this
fishery is that you can easily catch them from the shore or boat, and Lake
Washington – which is 20 miles long and covers more than 22,000 acres – is excellent
for yellow perch, rock bass as well as many other fish species.
The yellow perch
population is one of the most prolific and are extremely easy to find and
catch. It’s peak time right now as the water temperature heats up making them
very active all-day long.
Look for schools of yellow
perch in shallow water, 15 to 35 feet, and close to the shoreline. They will
school up in shaded locations just outside the cover of weed beds, milfoil,
aquatic weeds and lily pads or under docks, piers and overhanging trees and
brush.
Target Seward Park; Montlake
Cut; Newport Canal; Newport Shores; Kenmore log boom and pier; Juanita Bay;
Magnuson Park shoreline; Andrews Bay; Newport area and slough; Webster Point in
Union Bay; Yarrow Bay in Kirkland; Gene Coulon Park in Renton; Mercer Island
near Luther Burbank Park; and in South Seattle off Leschi Park, Madison Park,
Stan Sayres Pits and Mount Baker Park. Lake Union around Gasworks Park and
other areas are good spots too!
A simple light-to-medium-action
trout fishing rod and spinning reel loaded with 4- to 6-pound line on a drop-shot
(egg-style) weight attached to a three-way swivel is the “go to” tackle. Baits
of choice are worms, maggots or a skirted crappie jig. Once you catch your
first perch cut a small chunk of the meat or even a perch eyeball, which works
great as bait.
Word on Northwest Salmon Derby Series
The derby series got off
to a good start with 362 adult and 45 youth anglers turning out for the PSA
Bellingham Salmon Derby on July 13-15. Participants weighed-in 155 fish and the
winner of the $7,500 first-place prize was Darren Anderson with a 24.28-pound
hatchery king. Second was Kevin Klein with a 21.60; and third was Ryan Johnson
with a 20.44. By comparison in 2017, there was 329 anglers with 167 fish
caught.
That was followed by the Big
One Salmon Derby on July 25-29 at Lake Coeur d’Alene in Idaho.
The Brewster Salmon Derby
on Aug. 3-5 was cancelled then reinstated after WDFW verified the summer
chinook return to the Upper Columbia River was stronger than expected. The
fishery reopened July 25 from Rocky Reach Dam to Wells Dam, including the
Wenatchee and Chelan rivers; and Aug. 1 from Wells Dam to Chief Joseph Dam,
including the Okanogan and Similkameen rivers. The change came after fishery
managers were confident they’d achieve escapement goals.
Brewster Salmon Derby anglers
in early July were refunded so they needed to re-register online at http://brewstersalmonderby.com/
by Wednesday, Aug. 1 at 5 p.m.
Other derbies are the South
King County PSA Derby on Aug. 4; Gig Harbor PSA Derby on Aug. 11; and the Vancouver,
B.C. Canada Chinook Classic on Aug. 18-19.
It’s also not too soon to
start getting excited about coho in September and be sure to enter the PSA
Edmonds Coho Derby on Sept. 8, and the biggest derby on West Coast – the
Everett Coho Derby on Sept. 22-23.
That is where we’ll draw
the lucky name to win a grand-prize $65,000 KingFisher 2025 Falcon Series boat
powered with Honda 150hp and 9.9hp motors on an EZ-loader galvanized trailer.
It is fully rigged with Scotty downriggers, Raymarine electronics, a WhoDat
Tower and a Dual Electronic Stereo. Details: www.NorthwestSalmonDerbySeries.com.
Now it’s for me to start
tying up bunch of leaders and bolt out the door to see if I can entice a late-summer
king to take my bait. See you on the water!
