Fishing | Puget Sound chinook fishing off to slow start

After last year's red-hot start to the hatchery chinook fishery in northern and Central Puget Sound, many were expecting similar results this summer.

So far, the fishery that opened July 16 has started off at a snail's pace, with the one exception being Midchannel Bank off Port Townsend where fishing has been fairly good.

"Things are pretty slow in both areas [9 and 10], and fishing is just as miserable in Area 11 [south central Sound]," said Mark Baltzell, a state Fish and Wildlife biologist.

Catch estimates in northern and Central Puget Sound from July 16 through Sunday showed anglers averaged 0.138 fish per rod in Area 9 and 0.043 in Area 10.

Since July 16, only 1,300 hatchery chinook have been caught compared with 3,252 last year. The combined quota for Areas 9 and 10 this summer is 10,000 hatchery chinook.

Charter captains like Gary Krein, owner of All-Star Charters in Everett, are finding fish each day, but struggling to get any consistency.

"There are a few chinook around, but it has a way to go to equal last year," Krein said. "We've had some action every day since it opened, including one or two kept, a couple released and a few shakers [chinook under the 22-inch minimum size limit]."

Krein said chances are best at places like Point No Point and Midchannel Bank.

"All the creel checks [Tuesday] were pretty pitiful, but the bright spot was Port Townsend where we checked 65 anglers with 31 chinook," Baltzell said. "A couple of the charter guys have landed some nice hatchery kings of 23 and 24 pounds at Point No Point."

Other places giving up a few chinook include Possession Bar, Jefferson Head, Kingston, Double Bluff off Whidbey Island, Possession Point, Point Monroe, West Point off Shilshole Bay, Point Monroe and Southworth.

The Elliott Bay chinook fishery (open Fridays to Mondays) ended up being rather slow, although George Harris with the Northwest Marine Trade Association defied the odds and hooked seven chinook and two coho this past weekend.

"The bay is still slow, but the tides look better this weekend so we'll see what happens," said Pete Sergeef, a state Fish and Wildlife checker at the Armeni boat ramp in West Seattle. "We checked 63 boats [Monday] with eight chinook and 14 coho."

In south-central Sound places like the Tacoma area, Dolphin Point on Vashon Island, Redondo Beach, Des Moines, Brace Point and Point Robinson are spotty at best.

Fishing off the coast at La Push, Westport and Ilwaco is fair to good, but slow at Neah Bay, and angler turnout has been way down with many blaming high gas prices or the rough water conditions of late.

"We are nowhere near halfway through the catch quotas on the coast, and I don't see a closure happening in the near future," said Scott Barbour, a state Fish and Wildlife biologist. "I heard it was slow [Tuesday] at Westport."

Last week, 2,200 Westport anglers caught 1,100 chinook and 900 coho [0.89 fish per rod average]; 150 at La Push caught 86 chinook and 32 coho; and 988 at Ilwaco caught 295 chinook and 673 coho.

"At Neah Bay they're averaging a third of a fish per person, and so far this week it has not really improved," Barbour said.

The highlight off Westport is that anglers are now starting to target tuna.

"Some private boats are catching tuna going about 70 miles out, so they aren't really close but within striking distance," Barbour said.

In the Strait of Juan de Fuca, places like Sekiu and Port Angeles are kicking out some kings, and Freshwater Bay seems to be the best locale.

"We're struggling, but the kings they're catching are nice" and in the 17- to upper 20-pound range, said Chris Mohr, owner of Van Riper's Resort in Sekiu. "We've had windy weather this past week, and that played into the tough fishing, and on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd rate it a 2 or 3."

The San Juan Islands have also been streaky for kings.

"It is on-and-off-again type of fishing, but there are more good days than not," said Larry Carpenter, owner of Master Marine in Mount Vernon. "The west side of the islands will kick in right about now for big Fraser River-bound kings."

Word on sockeye

The Lake Wenatchee sockeye fishery still hasn't been approved, but optimism is still afloat.

"It is looking good for a possible fishery," said Art Viola, a state Fish and Wildlife biologist. "We have 13,000 fish over Tumwater Dam, and based on previous years the run is somewhere about half done, and it is probably delayed because of cold water temperatures in the Wenatchee."

About 23,000 sockeye are needed for spawning, and about 4,000 more are needed to have a fishery.

Fishing in Lake Wenatchee last occurred in 2004 and 2001.

Viola says at this point the return looks to be somewhere between 26,000 and 31,000 sockeye if the run keeps going on at this current pace.

"At this point there is no reason to think it would change for the worse, and we almost have enough data to make a decision," Viola said.

West of the Cascades, "it is not officially dead for a possible sockeye fishery in Baker Lake, but the likelihood is close to [having no fishery]," said Brett Barkdull, a state Fish and Wildlife biologist.

Fishing reports

• Chinook, steelhead or trout in local rivers: "Fishing is holding steady [in the Skykomish River], and last week, 143 anglers kept 12 chinook and released seven, and kept 12 steelhead and released one," said Chad Jackson, a state Fish and Wildlife biologist. "The water flow is slowly decreasing, but it is a lot higher than normal for this time of the year."

Other rivers to choose among are the Cedar, Green, Stillaguamish North Fork, Snoqualmie and Samish.

• Trout and other game fish in lakes: "Kokanee fishing seemed to peak up this past weekend in Lake Stevens, and still seeing some fairly decent cutthroat fishing in Lake Washington and Lake Goodwin for rainbows," said Mike Chamberlain at Ted's Sports Center in Lynnwood.

In Lake Washington, try for perch from Leschi to Seward Park.

• Crab in Puget Sound: Open daily in southern Puget Sound, and the rest of Puget Sound and Hood Canal are open Wednesdays through Saturdays only. Some areas north of Anacortes won't open until later this summer.

• Halibut off the coast: The near-shore halibut fishery off Neah Bay-La Push and from Cape Flattery to the Sekiu River will reopen this Saturday only. Ilwaco will also reopen for halibut Aug. 1-2.

• Fish in the Columbia River and its tributaries: Fishing for steelhead is good in the Lower Columbia, with boat anglers averaging one steelhead per every 2.3 rods. The Cowlitz River is fairly good for steelhead near the trout hatchery, and same goes at the Lewis River mouth. Sturgeon catch-and-keep is allowed in the estuary this Saturday and Sunday, and about 92 percent of the charter-boat anglers were getting their one-fish daily limit.

Mark Yuasa: 206-464-8780 or myuasa@seattletimes.com