Fishing | August is peak fishing month for many species

This month is the peak for many fish species, and fishing reports at midweek indicate it is prime time to wet a line.

The marine salmon fisheries are pretty much in full swing, and northern and central Puget Sound [Marine Catch Areas 9 and 10] remain the places to get your licks in for king or coho salmon.

"The initial indication is that there wasn't much angler effort [for the reopener] and the catches weren't great," said Mark Baltzell, a state Fish and Wildlife biologist. "I don't anticipate any early closures, and it will go through Friday [the absolute final day of hatchery chinook fishing] with no worries."

All of Area 9 will remain open for hatchery coho, pink, and sockeye starting Aug. 16. Area 10 also will be open, but anglers must release chinook and chum.

Catches were fair at best at places like Point No Point, Possession Bar and Port Townsend at Midchannel Bank.

Farther to the south in central Puget Sound fishing was slow to fair at best for kings and coho at Jefferson Head, Southworth, Kingston, Point Monroe, Richmond Beach to the oil dock near Edmonds and West Point.

"There are some kings around at West Point [south of Shilshole Bay], and I wouldn't say tons of fish, but enough to keep it interesting," said Gary Krein, owner of All-Star Charters in Everett. "We've been getting four or five bites a day, and sometimes we get all hatchery-marked chinook keepers [fish with a missing adipose fin] and then the next day they're all wild fish that we have to release."

The Elliott Bay chinook fishery (open Fridays to Mondays) has been somewhat a good thing for mainly trollers.

"We checked 109 boats with 40 kings and nine coho [this past Monday], and it hasn't been that bad," said Pete Sergeef, a state Fish and Wildlife checker at the Armeni boat ramp in West Seattle. "The tribes are doing their full fishery again [last night] in the bay."

In south central Puget Sound [Area 11], the king bite is building and catch rates were hovering around 0.15 fish per rod this week.

"I think the catches are improving somewhat [in Area 11] and looking at the catch rates they are right around where they were last year," Baltzell said. "The mark rate for hatchery chinook is still holding around 82 to 84 percent. I would expect next week to be the peak of the king fishery."

On the coast anglers will have a choice of picking between kings and coho or tuna, and the Ilwaco area is nearing its coho catch quota.

"We will look at Ilwaco's quota on Friday, and Sunday could be the last day of fishing, or it could close earlier," said Wendy Beeghly, a state Fish and Wildlife biologist. "They [Ilwaco anglers] had a big [Monday] of fishing there and that did them in. We had a coho per person [Tuesday] and almost a coho and a half per person on Monday."

Wesport was also good, but slowed with less than a salmon [mainly kings over coho] per rod this week. La Push averaged one fish per rod and most were chinook.

On the northern most point of Washington, Neah Bay, salmon fishing has picked up, but effort was way down.

"We fished Makkaw Bay [Tuesday] and caught three kings, and then headed out to Table Top and got seven coho up to 12 pounds," said Tony Floor, the Northwest Marine Trade Association's sport fishing director.

Willapa Bay was slow to fair for kings.

"On Sunday, we ended up seeing four fish caught inside [the bay], compared to last week when all the fish were caught off Washaway [Beach]," Beeghly said.

Tuna on the coast remains the best bet with some boats scoring big catches at Ilwaco and Westport.

"Private boats at both ports were getting seven tuna per person, and charters at Westport were getting 200 or more fish on their overnight trips," Beeghly said. "They are traveling 25 to 35 miles out of Ilwaco and 50 miles out of Westport."

Fishing reports

• Salmon, steelhead and sturgeon in the Columbia River and its tributaries: "Buoy 10 is starting to heat up for salmon, and an Oregon check showed some definite signs of improvements," said Joe Hymer, a state Fish and Wildlife biologist. "Checks showed about a third of a fish kept per rod. The commercial fishery was good, and they saw some kings in the 40-pound range."

In the Columbia, main stem steelhead checks showed nothing spectacular, but they are doing good in the Cowlitz River at Blue Creek and Mission Bar, Drano Lake and the White Salmon River for steelhead.

• Sockeye in Lake Wenatchee: The proposal is to keep the sockeye fishery open through Friday.

The daily limit is two sockeye, at least 12 inches long.

• Fish in local rivers: Slowed down for steelhead in the Skykomish River due to low and clear water. The Skokomish River is open for chinook and coho fishing.

Trout and other game fish in lakes: "We still have a lot of guys fishing the local lakes for trout, and Lake Washington is seeing some really good days for cutthroat pushing up toward 5 pounds," said Mike Chamberlain at Ted's Sports Center in Lynnwood.

"Kokanee fishing is on again and off [at Lake Stevens] with fish in the 15- to 18- inch range trolling deep in 55 to 65 feet of water."

In Lake Washington, perch fishing has picked up dramatically along the weed beds in 20 to 25 feet of water. Try the docks off Leschi, Madison Park, Mercer Island and Kirkland areas, and from Mount Baker to Seward Park and Renton.

• Coho in Strait of Juan de Fuca from Sekiu to Port Angeles: "I heard effort dropped off since the chinook fishery closed [on Aug. 9], but they are seeing some nice hatchery coho around Sekiu," Baltzell said. "They checked 16 coho on Sunday."

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