Salmon fishing perks in rivers

Salmon fishing is switching over from the saltwater to staging areas of estuaries and lower rivers, and some spots are producing decent catches.

The Lower Columbia River mouth at Buoy 10 has been the hot spot for coho this week.

"Coho fishing is actually pretty decent, and I had a friend go out Monday and they got their [two hatchery coho] daily limits by 9:15 a.m., and they're nice size fish," said Joe Hymer, a state Fish and Wildlife biologist. "In the commercial fishery they had one up to 17 pounds, and in the sport fishery we've seen some around 14 to 15 pounds with the smallest being 8 to 9 pounds. Those are some really quality sized coho."

Hymer suggests fishing around Buoy 10, and not up by the Astoria-Megler Bridge to avoid catching chinook which is now closed for the season. Spinners work the best he said.

Fisheries samplers at Buoy 10 checked 120 anglers with 45 coho on Sunday, but other days prior to it was 110 with 13 coho, and 75 with 15 coho.

Starting Labor Day, the chinook fishery opens from the Tongue Point-Rocky Point line up to Bonneville Dam [except for an 8-mile area around the Lewis River mouth], and this area has the potential to be productive.

"The opener could be really good, and we had almost 15,000 chinook counted on Sunday [at Bonneville]," Hymer said. "The commercial fishery also ended and that means it could start off with a bang."

The water in the Lower Columbia remains a warm 70 degrees, so expect the chinook to be traveling in deeper water of 40 to 50 feet. Hymer cautions anglers to stay out of the shipping lanes when anchoring down to fish. Fish an outgoing tide using wobbler lures.

Anglers are also doing fairly well (close to half a chinook per rod) above Bonneville for chinook at the Drano Lake mouth, White Salmon River and Klickitat River.

Farther north, the Willapa Bay area around the inner-channel markers has started to turn on for chinook with Labor Day being the peak period.

The Tokeland Marina Willapa Bay Salmon Derby is Saturday. Details: www.northwestsalmonderbyseries.com. The South Bend Salmon Derby is this weekend. Cost is $10. Details: 360-942-5419.

Fishing reports

• Crabbing in Puget Sound region: The sport-crab fishery in most marine areas will close at sunset on Labor Day. Some parts of the San Juan Island, Strait of Juan de Fuca and southern Puget Sound remain open. Anglers are required to submit their catch record cards. Depending on the catch rates, the season could reopen for a fall and winter fishery.

• Tuna off the coast: "Weather really put a damper on the tuna fishery, and we saw nothing out of Westport this past week," said Wendy Beeghly, a state Fish and Wildlife biologist. "The Ilwaco folks got out this past weekend, and we saw up to seven fish per person on the charter boats. The private boats were getting three to five fish per rod, and there was quite a bit of effort. Most are running about 40 miles out."

• Coho or chinook in Puget Sound and Strait of Juan de Fuca: "Still good numbers of coho coming in around Sekiu so far this week, with some guys getting limits and others getting one or two coho per boat," said Larry Bennett, the head state Fish and Wildlife sampler in the Strait area. "I went out to fish [late last week] and we had nine out of 13 coho were clipped hatchery-marked fish. The average size is 5 to 10 pounds with some up to 13 pounds."

Very little effort from Freshwater Bay to Port Angeles for coho, but Bennett was checking on the recent tribal gill-net fishery in Port Gamble Bay where there was some nice catches of ocean run coho.

The Sekiu "No Fin, You Win" Coho Derby is Sept. 6. Cost is $10. Details: 360-963-2311.

In Puget Sound, "we're doing decent on coho from West Point to the Edmonds area, and I'd say about 60 percent are resident coho, but there was a 12-pounder caught [on Tuesday]," said Gary Krein, owner of All-Star Charters in Everett. "We are trolling cover lots of ground to catch fish, but 50 to 90 feet is where they're concentrated."

Coho fishing has been dead from Mukilteo south to the Shipwreck. Fair for hatchery coho at Point No Point and Skunk Bay area. Fair for coho off Duwamish Head in Elliott Bay.

Other areas still producing a few late kings or coho are Dolphin Point off Vashon Island, south of the Southworth ferry landing, Tacoma area and Chambers Creek area.

• Coho and chinook off coast: "At Westport it was well over a fish per person average on Monday, and mostly coho with a few chinook, but weather coast wide was horrible on most days of last week," Beeghly said.

La Push averaged a little under a chinook or coho per rod this past week. The inner-Neah Bay coho fishery was slow.

Westport, La Push and the inner-Neah Bay (Area 4B) are open daily.

• Fish in Western Washington rivers and lakes: "There should be a few coho in the Snohomish system [opens Sept. 1], and I'd concentrate in the lower end below Highway 522 down to Lowell," said Bryan Nelson at Three Rivers Marine and Tackle in Woodinville. "Don't expect it to be good until around the third or fourth week of next month."

In Hood Canal, the recent rainfall has pushed some kings in the Lower Skokomish River around Hunter Farm. The Skykomish River has slowed for steelhead.

The Lower Green from old Highway 99 to Interstate 405 opens Labor Day for chinook. Fair to good on the Cowlitz for sea-run cutthroat and steelhead. Fair in the Kalama River for coho and steelhead. The Lower Samish is producing some fair king action. The Puyallup and Nisqually rivers are open for hatchery kings.

"They're doing good on perch in Lake Sammamish and Lake Washington, plus some squid have moved in at Des Moines pier," said Maria Beppu, owner of Linc's Tackle Shop in Seattle.

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