Originally published Wednesday, August 25, 2010 at 6:24 PM

Salmon catch still cooking on Columbia

The king and hatchery coho salmon fishery at the Lower Columbia River mouth from Buoy 10 to the Astoria-Megler Bridge has been giving up some pretty good action, especially on the late afternoon flood tide.

By Mark Yuasa

Seattle Times staff reporter

Reel Time Northwest

Seattle native and lifelong angler Mark Yuasa blogs on fishing in the Pacific Northwest.

Anglers still have until Tuesday to take advantage of two chinook-salmon fisheries that are hitting their peak.

I fished with Tony Floor, director of fishing affairs for the Northwest Marine Trade Association, on Monday and witnessed a wonderful salmon bite as we landed four coho and two kings, and lost nine other fish near the boat.

Floor reported the action still carried into Tuesday when they limited out with one king and five coho, and had three kings and two coho on Wednesday.

However, the vast majority of Buoy 10 anglers were averaging one fish caught for every three rods this week.

About 50 to 70 percent of the catch at Buoy 10 is coho, which seems kind of puzzling since more than 650,000 chinook are expected back to the Columbia compared to 287,000 coho.

The Buoy 10 area is open for chinook and hatchery-marked coho with a two-fish daily limit, but only one may be a chinook through Tuesday. Then from Sept. 1, all chinook must be released, but anglers should find some excellent hatchery coho fishing well into October.

Locally, the northern and central Puget Sound (Marine Catch Areas 9 and 10) hatchery-marked chinook fishery ends Tuesday, but anglers will be able to keep coho into September.

"The king bite was good at Point No Point, but then it slowed down (by Tuesday and Wednesday)," said Keith Robbins, owner of A Spot Tail Salmon Guide in Seattle.

With another showery weather change forecast by Thursday don't expect these migrating kings to be hanging in one spot for very long as they make their way back to their home rivers and streams.

Other places that have been slow to fair for hatchery chinook and a few early coho are Possession Bar, Richmond Beach, West Point, Meadow Point, Point Monroe, Kingston and Jefferson Head.

To the south places like the Tacoma area, Southworth, Dolphin Point and Point Robinson have been good one day and lousy the next.

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

Also follow him on twitter.com/MarkKYuasa


Fishing report
Location	Comment
Ocean tuna and salmon	"Tuna boats at Ilwaco and Westport did well around 40 miles (offshore), and one private boat I saw at Ilwaco had 13 tuna per person," said Wendy Beeghly, a state Fish and Wildlife biologist. Tuna boats out of La Push and Neah Bay found excellent fishing about 30 to 40 miles from port. At Ilwaco it was 0.9 salmon per rod with a one-to-three chinook to coho ratio; at Westport it was 0.7 per rod, and most were chinook; at La Push it was 0.7 per rod with a one-to-two ratio; and at Neah Bay it was 0.9 fish per rod with a two-to-three ratio.
Biting: Yes Rating:
Marine salmon	Slow for hatchery coho off Sekiu, and even more so off Port Angeles. Some early coho arrived at Port Gamble, and about 200 coho were in the Quilcene Hatchery. Quilcene Bay is slow to fair for coho trolling spoons or spinners. Slow for kings in San Juan Islands. Slow for coho in Saratoga Pass and Port Gardner area. Slow at Willapa Bay for kings, but should improve soon.
Biting: Yes/no Rating:
Local rivers	Slow to fair for steelhead in the Skykomish River at Reiter Ponds. Fair for hatchery marked kings in the Skokomish River. Coho fishery should pick up in Quilcene River below the hatchery. Many rivers like Snohomish, Skagit and Green open Sept. 1 for coho, but check the rules pamphlet for details.
Biting: Yes Rating:
Columbia River	Improving for fall chinook in the Lower Columbia from Longview to Vancouver with about a half-a-fish per boat average. Fair for steelhead in the Wind River and White Salmon River. Fair to good in Drano Lake for steelhead and fall chinook. Early coho have returned to the Kalama and Lewis rivers. Good boat fishing for fall chinook in Bonneville Pool near tributaries.
Biting: Yes Rating:
Local lakes	Very good for perch in Lake Washington on west side of Mercer Island, Mount Baker, Leschi-Madison Park areas, Seward Park and Coulon Park. Also decent for bass and cutthroat trout in Lake Washington. Lake Wenatchee closes for sockeye after Aug. 31.
Biting: Yes Rating: