Fishing Notes: Ocean soon to open daily for salmon

Coastal anglers will soon be able to stretch out their fishing time on the water.

Salmon fishing will be open daily starting Aug. 11, and anglers can keep up to two chinook per day.

"Those changes will increase sport-fishing opportunities in the ocean, where fishing is currently restricted to five days per week," said Phil Anderson, the state Fish and Wildlife special assistant to the director.

"Angler participation has been down along the coast and fishing started slower than expected in some areas," Anderson said. "For that reason, we can provide some additional fishing opportunities without exceeding this year's recreational-harvest quotas."

Through Aug. 10, salmon fishing is open five days a week at Ilwaco, Westport, La Push and Neah Bay, and anglers can keep only one chinook in their two-salmon daily limit.

Anglers must release chinook less than 24 inches, and hatchery coho less than 16 inches. Wild coho must be released.

Fishing is open until Sept. 17 at Westport, Neah Bay and La Push, and until Sept. 30 at Ilwaco, unless quotas are achieved.

Top spots of the week

1. Sockeye in Lake Washington: "Sockeye catches started off really strong [Wednesday morning at the Coulon Park ramp in Renton] with lots of limits and near limits," said Slim Simpson, a state Fish and Wildlife checker. "The tribal fishery [in the south end of the lake] didn't seem to affect the outcome for the sport guys."

Fishing is open today until one hour after sunset.

"If the run size allows for additional opportunity, the fishery could occur early next week," said Tim Flint, the head state Fish and Wildlife salmon biologist.

2. Chinook and coho in Puget Sound region: "King fishing is fairly decent in Elliott Bay, and there are still a lot of coho around," said Pete Sergeeff, a state Fish and Wildlife checker. "On Sunday, I checked 78 boats with 38 kings and 40 coho, and the biggest king weighed about 26 pounds."

Inner Elliott Bay is open Fridays to Sundays only, east of a line from Duwamish Head to Pier 91.

Fair for kings and coho at Dolphin Point, Southworth, Point Defiance, Sinclair Inlet, Point Robinson, Three Tree Point and Redondo Beach.

"Coho fishing is still hot and heavy in Jefferson Head area, and this is one of the best runs in a long time," said Gary Krein, owner of All-Star Charters in Everett. "I know someone who fished from Shipwreck to Mukilteo on [Tuesday's] opener, and they worked all day to catch four coho."

Slow to fair for coho off Everett area, Saratoga Passage, Possession Bar, Point No Point and Port Townsend area. Slow to fair for kings in San Juan Islands and Hood Canal.

North Seattle Boys and Girls Club Elliott Bay Fishing Derby results: 1, Marcus Mala, 26-pound king, $1,000; 2, John Cooper, 21-pounder, $500; 3, Kevin Boisture, 19-pounder, $250.

The Tacoma Outboard Association Derby results: 1, Tim McCarthy, 32.1-pound king, $2,000; 2, Matt Cebula, 22.4-pounder, $1,000; 3, Ronnie Adjutant, 22.3-pounder, $500.

3. Salmon and tuna off the coast: "Fishing on Sunday was good [0.5 to 1.0 fish per person] and the biggest king weighed was 48 pounds," said Mark Cedergreen, president of the Westport Charterboat Association. "It dropped off Monday and Tuesday, but what is missing in the catches are coho. I would expect we'll see some improvement for coho in the next week or two."

Anglers at Ilwaco averaged 1.4 fish this past week, and most are coho averaging nine pounds. At La Push, anglers averaged more than one fish per rod with a catch ratio of about two-thirds coho and one-third chinook.

"Neah Bay was pretty slow this past week [0.5 fish per rod], and it was virtually all coho," said Wendy Beeghly, a state Fish and Wildlife biologist. "The boats are running out far into the ocean to find the fish."

"Tuna anglers had a good week at Ilwaco and Westport, and they moved in a little closer to the coast," Beeghly said. "At Ilwaco they were fishing about 35 to 40 miles out. I had one private boat that had five people with 58 tuna, and some fishing out of Westport are doing better than that."

4. Chinook and coho in Strait of Juan de Fuca: "Fishing has been pretty good, and we're starting to see more silvers [coho]," said Gary Ryan, manager at the Van Riper's Resort in Sekiu. "There are lots of anchovy schools, and folks using a tiny coho killer spoon are doing good right at daybreak for kings."

Fair for kings and coho at Freshwater Bay and off Port Angeles.

5. Steelhead or chinook in Western Washington rivers, and trout and bass in local lakes: "The Reiter Ponds area in the Sky [Skykomish] and the Cowlitz have been really good for summer steelhead," said Bryan Nelson at Three Rivers Marine and Tackle in Woodinville. "Lake Sammamish and Washington have been good for bass fishing."

"It was good last week for steelhead in Lower Columbia mainstem from mouth of Cowlitz downstream, but the tides have gotten soft and so have the catches," said Joe Hymer, a state Fish and Wildlife biologist.

Fair for steelhead in the Kalama, Lewis mainstem and North Fork, Drano Lake and White Salmon rivers. Fair to good for chinook from Cowlitz mouth upstream.

The Buoy 10 area at Columbia mouth opened Tuesday, but no reports on how fishing fared. Fair for sturgeon catch and release in Longview and Camas-Washougal areas.

The Lower Skokomish River is open for chinook, but it's still on the early side. Slow to fair for steelhead in the Hoh, Soleduck and Bogachiel rivers. Swift Reservoir was planted with 940 rainbows averaging a half-pound, and 1,000 rainbows averaging 5 pounds.

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