Fishing
Notebook: Salmon anglers enjoying great early season success

By Mark Yuasa
Seattle Times staff reporter

Douglas Matsuoka (right) of Seattle caught this 34-pound king salmon (dressed weight) on July 4th while aboard the Blue Fin out of Westport. The fish earned Matsuoka the $500 daily prize in the Westport Charterboat Association Derby, and he could win the $2,500 overall prize if a bigger fish isn't caught by Sept. 11.

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Any way you look at it, the coastal salmon season is off to a stupendous start with just a case of the fishing blues happening off Westport.

Neah Bay on the North Coast continues to be among the best spots, and anglers don't have to go far from port to catch them.

"I know of a 58-pound king that was caught off Mushroom Rock (last Thursday), and I know another person who limited out at the Midway area (located halfway between Waadah Island and Tatoosh)," said Tony Floor, director of fishing affairs for Northwest Marine Trade Association.

Some king are being caught in front of Neah Bay off Waadah Island, and many fish are also heading to Umatilla Reef and Skagway Bay located south of Fuca Pillar and northeast of Makah Bay.

The Neah Bay catch average this week was a salmon per person, and almost half the fish caught were chinook. Coho in the catch were averaging a plump 5 pounds, and the fish are filled with baitfish, indicating an abundance of feed in the ocean.

Just south at La Push, charter anglers averaged 1.26 salmon per rod, and private boat anglers averaged slightly less than one fish per rod. Half the catch was chinook.

Catch results at Westport continue to baffle charter- and private-boat anglers, but nobody's worried yet as the fish milling just north are bound to migrate south very soon.

"Westport got hit with bad weather, extreme tides, really low effort and they're still waiting for the fish up north to arrive," said Wendy Beeghly, a state Fish and Wildlife biologist.

Westport charter anglers averaged 0.59 fish per person and 0.42 for private-boat anglers this week.

In the last couple of days, North Beach, located just off Ocean Shores, has been producing some nice kings.
 
At Ilwaco, Beeghly said anglers had a pretty good week and the weather cooperated. It was pretty much two-fish daily limits for charters, and private-boat anglers averaged 1.37 fish per rod.

"I was at Ilwaco (on Monday) and the coho I saw weighed 7 to 8 pounds, which are nice-sized coho for this time of the year," Beeghly said.

Salmon fishing in open areas of Puget Sound remains good in most places, especially in the southcentral area.

"There have been decent numbers of chinook caught at Southworth and fewer dogfish than Point Defiance," Floor said.

The Clay Banks off Point Defiance Park in Tacoma continue to be a hot spot, but trollers and those using jigs are faring better than bait-mooching anglers, according to Art Tatchell, manager of the Point Defiance Park Boathouse in Tacoma.

Other areas slow to fair for chinook are Dolphin Point off Vashon Island, Point Dalco off Vashon Island, Point Robinson, Des Moines-Redondo area, and south of Brace Point off the Condo Drift.

In Central Puget Sound (Area10), catch-and-release king fishing remains fairly good off Point Monroe, Jefferson Head and Kingston. Anglers in Area 10 may retain coho in their catch.

The San Juan Islands and Hood Canal south of Ayock Point also opened today for salmon fishing, and the best spots will be the west side of San Juan Island at Lime Kiln Point.

Lake Washington sockeye update

The Lake Washington sockeye fishery remains on standby.

The state and tribal fisheries managers will meet tomorrow and Tuesday to review updated data and assess the likelihood of opening sockeye fishing.

Top spots of the week

Sekiu and Port Angeles for hatchery-marked chinook: "King fishing has been fair, and a lot of anglers are also releasing lots of unmarked kings (only fish with a missing adipose fin may be kept), and the coho action has been good," said Gary Ryan at Van Riper's Resort in Sekiu.

At Port Angeles and Freshwater Bay, anglers continue to catch a fair number of hatchery-marked kings and coho.

The Cowlitz and Lewis rivers for steelhead and chinook: Steelhead catches remain good from Blue Creek downstream, but don't expect solitude in this combat-style fishery. The hatchery steelhead limit has been raised from two to three per day on the Cowlitz and North Fork Lewis.

Lake Washington and other local lakes for trout: "Still good trolling for cutthroat in Lake Washington, and early mornings and late evenings are good since there is so much boating activity in between," said Jerry Beppu, owner of Linc's Tackle Shop in Seattle.

Bass, catfish, perch and crappie bites have improved on Lake Washington near Foster Island, Madison Park dock, Mount Baker, Seward Park, and the docks and lily pads in the East Channel.

Other lakes worth a try for either trout, landlocked salmon or kokanee are Spada Reservoir, Mineral, Pass, Lone, Spanaway, Riffe, Mayfield, American, Pine, Baker, Sammamish and Stevens.

Local rivers for chinook and steelhead: "I heard they're dong really well in the Wynoochee near the intake hole, and I had a friend who took a couple summer-run steelhead in four casts," said Scott Barbour, a state Fish and Wildlife biologist.

Try the Ben Howard area and near Lewis Street Bridge on the Skykomish River. Most kings are lockjawed and hard to get to bite.

Just a few sockeye have been caught in the Baker River. The North Fork Stillaguamish in the Cicero-Deer Creek area is yielding a few wild steelhead for catch-and-release fly fishermen. The Green River remains unseasonably slow for steelhead.

Other fishing spots

Tulalip Bay: The terminal chinook fishery has been dismal, and just a few kings caught per day. Open Fridays to Mondays.

Cedar River for trout: Fair catch-and-release fly-fishing, with early mornings and late evenings being the best time. Catch-and-release fishing is open from the mouth to a few hundred yards below Landsburg Dam.

Coastal rivers: Fair for steelhead in Soleduck, Calawah and Bogachiel, but the rivers remain very low and clear.

Kalama River: Good for steelhead.

Klickitat River: Some spring chinook are being caught near the deadline below the hatchery.

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