Fishing | Chum salmon making impact in Puget Sound
This is the height of the chum salmon fishing season, and more than 1.4 million fish are expected to flow into Puget Sound and Hood Canal.
Right now, many of the traditional places are generating the best action, including Hoodsport in Hood Canal and the Kennedy Creek estuary in Totten Inlet.
Other good chum fishing spots are the Johns Creek estuary in Oakland Bay, North Bay near Allyn, Perry Creek in Eld Inlet, Whatcom Creek in Bellingham, Chico Creek in Bremerton, McLane Creek, Eagle Creek, south of Potlatch State Park, and the public-access shores off Highway 101 from Eldon to Hoodsport.
The winter chinook fishery in Puget Sound remains one of the best bets provided the blustery weather doesn’t blow you off the water.
“A fast and furious bite in [Elliott Bay] produced 19 blackmouth, one silver and one chum for 45 members,” said Doug Hanada, the Tengu Blackmouth Derby Club president. “Landing nets were out constantly as anglers sorted through numerous 20- to 21-inch blackmouth [22 inches is the minimum size].”
Tengu Derby results: 1, Larry Matsuda, 6-pound, 12-ounce chinook; 2, Ron Hanada, 6/8; 3, Roland Tomokio, 6/8; 4, Ryan Baccetti, 6/3; 5, Benny Wong, 5/9. The derby is at 7 a.m. every Sunday through Dec. 30 at the Seacrest Boathouse in West Seattle. Cost is $15 and $5 for kids less than age 12. Details: 206-324-7600.
Outside of the bay, chinook fishing also remains a viable option and Possession Bar is still the top choice.
“The fishing is good at Possession, if the weather allows you to get out,” said Gary Krein, owner of All-Star Charters in Everett. “The tides look good this weekend, and we’re finding the fish at depths of 120 to 150 feet within 10 to 20 feet of bottom.”
Krein said Area 8-2 in Saratoga Passage produced some good fishing over the weekend at places such as Elger Bay.
Other northern areas worth trying are Jefferson Head, Kingston, Point No Point, the racetrack off Camano Head, Midchannel Bank, Double Bluff off Whidbey Island, Utsalady Point and Sandy Point.
Central Puget Sound, south-central Puget Sound and Hood Canal also are open for blackmouth and are producing fairly good action.
Try Misery Point off Hood Canal, the Clay Banks off Point Defiance Park in Tacoma, Southworth and Point Gibson. Sekiu in the Strait of Juan de Fuca is another place to go for winter chinook.
Fishing reports
Perch in Lake Washington and trout in local lakes: “There is still some great perch fishing in Lake Washington, and the fish have moved out into deeper water,” said Mike Chamberlain at Ted’s Sports Center in Lynnwood.
Cast for perch off the docks at Madison Park, Leschi, Mount Baker, Seward Park, Kenmore and Coulon Park in Renton.
Beaver Lake near Issaquah was scheduled to be planted this week with 3,000 rainbow trout averaging 3 to 5 pounds.
Chamberlain also reports good trout fly-fishing at Lone Lake on Whidbey Island and Pass Lake near Deception Pass.
“I’d try leech-type flies in marabou and rabbit patterns using wild color combos like white/pink and chartreuse,” Chamberlain said. “At Lone, some of the guys are having 15 to 20 fish days with trout up to 22 inches, although most are 14 to 18 inches. Pass has mix of brown and rainbow trout up to 27 inches.”
Squid and smelt in Puget Sound: “Squid jigging has been holding up pretty well, and Piers 86 and 62 [along the Seattle waterfront], and the Seattle Aquarium pier have been good places,” said Jerry Beppu, owner of Linc’s Tackle Shop in Seattle.
Other piers to try for squid are Redondo Beach, Seacrest, Des Moines and Bremerton piers, but the Edmonds pier has been unseasonably slow. Smelt jigging has been fairly decent at the Cornet Bay pier on Whidbey Island.
Crab in Puget Sound and Hood Canal: Crabbing is open daily though Jan. 2 in the eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca (Marine Catch Area 6), northern Puget Sound (9), Central Puget Sound (10), south-central Puget Sound (11) and Hood Canal (12).
Crab fishing also is open daily through Jan. 2 at Neah Bay (4), Sekiu (5), and South Sound (13). The Whidbey Island-Camano Island area (8-1 and 8-2) is open Nov. 22-25.
Salmon and steelhead in rivers: “I fished the Snohomish last Friday for a few hours and got four nice coho,” said Bryan Nelson at Three Rivers Marine and Tackle in Woodinville. “On Sunday, I hit the North Fork of the Stilly [Stillaguamish] and had a hole all to myself and got four nice steelhead.”
The Skykomish from Sultan to Monroe has been good for coho, and the Skagit is fair for a mix of chum and coho.
With more than 25 commercial purse seine and gill-netters in Port Susan, don’t expect many chums to get past that and up into the Snohomish River system.
In southwest Washington, “They’re getting some nice coho and a lot of chum [chums may not be retained] in the S-Corners on the Satsop,” said Scott Barbour, a state Fish and Wildlife biologist. “The Wynoochee is just starting to drop back into good fishing shape.”
Other rivers worth a try: Humptulips, Sol Duc, Bogachiel, Calawah, Hoh, Green, Cowlitz and Lewis.
Mark Yuasa: 206-464-8780 or myuasa@seattletimes.com