August 2010 - "Get on a Boat, any Boat, and Go!"

August! How did that happen? Sure seems as the summer screams by, a time which many of us wait for all year, and as quick as it comes, it’s gone. And each year, as I set my summer fishing schedule, I try to relive great fishing memories while continuing to find new special places.

I continue to firmly believe that following the chinook and coho salmon forecasts will, at a high percentage rate, produce the highest quality fishing experiences. As reported in this space during the last two reports, this is the year of the king. Kings, lots of kings coming home to the Pacific Northwest. King salmon lit up like the 4th of July from mid-May to mid-June in southeast Alaska, as most stocks congregated, preparing for a strong push down the Alaska and Canadian coasts. In fact, king salmon seemed to be everywhere, between Westport and all points north. When July rolled around, especially in ocean waters, the king salmon seemed to be in pockets along our coast. Find the bait, and you usually found the kings. However, finding a day when the wind didn’t blow has been a challenge.

Inside Puget Sound, the king salmon season took off July 1st in the San Juans and the reports were moderate, continuing at that catch level even at this writing. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not a biological desert in the Islands and possibly, the incredible king salmon fishing that region enjoyed a year ago may have pickled a few angler’s minds.

The Puget Sound region from the north end of Vashon Island to Pt. Wilson, Port Townsend opened on July 16th and Mid-Channel Bank was so hot, it melted all the way to Tokyo. So don’t be alarmed at all the Asian restaurants in Port Townsend. It is the result of the meltdown. King salmon fishing comes and goes on Mid-Channel Bank, like the tide and wind, but it’s still a good bet, again, even at this writing.

So, what to do in August? Are there still plenty of king salmon around? The answer is a big YES! My counsel is to get to the ocean, quick, preferably Wesport in the next couple of weeks. Strong numbers of kings, bound for the Columbia River at a modern day record forecast are currently woofing baitfish in every direction. The table is set.

Beginning in the middle of August, thousands of king salmon will be moving into the lower Columbia River, between Ilwaco and Astoria daily. Trainloads, dude, of king salmon should produce some of the best king salmon fishing many of us have witnessed in years. I am so there.

August offers some other great fishing shows in Washington like the annual migration of albacore tuna which occurs along our coast around Ilwaco and Westport in peak numbers during mid and late August. If you haven’t done a tuna trip, do it. Good sized sport boats in the mid-20 foot range and larger will be making the run to intercept these great fighting fish, usually found in ocean water temperatures ranging from 59-62 degrees. That’s prime albacore water. The key is picking the right days, as the wind blows, especially offshore during the warm days of summer. Charterboats also run daily out of Westport and Ilwaco when the albacore are in the neighborhood. Get on a boat, any boat, and go!

August is also a time of the year when the coho salmon, mixed with king salmon begin showing in good numbers off the coast and the western Strait of Juan de Fuca. I’ve done a zillion coho salmon fishing trips out of Neah Bay in my fishing career during late August and early September. Many anglers consider this area as world class coho fishing on light tackle and it represents one of the few areas in Washington where a coho salmon will absolutely maul a surface fly.

In the meantime, it’s time to get very thirsty my friend, for the peak of salmon fishing in Washington. So many options, so little time. Go fishing! Okay, that’s exactly what I am going to do when I hit the send button on this column. See you on the water.

July 2010 - Here Come the Kings!

Bet your bips on it. Here they come! Big, chrome bright, fresh from SE Alaska’s rich ocean pasture with an attitude. Bone crushing strikes, monofilament peeling off the reel, hard head shakes attempting to get those sharp hooks out of their chops......yeah, it’s king salmon time baby. Giddy up!

King salmon, a term used in the Pacific Northwest for mature Chinook salmon, are entering the prime of their lives and on their way home to salmon hatcheries or the rivers of their origin. Three, four and even five years ago, these king salmon jumped a train northbound, foraging on bait-fish, squid and zooplankton, destined for the waters off northern British Columbia and SE Alaska. They hit every diner on this journey, putting on weight like a sumo wrestler at a steak house. This all-you-can-eat behavior prepares them for their migration into Washington and Oregon rivers where their feeding appetite ceases and they live off their bodies until they begin spawning, usually by late September and throughout October.

The 2010 version of this annual phenomenon is a special chapter in recent strengths and weaknesses of the chinook salmon population, due largely to the strength of the Columbia River king salmon forecast. As reported in this space a month ago, this is clearly the largest return of king salmon since the modern day record was set in the Columbia River back in 1987, when three-quarters of a million king salmon produced a tsunami wave of silver migrating into the lower Columbia. I know, as I was there.

In last month’s column, I encouraged anglers to head to Westport, on the central Washington coast, to participate in a new hatchery-produced, fin-clipped king salmon fishery. At this writing, that fishery is history (June 12-30) and the news is out: 7,000 anglers popped around 4,600 hatchery kings. The ratio of hatchery fish to wild fish was about 60% or greater. In the commercial troll fishery in May and part of June, the rate was around 80%. Non-tribal trollers took around 40,000 kings during this timeframe, which again suggests that the kings are off our coast now, and should continue their pasturing before entering the Columbia River in mid-August. The coastal salmon season re-opens July 1st (Neah Bay, La Push and Ilwaco) and July 4th (Westport). Check WDFW for regulations regarding which days of the week these four coastal areas are open before charging down to the beach.

If ocean salmon fishing does not turn your wheel, you have more options than attempting to pick winning numbers in the state’s lottery. First, the San Juan Islands opens July 1^st, seven days per week. This is the beginning of their king salmon season. Last year, it was hotter than Mt. St. Helens on May 18, 1980, especially in the eastern San Juans. Anglers from Bellingham to Everett hope that is the case again this year. Second, the Strait of Juan de Fuca from Sekiu east to Ediz Hook in Port Angeles also opens for hatchery kings only, on July 1^st. This region is a special king salmon fishery attracting anglers with boats deemed not safe for ocean water conditions. Freshwater Bay, just west of Port Angeles has been very good the last few years, along with Sekiu, the premier small boat fishery in inland waters.

Third, beginning July 16^th, for the fourth consecutive year, Puget Sound waters from the north tip of Vashon Island to Pt. Wilson, Port Townsend will enjoy another six week hatchery-only king salmon fishery. Port Townsend has been the big ticket on the opener the last few years and that’s a good bet again this year. Do not overlook Kingston or Pt. No Pt. on the ebb tide or Possession Bar west of Edmonds.

If your head isn’t spinning with salmon fishing options by now, golf is an option. My two older brothers are big time golfers. As I have said to them, if you can suggest a receipe for grilled fresh golf balls, that rival a slab of king salmon on the barbe, then sing it to me.

In the meantime, I am heading for the big show, the smell of a fresh caught king salmon emanating out of my cooler in the morning. Mercy! Somebody help me now! See you on the water... it’s show time!