FISHING REPORTS
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Area 5 -
Sekiu WA.
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Well another
King Salmon season
comes to a close.
August 15th was the
last day for Kings
at Sekiu and there
were quite a few
bigger fish caught
to close the weekend
out. I released 5
fish over 20 and one
was close to 30.
However, the Coho
season will be in
full swing from now
until September 30
and were are finally
seeing a few fish
out in the deeper
water high in the
water column. I saw
a 13 and an 11 lb
that were caught 5
minutes a part in
600 feet of water 45
feet on the
downrigger wire on a
green hotspot
flasher and a 4.0
Coyote 188 spoon
with a 5 ft leader.
Here are a couple of
pictures, the first
is Hannah and her
brother Josh, this
is Hannah's "big"
fish for the day.
She was able to put
one over on her
brother who until
later in the day,
had the biggest
fish. Way to go
Hannah! The
remaining picture is
their catch,
Jennifer, (the mom)
Hannah and Josh. A
good time was had by
all, myself
included.
As always, give me a
call or email me
with any questions
you might have or
Call Van Ripers
Resort at
(360-963-2344) or
Olsons resort at
(360-963-2311) for
up to date fishing
information. |
Columbia
River - Sturgeon - wk of 6/12
The Sturgeon
bite is on and there a quite a
few "keeper" fish being caught
just about everywhere in the
system.
I launched out
the Port Of Kalama on Friday and
averaged a bite just about every
15-20 minutes. Although we had
to get through some of the
smaller fish, we did manage to
get a couple of keeper fish and
one that measured 7 feet and
another just over 5 feet. A good
time was had by all. I targeted
water in the main flow that had
a consistent bottom in a depth
of 20 to 30 feet. I like the
long sandy bottom areas.
Here are some things that you
might want to consider:
If you don't get bitten within
30 minutes, move. Use fresh
bait, I caught all of my fish on
large Sand Shrimp and Anchovies.
Have Smelt, big night crawlers,
and don't be afraid to mix and
match. I like to use fresh
salmon roe at times too. Here
are some of the pictures from
last weeks trips. As always,
give me a call or send me an
email if I can be of any
assistance.
Columbia
River - Springer Salmon
Well, unfortunately the
fishing in the lower Columbia
has come to an end for now.
However, the tributaries are all
open and all have fish in them.
I fished the last weekend in the
Cathlamet area and did quite
well, many fish were caught on
the anchor with Kwikfish and
also trolling with herring.
Limits were fairly common the
last few days. Right now I will
be concentrating my efforts in
the upper part of the river,
Drano Lake specifically. I will
be booking trips there beginning
the 1st week in May through
June. It should be a great time
there this year, things have
already started to happen there
and you should get in on some of
the fun. Bring prawn spinners,
your float rods, Sand Shrimp,
Herring, Kwikfish and Flatfish.
It will all work at times there.
More fish can be kept there too.
Call or email me if I can be of
any assistance. |
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Troy with his 21 lb Springer,
Brandon, Brad and Flash |
8
yr old Blake with his first
Springer. |
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Lake Washington - Cutthroat Fishing
I have some very good friends that fished
the Lake over the weekend and did very well,
they caught 11 fish! All were caught on
small herring trolled 150 feet behind the
boat at the 12 to 15 feet on the downrigger
cable. I like this time of year for
Cutthroat, they are generally very
aggressive and up higher in the water column.
I like to use small brass/orange bladed
spinners with a 3 inch
Gulp Smelt on the double hook setup. At
times, that configuration can get you a
limit very quickly. I'll be out there this
weekend, I'll have another report to you
next week. As always, give me a call or
email me with any questions about this
fishery.
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Humptulips
River -
wk of
10/24
If
you're
looking
for some
hot-busy
fishing,
the
Humptulips
might be
the
place to
be these
days.
This
river is
not what
I would
call a
"beginner"
river.
This is
a small
jet
boat/drift
boat
fishery
and you
should
know how
to read
water,
how and
where to
put in
and
where to
take
out.
These
days,
the rain
can make
or break
your day
so be
careful
and pay
attention
if it's
raining.
Anyway,
three of
us went
17 for
27.
Mostly
Coho,
but a
few
Kings
were
available
too. As
you can
see by
the
picture,
I was
able to
take
home one
of each.
If you
want any
more
information
about
this
river,
give me
a call,
I'll
tell you
what I
know. |
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Columbia River -
Astoria/Buoy 10 area
- wk of 10/10 |
When we got to the
Chinook ramp at 7 AM
on Sunday, it was
windy, cold, (38
degrees) and
miserable. We geared
up, got the cold
weather stuff on and
headed out. First,
we put two crab pots
out just West of the
Chinook channel and
then we headed East
towards the Astoria
bridge on the
Washington side. We
trolled for over two
hours with spinners,
nothing! Then, my
brain began to warm
up, the water temp,
it had dropped from
the last couple
weeks. There were
lots of fish on the
graph, but they were
not biting on the
spinners like they
had done so
previously, so I
switched to cut-plug
herring. You would
have thought that we
turned some kind of
a "fish switch" on.
We used 5 dozen
herring (that's all
we had) in about
three hours and kept
8 fish. We had one
huge 19 lb hatchery.
When we checked the
crab pots, we had 9
keepers, not a bad
day after all. |
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Chehalis River -
October 3rd |
Here is Eric Carazo,
Burt the wonder dog
and Scott LaPeer
with a couple of
nice fish from
Saturday. |
When we went to the
Chehalis on
Saturday, I knew it
was going to be on
fire for fish. It
was! We went 5 of 13
on Saturday and had
to release a few
wild fish. We began
at 7 am and were off
the water by 11:30
am. That's a pretty
good day in anyone's
book. We would have
stayed and caught
more, but the guys
with me wanted to
get home to watch
the last half of the
Huskies game.
We trolled a Fish
Flash, whole and
cut-plug Herring, 5
foot leaders, 4 ozs
canon balls on 12
inch droppers and I
set my line counter
reels to 23 feet.
The nets went in
Sunday (4th)
afternoon, the
fishing has dropped
off considerably
since. |
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Chehalis River -
09/26/09 |
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I launched the boat
at Montesano at 6:45
AM. There were six
of us and we trolled
with cutplug Herring
with 6 oz cannonball
droppers for almost
two hours without
success. I then
added three green
and three chartruese
Fish Flash to the
scheme of things and
within 10 minutes,
got our first fish.
We stayed pretty
close to the ramp
for a while and then
decided to head down
river towards
Aberdeen. We began
fishing just
upstream of Aberdeen
and started hitting
fish just about
every ten to 15
minutes. We brought
home seven Coho,
there were so many
wild fish we had to
release, it was an
incredible bite. On
the left is a photo
of some of our
catch: 6 wild and 1
hatchery. Not a bad
day at all. |
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Area 8-2 - 09/27/09 |
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When clients don't
show up, the only
thing to do is go
fishing! So off I
went to Possession,
I put on an Ace Fly
in Blue UV and set
my downrigger to 88
feet, put the
clicker on the reel
and turned away to
watch the boat show.
In about ten
minutes, the reel
was clicking away
and I turned around
to catch a glimpse
of a 11 pound Coho
jumping out of the
water behind my
boat. Put him in the
boat, reset
everything at 88
feet once again, and
I didn't get to turn
around this time,
boom! Off the clip
she goes again! This
time a 8 pound Coho.
Now, I have to go
home. My day was
done, I was the
second guy back to
the Everett Ramp
with a limit. Life
is good when fishing
is good. |
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Puget Sound - Area
10 (9/18/2009) |
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Friday was a great
day to be fishing
for Coho in Puget
Sound around West
and Meadow Point. We
kept 4 fish, and had
5 others on. We
fished the early
tide and ended our
day @ 12 noon. We
caught our fish on
Blue UV Ace Fly's at
90 feet on the
downriggers in 300
to 700 feet of
water. Pictured
above is Scott
LaPeer (upper right
photo) with his 13
Lb hook nose Coho
and Eric Carazo
(upper left photo)
with his 9 Lb'er.
The other two fish
were 6 and 8 Lb's. |
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Sekiu - Area 5
(9/19/2009) |
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When I launched at
Olsons at 4:30 AM it
was already a mad
house, the weather
was cooperative and
we were finally
going to be able to
keep all legal size
clipped and
non-clipped Coho. We
left the dock at
6:30 AM and were
back with 8 fish by
9:10 AM. I used
fresh Herring on UV
flashers and set my
three downrigger
rods to 35 feet, 55
feet and 70 feet.
Our first three fish
were caught @ 35
feet. The next 2 @
45 feet and 1 fish @
70 feet as the sun
got higher in the
sky. We also fished
a 4th rod with a 4oz
banana weight and
fresh herring about
75 feet behind the
boat, we caught two
nice fish that way
too. There are lots
of Humbolt Squid
being caught every
day now, I saw 6
squid caught and
heard of countless
others. (for
Halibut, the
tentacles, you could
not ask for a better
bait!) Pictured
above is Petra and
her dad with two of
their nicer fish.
This was Petra's
first Salmon, not a
bad one to start out
with. |
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Neah Bay - Area 4
(9/20/2009) On Sunday, after we
caught our Coho at
Sekiu, we headed for
Neah bay for some
bottom fishing, it
was a very calm day
on the water and we
were able to get
many rock fish,
Squid and one very
nice Ling Cod.
Holding the the Ling
is Alan and Andrew
is holding his first
ever Squid. It took
him quite a while to
wrestle that squid
in, but he loved it!
You can see that the
Squid is almost as
long as he is tall!
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Columbia River - wk of 09/05
I launched out of Willow Grove
on Sunday, the weather was
horrible.. There were four of us
in the boat, cold, wet and not
sure how our day would progress.
Well, let me tell you, it was
nothing short of fantastic! The
weather finally cooperated and
we got in to some very nice
Kings. The first fish was a
small jack about 6 lbs. The
second was 32 Lbs, the third was
just under 40 lbs, closer to 40
then she was 39. The forth fish
(about 12 lbs) was not happy
about being hooked and was line
released at the boat. We had 10
other bites that just hammered
the rods, but they didn't stick.
I figure we'll have one more
productive week in the Longview
area, so I'll be targeting them
again this weekend.
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Simons and Brads
Wobblers did the
ticket. Chartreuse,
Clown color or just
about anything we
threw at them caught
fish. Call me for
any particulars on
this fishery. |
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Columbia River/ Buoy 10 -
area 519 (wk of 8/29)
Limits of Coho were a bit harder
to come by this weekend but some
managed to get fish. Don't
forget that the King retention
season closes on August 31st,
but the limit on hatchery Coho
increases to three on the 1st of
September. There are lots of
Coho in the ocean, and the Coho
bite should get even better in
the river very soon. There are
many wild fish, so be careful
while releasing these fish.
There is a ton of Anchovy in the
water, and most of the fish I
caught had full stomachs of
Anchovy.
I fish with a Delta Diver, 18
inches of leader to a Chartruese
Fish Flash, a rubber snubber,
and a 6 foot 40# leader, a
center 6 bead chain along with
5/0 (front) and 4/0 (rear)
hooks. I've been using fresh
Anchovy because it's the bait of
choice. I fished Herring on
Sunday, the Anchovy outfished it
5 to 1. If anyone needs
assistance with this fishery,
just give me a call.
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Columbia River - Buoy 10 wk
of 8/22
The tides were extreme this
weekend making it a bit harder
for that consistent bite you
would normally expect to have
this time of year. But we
managed to get limits of Coho
and 1 king for my clients this
week. The King fishery is not
what it was this time last year,
they are few and far between but
the ones being caught are big
fish! Look for the Coho fishery
to improve and don't forget the
limit increases to 3 fish per
day the 1st of September.
The fish we caught came one hour
before and two hours after the
flood above the Astoria Bridge
on the Washington side. (the
church hole). I use Delta
Divers, green Fish Flash a 7
foot leader and fresh Anchovies.
Every fish I cleaned was chuck
full of Anchovies!! I have line
counter reels and generally run
them out to 26 feet (13 pulls).
Troll with the tide as much as
possible or diagonally as long
as the a boat traffic will
allow. Be patient, they will
bite, and when they do, it's
fast and furious. Call me if you
have any questions, I'll tell
you what I know. |
Columbia River - Astoria
/ Buoy 10 - wk of 08/15
The fishing for Kings
and Coho continues to
improve in the lower
Columbia River. We
caught limits of Coho on
Friday and limits on
Kings and Coho Saturday
and near limits on
Sunday until we were
blown off of the water.
We are fortunate to be
able to buy fresh
herring and Anchovies
each day. And to tell
you the truth folks,
that will make all the
difference in the world
on your catch rate. I
didn't have any kings
over 18 lbs but I saw a
few in the high 20's and
one just over 30 that I
weighed with my Boga
Grip. There are a
considerable amount of
Coho to be caught, but
I've noticed at the dock
that people are catching
some rather larger Coho
and calling them Kings.
I saw an 18 lb Coho with
a fin brought in that
the guy I talked to
swears was a Coho.
Please be very careful
when assessing your
catch, look for the
black mouth on the
Kings, their teeth and
spots all over tail. If
the fish you have does
not have these
characteristic, then
it's most likely a large
Coho. Remember, you can
only keep hatchery
(adipose fin clipped) 16
inch minimum Coho. You
can retain any King
clipped or not clipped
and it must be a minimum
size of 24 inches.
Here is a picture of my
friend Karl Holman and
his wonderful mom
Claudia with their
limits of Coho. I'm
taking the picture, my
fish are in the picture
too.
Fishing Report - Wk of
08/09 (Area 5 Sekiu)
Since the King
retention was shut down
at 12:01 am August 7th,
we now hear of more and
more kings being caught!
Go figure.
However, the Coho bite
continues to improve and
there are some pretty
fair fish being caught
right now. I had a party
of three of Saturday and
a party of five on
Sunday. All of them went
home with cooler full of
filets. We released some
Wild Coho upwards of 12
lbs and saw some other
Hatchery Coho at the
dock up to 14 lbs. Pinks
were abundant too. If
you're looking for some
fun and want to get that
freezer of yours stocked
up with Salmon, then
head out to Sekiu, you
will not be
disappointed.
Pictured on
right is Travis
with his
first Salmon and
as you can see,
his mom and dad
got in on the
action too
(photo above). |
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| 8-4-2009
I thought I was not
going to be able to
fish this weekend
because my boat
needed some repairs.
We'll, as it turns
out, things were
fixed and Saturday
was on for the
weekend. I was back
at Sekiu, Saturday
and Sunday.
It was windy on
Saturday when we
launched from
Olson's Resort, but
the fishing was
outstanding once
again. My clients
caught their limits
on Coho, Kings and
Pinks. Sunday,
limits were found
once again, but this
time however, we had
bigger fish. We
released lots of
wild Coho, wild
Kings and many
Pinks. Our primary
baits were Green
Hotspot flashers, a
40 inch - 40lb
leader and either a
Cop Car Kingfisher
or Spatter back
Hoochie with a
twinkle skirt with a
32 inch leader and
-50lb leader. We
caught our fish in
water depths of 300
feet to 100 feet
while setting our
downrigger at 45 to
90 feet. Many of our
bigger Kings were
caught at 45 feet in
250 feet of water in
and around Pillar
Point. |
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| Here
is a rather poor
picture (photo
above/right) of the
group, Left to right
is Donavan, Ross,
Mike and Mike. Ross
Burtness and his dad
Mike, each invited a
close friend to join
them. |
Area 5 - Sekiu Washington -
Saturday - 7/25
It was about 5 AM when we
departed Olson's Marina & Resort
for the first of this years
fishing at Sekiu. And as usual,
it didn't let me down. We began
fishing @ 5:10 (obviously we
didn't have to go very far). I
put the first downrigger @ 25
feet, then the second at 45,
I didn't get to the third
downrigger before the first one
went off. Small undersize King.
Now, finally all of them are
out, then Double!! And it pretty
much did that the rest of the
day. To make a long story short,
we had 92 fish to the boat, many
of them wild and a few undersize
Kings. The number of Kings were
11 to the boat, we kept two and
released a large wild fish
somewhere in the mid 20's. Lots
of wild Coho around 5 to 6 lbs.
Humpies were on tap too, we kept
three around 6 lbs a piece.
Below is a picture of a couple
of Kings Eric Corozo and I
caught on Saturday.
Sekiu Washington - 7/26
Continued
On Sunday, Shane Arlt, his two
sons Dalton and Gunnar and
Shanes dad came over from
Spokane to catch their limits.
It was just as it was on
Saturday, lots of fish, many
wild fish and undersize Kings,
but we managed to fill a couple
of catch record cards in the
interim. Pictured are the two
boys, Gunnar on the left and
Dalton on the right. Both boys
had never caught Salmon before.
BTW, Gunnar lost a huge fish to
no fault of his own, the 40 lb
leader broke. Sorry Gunnar,
we'll get 'um next time!
Our bait(s) of
choice were Coho Killers in
Purple, Purple Haze, Purple
anything and 40 inches behind a
green Hotspot flasher. The Kings
were caught on Green hotspot
flashers with Green Spatter back
Hoochies and a small piece of
Herring on the inside hook. In
the AM, we set our downriggers
to a maximum of 45 feet, when
the sun hit the water, we went
to 65 and 90 feet. Most of the
bigger Kings were caught on
Hoochies at 90 feet. I would
suggest if you're fishing two
downriggers, stack one if you
have too, and leave the other
for the Kings at 90 feet. The
caves and Pillar Point would be
a good start. |
Fishing
Report: Lake Washington -
Perch Fishing -wk of 7/18
The fishing was pretty good
last Friday. I began about 8
AM and fished the East side
of Mercer Island just about
1/4 mile South of the I 90
bridge. Night crawlers and
Berkley Power bait grubs
(brown or pink) were the
ticket that day. Within a 3
hour timeframe we caught 67
Perch. You need to fish just
on or outside of the weed
lines these days. I used my
electronics and traveled the
weed lines and looked for
pockets of fish and then
began to target them. The
payoff was great! If you
want to have "some fun in
the sun" try the Perch
fishing in Lake Washington,
it's fun, fast and they're
terrific table fair.
Fishing Report: Puget
Sound - Salmon Fishing 7/18
and 7/19
Kids, you watch them grow up
and hopefully become
productive adults. But when
you have the pleasure of
being part of an experience
that you know has the
potential to be special,
well it just plain warms you
heart when you see it. This
weekend my two trips
included kids. Saturday, was
Dalton's turn.. he and his
grandpa spent most of the
day with me in area 10 and
specifically Jefferson Head,
where he limited on Coho. We
caught 4 fish three Coho and
one small King that we
released. We fished White
Lighting Coho Killers behind
green Hotspot flashers with
our downrigger set to 65
feet. Here is Dalton Nardine
with he and his
grandfathers' catch. That
smile says is all...
Sunday I was out in the same
area with 4 more kids and
their mother / guardian. The
action was not quite as
productive for me on Sunday
as it was on Saturday but a
good time was had by all.
Pictured here is Jimmy Brown
of Santa Rosa California and
Emilie Weller of Port
Orchard WA. As you can tell
by this picture, they had a
real good time, they could
not wait to get them on the
barbeque that evening. We
used green Hotspot flashers
with green spatter back Coho
Killers with Herring Smelly
Jelly at 90 and 45 feet on
the downriggers.
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click on photos
to see larger
versions |
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Fishing Report 6-29-2009
- Lower Columbia River
Saturday I fished with a Seattle Cop, two retired
Boeing employees and my daughter
Hailey. Three of the 4 had never
caught a Sturgeon. Well, that
monkey is off of their back now
and they can no longer say that.
Each of them has now experienced
the strength and power of these
prehistoric dated fish. We
caught and released 5 fish that
were just under the slot limit
and had a couple more that take
downs that we should have
gotten. All it all it was a good
day of fishing.
I'm probably not going to do much more Sturgeon fishing
this summer because Salmon
season is really turning up now
and I can stay closer to home
and fish the Puget Sound and
surrounding areas. But, in
August, you'll find me back down
in the Lower Columbia targeting
Kings and Coho below the Astoria
Bridge. You certainly don't want
to miss out on that fishery,
it's much better than good when
it happens!! If you have any
questions on either of these
fisheries, please email or call
me direct. |
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Puget Sound / Staits Of Juan
DeFuca
We left the Keystone ramp on
Whidbey Island about 7:30 AM. It
was foggy but we were sure that
the GPS coordinates we were
headed to would more than
likely produce fish. We were
right, this 45 LB Halibut
I'm holding in this picture is
proof positive that electronics,
know how, the right rigging and
fresh bait will keep you from
going home empty handed. (well,
most of the time!!)
It's a great time to get out
there for one of these delicious
delights, but our season will be
ending very soon so get your
boat and gear ready or find your
favorite guide to get you on one
of these fine fish. And one
more thing, marine areas 3 and 4
(La Push and Neah Bay) will be
open for Halibut fishing in all
waters from 12:01 a.m. to 11:59
p.m. on Thursday, June 4 and
again on Saturday, June 6.
Next week,
Columbia River Sturgeon. |
This Month (May 2009):
I’ve just finished up (for the time being)
my Springer fishing in the lower Columbia
River. I had an exceptional time! In total,
I have had 83 take downs, (drive bye's) and
51 Springers to the boat, all of my clients
were great, and good times were had by all.
I appreciate you all! Now I’m booking for
the remainder of my summer fishing in the
Columbia River, Puget Sound area, Sekiu, and
the Lower Columbia (around the Astoria area)
for Fall Kings and for some of the million
Coho that are supposed to show up. All of my
trips are $150 per person with a three
person minimum.
Special offer for this month:
Mid June to mid July for Columbia River
Sturgeon in the Deep River area, this is a
very productive time and 25 to 75 fish per
trip are not uncommon. Keeper Sturgeon
limits are almost a certainty. For Columbia
River Sturgeon, book three people and the
4th person is half price. Dates are going
fast, so give me a call or email for
updates.
Call or e-mail me for more
details.
(425) 577-8484
kylew@kcwservices.com
Rufus Woods
Reservoir
Well, my daughter wanted to go
fishing on Sunday, so I met her over
in Grand Coulee Saturday night and
we spent part of Sunday on Rufus
Woods for some Tripiloid trout
fishing. It was a good break from
all of the salmon fishing I've been
doing as of late and our limit was
easily caught. We had another friend
of mine with us, (someone had to
take the picture) and he caught his
limit too. We launched at Seaton
Grove, downstream from Coulee Dam
about 7 AM. Headed down river about
5 miles to the first set of trout
pens and trolled the first part of
the morning. We had just set the
last of three rods in the holder and
BOOM.. fish on! Lost it right off.
I'm pretty sure it was the biggest
of the day. (of course it would be)
We trolled #2 Black Wholly Bugger on
a 5 ft. leader tied to a swivel with
a 1/4 once black bullet weight just
above it. Our lines were back behind
the boat about about 75 feet too.
Although trolling was productive,
it was not as lighting fast as I
remember it being last year at this
same time. So we pulled in behind
the pens and went to work jigging
Wholly Buggers and rainbow floating
type #5 Rapalas. BAM, that worked
pretty well. There's a fairly strong
current there so I used a 18 inch 2
once dropper with a 5 foot leaded
with either the Wholly Bugger or
Rapalla on it. It was just enough
weight to work it down stream very
slowly and nail these fish. We
caught somewhere around 12 fish and
then decided to keep the next few
for our limit of two each. We quit
fishing at noon. Please note that we
were not using sent or bait, if you
use either of those together or
separate, you have to keep the first
fish you catch and you are not
allowed by law to release them. They
are considered a part of your daily
catch limit. While using anything
artificial that is not scented or
baited, you can release the fish. I
recommend that if you practice this
method of "catch and release" that
you do so with the upmost care to
help secure their future and this
great fishery.
The picture you see is my daughter
Hailey and myself, I'm the one with
his eyes closed. These are a good
representation of the trout caught
in fairly good numbers this time of
the year at Rufus Woods.
Next week, Drano Lake, stay tuned!
Please check out
my weekly fishing reports at Salmon
University.
CLICK HERE To See Them Now
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