Yakatat, Alaska - Kings & Sockeye

If you are heading up north to the Yakatat area the reports have been outstanding for sockeye in the Situk River. Not only have the fish arrived early, they have arrived in better than normal numbers. Most anglers are flossing or lining these unwilling biters with a long 6 - 9 foot leader and a single 1/0 - 3 / 0 hook topped with a small bead or bead and yarn combination. Cast slightly upstream and sweep the rod downstream at the same rate as the gear is drifting. When you feel the presence of a fish then set the hook with a downstream motion of the rod. If the fish is not hooked in the corner of the mouth make sure to release it. If not hooked in the mouth it is considered a snagged fish by Alaska Department of Fish and Wildlife and gets quite costly if you are caught.

The king fishing in the bay has by all accounts been quite good with the largest kings into the forty pound range.

As usual there is lots of "Great" halibut action in the Yakatat area, perhaps some of the best in all of South East Alaska.

Bamfield, Vancouver Island - Kings & Halibut

Had one of the guys just return from the SW corner of Vancouver Island today. He said the fishing was outstanding, with lots of kings from the low teens into the low twenties coming from South Bank. Along with the kings there were mass numbers of coho, most were around the six pound range with a few to around eight. Most all of his fish came from the "New" Clear UV Jellyfish Hot Spot Flasher trailing an OG 55 R Golden Bait #35 Hoochie. There were a couple of days when the weather kicked up, unable to fish the ocean they fished the Cree and Effingham Island area and managed to knock out a few kings in the protected waters. He also said that there were lots of sockeye being caught in the China Creek area of Port Alberni Inlet.

The fishing pressure was slight overall with only six to eight boats fishing out of Bamfield a day.

Halibut fishing was alright for smallish 20 pound chickens out on South Bank. Though not very big, these smaller fish do eat good on the table.

Spada Lake - Sultan Basin Recreation Area

Had one of the customers in the other day and wondered why the gate into Spada Lake was closed! I told him that I didn't know why but would find out.
I talked with my contact at Snohomish County PUD who controls Spada and the surrounding area and found that the spring runoff took its toll on the bridge crossing the south fork of the Sultan. The runoff eroded part of the bridge access, The PUD has contracted to get it repaired, but will be awhile before the contractor can get to it. Perhaps it will be completed sometime around the first of August.
So unfortunately it might be awhile before the access will be open to be able to fish this watershed.

Skykomish - Steelhead

Had a number of guys in the shop this afternoon who had good steelhead reports from the Skykomish above Sultan. The boaters that we talked with that floated High Bridge down to Sultan reported that they had fish and virtually most everyone that they talked with had caught fish or at least had them on. Water came up a little with yesterdays/last night rains and seemed to perk up the fish a tad bit. Bank fishermen that were above High Bridge in the Procter Creek/Cable Hole section of the river also reported that they had good results and saw good numbers of fish caught by other anglers. Might give it a try in the AM before the Father's Day activities.

King Salmon - Edmonds Pier

We have been hearing of a few more king salmon caught off the Edmonds Pier this past week. Every day a few kings have been hooked and at least a fish or two has been landed on average a day. Though the fishing isn't "Fantastic" by any means, it at least has the potential for an angler going down to possibly take home a salmon. This fishery should only get better as the time progresses with the last couple of weeks in July and the first couple in August being the peak. Most anglers are pitching 1-2 1/2 oz lead minnows in Pearl White, Green Pearl or Silver/Black Back colors.

Make sure to change those hooks from the trebles to a single barbless hook. Try the "Newer" Matzuo Sickle Siwash for a replacement.

Fathers Day - Sunday

Don't forget Dear Old Dad this Sunday June 21st. Do something special for him and take him fishing, out to dinner, stop by to say "Hi" or at least get him a card. For most of us "Dad" was the one who got us into the fishing game to begin with. So take a minute out of your busy hectic life to acknowledge him!

To All you Dads - "Have a Great Father's Day".

Sitka Alaska - Kings & Silvers

The reports that we are receiving from Sitka have been nothing short of "Outstanding". Talked with Eddy Sisom form Scales and Tales earlier this week. On Tuesday he said the group he had landed some 35 - 40 kings for the 4 anglers and 20 some incidental coho. Eddy said the kings were typical hatchery sized fish in the high teen to mid twenty pound range and the coho were good sized for this early in the season averaging around eight pounds with a couple pushing ten.
From what it sounded like there were good numbers of fish caught from Salisbury Sound to Sitka Sound along the west side of Kruzof Island. Also heard from Tom Ohaus of Angling Unlimited and he also said the fishing was quite good. Tom does have a few openings if anyone is interested. Fishing should just get better for the kings right up until the commercial opener the first of July.

Closed Water Violations - Skykomish & Wallace

There have been a number of anglers receiving citations for fishing "Closed" areas of both the Skykomish and Wallace Rivers this past week! Please make sure to "READ" your regulation pamphlets before you venture forth. Even though you might think you know the regulations it does not hurt to read over the area you are going to fish before hitting the water. I am sure that you will not be too happy to receive a citation, the money is better spent on tackle than a donation to the state!

Kokanee - Lake Samish

One of the customers stopped by this afternoon to get some more gear. He had fished Lake Samish on Sunday for Kokanee and had taken limits (five per person) for himself and his partner. Though the fish are not as large as Lake Stevens on average but they were a respectable 11 - 13 inch average. He found the fish in the 30 - 40 foot depth range and were taken on a Gamakatsu Flat Blade Spinner Rig baited Shoe Peg corn soaked with Krill Scent fished behind a 50/50 Brass/Nickle Gold Star Kokanee Dodger. He had talked with another angler that was taking out as they were launching that had limited in 45 minutes with a conventional Cow Bell style troll with a wedding ring spinner.

He said it was quite pleasant to fish here as it did not have the hordes of PWC's and water skiers that one has to contend with at Stevens and the number of fishermen were quite minimal.

Kings - Edmonds & Seacrest Piers

Both the Edmonds and Seacrest piers have been producing a few Chinook for those putting in the time pitching lead minnows in the 1 - 2 1/2 ounce range. Though the fishing isn't exactly red hot by any means, we are hearing of 3 to 4 fish landed per week over the past few weeks. The fishing should only get better as the summer progresses with some of the best fishing being mid July through mid August. AS far as lures, there are many popular models such as Point Wilson Darts, Pucci Laser Minnows, Mega - Baits, Crippled Herring and Gibbs Minnows. Colors are very personal choices, however Pearl White, Green Pearl and Chrome with a Black Back area all favorites amongst the regulars. Make sure to change out the stock trebles to a single siwash hook and pinch down the barbs to conform with the WDFW Regulations.

Most of the fish we are hearing caught are in the 10 to 14 pound range at present.

Lake Stevens - Kokanee

Kokanee fishing at Lake Stevens continues to produce quite well for those anglers that have an idea of what is going on. We have had a number of regulars in this week and everyone has reported good fishing. The numbers of large fish have been declining in the catches but there are enough of them to keep the fishing quite interesting. Most have reported that they are having to fish a little deeper to find the fish though not super deep. Depths have varied from 30 - 55 feet and the fish have been all over the board. Most have reported that they are doing best with small pink squid l blade combinations.

If one is getting tired of the same scenery at Lake Steven one might try Lake Samish just south of Bellingham as we are starting to get fair reports from this piece of water.

Lingcod - Last Weekend

This is the final countdown on this years lingcod season on the inside waters. Lingcod will close on Monday 15th June. So, if you are looking for a little last minute fish for the freezer then you don't have much time left.

Captain Downriggin's tackle now available

We have just recieved our first shipment of Hoochies from Captain Downriggin's. We have 20 of his favorite setups in stock now. They look really good and we expect them to be a good producer during this years Summer King Salmon fisheries.

Captain Downriggins "Blackmouth Candy"

Upcoming Derby!!!!

The Elliott Bay Salmon Derby is just around the corner. Saturday July 18th weigh in at Elliott Bay Marina. 1st Prize is $5,000, 2nd Prize is 2,000, and 3rd gets you $1,000. Area's open for the derby are inner Elliott Bay and marine area's 9 and 10 only. Tickets run $40.00 and are available at Ted's.

Skykomish River - Salmon & Steelhead

We had good reports from the Skykomish yesterday for both steelhead and salmon. Shawn and a couple of his buddies were up yesterday and managed to score on a nice summerrun and a Chinook jack. Though not exactly skunked they talked with anglers that did considerably better. One boat fishing below the mouth of the Wallace managed to score 2 summerruns and a couple of Chinook. We had good reports from the bankies in the river above High Bridge. There seems to be good numbers of fish in the river and should only continue to get better. The river did come up a little yesterday though not extreme. The river was at 5,6oo CFS this AM and is dropping. Could not ask for better conditions.

Costa Rica - Sailfish

Here's a photo of our good friend Richard Shank from Tamarindo, Costa Rica teasing us with a photo of a "Really Nice" Pacific sailfish. Richard is lucky enough to be able to spend a substantial amount of his time chasing exotic "Blue Water" species, regularly sending us photo's of Wahoo,Yellow Fin Tuna, Dorado, Cubara Snapper, Roosterfish and "Big" Amberjacks to mention just a few.

Perhaps one of these days we'll just have to come down and visit!

Grimes Lake - Lahontons

Jeff Witkowski from Big Dog Fishing sent us a "Great" report from this unique Eastern Washington fishery. Grimes Lake is one of the few Lahonton Cutthroat lakes in the state. Though not as popular as Lake Lenore it none the less has some fantastic fishing for those willing to give it a try. Jeff with one of his friends landed 150 fish between them in two days this past weekend. The fish averaged 20 inches but a number pushed into the 23 - 25 inch range. The fish were still in the spawn and varied in color from chrome to well! Yuk... The fly pattern of choice was a #12 Black Chironiomid but blood worms, damsels, pheasant tails and hares ears also produced respectively.

If you would like to fish with Jeff contact him "Big Dog Fishing" (509) 860-7345.

Skagit Kings

Talked with Nick Petosa this past evening to find out whats happening on the Skagit king wise since the opening this past week. Nick said he has fished every day and has averaged 2 - 4 kings per day for his clients with a 70% hatchery rate. Most of the fish have been averaging in the 12 - 14 pound range, though yesterday he managed to get a 22 and 27 pound king. Fish have been in "Great" shape. The river has dropped and cleared substantially since the opener and currently in "Great" shape.

If you would like to book a trip on the Skagit you can contact Nick Petoasa at Petosa's Guide Service (360) 854-0259 or if Nick is busy try John Koenig at John's Guide Service at (360) 853-9801.

Skykomish In Prime Shape

The Skykomish has dropped into prime shape in the last day, this AM it is right around 5,500 CFS and in "Great" fishing conditions. We have heard of fish being caught throughout the river with the the upper river definitely being the most productive. We have had a number of customers with limits this morning fishing the Procter Creek and Cable Hole sections. With the weather and water both cooperating we should see some good fishing for at least awhile.

Boaters should be happy with the conditions in the middle and lower sections of the river and I am sure with the word getting out the number of boats will increase substantially in the next few days.

Skykomish - Dropping Like A Rock

The Skykomish is dropping like a rock and at 8:30 this morning was at a very fishable 7,370 CFS and has continued on a downward trend sence Friday night at midnight when it was just under 13,000 CFS. With the weather the way it is we should see just a downward trend in water height until it finally stabilizes. We should really be able to see what we have in the river this week.

Will keep everyone posted of any reports we hear!

Skykomish Dropping - Fishing Should Improve

Looks like the Skykomish is dropping with the cooler weather. Was down to 8,600 CFS at 9:30 this AM and should continue to drop this AM until it starts to rise early this afternoon. With the cooler weather predicted all this week we should see lower water conditions and more stable water levels. With that we should really see what we might have in the river. Since opening we have heard of a handful of Steelhead and an odd Chinook, not anything spectacular by any means. This next week should see some better results with the improving conditions, that is if there are any fish!

Tulalip Report - Friday AM Fishing

The "Bubble" really didn't produce to any extent this morning. In talking with a number of fishermen that fished this morning we only heard of just a single fish that had been taken. Though not the most ideal tides to be fishing I would have thought we should have seen a little better fishing than that was observed. The tribal nets within the bay has had a fair showing for this early in the season . Perhaps we will see some better results in the next few days.

Kokanee - Lake Stevens

Well it's starting to get warmer and the kokanee are going a little deeper on a daily basis. The guys we talked with today found the fish considerably deeper than last week. One of the guys found his fish in the 55 - 60 foot range today while another did well in the 35 - 40 foot zone. Needless to say both were "Lake Stevens Regulars" and did well! It seemed the larger 14 - 17 inch fish came from the deeper zones and the smaller fish were found consistently were shallower. Fish came from a variety of gear: Small kokanee dodgers with blade and beads tipped with "Shoe Peg" corn, maggots or "Gulp" maggots produced well as did small # 14 Spin - N - Glos. Small hoochies fished either alone or with a small blade fished in front of the squid also fished well.

It looks like we have good numbers of fish in the lake this season, it doesn't look like the additional angling pressure has had any effect on the fishing so far this season - only time will tell if the fishing will hold up into the season.

Tulalip Terminal Area Fishery - Marine Area 8 - 2

The Tulalip Terminal Area (Known Locally As The Bubble) will open this Friday. This is the only local saltwater salmon fishery open at this time. It will be open Friday through Monday at noon. Though generally not a red hot fishery when it opens it will produce some nice Chinook for those willing to learn how to fish this fishery. This is a very versatile area as far as techniques with most anglers fishing downriggers with Flasher / Squid Combo's or Coyote Spoons. Glow in the dark finishes both in the squids or spoons are preferred. Jig fishermen also do quite well in this fishery with most fishing 2 1/4 ounce Point Wilson Darts in Pearl White or Pearl Green finishes being the norm. Plugs in 4 0r 5 inch models in Silver Horde or Tomics are also productive, stick with glow patterns with green or chartreuse accent colors.

This will be the only Chinook retention area in all of Area 8 - 2 this summer, with a two fish limit plus a bonus of two additional pink salmon. Chinook have a minimum 22 inch minimum length and they can be wild (unmarked fish) in this area.

Make sure to read the regulations and boundaries for this area in the WDFW Regulation pamphlet.

Intro to fly fishing class 5-30-2009

A big thanks to everyone in class for making this a great time. Jason, Dan, Abe, Yayoi and Steve on the dock at our private lake. The on water day was pretty good fishing wise. With the bright sun, the fish were very deep. Leeches and blood worms fished near the bottom caught fish. Fish 3 to almost 10 pounds saw the bank. Sinking lines seemed to produce the highest catch numbers but the San Juan worm on floating line was not to be overlooked. Look for future intro to fly fishing classes on our website. Thanks again to everyone in class, we look forward to seeing you in the shop soon. Tight lines.

Stephen



The class participants.



Jason hooked up!



Abe with the first fish of the day.


Yayoi with her rod bent.

Halibut Fishing - Season Coming To The End

Halibut season is rapidly coming to an end in Marine Area's 6 - 13, with just two days left on Thursday and Friday (June 4 & 5). Though there is not as much pressure as there was the first portion of the season there are still fish being caught. One of our customers caught three one day last weekend out of the Mutiny Bay area. Fishing herring off a spreader bar he came up with a 14 and two around 26 for the boat. Though fishing hasn't been stellar one can still catch one if you put in the time and energy!

We still have a good supply of large herring, squid and octopus on hand.

Marine Area 5 - Sekiu and Pillar Point remain open through July 3 rd with fishing open Thursday through Monday.

Skykomish - Reports

Did not hear of any great reports coming from the Skykomish yesterday. We heard of an odd steelhead coming from various sections of the river (Sultan, Cable Hole and Lewis Street) but there were definitely no "Hot" bites! Looks like the river will stay quite high with the warm weather that we are having. Perhaps when it comes down we will not only have better conditions but also show a few more fish.

As far as Chinook go - we did not hear of a single one in the Skykomish.

Skykomish at Sultan - AM Reports

We have only had 1 report from the Skykomish at Cracker Bar this AM. Steve said he saw just a single summer run of about 6 pounds coming from this popular spot. The river was a little on the high side at about 11,000 CFS this morning and dropping until about noon when it started to climb once again. Doesn't look like we will be seeing better conditions this week with the warmer weather that we have this week.