Perch Fishing - Lake Washington

The yellow perch fishing has really been outstanding for those that have been out on the lake chasing these tasty panfish. This is a "Great" family outing that the whole family will enjoy, as perch are very willing biters and will provide lots of action. In fact, it can be so good that poor old dad might never get a chance to fish himself as all he might be doing is taking fish off line, re-baiting and re-rigging gear. We have heard of good catches in water anywhere from 12 - 35 feet. Lake Washington is known for some really good sized perch, one of the customers had one the other day at 16 inches. Just remember not to keep any more than you want to clean. I have seen many times people getting caught up in the action and the next thing you know there is more fish than you won't to deal with. So, make sure to keep only what you are willing to clean. These are an outstanding eating fish, perhaps my favorite freshwater fish. Dredge the fillets in light coating of seasoned flour, an egg wash, then coated in "Panko" followed by a bath in hot oil makes for some of the finest Fish N Chips you have ever had.

Stop by and we'll be glad to fill you in on some of the particulars.

Silvers - Marine Area 8-2, 9 & 10

Though we haven't seen any really outstanding coho fishing in the local area, there are fish to be caught for those that are willing to take the chance and get out there. We have see some really nice coho caught this week with the largest pushing the scale to 18 pounds. Overall it is really luck as if you are in the right place at the time they are willing to bite. These fish are moving right through our area on the way to the rivers and are not spending any time laying around in any one area. The most consistent area has still been off of Edmonds and north off the Spanish House area. The shipwreck area and the shipping lanes between the shipwreck and Possession Point have also been putting out some fish.

Make sure to read over your regulation pamphlet as there are a few changes that go into place tomorrow, October 1st.

Razor Clam Seasons Set

The first of the Fall & Winter razor clam seasons are tentatively set as follows:

Oct.7, Thursday - 6:55 p.m. (-1.0ft.), Twin Harbors
Oct.8, Friday - 7:42 p.m. (-1.4ft.), Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks, Kalaloch
Oct. 9, Saturday - 8:28 p.m. (-1.5ft.), Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks, Kalaloch
Oct. 10, Sunday - 9:15 p.m. (-1.3ft.) Twin Harbors

Make sure to read up on the regulations.

Lake Chelan Lakers

Here's a nice bunch of lake trout that Steve Maninger and Ron Strand caught fishing with Jeff Witkowski in a half day of fishing on Lake Chelan. Jeff has been fishing for Darrell and Dad's Family Guide Service when he's not doing his own thing on the Columbia. The largest laker came in at 13.9 pounds.

If you want to do a lake trout trip you can contact Anton Jones of Darrell and Dad's Guide Service with the information below:

Anton Jones
Darrell and Dad's Family Guide Service
1-866-360-1523
1-509-961-5342
Antonj@aol.com
www.darrelland dads.com

Jeff has moved down to the Hanford Reach section of the Columbia at the present time fishing Chinook. If you would like to give this fishery for the upriver brights a try you can contact him with the information below:

Jeff Witkowski
P.O. Box 1904
Chelan, WA 98816
jeffwitkowski@yahoo.com
(509) 860-7345

Salmon Fishing - Areas 8.2,9 & 10

Though silver fishing hasn't been fantastic by any means, we have had better reports the past couple of days. The fish that moved through Seiku last Wednesday through Saturday have apparently made it here. We had a few fairly good reports of fish in the Edmonds area yesterday and one of the customers had six this AM off the shipwreck first thing this morning. Hopefully we will see a few fish over the next few days before they head to the rivers. With the predicted good weather over the weekend it might just be one's last ditch effort in the coho fishery.

I would have to say that this seasons coho fishery here in our part of the Sound has been quite disappointing to say the least.

Methow Steelheading

Though the steelheading started slow on the Methow it has started to see some better fishing the last few days. If you take a look at the dam counts you will see the steelhead numbers over Wells and Rocky Reach increasing every day which will in turn mean better fish numbers in a short time.

If you are looking for a guide for this area contact Phil Lund. Phil has fished steelhead all his life here in the Pacific Northwest and is very accomplished at both fly fishing as well as conventional gear. A day on the water with him will be money well spent with the knowledge that you will come away with at the end of the day. Phil has forgotten more about steelheading than most will ever hope to know. For a "Great" day on the water you can contact him below.

Phil Lund
Methow River Fishing Guide
PO Box 658
Methow, WA 98834
(206) 947-8561
(509) 699-0411
gunrodbat@gmail.com

Local Coho Fishing - Areas 9 & 10

To say the least the fishing has been quite slow for this time of year in these popular silver areas. The best and most productive fishing has still been off the Edmond's shoreline with the area between the "Spanish House" and Richmond Beach being the best. Even with this area producing fish, it has been less than a fish per boat average overall. Some of the guys have lucked out and have ended up with 3 or 4 for the boat on some days and only to get skunked the next few. We have heard of a few more fish being caught off the Possession Point Bar off the south end of Whidbey Island over the past few days, but it really isn't "Hot" by any means. Jefferson Head off the Kitsap Penn. has also put out a few fish, there again not exactly "Hot". I don't think that this weekends derby is going to be a real "Barn Burner" with the number of fish that we have seen caught this past week, but all it takes is one!

Good Luck

Beach Fishing Coho - Whidbey Island

Have had a number of the beach regulars in this week and the fishing has not been anything to write home about this past week. Everyone has mentioned that they are seeing fish passing by all the normal spots but getting them to bite has been far from easy. Not to say that there are not a few fish being caught, but they have been few and far between. Hopefully, with the fish that have shown up at Sekiu we hope that we should finally start seeing some action in the next 3 or 4 days.

We did hear of a few fish being caught off the beach at Possession Point Bait Co. in the past few days.

Everett Coho Derby - Saturday & Sunday 18 & 19th September

Don't forget to get your derby tickets for the Everett Coho Derby this weekend. This is the largest derby event on the West Coast. Tickets are $25.00 and kids 12 and under are "Free"! This is the last event of the Northwest Salmon Derby Series for the year and the drawing for the completely rigged and ready to fish 20 ft Stabicraft Boat. Lots of $ Prizes with a $3,000.00 first prize, $2,000.00 2nd, $1,500.00 3rd, $1,000.00 4th, $750.00 5th, $600.00 6th and $500.00 7th. Also a 15' Alumaweld w/50HP Mercury & EZ Loader Trailer. There's a 9.9 HP Suzuki outboard motor as a special raffle prize. Lots of additional prizes and gift certificates.
Take a look at there website at www.EverttCohoDerby.com for additional information and rules.

Good Luck to Everyone!

Sekiu Silver Fishing

The past couple of days have finally seen some good coho fishing here at Sekiu. With the wild fish restriction coming off the coho yesterday anglers are able to retain either wild or hatchery coho until the close of the season on September 30th. Just remember that all Chinook and Chums must be released and that it is a 2 salmon limit. We heard that a number of boats were back to the docks very early this morning with limits of nice coho. Everyone has been wondering where the silvers have been so far this season. Hopefully, it will continue through the end of the month. We have heard that the accomidations here at Sekiu have been booked up for quite some time. Make sure you have some place to stay before you take a run out there.

Edmonds Coho Derby - Last Minute Information

We are down to the last few derby tickets for the 2010 Edmond's Coho Derby. It seems everyone waited until the last minute to make a decision to participate or not. Perhaps they were waiting to see what the weather was going to do or to see if the fishing would improve. No matter what the derby will go on and there will be individuals that will win and those that won't do as well. "It's Fishing" after all!

Anyway, we did see a little improvement in the catches today and some of the guys hooked good numbers of fish. Overall, I would say that the best fishing areas were on this side of Puget Sound with the Edmond's area producing the greatest number of fish. We did hear of fish being caught through out the area today, which is one of the few days that we have heard such. Despite hearing of better fishing I would still say that it is not "Hot" by any means!

Good luck to all of you that are fishing in the derby tomorrow and have a "Great" day on the water!

Westport Tuna & Salmon

Mark Coleman of All Rivers Guide Service sent me an email to give me a run down on yesterday's trip. He said the water conditions were flat and he made the run to blue water (just short of 40 miles) in an hour and a half. They set out the troll gear and had a double on in less than a 1/4 mile of troll. They went to bait fishing and had a four hour non-stop bait bite. They managed to land 37 ablies and lost another 20 or so. The fish were very good sized and were in the 20 - 30 pound range, the largest weighing in at 31, 32 and 34 pounds. They even hooked two on the fly rod, managing to land one. On the way back in they stopped and fished salmon and managed to catch 8 - 10 mixed coho and kings with one tipping the scale at 27 pounds.

This is an outstanding trip for anyone wanting to have a great trip. The advantage of fishing out of Mark's 29' Defiance is the quick trip out to the blue water and the smaller more personalized trip. This is an ideal situation for you to take a small group of your buddies (4 - 6) for a good day on the water.

Mark is going to send some pictures shortly and I will post them when I get them.

For more information contact Mark:

Capt. Mark Coleman
All Rivers & Saltwater Charters
(425) 736-8920
www.allriversguideservice.com

Coho Fishing Area 8-2, 9 & 10

Though we are seeing some coho being caught in the area, overall I would say we are not seeing the numbers that should be here at this time of the year. The past few days in talking with the guys stopping by the shop I would have to say that we are seeing perhaps an average of about a fish per boat average. Not real good! The single best catch that we heard of yesterday was one boat that had caught three off the Edmonds area. Size wise, most are smaller fish in the 5 - 7 pound range. We have seen an odd good sized coho into the upper teen range. Overall, the best fishing we have seen has been on this side of the Puget Sound. The Edmonds area from the south end of Brown's Bay south to Richmond Beach and then the Picnic Point up though Humpy Hollow has been more consistent in producing fish.

Talked with some of the Whidbey Island fishermen yesterday and they all have been complaining about the lack of fish in the Bush Point, Lagoon Point and Fort Casey areas.

Spoke with one of the regulars that called in from the water this AM trying to find some fish and he didn't have a single fish trying the Shipwreck area, Possession Point, Indian Point and was finally moving over to Pilot Point in search of fish. He said there was lots of bait showing on the bar and at Indian Point but didn't see any fish around them. He said that all the boats were spread out, obviously they were also searching fish out.

Rieter Ponds

With the salmon action going on, most anglers have given up the steelheading and are chasing salmon both in the salt water as well as the river. With the early fall weather change and with it the rain, the river has colored up and risen. In turn this has brought steelhead that have been spread out throughout the river back to the Reiter Pond section of the river. Though the fishing has not been "Red Hot" there have been a fair number of steelhead landed by those few anglers venturing up to this section of river. John, who works for us, managed to land a few fish yesterday and said that he saw other anglers who also managed to find a fish or two.

Snohomish River Coho

Since the Snohomish system opened on September 1st for coho the reports that we have had are spotty at best. With the rains this past week and the rains the past few days there are a few more fish every day, but nothing really outstanding. The best reports that we have heard have been from the confluence of the Skykomish and Snoqualimie. Most of the catch have been smaller 4 -7 pound fish, undoubtedly the earlier returning resident coho. There has been an odd larger fish in the lower teens. From what we have been seeing so far, plugs have been accounting for the lions share of the fish. Worden's Fat Fish in the Fluorescent Red Herring Bone, Fire Tiger and the new Bleeding Fire Tiger finishes have all been good. Lower in the river we have been hearing of some coho at Crab Bar by both the boat fishermen as well as the plunkers. The tidal section of the river from Snohomish down has so far been very slow.

Edmond's Coho Derby - Saturday 11th September

Don't forget the Edmond's Coho Derby is coming up fast! Only three days left to purchase your tickets. Tickets are $30.00! Don't be like many last year and wait to the last minute only to find that the derby is sold out!

There is a total of $9,250.00 in cash prizes, $5,000.00 for first place! There are "Lots" of other merchandise prizes!

Don't forget that there is a $15.00 Anthony's coupon with every ticket!

For more information visit the website for more details!

WWW.EDMONDSCOHODERDY.COM

Lake Chelan Lakers & Chinook

Anton Jones from Darrell and Dad's Family Guide Service sent me these photo's of a nice mess of lake trout and one of Chelan's landlocked Chinook from the end of last month. The lake trout pictured were caught by Amanda and Jessica Kelley of Woodinville and the Chinook landed by Robbie Borders of Baker City, Oregon.

If you are thinking about fishing in this neck of the woods Anton has been fishing the lakers for quite a number of years and is about as versed on the fishery as anyone is.

Here's his contact information:

Anton Jones
Darrell and Dad's Family Guide Service
231 Division
Manson, WA 98831

(509) 687-0709
(866)360-1523 toll free

antonj@aol.com
www.darrelland dads.com

Sea Run Cutthroat

We have been getting some very good sea run reports from those who have been fishing the lower tidal stretches of the Snohomish, Stillagumish and Skagit systems. Most of the guys that we have spoken with are boat fishing, which gives one much more access to the water. The greatest amount of water in the lower rivers are for the most part inaccessible. Though these fish are not much size wise compared to the silvers that most are focusing their attentions on at the present time, they are a very unique fish and what they lack in size they do make up in spirit. Most of the fish are in the 10 - 14 inch range with a few into the 16 - 18 inch range and occasionally a rare 20 inch trophy!

If you get tired of fishing silvers, you just might give sea run fishing a try. I am sure you wound be disappointed.

Area 9 & 10 Coho

The coho numbers are continuing to increase virtually every day over the past ten days or so. Though the fishing is still not "Red Hot" but there are fishable numbers in all the most popular areas. We have seen perhaps the best fishing coming out of the Edmond's side of the pond. The area directly out of the Edmond's marina is a good place to start. We have heard of good fishing up to the Spanish House area south of Brown's Bay and south to the Richmond Beach oil docks. Remember that coho are virtually where you find them, they could just as easily be on the beach in the shallow water or out in the shipping lanes in hundreds of feet of water. You have to find them! Try the surface down to around 30 feet first things in the AM and progressively fish a little deeper as the day goes on with the 60 -90 foot depths generally being more productive by mid morning. We have been seeing some exceptionally good sized fish into the mid to high teens. This fact will bide well for the upcoming Edmond's Coho Derby this next Saturday, 11th September.