Emergency Closures of Fishing In Puget Sound & Straits Rivers

Most of us have known that the "Emergency Closures" were eliminate on Puget Sound and Strait Rivers due to low returns of "Wild" steelhead. The notice just came down just a little while ago on the WDFW website. I will post the closures but you can also take a look on the WDFW site.
Yeah! It just keeps getting worse every year! The only consolation to the closures is that the terminal hatchery areas will be kept open through February 15th. So there is at least some places that one can still go wet a line.

WATERS CLOSED TO FISHING FEBRUARY 1 INCLUDE:

NOOKSACK RIVER SYSTEM
Nooksack River mainstream from the Lummi Indian Reservation boundary to the confluence of North and South forks.

North Fork Nooksack River from Maple Creek to Nooksack Falls.

Middle Fork Nooksack River from the mouth to the City of Bellingham diversion dam.

South Fork Nooksack River from the mouth to Skookum Creek.

SNOHOMISH RIVER SYSTEM
Snohomish River from the mouth (Burlington Northern railroad bridge) upstream to the confluence of the Skykomish and Snoqualimie rivers.

Skykomish River from the mouth to the HWY 2 Bridge at the Big Eddy Access. (High Bridge)

Pilchuck River from the mouth to 500 feet downstream of the Snohomish city diversion dam.

Sultan River from the mouth to 400 feet downstream of the diversion dam (river mile 9.7).

Wallace River from 200 feet upstream of water intake of salmon hatchery to Wallace Falls.

North Fork Skykomish River from the mouth to 1,000 feet downstream of Bear Creek Falls.

South Fork Skykomish River from the mouth to 600 feet downstream of Sunset Falls fishway.

Snoqualimie River from the mouth to the boat ramp at Plumb access.

Tolt River from the mouth to the USGS trolley cable near confluence of North and South forks.

Raging River from the mouth to Highway 18 Bridge.

STILLAGUMISH RIVER SYSTEM
Stillagumish River from Marine Drive upstream to forks.

Pilchuck Creek from the mouth to Highway 9 Bridge.

North Fork Stillagumish River from the mouth to the mouth of French Creek.

South Fork Stiiagumish River from the mouth to 400 feet below the Granite Falls fishway outlet.

Canyon Creek from the mouth upstream

SKAGIT RIVER SYSTEM

Skagit River mainstream from the mouth to the Highway 530 bridge at Rockport.

Skagit River from the mouth of the Cascade River to the Gorge powerhouse at Newhalem.

Sauk River from the mouth to the Whitechuck River.

Cascade river from the Rockport - Cascade Road Bridge upstream to headwaters.

STRAIGHT OF JUAN DE FUCA

Dungeness River from the mouth upstream to the forks at Dungeness Forks Campground

Morse Creek from the mouth to Port Angeles Dam.

Salt Creek from the mouth to the bridge on Highway 12.

Deep Creek from the mouth upstream.

Pysht River from the mouth upstream.

Clallam River from the mouth upstream.

Seiku River from the mouth to the forks.

WATERS CLOSING TO FISHING FEBRUARY 16 INCLUDE

North Fork Nooksack River from the mouth to Maple Creek.

Skykomish River from the Hwy 2 Bridge at the Big Eddy Access to the confluence of the North and South folks.

Wallace River from the mouth (farthest downstream railroad bridge) to 200 feet upstream of the water intake of salmon hatchery.

Snoqualimie River from the boat ramp at Plumb access to Snoqualimie Falls.

Tokul Creek from the mouth to the posted cable boundary marker.

North Fork Stillagumish River from the mouth of French Creek to the Swede Heaven Bridge.

Skagit River from the Highway 530 Bridge at Rockport to the mouth of the Cascade River.

Cascade River from the mouth to Rockport - Cascade Road Bridge.

Don't forget about the previous South Sound closures posted earlier.

Wish I could say that things are better on the steelhead scene, but the truth of the matter is that we are in dire straights with our wild steelhead populations!

Sunday's Report Reiter Ponds

John did a little steelhead fishing before work yesterday, managed to land two in the couple of hours that he put in. He got there around 7:30 in the A.M. and left around 10:00 A.M. . He said that there were around 40 - 50 anglers during the time he was there and saw perhaps around 15 fish landed during that time frame. He said it was a mix of fish caught on floats and jigs as well as conventional drift fishing gear. There was a nix of fish that should some color as well as some fresh bright fish. He mentioned the largest he saw landed was about 12 pounds - Yeah! Norman! Really not that bad of steelheading everything considered.

Tokul Creek

Good reports are coming out of Tokul Creek this AM. We have been hearing of quite a number of fish being hooked and a few even being landed. This is a really fast flowing little stream, which when a fish is hooked the water flow stresses your tackle to the max and a great many of the fish hooked are broken off. Many Tokul regulars fish very heavy tackle with 20 and 25 pound main line and leaders not out of the ordinary. If the water is colored up the visibility of your gear has very little meaning. Most of the fish are showing a bit of color.

"New" Tailwagger Hoochie Hook Kingfisher 3.5 Silver Horde/Gold Star Spoons

We have the "New" Tailwagger Hoochie Hook Kingfisher 3.5 Silver Horde/Gold Star Spoons in stock! This is the newest addition to the Kingfisher line of spoons. Kelly at Silver Horde has incorporated a small hoochie onto the hook. There are 3 models at the present time:

Glow-UV Cookies n Cream
Glow-UV Irish Cream
Glow-UV Strawberry Cream

The folks that have been able to fish some of the prototype spoons over the past few months have done quite well fishing these "New" spoons.

Though not entirely a "New" idea, this concept has been used by various lure manufactures over the years. We saw polar bear hair enhanced hooks on Martin Tackle's Candlefish Spoons. (Which a few of the older fishermen just might remember.) Little Cleos incorporated a hoochie on their larger spoons a few years back and bucktail enhaced spoons have been around for years!

Anyway, the Tailwagger Hoochie Hook Kingfishers are here, stop by and take a look or if you would like some shipped to you just give us a call!

(425) 743-9505

Lake Steven's Kokanee Derby - Saturday May 21st

For those of you that participated in the "Lake Steven's Kokanee Derby" this past year and were wondering what is happening this year, you can finally "Mark Your Calender" Saturday May 21 st!

Talked with Mark Spada this week and we have started the planning process for this year. I will post more information as it comes down the line! With the success of the event this past year, we are hoping that it will be only better this year!

Whidbey Steelheading

The Island boys are finding a few steelhead off the beaches this past week. Overall the fishing has been a little on the slow side. The hatchery fish numbers have diminished and the wild fish have yet to show in good numbers yet. We are in a transitional period at the present time. We did hear of nice 15 pound wild fish that was landed this week, but overall the fishing has been a tad slow. In fact one of our beach regulars has gotten skunked the past three trips. But thats fishing!

Area 9 Blackmouth

Since opening this past Sunday the weather has been less than desirable as far as getting out to search for blackmouth. We have had more unfishable days than fishable, but that's the way it is in January. Even with the bad weather we have had a number of good reports coming in. Could not say that limits are the rule, but we are hearing of a fair number of fish in the 8 - 15 pound range being landed. We have heard of a few fish coming out of the Brown's Bay / Spanish House area, which does afford a tad bit of protection from the weather. The Possession Bar has been turning out some nice sized fish also. We had a couple of the Port Townsend boys in this AM and said that Mid-Channel Bank has put out some nice sized fish, but overall not good numbers. By the way, they bought a number of Grape Cream Silver Horde/Gold Star Coho Killer Spoons. (Wonder what they were catching their fish on?) Talked with one of the Port Angeles boys a little while ago and he said some of them have been running up into area 7 and finding some nice fish and fairly good numbers of them on the outside banks (when the weather will allow). When Areas 5 & 6 open February 16th there should be some good fishing to be had in the PA and Freshwater Bay areas, as many of those same fish will be out migrating. This should be good for the Derby on Presidents Day weekend.

Skykomish Steelhead

John was up at Reiter for a few hours late this AM and early PM and said that there was 6 - 8 steelhead landed while he was there. He managed to land one during the time he was there, said that was good enough and headed for home. We have been hearing of around 8 to 10 fish a day landed since Wednesday. Wouldn't say that the fishing has been great by any means, but at least there are a few fish to be caught by those willing to put in the time. John said the river was coming up a tad while he was there. Wouldn't say that it is going straight up, but USGS levels do say it is increasing. I wouldn't worry about it and it should be in good fishable shape in the AM. If you are wanting a fish for the BBQ I would say that you should be fishing as the number of hatchery fish is diminishing and more wild fish are starting to be landed.

Even Hawaii Dealing With The Weather

Even the weather in Hawaii is keeping the fishermen on the beach! Here's a photo Tim sent me yesterday of what they are dealing with, and this is the lee side of the Island.

Weekend Fisheries - Bust!

Wish I could say that there were lots of good reports from over the weekend, but to say the least it was overall a bust! The rivers were at or near flood stage and continue to do such. With the change in the weather the rivers should start to drop today but will be a few days before they will be fishable. The only sport that we did get any reports from was Tokul Creek, where the upper hatchery stretch opened up on Saturday. There was a good number of anglers fishing the opener, but with the high water conditions and heavy flow, virtually most every fish hooked was broke off with the heavy flows. We heard of just a single fish landed there in the AM. There might have been a few more, but it was not exactly "Hot" by any means! Hopefully the rivers will come back into shape by the middle to the end of the week and afford us a few more opportunities to fish!

With Area 9 opening up yesterday we hoped to get a few salt water salmon reports, but with the wind that we had I don't really think there were many braving the elements! Perhaps we'll get a report of two today with the winds calming down.

Whidbey Island - Steelheading

With the rivers looking in dubious shape with the rain and snow melt with the warmer weather that we are experiencing you might think about fishing the salt water for steelhead this weekend. The reports that we have been getting form the west side of the island have been fairly good. Most of the beach regulars have said that the fishing has been as good as they have seen in a number of years. For the most part the fish that have been landed recently have been wild (must be released), but they have at least had some action. There has still been an odd hatchery fish being landed, though with out a doubt the masses of hatchery fish have already swam by.

If you are needing any additional information on the unique fishery stop by or call and I'll be glad to fill you in on the particulars.

Marine Area 9 - Admiralty Inlet - Reopens Sunday 16th January

Marine Area 9 - Admirality Inlet - reopens for salmon fishing this Sunday 16th January! This is perhaps the single most popular salmon fishing area of all of Puget Sound! This encompasses the popular Posession Bar area off the southern end of Whidbey Island, Point No Point and Mid Channel Bank off Port Townsend. How this area will produce this year is a "Crap Shoot" to say the least. So far this winter the local blackmouth fishing has been far from "Good"! The local area of 8-1 & 8-2 that generally produce quite well during the winter season have been lackluster to say the least. There were a few nice blackmouth caught when it first opened and was fair for the first few weeks but subsequently fizzled out! Not that there are not a few fish being caught but you are definitely earning each and every one you catch. Area 10 has turned out a tad bit better fishing lately but nothing that I would say "Fair" at best. We have seen a few nicer fish in the 7 - 10 pound range being caught off Richmond Beach as well as the Kingston / Jefferson Head area in the past few weeks, when the water is conducive to getting out. (Which hasn't been very often.) Anyway, if I had to guess what will happen in Area 9 - I would have to say that I think that there will be some fair fishing for the first couple of weeks with some nice fish being landed and once these few fish are either caught or wise up the fishing will be scratch fishery after that. I hope that I am wrong - but I will be amazed if it produces well beyond the first couple of weeks.

Remember this is a two salmon limit area - minimum 22" on Chinook and all "Wild" Chinook must be released. There is no size or wild fish restriction on other salmon species.

Steelhead Closures

We are once again seeing earlier steelhead fishing closures on some of the Puget Sound streams. Here's the ones that are going down early!

White River: From mouth to R Street Bridge in Auburn will be closed to all fishing - effective Jan. 16, 2011.

Carbon River: From mouth to Hwy 162 Bridge in Auburn will be closed to all fishing - effective Jan. 16, 2011.

Upper Puyallup River: From mouth of Carbon River upstream will be closed to all fishing - effective Jan. 16, 2011.

Green River: From the 1st Ave. South Bridge in Seattle upstream to the South 277th Bridge in Auburn will be closed to all fishing - effective Jan. 16, 2011.

Green River: From the 277th Bridge in Auburn upstream to the Tacoma Headworks Dam will be closed to all fishing - effective Feb. 1, 2011.

Unfortunately, we are hearing some rumblings of additional closures on Puget Sound streams coming in the very near future! We will post them as soon as we get official notice of them.

Upcoming Razor Clam Digs

We tentatively have the following razor clam digs coming up, providing the marine toxin tests show the clams are safe to eat. The WDFW will test just prior to the opening. Here's the run down on the openings.

Jan. 20, Thursday - 6:59 p.m. (-1.3ft.); Long Beach & Twin Harbors
Jan. 21, Friday - 7:38 p.m. (-1.1ft.); Long Beach, Twin Harbors and Kalaloch
Jan. 22, Saturday - 8:19 p.m. (-0.6ft.); Long Beach, Twin Harbors and Kalaloch

Feb 17, Thursday - 5:53 p.m. (-0.9ft.); Twin Harbors
Feb 18, Friday - 6:33 p.m. (-0.9ft.); Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks and Kalaloch
Feb 19, Saturday - 7:13 p.m. (-0.5ft.); Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks and Kalaloch

Mark you calender - get you clam digging stuff together!

We have "Lots" of supplies on hand!

Olympic Peninsula Salmon Derby - Tickets for Sale

We have received the tickets for the Olympic Peninsula Salmon Derby (Old Discovery Bay Derby). The Derby will take place on Presidents Day Weekend - February 19, 20 & 21. This is a "New" revamped derby with both expanded fishing area as well as an expanded $10,000.00 First Prize - $5,000.00 Second Prize - $1,500.00 Third Prize - $500.00 Fourth Prize - $1,000.00 Mystery Fish Prize as well as many other Great Prizes.

Tickets are $40.00 for the Derby!

Stop by tickets or for additional information.

Mahi - Big Island

With the weather the way it has been here it would be nice to be somewhere it was nice and warm and would not have to be breaking ice out of the guides to fish! Here's a nice Mahi that Tim Bauer caught off the lee side of the Big Island this morning. He was complaining the the swell and the tides were up a bit. Anyway, Nice Mahi! Tim will be eating well tonight.

Ice Fishing - Fish Lake

With this cold weather moving in this past week, the ice at Fish Lake has finally got to the point that the ice is thick enough to be safe. The folks that I have spoke with say that it is pushing the 5 - 6 inch range, giving enough safety for a good number of folks to be fishing. The targeted species for the most part has been yellow perch, which are hard to beat taste wise. Most have been fishing with Swedish Pimples in a size 3, with Nickle finishes being the most common. Don't forget to tip the jig with a perch eye or small piece of perch meat for added enticement. The limit on the perch is 25 fish, which is more than you need for a good perch feed! There is also some good trout fishing with a 5 fish limit of which only 2 can be over 15 inches.

We have a good selection of ice fishing gear on hand - Ice Rods & Reels - Augers - Ice Jigs - Swedish Pimples.

If you have not done any ice fishing it might be something that you might want to give a try on one of those nice sunny winter days. It is quite addictive!

Snoqualimie - Steelheading

Shawn was up on the Snoqualimie yesterday and said that there were a few fish caught at "Big Eddy" by the bankies. He floated with a couple of friends and they managed to land a couple of wild fish, one around 14 and the other around 8 fishing spoons.

Skykomish Steelheading

With this cold weather the Reiter Pond section of the Skykomish has really dropped off the past few days. We spoke with one of the customers just a little while ago that had spent the AM up there fishing and in one word he said it was "Slow". We really need to get out of this cold weather and get some warmer weather and rain to get a few fresh fish into the system and get things rolling again.

Start of 2011

First Off! Hope all of you started the "New Year" off well and that things are so far going alright. With the start of the new year and the days starting to get a little longer it will not be long before Spring and then Summer fishing opportunities will be just around the corner. Meanwhile, we do have lots of good winter steelheading, squidding, smelting, winter blackmouth fishing, winter trout fishing and even a little ice fishing to be had for the next few months. Don't let the cold weather keep you inside!

Let 2011 be a "Great" year for you fishing opportunity wise!