470,000 Spring Chinook Forcasted for 2010 for Columbia River System

Just received an e-mail from the ODFW with the Columbia River Spring Chinook forecast for 2010. To be quite frank, it is the largest run since 1938. Even if they are slightly off on the predictions we will still receive a huge return that should equate to lots of angling opportunity for those that like to fish this fishery. As far as what the sports season will be, we will just have to wait and see how things are divided up. With this size of return, when the seasons are announced I would not hesitate to make arrangements for your camp spot, moorage or motel accommodations.

I will post more when we hear any additional information.

Squidding - Puget Sound

With the weather the way it has been this week, we have not been getting a lot of squid reports in. The few individuals that have braved the elements have found a few squid, but nothing to write home about locally. The folks that have been fishing Des Moines and the Seattle waterfronts have been finding some squid, but for the most part have been very small 2 - 3 inch specimens and occasionally a few larger adults. Edmonds has been quite slow overall, with an odd evening where they have caught a fair number of larger 10 - 12 inch squid. The better nights have been 10 - 30 squid per angler. Make sure to bundle up as it has been bitter cold with saltwater freezing in the guides. I think I just might wait until it warms up a tad before I venture down to the docks.

New Shipment - Silver Horde 4 L Cookies n Cream and Irish Cream

Silver Horde just dropped off another shipment of the popular 4L Kingfisher spoons in Cookies n Cream and Irish Cream. These two colors have been the most popular and most talked about spoons in the Puget Sound blackmouth fisheries this winter.

Steelheading - Puget Sound

Well, so far the winter steehead reports have not been anything to write hope about. We have just been getting so - so reports from all of the north Sound steelhead rivers. Shawn fished the Snoqualimie on Saturday with a couple of his friends to end up with a dark summer run, a typical hatchery winter run and a late coho. We had one of the regular customers drop in yesterday afternoon to show off a nice limit of winter fish he caught at Reiter, both in the 8 - 9 pound range. He said that there were only about six fishermen on the Reiter side and six on the highway side which would say that the fishing has not been too hot. Had one of the regular Stilli fishermen in today and he said that he hadn't heard too much from that system either. We have heard of some just fair reports coming out of the Skagit, not great but better than we have been hearing of locally.

I am sure that things will be tough the rest of the week with this freezing weather that we are dealing with.

We have had reports out of the Cowlitz that have been OK, but still a little off and on. The Forks area has had some fairly good reports both out of the Calawah and Bogachiel rivers.

Whidbey Island - Steelheading

If you are looking to do something a tad bit different fishing wise, starting this weekend and next week might just be the time to sample the Whidbey Island steelhead scene. We have some good high tides first thing in the AM and you will be able to fish the last of the flood and then fish the outgoing tide. (Which I think is the best tide, as it compacts the fish behind the points on the outgoing tide.) As far as the rigging goes take a look at our archived "Tips & Tricks" and you will find everything you need to know. With the beautiful clear and cold weather it is a truly beautiful place to fish with a foreground of the snow capped Olympic mountains, the Straits of Juan de Fuca, Vancouver Island and the San Juans.

Coronet Bay - Smelting

The smelting has been quite good for those fishing Coronet Bay just inside Deception Pass on Whidbey Island. Does not take much in the way of tackle just a trout spinning rod a Gamakatsu # 4 or 5 Smelt / Herring jig and a 1/2 - 1 oz sinker. It does pay to chum a little with your favorite feed to hold the smelt where you are fishing.

Lake Goodwin - Trout Fishing

If you are looking for some good trout fishing you might want to hook the old boat and trailer up behind the truck and head off to Lake Goodwin. The winter trout fishing has been very good recently with fish up to 17 inches. There seems to be good numbers of hold over fish. Most of the guys that I have spoken with are anchored up and still fishing with Berkley Power Bait or Gulp products. This fishing should hold up for awhile. If you haven't been there before the boat launch is at Weinberg County Park. It has a fairly good boat launch, that can handle good sized boats and a good parking area. Unfortunately there is not much in the way of good bank access.

Lake Washington - Cutthroat

We have been hearing of cutthroat being caught in Lake Washington from a number of customers. Most have been fishing in the SE section on the lake, launching out of Gene Coulon Park. Most have been fishing either Luhr Jensen Needlefish spoons in a size 2 or 3 in a variety of colors(Nickle Red Head, Brass Red Head, Fire Tiger, Chartreuse Clown and Perch) or small whole or plug cut herring in an orange or red size. They have been fishing from just under the surface to around 30 feet deep. Most of the fish we have been hearing about have been in the 16 -18 inch range. Generally, fish a little faster than what you would normally fish trout as we have found that it is more productive - like a good brisk walk speed.

As this fishery is just getting started and will continue to get better over the winter.

Make sure to read your regulations as any steelhead or rainbow 20" or greater must be released.

Reiter Ponds - Skykomish River

John gave us a call this afternoon to give us the report from the Reiter Ponds area on his day off. He caught an average hatchery fish this morning and said he saw 4 or 5 others caught. The water was in "Great" shape and it looks like we should see the lower river come into good shape this week with the weather that is predicted. For those of you that wonder, John caught his fish on a float and jig combination.

Marine Area 7 - San Juan Islands - Open to Salmon Angling

Marine Area 7 - San Juan Islands opened today for salmon fishing. The area will remain open through April 30th giving us the longest single winter blackmouth season in years. The area has a two fish limit with a 22" minimum size restriction and wild fish release on Chinook. No size limit on the other species.

This is without a doubt one of the finest winter blackmouth areas there is, with the outstanding beauty of the islands and the quality of the fish that can be caught is a real plus. Each season we see fish landed into the high 20's and every once and awhile into the 30's. The nice thing about the islands is that there is always somewhere you can fish any day, though it may not be pleasant getting there or going back home.

We should get some island reports in the next few days and will post when we hear something.