Skykomish Winter Run Steelhead

For the few of you that were able to get out and steelhead fish on the upper Skykomish yesterday there were a few dime bright winter steelhead caught.  John (who works for Ted's) managed to land a nice 7-8 pound winter fish for the couple of hours he put in.  We also had another regular that managed to land a pair of winter fish yesterday, the largest 10 pounds.  John also saw a few other fish landed up in the Reiter Ponds section of the river while he was there.

Traditionally, Thanksgiving Day has always been a time to start your winter run pursuits on the Skykomish with enough fish in the system to say you have a reasonable chance of catching one.

Hamilton / Lyman Area Skagit River

We have been getting some decent coho reports coming from this middle section of the Skagit the past couple of days.  Most of the fish have come from boaters tossing plugs into the slack water areas which the coho tend to favor.  The plug of choice has been the Brad's color BW29, though fire tiger, flour red herringbone, flour red and flour pink have all accounted for fish.  Twitching jigs, tipped with a small piece of sand shrimp or prawn has been productive also.

Winter Blackmouth Fishing

The reports that we have been getting from the saltwater has been fairly good for blackmouth.  We have heard good reports coming from both Possession and Satchet Head areas of the Possession Bar.  Jefferson Head down in Area 10 has also been kicking out good numbers of fish.  Most of the fish we have been seeing are in the 6-8 pound range with a few fish pushing into the mid teens.  Most of the guys we have spoke with have been fishing Tomic or Silver Horde plugs in both the 4 and 5 inch models.  Colors have been tending toward the 600, 602 and 603 models in the Tomics and the color 60, 61 and 62 in the Silver Hordes.  These colors are all basic "Glow" plugs of the Mother of Pearl varieties with Chartreuse or Lime Green enhancements.

Spoons fished either by themselves or in conjunction with a flasher have also been productive.  Give a White Lightning Cream, Cookies and Cream, Irish Cream or Lemon/Lime Cream a try.  I generally fish them by themselves without a flasher.  By doing such I am able to fish lighter gear, making the fight more enjoyable.

Skykomish River Chums

We are still seeing good numbers of chum salmon being caught in the Skykomish.  Fish any of the slower even flow water in the 4 -6 foot depths.  There have been good numbers in the Wallace flats area, as well as the Afternoon hole and the Al Borland Park areas.  Most of the bank anglers have been fishing 1/4 -1/2 ounce marabou or rabbit jigs tipped with a small piece of sand shrimp or prawn.  Try colors such as Cerise, Purple/Cerise, Purple/Black or Chartreuse to entice them.  Boaters have also been fishing jigs as well as back trolling plugs such as Kwickfish in the K-13 or K-14 sizes as well as the 3.5 Maglips by Yakima Bait Co.

There are still a few Coho around but they are few and far between, we have heard of an odd winter steelhead but also few and far between.

Fresh Sand Shrimp

We just received a limited supply of fresh sand shrimp this afternoon.  If you are needing some for the weekend give us an call and we can put them away.

If you are going to be needing shrimp for over the Thanksgiving weekend, put in your order.  We will have the order delivered on Wednesday.

Cascade River Coho

The Cascade River out of Marblemount put out some good fishing for coho today.  We have had a couple of the guys that took the trip this morning and both did extremely well fishing this upper Skagit tributary.  Fishing floats with eggs or just conventionally drift fishing with corkies, yarn and eggs were both very productive techniques. 

The upper Skagit was also in shape to fish today but the middle and lower portions are still a few days away.  Hopefully the rains will not continue relentlessly and keep the river out of shape.

Snohomish / Skykomish Silvers & Chums

With the rivers dropping and clearing after the high water event of last weekend and the first part of the week we have see some fairly good fishing for Silvers and Chums on both the Snohomish and Skykomish today.  The plunkers down on Douglas Bar did quite well today.  We also heard good reports coming from both the bank and boat fishermen fishing the Skykomish.  The river from the confluence to the Wallace flats section produced well.  Even though we are seeing a little rain coming back into the picture this evening I am sure it is not enough to put the river back out of shape.  We should see some good fishing this weekend for those that want to get out.

For the bank fishermen, give the Tualco, Lewis Street, Al Borland Park, Sultan or mouth of the Wallace River a shot.  A float and jig combo tipped with a piece of sand shrimp or prawn a try.  For jigs give a 3/8 or 1/2 ounce twitching style a try in purple/black, purple/cerise, cerise or chartreuse colors a try.

If you have never fished Chums you are in for a tussle, as pound for pound they are as strong as any salmon.  They are very good sized with the average fish being 11 -13 pounds and we have seen some pushing the 25 pound mark this season.

Stop by and we'll be happy to help you out on getting geared up.

Squid Fishing - Edmonds / Seattle

We have been hearing nothing but good reports coming from the squid fishing scene off the Edmond's Fishing Pier as well as the piers in Seattle.  Most everyone we have spoke with has had good results this season.  Some evenings are considerably better than others with some being quite good from the start while others you just might have to work diligently just to get a few.  But unfortunately there is no rhyme nor reason to any fishery other than put in your time and you will eventually be rewarded.  Overall, I would have to say this is the best squid fishing that we have seen in a number of years.

This year there has been a trend for most to fish two jigs with a slightly larger weighted one on the bottom of your line and about 18 inches above a smaller non-weighted version is tied.  Another trend has been scenting the squid jigs with shrimp scent.  The Pro-Cure paste or Smelly Jelly Sticky Liquid have been the favorites.  This is the first year that I have heard of guys doing such.  I've asked a number of fishermen if they think their productivity is increased by scenting and everyone has said that it does.  I suppose that I will have to give it a try in the near future.

Bayside Salmon Derby - November 3rd & 4th 2012

Bayside Marine's 21st Annual

Salmon Fishing Derby

November 3rd & 4th  2012

$2,000 1st Place

Ticket price is $30.00 for 2 days of fishing

View Derby Rules Here 

 Also the

 2^nd Annual

Bayside Derby

 Team Tournament

 Winner Takes All!!

$50.00 per Boat

Team Boat 2 Day combined

Total fish weight

No limit on anglers per boat

All Anglers must also have a Bayside Derby Ticket

And follow Bayside Derby rules

Blackmouth and Silver Salmon only

Proud to part of the Northwest Salmon Derby Series

http://northwestsalmonderbyseries.com/

This is a "Great" local salmon derby and all the proceeds go to the local food banks.

November's Here

November has arrived!  Though the weather has finally turned to the blustery, rainy Fall that we usually expect there are still many great fishing opportunities for those who are willing to brave the elements.  Here's a few things that come to mind for November!

Blackmouth fishing here in Puget Sound.
Coho fishing on most of the Puget Sound rivers.
Chum salmon fishing on the Skykomish.
Chum fishing at Hoodsport, Chico Creek, Kennedy Creek,  Mud Bay and various other spots.
Crabbing here in Marine Area 8-1, 8-2 and 9.
Cutthroat fishing on Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish.
Perch fishing on Lake Washington.
Trout fishing on many Puget Sound Lakes.
Salmon fishing on the upper Peninsula rivers.
Salmon fishing on the Grey's Harbor rivers.
Saltwater steelheading for winter run steelhead off the western beaches of Whidbey Island. (Yes, it has started!)
Winter Steelheading on a great many coastal, Puget Sound rivers and Columbia River tributaries.
Squid jigging off many central and southern Puget Sound docks.
Smelt jigging at Coronet Bay and Oak Harbor.

These are just a few of the multitude of fisheries that one can partake of this month.