Washington

Marine Area 1 (Ilwaco)

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has estimated “Good” prospects for Chinook in Marine Area 1 during the month of July.

Marine Area 2 (Westport)

Fishing is Great in Westport and Marine area 2. Seems like just about everyday boats are coming in with really nice fish! The bigger salmon are starting to show up with a number of mid to upper 20 pound fish hitting the docks and a few 30 pounders. Fishing is as good as I have seen it with the shear numbers of fish coming in. Limits are never a sure thing but most days we are either at, or just below, limits on all the boats.

The pattern now seems to be Chinook one day and Coho the next. There are a lot of the 4 to 6 pound Coho in the area with about a 50/50 mix of wild and hatchery fish. Pinks are showing up down here in larger number than most long time fisherman can remember.  The Chinook are not always deep. We hooked a few nice Kings at 12 and 17 pulls with Divers on Sunday and have hooked them down 130 feet of the Downriggers. Funny thing is the same holds true for Coho.

We are finding fish between 5 and 8 miles from the jetty and pretty much straight out. The beaches have not been productive at all and I think it has to do with the water temps. The hot rigs are still any Silver Horde Cookies and Cream sized spoon. Irish Cream is starting to work well, along with Hoochies. The Cookies&Cream Tailwagger spoon has produced at least one of the 30 pound fish I mentioned. I am fishing these along with bait behind Shortbus inline flashers or Fish Flash inlines. I am using a 6 foot leader behind the flasher. Listen to the radio while you are out to figured out what depth the fish are at for the day. There is a pattern and once you

figure in out you can be successful. Warning though it changes daily. One other pattern seems to be that most of the fish are holding in the murky water. Find a break between dirty and clear water and fish it

As we get into July and August fishing should even get better but remember we do have a quota on these awesome fish. If you are waiting until there is a 2 Chinook retention in Westport I have a feeling you are going to be disappointed this year and you will have missed out. Make you plans to fish Westport.

There are always things for the family to do here and the temperature has been in the low 70’s every day and you do not need air conditioning. Have Fun, Be Safe , and we will See You in Westport

 

Westport fishing is insane right now with world class chinook and coho salmon, bottom fishing, and of course TUNA all going off the charts!

We just have so many fish offshore from Westport this week.  The bigger grade chinook are here now, too, and the coho are growing by the minute.  Trolling or mooching whole herring is all it takes right now to limit out.

Lingcod are pretty tough to find right now but the sea bass fishing is no problem.

Last but not least the Albacore tuna are within 30 miles from Westport (within 30!!!).  Traditional troll to bait stop fishing now.  Big big grade of tuna!

Report submitted by Mark Coleman, All River and Saltwater Charters; 425-736-8920

Marina Area 3 (LaPush and Forks)

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has estimated “Good” prospects for Chinook in Marine Area 1 during the month of July, and “Fair” prospects for Coho during the same time period.

Marine Area 4 (Neah Bay)

Pretty good fishing in Neah Bay. Unfortunately the sea was rough in the mornings because of wind and big tides. We caught our kings out by Tatoosh  65 to 120-feet down, trolling slowly with the tide and using a Coyote spoon (one 12.75, other is 11.65lbs). Lost some good ones, too. What a fight these fish are putting up. Silvers are also showing up some pretty good size already.  Lots of Pinks around too. It’s only going to get better. Water temperature is perfect for biting fish.

Report submitted by Jim Brown

“2 x 4” this is not about a visit to the lumber yard……this summarizes a two day trip to NB

2 guys, 2 fish limit, 2 long boat rides to “Shark Fin” (over 60 miles roundtrip, southwest of Tatoosh…I should not have sold my Chevron Stock).

2 limits of Kings over 20 lbs.  4 mph was the wind both days, 4” was the height of the chop (should have brough water skis).

Like my prior report, most fish were caught behind a Hot Spot 951 Flasher, 30” to a custom purple hoochie.  We hooked up at 190 ft down to 300 ft on the downrigger.

Other boats caught fish inside, at the Green Buoy and the US side of Swiftsure where the Kings were 10-15 lbs.  Lots of pinks everywhere.

Submitted by Don Dybeck, Port Townsend

Marine Area 5 (Sekiu)

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has estimated “Excellent” prospects for Chinook, and Pinks during the month of July in Marine Area 5.

Marine Area 6

no report this week

Marine Area 7

Salmon fishing is in full swing for the summer right now in the San Juans. Chinook catching, however, has been somewhat spotty throughout Marine Area 7. There are Pinks already showing up in big numbers, and that is very early compared to the norm. Sockeye are around as well. We’ve landed some nice Kings, but you really need to be at the right place at the right time. Knowing the best spots to be on the correct tide is huge right now. That’s just knowledge you have to earn by putting the time in. Sure, you can look for the big crowds of boats, but personally, I want to catch fish where most folks ain’t. Hopefully the Chinook catch rates will pick up this year…it’s still way early. The Silver Horde Tailwagger Spoons have been out producing everything else for us. Doesn’t matter the size of bait…that Tailwagger action is tough to beat. It seems like they will draw strikes in a both a candlefish or herring bite. Replace the stock mini squid skirt with a bigger one, and the action just gets better. Twerk on!

Submitted by Kevin Klein, Fidalgo-SanJuan Islands Chapter PSA, CCA Northsound

Marine Area 8.1

no report this week

Marine Area 8.2

no report this week

Marine Area 9 (Admirality Inlet)

Crabbing was excellent over the 4th of July weekend.  Most crabbers were fishing in 40 – 85 feet of water.  The males were large, most in the 7 to 7 ½ inch range.  Of course, a lot of Red Rock Crab were caught at the same time.  Guests from Louisiana enjoyed the sweeter taste of the Dungeness crab over the Blue Crab they get at home. Best bait seems to be turkey legs, salmon carcass and chicken.  Crab is selling for approximately $25/crab at a popular market in Poulsbo.

Report submitted by SU staff.

Marine Area 10

We used our Scotty Downriggers Pot Puller last Thursday for the first time while crabbing in the Shilshole area.   We had pots at 120 feet and 70 feet, with a very strong tide flow.  We got our 10 dungies, and three large Rock Crab with 9 pulls.   The first crab trap had over 15 crabs, all females.  The keepers were large, near the 7-inch range.  Lots and lots of males just over 6 inches, but not 6 1/4inches.  It is nice to be able to crab at 70 to 180 feet with the puller.  We are finishing our crab cakes today.

Submitted by Drew Edwards, Puget Sound Anglers Renton chapter

4th of July: RECORD TEMPERATURES AND HOT Crabbing!

July 2 was the crab opener and from the initial reports, crabbing was excellent!  So members of the Renton Chapter of Puget Sound Anglers (PSA) held an impromptu crab outing on Puget Sound on the 4th of July.  My son Kevin, a friend and I had a great day on the water. Tides were favorable for both an early morning and mid-day crabbing.  As it was a holiday, we launched early at the Don Armini Ramp to beat the crowds.  However, the crowds must have “spelt in” as there was no congestion at ramp.

We took a short boat ride and set our pots.  We followed the instructions on the Salmon University website and used thawed salmon and trout carcasses.  The trout carcasses out fished the salmon carcasses by a factor of at least 3 to 1.  The most crabs we got with trout carcasses were 18 in one pot.   This is versus 6 with the salmon carcasses.  However, many of these crabs were either females or undersized males, so we had to return those.  But we were getting such a high volume of crabs, we got plenty of legal crabs and were done very quickly.

As the crabbing was so good, we only had to make two sets with  each of six pots.  As this was our first trip of the season, we did not know where the crabs were.  So we decided to “prospect” with this wide depth range to locate these tasty creatures.  We set our pots out at varying depths from 60 to 150 feet.  Also, going deeper than 100 feet was a change for us from past years.

Previously, we always pulled our pots by hand and set our own 100 foot depth limit.  However, I got a Brutus Pot Puller made by Ace Line Hauler at the Seattle Boat Show in January.  The reason I got the Puller is that it is extremely hard to effectively pull your pots in deeper water by hand.  Also, if you stop pulling, any of the crab that are riding on top of the trap, let go and swim away.  As these are generally your biggest crabs, you do not want to let these get away.  Plus, as I’m getting the older, it seemed like a wise investment.

While we only made a total of 12 sets, the retrieval was so easy with our Ace Line Hauler that even an “old guy” like me could do it effortlessly.  The other great thing about the Brutus Puller is that it can handle our “school rope” that has added lead weights on the line.  I thought these weights might get caught up in the puller’s pulleys.  However, that did not happen as the folks at Ace got the design right and the weights just passed through the pulleys without any problem!   So I get to keep using all my old ropes!

As crabbing was so good, we left early and went back to the ramp to get a start on preparing for our Delicious 4th of July feast!  However, while there were only four boats waiting to take out, one side of the ramp was rendered inoperable because a water ski boat decided to moor there.  This is both a violation of the launch rules and is very poor etiquette as well.  Fortunately, the Ramp Attendant was notified and he came down and made them leave.

Mark Gavin is a Salmon University Staff Member as well as an active member of several Puget Sound Anglers Chapters.

Marine Area 11

The salmon fishing continues to be slow with just a couple of legal salmon to about 10lbs. being taken recently. The usual areas such as The Girl Scout camp area to Pt. Dalco mostly trolling the tide changes and the same for the Clay Bank area but jigging can be successful there as well. Mooching has been a challenge because of the abundance of dogfish.

Crabbing has been pretty good in Quarter Master Harbor, Commencement Bay, Dash Pt. area, etc. For more information call 253-591-5325

Basic Fishing Classes Offered at Point Defiance Marina.
Monthly classes (TBD) are offered to youth and for adults to prepare you to better take advantage of the fishing at Point Defiance and the local lakes and rivers. Learn knot tying, tackle, rods and reels, rigging techniques, regulations, and safety. Call 253-591-5325 to learn more about these classes

Space is becoming limited … sign-up at PointDefianceMarina.com

Sails and Trails Camp for Ages 11-15 years old.
Mornings begin with beach side activities, fishing, and hiking at Point Defiance Park, Tacoma, WA. Afternoons are spent at Tacoma Youth Center learning sailing and kayaking in Foss Waterway with Marine Education at Foss Seaport Center. Camp Dates : July 6-10, July 13-17, July 20-24, 2015 Monday – Friday  8 am to 5 pm COST: $250/WEEK
Contact Information: Gene (Andersongenea@tacomaparks.com), (253) 591-5325 or (253) 279-1800

PSA Salmon Derbies
South King County Chapter – August 1, 2015
Gig Harbor Chapter- August 8, 2015
South Sound Chapter – August 15, 2015

Derby tickets now available online or at Point Defiance Marina for $35.00

Point Defiance Marina, For more information contact: Art Tachell, Boathouse Marina Technician, 253.591.5325 art@tacomaparks.com www.pointdefiancemarina.com

Marine Area 12 (Hood Canal)

no report this week

Marine Area 13

no report this week

Freshwater – Lake Chelan

On the Bar, look for depths from 120 to 170 feet deep.  Evenings are best in Manson Bay in depths of 120 feet near Wapato Point and up to 270 feet deep in the center of the bay.  As always, fish within 3 to 5 feet of the bottom and keep your speed around 1.2 mph.  The Mack’s Lure Bead and Blade combo our guide, Jeff Witkowski has developed has been very productive.  He uses a bead combo to give the rig about a 4” long profile.  Similar in profile, the Needlefish squid rig by Silver Horde / Goldstar has also worked.  Bait these rigs with a chunk of Northern Pikeminnow.  The T4 Purple Glow Flatfish seems to be the “go to” lure for bigger fish on the Bar.

Your fishing tip of the week is to rethink how you fight fish on Lake Chelan.  Remember, the only way these fish will get away is if they tear or shake the hooks out of themselves.   They are trapped in open water with no structure to get into and they are not a fast swimming / hard fighting fish.  The trick is to do everything in moderation.  The rod tip should be at a moderate rod angle.  Don’t point it at the fish, but don’t raise it to a high angle to increase the leverage the fish gets when it twists and turns or shakes it’s head.  The retrieval speed should be moderate.  Not glacially slow, but not fast.  When the fish isn’t doing anything, go a bit faster to keep moderate tension.  When the fish is twisting or shaking, slow down to reduce the leverage the fish has.  Keep your drag moderately light.  A good average is netting 3 of every 4 hooked fish.  If you are getting less than half, review what you are doing.

The kid’s tip of the week is to suck it up and let the kid make mistakes.  Guide them and instruct them, but you doing it / explaining it over and over again without them getting their hands dirty will not teach the skill or hook them on the experience.  They have to try and make mistakes to become that fishing  partner you want.  While you’re at it, be gentle with the criticism…

Your safety tip of the week is to really keep your head on a swivel now that we are in the heart of our busy summer season.  There are lots of inexperienced boaters out there traveling at various rates of speed.  Remember to get your head around and look before altering your course.  Also, with this hot weather, I can’t say enough about keeping hydrated!

For more info call Anton & Sandra Jones of Darrell & Dad’s Family Guide Service; darrellanddads.com; antonj@aol.com or call (509)687-0709 or toll free at (866)360-1523

Freshwater – Lake Washington

Freshwater – Potholes Reservoir

Daily the temperatures here have been over 100 degrees. The lake is dropping fast, exposing more camp sites in the dunes. At the state park and at Mardons there was not a camp site available. Despite the closures on fireworks Mardon still was able to put on a show since they were fired off over the water. Fishing for all species has slowed down mainly because of the rapid drop in water levels.

We did spend part of one day at the very small community of Smyrna. We had met on a early visit a man who has lived there most of his life and he let us see the inside of the old schoolhouse that he is renovating, and then invited us to his home to see what was frozen in a freezer. It was a true ten-pound largemouth bass that his son had caught from Red Rock lake. A mounting is planned.

We took a road trip up to Okanogan to a very dusty hunting camp of ours. Then we stopped  for a burger right next to the boat launch at Brewster. In line ahead of us was a guide on the Brewster pool. He reported that fishing was good and the run was at least two weeks early. This is where to head for a very good sockeye fishery and just about the only sockeye fishery in our state this year. The warm water flowing into the pool will keep the sockeye pooled up. The time to go is now.

Tom Pollack – retired

British Columbia

Vancouver

no report this week

Vancouver Island (Saltwater)

Alberni Inlet

no report this week

Bamfield

Salmon fishing has been really good most days. The offshore banks are holding lots of bait fish, mostly herring and a few pacific sardine (pilchard)  as well. The salmon tend to stay around if there is feed. Fishing anywhere from 80-feet right down to the bottom works. If you are trolling your Salmon gear on the bottom you will pick up Halibut as well.

Sockeye fishing continues to be good in the channel with a few being caught near Bamfield as well. Inside the sound fishing has been fantastic at times, but the fish seem to be on the move and an area that is hot for a day or two may produce nothing the next day. Some nice quality fish up to 30 pounds are being caught.

For more info call Ken Bodaly at Rocky Point Charters, Bamfield, B.C. 250-728-3678 or the boat cell phone 250-735-4224 www.rockypointcharters.ca email rockypointcharters@shaw.ca

no report this week

Becher Bay

Salmon fishing was VERY GOOD in East Sooke. Most of the better sized springs (30’s and high 20’s) fish were caught between the Bedfords and Beechey Head but fishing was good everywhere. Pinks were reported in this area in as well with many boats getting limit catches. Most springs were running from 15 to 25 lbs in size, but several much larger fish were also caught. Dennis Zarelli brought in a 32.5 lb spring that he caught near the Trap Shack. Most fish have been getting caught between 35- 75 ft on the downrigger. Anchovies were the most productive bait for the big springs and Bloody Nose and Green Glow were the most popular teaser heads. However, spoons and plastic baits have been popular due to anglers switching to artificial baits because of the amount of bait needed to weed through all of the pinks! Spoons, in 3 or 4 inch size such as G-Force in the Outfitter or Trap Shack colours were effective. Squirts are working too with Pistachio, Purple Haze and white the best patterns. For flashers, the Lemon Lime and the Purple Onion have been good lately.

Submitted by Tom Vaida, Island Outfitters, 3319 Douglas Street, Victoria, BC (250) 475-4969 info@fishingvictoria.com; www.fishingvictoria.com

Oak Bay

Salmon fishing was GOOD during this past week although very few pinks were in this area.  The fish caught were 10- 29 lbs and most were caught when fishing lures right on the bottom (70-110ft) on the flats. Harry Buckle and his son Cody had a great day off of Trial Island keeping 29 ,28, 25 and 22 lb springs as well as releasing many others  The fish were hitting 3”-4” spoons as most of the needlefish in the area were small. Anglers did best using the G-force spoons in 3 -3.5in. No Bananas and Outfitter colours have been the most popular. Anglers that were jigging in the afternoon in the Gap, reported catching fish up into the 20’s in the evening. Also, Coho Killers in Gold Nugget and Green Splatterback have been pretty productive. The best flasher has been the Gibbs Lemon Lime and the Bon Chovy.

Halibut fishing was FAIR this past week out in Haro Strait and off Discovery Island. Kingsley Grant sent in a photo of a nice Halibut caught off of Discovery on Sunday. Anglers that have been fishing are using mackerel, extra large herring, salmon bellies and/or octopus for bait.  Berkley Gulp and Powerbait soft plastics also work very well. You can also use a large spoon fished off a spreader bar, Mudraker or Lucky Jigs or other large Jigs if you want to stay away from the dogfish.

Submitted by Tom Vaida, Island Outfitters, 3319 Douglas Street, Victoria, BC (250) 475-4969 info@fishingvictoria.com; www.fishingvictoria.com

Pedder Bay

Salmon fishing was EXCELLENT this week. Lots of salmon were reported caught from Pedder Bay to Church Rock. The pinks were around in good numbers and the springs were in good numbers as well. Justin Wilson landed a 39.4 lb spring while fishing near Church Rock. It’s a great time to get the family out to experience the action pinks provide. For some of the anglers that were jigging inside of the bay, Mac Fish and Gibbs Minnows were the top choices used. Anchovy was the most productive bait for springs with Green, Special Red, Purple Haze and Bloody Nose being top choices in teaser heads. G-force spoons with both glow and green have been working as well and are getting more popular due to all of the pinks eating up bait. Flashers that remain popular include the Madi, Lemon-Lime and the Purple Onion.

Halibut fishing was FAIR this past week. Most anglers are finding lots of dogfish but those who stuck it out, they were able to find a few halibut. Anglers that were fishing were using mackerel, extra large herring, salmon bellies and/or octopus for bait. Berkley Gulp and Powerbait soft plastics also work very well. You can also use a large spoon fished off a spreader bar, Mudraker or Lucky Jigs or other large Jigs if you want to stay away from the dogfish.

Submitted by Tom Vaida, Island Outfitters, 3319 Douglas Street, Victoria, BC (250) 475-4969 info@fishingvictoria.com; www.fishingvictoria.com

Sidney

Salmon fishing was GOOD near Sidney. The pink salmon have been running off of the Pender Bluffs and anglers have reported good catches form there. A few chinooks were brought in over the past week weighing into the low twenties but the majority of the fish caught were between 8 -17 lbs. the springs have been shallow, 30 to 50 feet and in shallow water. Many anglers are fishing using anchovies in Bloody Nose and UV Green teaser heads. Squirts have been out-producing hootchies and the hot patterns for springs now are Purple Haze, J-79 and Electric Chair. Coho Killer spoons have also been working well, especially in double glow and Gold Nugget.

Submitted by Tom Vaida, Island Outfitters, 3319 Douglas Street, Victoria, BC (250) 475-4969 info@fishingvictoria.com; www.fishingvictoria.com

Sooke

The salmon fishing was VERY GOOD this past weekend. The pink salmon are here and many Sooke anglers have reported 10-25 pink salmon in one day! Now that the pinks are running, it is a great opportunity to get new anglers and kids out. The springs were in good abundance and scattered from Secretary Island west to Sherringham Point. There were many springs over 30 lbs caught as well as fish in the 20’s and teens. Jeff Candell brought in a 30 lb spring that he caught on a 4” Gibbs No Bananas G Force spoon off Secretary Island. Also, the fish seem more consistent in the 40- 80 ft depths. Anchovies are the number one choice for Sooke anglers but with the high numbers of pinks being caught recently, anglers are forced to use more artificial baits. We’ve heard of some anglers using up to 50 anchovies in a day’s fishing. Teaser heads that have been performing well with anchovies are Bloody Nose, UV Green, Green Glow and the Mint Pearl. G-Force spoons in Irish Cream and No Bananas have been catching their fair number of fish. The most popular flashers recently have been the Gibbs Madi, the Gibbs Outfitter and the Jellyfish UV.

Submitted by Tom Vaida, Island Outfitters, 3319 Douglas Street, Victoria, BC (250) 475-4969 info@fishingvictoria.com; www.fishingvictoria.com

Ucuelet

no report this week

Victoria

Fishing for springs was VERY GOOD off Constance Bank and is GOOD along the waterfront. Fish weighing into the high teens and mid-twenties are being caught at Constance Bank and springs into the high twenties along the Waterfront. Fred McCullough landed a 30.6 lb spring near Albert Head. Both mark Kirkpatrick and Ed McNabb landed 27 lb springs off the waterfront. Mike Wardell landed a 23¼ lb off the waterfront as well. The pinks have also been showing up in good numbers off Victoria, much earlier than usual. Anchovies, needlefish spoons and squirts were very effective in getting hook ups. Anchovies and Tiny Strip have been working well in glow colors. Good choices in plastic baits are the Cloverleaf, Purple Haze and Glo Below squirts. Gibbs Coho Killer, Kingfisher and Coyote spoons in green and glow colours have been very effective. The Lemon Lime flasher with the Glow Green Splatter Back Coho Killer has been a very effective combo out on the bank.

Halibut fishing was FAIR this past weekend. Anglers had mixed reports of success because of lots of dogfish on one day and then none the next.  Most anglers that were fishing were using mackerel, extra large herring, salmon bellies and/or octopus for bait. Berkley Gulp and Powerbait soft plastics also work very well. You can also use a large spoon fished off a spreader bar, Mudraker or Lucky Jigs or other large Jigs if you want to stay away from the dogfish.

Submitted by Tom Vaida, Island Outfitters, 3319 Douglas Street, Victoria, BC (250) 475-4969 info@fishingvictoria.com; www.fishingvictoria.com

Cowichan River

Effective July 4, 2015, virtually all angling in streams and rivers in Wildlife Management Units 1-1 through 1-6 is suspended. The angling closure order is for southern Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands only at this time, but B.C. government fisheries biologists are monitoring approximately 75 other key angling streams across the province, and if conditions warrant, additional closures are possible.

Submitted by Tom Vaida, Island Outfitters, 3319 Douglas Street, Victoria, BC (250) 475-4969 info@fishingvictoria.com; www.fishingvictoria.com

Lakes

Fishing is GOOD on most lakes as the water temperatures climb. Wild rainbows and cutthroats over 50 cm must be released in Cowichan Lake. Only single barb less hooks are allowed for all fishing on island streams and rivers.

Submitted by Tom Vaida, Island Outfitters, 3319 Douglas Street, Victoria, BC (250) 475-4969 info@fishingvictoria.com; www.fishingvictoria.com

Stamp River

Effective July 4, 2015, virtually all angling in streams and rivers in Wildlife Management Units 1-1 through 1-6 is suspended. The angling closure order is for southern Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands only at this time, but B.C. government fisheries biologists are monitoring approximately 75 other key angling streams across the province, and if conditions warrant, additional closures are possible.

Submitted by Tom Vaida, Island Outfitters, 3319 Douglas Street, Victoria, BC (250) 475-4969 info@fishingvictoria.com; www.fishingvictoria.com

Great Lakes

no report this week

Oregon

Oregon Coast

no report this week