Fishing Reports for August 1

By on August 1, 2018

Washington

Marine Area 1 (Ilwaco)

no report this week

Marine Area 2 (Westport)

no report this week

no report this week

Marine Area 4 (Neah Bay)

no report this week

Marine Area 5

no report this week

Marine Area 6

no report this week

Marine Area 7

We got crab legs!

We got crab legs!

Chinook fishing has slowed a bit in the San Juans. However, the Fraser river fish should show up anytime. We’re between runs right now. Crabbing has been good in places. Salmon heads are working for bait!

Submitted by Kevin Klein, Team Parker Boats NW.   

Marine Area 8.1

no report this week

Marine Area 8.2

no report this week

Marine Area 9 (Admirality Inlet)

Mike Sorenson landed this nice King off Possession last weekend.

Submitted by Kevin Klein, Team Parker Boats NW.   

It closed with a BANG! Area 9 has now closed for Kings but the Coho are just starting to show up. There have been some solid but spotty reports of Coho in the 6-12 pound range being caught out on the banks (Hein). Those fish will find their way into Area 9 in the next few weeks.

White Ace Hi flies seem to be producing well deep in the 140 foot depth range. My brother Chuck picked up a fat teener king also using the White Ace Hi this weekend while joining me on the FISHTALE 2.

See you on the water!

Report submitted Nelson “Spud” Goodsell – Salmon for Soldiers, IGFA Life Member, FISHTALE2.  The cover image of this week’s report was also contributed by Goodsell.

Marine Area 10

no report this week

Marine Area 11

The fishing for Chinook has been consistently fair at about slightly above 1 fish for every 2 anglers and have varied in size anywhere from just legal 22” to the largest of about 25lbs. this past weekend.

There has been quite a mixture of immature Chinook, Jack Chinook, 3yr. olds and a few 4yr. Chinook.

Many anglers have caught their one chinook and do not realize that they can also fish for Coho and there are Coho out there to be had. The Coho have been about 4lbs.

The best areas or most popular have been from the Slag area all along the Pt. Defiance Park shoreline and out on the Shelf/flats.

I have had reports of anglers catching chinook suspended from 40’ to 90’ deep to fishing near bottom in 120’ of water to 200’ so as you see the Chinook have been all over the water column.

Also we saw a 13 pound 7 ounce king salmon caught off the pier yesterday with a jig. Buzz bombs work good as well. Lots of bait by the pier attract these migrating fish

Good luck.

The PSA SKC Salmon derby is Aug 4. Tickets are available at the marina or online for $35. This annual derby is a favorite with many great prizes. Youth 14 and under tickets are free.

For an updated report call (253)404-3960.

Point Defiance Marina has rental boats and motors and launch and overnight moorage facilities with pump out stations and shore power. In addition, we have storage space for boats up to 17 feet as well as kayak storage. We have many items for those seeking gifts as well as gift cards. For more information call 253-404-3960.

Hours are 5 am to 9 pm 7 days a week currently.

Report submitted by Point Defiance Marina. For more information contact: Gene Anderson, Boathouse Marina Technician, 253.591.5325 genea@tacomaparks.com www.pointdefiancemarina.com

Marine Area 12

no report this week

Freshwater – Lake Chelan

no report this week

Freshwater – Potholes Reservoir

no report this week

British Columbia

Bamfield

no report this week

Barkley Sound and Port Alberni

Tom Nelson from Salmon University and guide Tim at Eagle Nook Resort in Barkley Sound, BC with the Nelsons first morning catch of four nice Chinook in the 20-25 lb range.

Submitted by Salmon University Staff

The bank has been on fire this week! From the shallows all the way to Halli West, Anglers are seeing huge volume of salmon all through the column. Guides are seeing 10-40 chinooks to the boat daily ranging from 8-25lbs. The most consistent depths have been mid-water around the 100 foot mark. Enormous amounts of coho are chomping spoons and hoochies before the gear makes it into the downrigger clips. 3 to 4 inch kingfisher glow spoons have been the preferred gear through the week.The Halibut fishery has been good this week. Fishing on the inner Banks has been slower but few boats have been fishing these areas. The shallows at big bank has seen most of the catch effort and is producing volume of halibut from 10 to 30 lbs. Consistency has been found anchored up on the flood tide.

If you are looking to get last minute accommodation for Ucluelet or Tofino check out www.tofino-info.com. Accommodation has been tough to find for July and August and you can always call the chamber of commerce if you can’t find anything.

Submitted by Sam Vandervalk of Salmon Eye Charters (1-877-777-4344). Salmon Eye is recommended by USA Today, Cruise America and New York Times bestselling author Peter Greenberg in his book The Ultimate Insider’s Guide to the Greatest Experiences Around the World

Becher Bay

Antonio Soto with a 21 lb spring

Salmon fishing was GOOD in East Sooke. There are still coho in the area, especially out in the tide lines. The springs are closer in and tighter to the shoreline. The hot spot for springs this past week was from Aldridge Point to the Trap Shack. The best depths to fish have been between 40 to 60 feet. There have been good bites late in the day because of the full moon. Most of the clipped chinooks have been from 8 to 20 lbs but there have been some larger unclipped springs well over 85 cm. 12 year old Antonio Soto caught a beautiful 21 pound hatchery spring off of Aldridge Point. It took a 3″ Lemon Lime AP Sandlance spoon.. Anchovies are the bait of choice. Good choices for teaser head colors are Chartreuse, Tiger Prawn and Bloody Nose. Anglers are using spoons with Coho Killers and Gibbs Skinny G’s in green/glow and green/silver colors the favorites. The GIBBS Highliner Guide Series Outfitters, Madi, Lemon Lime and Red/Glow Hot Spot flashers have been working well. Needlefish hootchies in White, Glow/Green and Purple Haze are the top choices in plastic baits.

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 FAIR in Oak Bay. The Flats was producing the best in the afternoon. The salmon are feeding on needle fish and small squid, close to the bottom. Most of the anglers have been either bottom bouncing squirts and spoons or jigging close to the bottom. Best bets for Oak Bay trolling lures are Wee Gs and Skinny Gs, Coho Killers and AP Tackleworks Sandlance spoons. Squirts will also work with Jelly fish and Electric Chairs good bets. Jiggers are doing best with Deep Stingers and Point Wilson darts.

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

Pedder Bay

Pedder Bay Marina reports OFF AND ON salmon fishing during the week, mainly because of fog preventing anglers from ranging too far from the bay. Most of the action has been late in the afternoon or evening. There is lots of bait in the bay .The majority of the salmon have been from 5 to 12 lbs in size but there have been some high teen’s hatchery fish being caught.. Best trolling depths have been 20- 40 ‘and 70-85 ‘.Coho salmon have been coming in from the shipping lanes. The anglers most consistently catching springs have been jigging rather than trolling. GIBBS 4 oz to 8 oz anchovies have been the best jigs to use here. Most anglers are using anchovies for bait with teaser head colors are Mint Pearl, Chartreuse and Bloody Nose. Squirts were good lures as well with green and glow, Purple Haze or UV white are good color choices. Spoons have been producing well and the Skinny G’s, Wee G’s, AP Tackleworks and Coho Killers are the top choices. Green with either silver or glow has been the color choice in spoons. Flashers that are popular include the Guide Series Madi, Outfitters and Lemon Lime. Good choices for teaser head colors are Bloody Nose, Chartreuse and Purple Haze.

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 in the Sidney area. Hambley Point has been really good, especially in the evening. Moses Point, Sidney channel have also been good. Coal Island has been slower as of late. Anglers jigging have been having some success off the north end of Sidney Spit in 70-80 feet of water. Anglers using spoons found that Coho Killers, Gibbs Needle G and Wee G spoons and AP Sandlance spoons productive this past week. Suggested colours are Herring Aid and Irish Cream. Anchovies and Tiny Strip were also good in Glow or UV Purple teaser heads.

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 FAIR this past week. There have been lots of coho in the strait in water with many of the coho clipped fish. From June 29th to July 31st unclipped springs up to 85 cm can be retained. However, there have been quite a few over that size being caught and released. The area from the Bluffs to the Otter Point closed area was producing most of the action for springs. Good choices for teaser head colors are Peanut Butter, Tiger Prawn and Bloody Nose. Spoons such as Skinny G’s, Coho Killers and 4″ Coyote spoons have been good too. Hootchies in White, Glow/Green and Purple Haze are the top choices in plastic baits. For flashers, Red/Glow Hot Spots, the Delta Guide Series UV Moon Jelly, Madi and the Lemon Lime Chartreuse are popular.

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

Victoria

Fishing for salmon was SPOTTY off Constance Bank this past week when the current wasn’t too strong. Anglers were catching clipped springs in to the teens but most of the springs were 4-6 lb feeders. In closer, there were some springs from Esquimalt to Trial Island but the big run has not shown up yet. The most productive method has been jigging with the MacDeep the top jigging lure. Dave Bury had a good day on Sunday jigging up a 21.1 and a 9.14 off the waterfront. The best depths to fish have been 45 to 85 feet. Spoons have been successful in getting hook ups with Irish Cream Skinny G’s, Green/Glow AP Tackleworks Anchovy 3” Herring spoons and Green/Glow Coyote spoons popular choices.

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

Vancouver

Chuck and crew with a good haul sockeye in 2014

Chuck and crew with a good haul sockeye in 2014

As July comes to a close, we are very optimistic about the fishing opportunities in coming weeks. Over the last few days we have had some very good chinook fishing on our full day trips and solid coho fishing on our half day trips. The chinook are getting bigger, we have had fish well into the mid twenties over the last couple days. The other big news is that sockeye salmon will be opening on August 1st. This is the peak year for Fraser River Sockeye, and if current trends continue, we are likely looking at a run of 14 to 18 million fish! So in short, it looks like we have some good opportunity in coming weeks!

In recent weeks, our full day trips have been running across to fish the east side of Gabriola Island when weather permits. Fishing has been very consistent and most days our boats were hooking 6 to 12 good chinooks a trip along with some coho. We have been running our gear pretty close to bottom in 150 to 220 feet of water in the Gulf Island’s. We have been running flasher/hootchie combinations pretty religiously this month in the Gulf Island’s. Blue, Green, and Chartreuse Yamishita Spackleback Hootchies have been very productive in tandem with Guide Series Bon Chovy, STS, Lemon Lime and Brain Freeze Flashers. The Gulf Islands will likely continue to produce for the next 3 to 4 weeks, but we will likely start to shift our chinook focus to the Fraser Mouth in the next week or two as the first big push of Fraser River bound chinook and sockeye hit local waters in the first to second week of August.

Mike with a nice chinook from this weekend

Mike with a nice chinook from this weekend

Local coho salmon fishing has been all over the map over the last few weeks. Some days have been lights out and other days been lights off! The last few days have been quite good and it is quite likely that consistency will improve over the next week. West Vancouver has had a few good short shots of coho, but the bulk of the summer hatchery run is still sitting and feeding offshore. I would be willing to bet that they will push into West Vancouver in the next 7 days. It is quite common to get a big push of coho this week. We will soon find out! Hard to beat white or glow hootchies on coho this time of year.

Early indications are pointing to a very good sockeye return to the Fraser River this August. This is the peak year in the four year cycle. Test fisheries in Area 20 off the West Side of Vancouver Island have been consistently strong over the last 10 days. As of now, according to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans the run is tracking slightly above the pre season P 50 forecast. If current trends continue we will likely see a run of 14 to 20 million fish back to the Fraser River this year We will be heading out this week to scout for sockeye. It will be still early in the opening and it may take a week or two for numbers to build. Stay tuned!!

We are getting rigged and ready for the sockeye opening. Our favourite set ups our pretty basic, we will run the standard local flasher colours of chartreuse, green, and red. Our choices are the Guide Series T-10, STS, and Bon Chovy Flashers. Other flashers will obviously work as well, but these are the ones that we rely on. We pair the flashers up with Michael Bait Red Sockeye Hootchies on a 26 to 30 inch leader. It is also very beneficial to run a few dummy flashers as well. We will have lots of sockeye gear in our shop on Granville Island if you need the right gear and some hints.

If you are looking to get on the water this August, please call or email soon as the local charter fleet is getting booked up quickly. We are hoping for a great summer fishery for chinook and sockeye!

TIght Lines!

For more info call Jeff or Jason at Bon Chovy Fishing Charters (604) 763-5460, bonchovy.com email: info@bonchovy.com.  

Lakes and Rivers

Fishing was FAIR in most lakes for trout and REALLY GOOD for bass.

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

Oregon

Tillamook Bay

no report this week

Willamette River

no report this week

Great Lakes

Lake Michigan

Lots of marks only a few are interested. Whatever your favorite bait you must fish the bottom. Pounding the bottom is the answer to putting fish in the cooler. This is not easy with the strong current we have had as of late. The worst scenario is when the current and wind are cross path. The best presentation is with or against the current. When you set up align your tackle with the current. Lower you deepest lines until they bump the bottom and keep adjusting to keep them there. Your focus should be on presentation. This may be more effort than some anglers want to expend.

The pattern for me yesterday was deeper presentation on 300 copper or downriggers 100 down to the bottom. A mixed bag of Coho, Chinook and Lake Trout made up the catch. The big Chinooks are getting slightly easier to find right now with some up to 25 pounds. Chinook are coming on flies and on magnum size spoons.

Lake Trout today were on 0 dodgers and spin n glows at or near the bottom.

No Browns were caught last week.

Rainbows are far and few in between. When we did catch them they went for the Golden Diablo spoons in the top 25 feet.

Speed

For all fish speed has been very critical with the warmer 70 degree water. A temp break to 52 degrees is at 95 feet. I use the Depth Raider to measure speed and temp at the ball. The boat speed of 1.7 to 2.0 has been best.

Where:: Fish are in the colder water out over 80 feet. We fished north and south in 80 to 150 feet. We did not get out over 140 feet of water yesterday. Have a great fishing season. Let’s go fishing!

Note All alone we put together groups at $125 per person. I have openings to join a group this week. Call for dates!

Jim Hirt charters out of Milwaukee, WI. with Blue Max Charters. He can be reached at 414-828-1094 or visit his web site at http://www.bluemaxcharters.com

 

Salmon University Staff
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