Northwest Fishing Reports

Sept. was a good month. Hope October is as good. Got these this am.

Nice fish without hooknoses. If you dont mind me asking? Why are they so de-scaled.? Just wondering.

Both hens...covered in sand...after I blead them...right before I cleaned and de-scaled them...saved the eggs...love these extremely bright fish from the bank in salt!!! As I was cleaning mine a guy up the beach landed a legit 9-10 lb buck with small hook nose.

racfish wrote:Nice fish without hooknoses. If you dont mind me asking? Why are they so de-scaled.? Just wondering.

i think thats dirt on them, or sand! Nice fish!!!

Will Fishing on ANY Beach on Whidbey give out coho this weekend? Best times, tide, spot and hardware for Beach fishing rookie?!!!

Bush Point or Fort Casey are putting out fish consistently. I personally fish Deception Pass and have been doing quite well. There is almost always ten people or less. I haven't been skunked yet. The fish are small though, zzingers are pretty much your best bet. Most of them are pitching herring under a bobber. Something different usually triggers a bite. Herring smelly jelly is a must. And you'll be casting five to six times longer, you will be the first to hook up. The herring guys are praying for you to lose your fish since the fish hug the beach for a little bit. Keeping your line tight is all you need to do. Hope this helps!

Went out this evening and went 1/2....losing the one at the bank...I hestated in pulling him in and that was that. Think I'd have it figured out by now.

Barbless hooks, your gonna lose some, thats the name of the game, at least your still catching fish, make it last because after this rain theyre gonna shoot up the river at 100 miles per hour!

Yes on both counts. I'm going out tomorrow and Friday for sure...tides are to my liking and the fish are supposed to be stacked up in my area....May hit lower part of Skagit on Sunday.

Yikes Barbless at Bush and Lagoon?. I never really thought about that. Might have to pinch my hooks. Do you have to fish barbless there for Steelies too ??

yes...have seen a few guys still fishing the barbed treble that comes with buzz bombs..oh well.

racfish wrote:Yikes Barbless at Bush and Lagoon?. I never really thought about that. Might have to pinch my hooks. Do you have to fish barbless there for Steelies too ??

Might? For the record, unless you are jigging for forage fish, everything has to be barbless in areas 5 - 13.

Thanks G-Man. Do you know off hand if its also barbless for Steel in the salt?

Straight from the regs for marine areas 5-13:

Hook and line angling - Unless noted
differently, only one line with up to 2 hooks is
allowed.
Barbless hooks are required for all species
in Marine Areas 5-13, except forage fish jig
gear.
When fishing for SALMON in Marine Areas 1-13,
only single-point barbless hooks may be used.

Thank you.

Got one today rather quickly at 2:30 today...went back for an evening bite but it was dead.

Saw many fish in one place I fished today. Had at least 4 fish chase my lure to shore at the same time. I thought, 'great, this going to be fun'. But, no biters!! Moved and got a fatty to the bank. It flipped every which way and got off. Passerby said, "awesome, was that a salmon?" After I was done cussing I said yes.

slow weekend....maybe one caught on beaches I fished. Luckily, I got one this morning. Heard some talk of large numbers further out, that have yet to come in.

I got one on Saturday. Early in the morning, at Deception Pass.

Still having loads of fishing fun on Whidbey beaches.
No combat fishing...no hatcheries/boats/weights/flashers/nets/barbed hooks, etc..
No matter if rivers are too low/high.
It's been a great summer/fall. 10 days left.
Playing and landing the larger fish is still a problem for me. These are not tired out
10-12 pound fish, 40 miles up river, 20 yards from their hatchery.

Cool memory from 4 days ago: I was only one on beach. Watched a seal chase a salmon up and down the beach. It was like 2 race car drivers. Coho(9 lb buck) became dead tired and beached himself right at my feet. I stepped back in awe as seal collected its meal.