Northwest Fishing Reports

Greetings everyone, new member here.

I never thought this would be possible, but I'm almost sick of catching humpies. I live in Anacortes and don't have a boat, so I'm mostly fishing the beaches on Whidbey (Deception Pass area). It has been a blast, using both spinning and fly gear. I started out knowing nothing about how to catch humpies, and now I consider myself quite decent at it. Such is the joy of fishing - you go out and fail, catch nothing, and just keep at it and keep learning by getting out there.

The new goal is to go for Coho. But I'm learning it's more complicated than "just hurl pink stuff into the water and wait".

Because I'm without a boat, I was hoping to do most of my fishing in the Skagit River, and off Deception Pass beaches. Do you think it's possible to catch silvers from the shore? Would using a big vibrax spinner be effective in salt water? Is it insane to catch a silver on a 5wt fly rod? Also, regarding the skagit, are there any decent places that someone could fish from the shore? The other day I drove up and up Skagit highway looking for a place to fly fish, but the river is so huge and there were very few places where I could actually make a full cast without snagging the trees. Not looking for your secret spot, just an area that might be good.

Basically any advice one can provide would be extremely helpful. I am from Anacortes, but have lived the last 6 years in New York where there was no fishing, so it feels really great to be back home doing what I used to love so much.

- Peter

For the saltwater a tried and true method would be a herring under a float. Cast it out and let the tide move it along. Put a bend in the herring (keep it whole to allow you to cast farther and more often) to have it spin.
I used to catch coho off the jetty at Ilwaco this way. It was a blast to watch that float go under. Too much fun!

I shore fish deception pass frequently. Heading back there tomorrow as a matter of fact. I've had moderate success fishing Coho from North Beach. I have found that the Deception Pass area is usually a few weeks behind South Whidbey in regards to fish showing up. If you are looking for Coho right now there, they will be hard to find. SO many pinks to weed through and they seem to hog the available space, pushing any Coho that might be there out of range. Non-pink years I've found them start to show at North Beach mid-August. Usually during Pink years it seems be more like mid-September. This year something tells me it might be closer to October before they really show there.

As Mike said, I've seen a few guys using a herring under a float on North Beach. Depending on which way the current is moving, cast into it and let the current take your float left to right or right to left ( Deception Pass the current changed direction with the tide fast, and it moves!) It's not like a lot of areas where you can cast out and it will slowly move in/left/right etc. Personally I have used buzz bombs there with moderate success. I just speed up the retrieve that I would use on Pinks, with a little faster twitch. Holographic pearl/green is my favorite. I prefer a size 2, for some reason I like to go as small as possible, but I see lots using a 2 1/2 - 3 in. Use herring oil.

On the Skagit, upriver between Concrete and Rockport there are quite a few stretches decent for fly fishing. Long gravel bars that allow you room to cast and work more of the river.