Catch'n any Salmon

[NOSLEEP]

I'm not, but I am sure getting the itch.<br />How about you Captnmike in Washington. Are there<br />any runs in yet?

 

[mountainboy]

Re: Catch'n any Salmon

Good ol' kokanee salmon are coming up here in NM. I just got back from a trip and caught a few trolling.

 

[NOSLEEP]

Re: Catch'n any Salmon

Kokanne salmon, Well they will do. Bigger than<br />the salmon I'm catch'n right now. August is only<br />a month away and I'll be hard after them. Good to<br />here your catch'n em mountainboy.

 

[Capn Mike]

Re: Catch'n any Salmon

Sorry I haven't answered sooner...I've been fishing!<br />The count over Bonneville is still low, so that would explain why I haven't caught any up where I am. They are catching them down the Columbia in the first 75 miles of river. A friend of mine tried going over the bar this last weekend, but it was too rough.<br />I fished the last 4 days. No luck for salmon, so we switched to smaller spinners: caught 2 non-fin clipped steelhead and had to throw them back.<br />It's frustrating! They say this will be one of the biggest runs in the last 30 years, but they haven't shown up yet!

 

[NOSLEEP]

Re: Catch'n any Salmon

Hello Capn Mike!<br />Good to here you have been out looking for them.<br />I don't head out till Aug. Let me know when you<br />see the runs coming in.I have not heard about the <br />optimistic forecast but I like the sounds of it!

 

[Capn Mike]

Re: Catch'n any Salmon

Nosleep, we had a very good spring run....I presume you did so as well. Our springers taste every bit as good as Alaska fish, since they still have lots of fat on them.<br />The summer/fall fish aren't as fat, but are usually more plentiful. Also, the dang sea lions aren't as voracious in the summer...hopefully, they've gone south or north. Guy in the boat next to me this spring had a sea lion take one off his line just as he was about to net it. If only they'd let us shoot them..... <br />I'll keep you posted, but I suspect there's not a lot in common with your runs.

 

[NOSLEEP]

Re: Catch'n any Salmon

Geographically we dont fish for salmon that far<br />apart. You must be fishing near Puget sound?<br />Discovery passage is only a short pace to the<br />north.The runs may come in on different dates<br />but the salmon are on the same clock.

 

[Capn Mike]

Re: Catch'n any Salmon

I fish the Columbia River. We get several runs of salmon: 1) Feb-April spring chinook (you call them kings), which are mostly headed for rivers above Bonneville Dam (Idaho, western Washington, the upper Columbia River); 2) spring silvers (coho)headed for lower Columbia River tributaries; 3) spring jacks (both 1 & 2). Then in May, chinooks and silvers headed for all Columbia River tributaries end their 3-year migration but continue feeding @ the mouth of the Columbia. After a few weeks, they start migrating up the Columbia, stopping here & there @ tributary mouths (presumably checking to see if they're at the right address!) Idaho & upper Columbia chinook are the largest. River was closed to salmon during May, but beginning mid-June, we can take only fin-clipped hatchery fish until August, when all are fair game. <br />In the meantime, steelhead are running off & on as well; best and biggest steelhead are those winter runs headed for lower Columbia tribs, such as the Lewis, Cowlitz, Sandy and Elocman rivers.<br />If there's no salmon or steelhead fishing, we can go for sturgeon, walleye, trout, shad, etc. There's a reason the Columbia supported so many native tribes for thousands of years.<br /><br />As for the sea lions, they're marked as high as Bonneville Dam (150 miles up river), then only a few days later, the same critter will be marked on the Oregon-Calif. or Washington-BC border. One of them was marked @ Bonneville, then 2 days later @ Nanaimo. They get around....

 

[NOSLEEP]

Re: Catch'n any Salmon

Sounds like you have some excellent fishing up<br />your way. Good luck on the river and get one of<br />them big tyees in the boat. I spend some time on<br />the Skeena River looking for large chinook and <br />steelhead. I wont be going this year, will go to<br />Vancouver Island this time and see if I cant get<br />into some good runs.Dont forget to let us know <br />when you get into the fish!

 

[Capn Mike]

Re: Catch'n any Salmon

Yahoo! First "summer" fish: a nice 18 lb. chinook. Hooked 5, lost 2, 2 were were natives. That was Saturday. Went to the exact same spot Sunday....nada!<br /><br />Friend went out over the CR bar yesterday, 3 guys limited out with 8 lb silvers in about 2 hours. Said the bar was ugly coming back, though...it's just not worth it to me. No fish is worth 8'+ swells.....

 

[NOSLEEP]

Re: Catch'n any Salmon

Thats great Mike. 18lbs thats enough for a good<br />barby and get'n the smoker fired up.

 

[Capn Mike]

Re: Catch'n any Salmon

4 days of fishing, 2 or 3 guys in the boat each day, hooked 17 chinook. 8 keepers, largest was 31 lbs, smallest was 13. Also hooked 2 steelhead, one was a keeper @ 8 lbs.<br />Not a bad time!

 

[NOSLEEP]

Re: Catch'n any Salmon

WOOOH...Your makin me real jealous.

 

[Yepblaze]

Re: Catch'n any Salmon

The fish are right outside the Golden Gate and should be making their way towards Sacramento 125 miles(and farther)any time now. Pic from my buddies trip out "the gate" on a charter last weekend. He did LOAN me one flank.

 

[Capn Mike]

Re: Catch'n any Salmon

Friend of mine just returned from 3 days on Winchester Bay on the Oregon coast. Limited out each day in silvers and chinook and got back to the dock in time for breakfast.<br />Said the coho/silvers were swimming above the chinook, and after they limited out, had a heck of a job keeping them off the hooks so they could drop their lures down through them to the chinook. Now that's great fishing!

 

[Capn Mike]

Re: Catch'n any Salmon

I meant to post my last in this topic and posted it instead in the salmon/seal thread.<br />Anyway, it's starting to heat up here....supposed to be 105 today. Over the weekend, more salmon went over Bonneville, and here, 40 miles downriver, we had 1.5 fish per pole, Fri-Sun. Aug 1, and we can keep all salmon caught (hatchery & natives), so our freezers will fill! Fortunatly, the weather's supposed to cool down. I hate heat.

 

[ratherbefishin]

Re: Catch'n any Salmon

the salmon runs are peaking now in Juan de Fuca Straits- one[spring] chinook came in here[ Sooke, BC] over 50 lb on sunday- we've been doing well on the 20 to 30 lb bracket.Looks like the coho[ silvers for you US guys]have recovered and are showing up in numbers.Lots of sockeye- and so many pinks[ humpies] they are a nuisance- can't get the gear down for springs

 

[NOSLEEP]

Re: Catch'n any Salmon

Thats great Good to hear the runs are<br />coming in. I'm on my way to Seymour Narrows in<br />just a few days. I should connect with them.<br />Sounds great thanx ratherbefishn.

 

[miloman]

Re: Catch'n any Salmon

well i can post on this one here in ontario the salmon are in a river called the pine(off Gorgian Bay) no great counts but I hear a few caught. As for closer Credit river not a hair yet but one god rain and there will be here

 

[Capn Mike]

Re: Catch'n any Salmon

Just got back from a week's fishing: fair amount of action, but lots of time spent wondering if I'll catch anything. 4 Chinook, 8 silvers, 2 Tullies, many, many sub-legal sturgeon (I couldn't fish for salmon every day!). One Chinook was a bright 42 lbs. The two tullies were dark, dark, hens which I let go...they're probably headed for close-by rivers for spawning.<br />Then we canned fresh Yakima valley peaches. Got to store up for winter!