If you have the time, hit one of the local rivers. Anglers are catching chinook, coho or pink salmon in streams including the Green, the Nisqually and the Skokomish. The Puyallup River remains the hottest right now. Anglers are reminded that the lower river will be closed to recreational fishing Sunday and Monday.
RIVERS
Carbon: Anglers are landing more pinks and chinook than they did last week, but it’s just not as good as the Puyallup.
Columbia: During the first five days of the month, the state sampled 2,049 anglers and found they had 551 adult and 19 jack fall chinook, 19 adult coho, 51 steelhead and one pink. Through Friday, anglers can keep one adult chinook per day as part of their limit from Rocky Point upriver to Bonneville Dam. The sturgeon fishing effort has been minimal.
Cowlitz: The fishing has been fair to good. During a check by the state last week, 49 boat anglers near the mouth kept 25 adult chinook and released 17, released two jack chinook, kept one adult coho and released five, and kept 14 steelhead and released three.
Green: The action is improving but is not as good as other area rivers. Anglers are catching some pinks and coho.
Klickitat: The fishing has been mixed. A state report said eight bank anglers had no catch, but three boat anglers kept three adult chinook and two steelhead.
Lewis: Few people have been fishing, and they’ve been doing so without success.
Nisqually: Anglers are reporting online that there are plenty of fish in the river, an improvement from last week, and many are taking home a chinook for each trip.
North Sound: The rivers are full of pinks and anglers. The Skagit, Stillaguamish and Snohomish all are fishing very well right now.
Puyallup: More coho are showing up on people’s stringers, even as the pinks continue to run upriver. Anglers also are catching the occasional chinook. Overall, the fishing remains excellent.
Skokomish: The river is full of coho right now. People are still catching some chinook, but the fish are getting darker.
Yakima: The trout fishing has been good. Anglers should try a prince nymph under a dry fly. The hopper action seems to have slacked off in recent days, said a staffer at Red’s Fly Shop.
SALTWATER
Fly fishing: The fishing for pinks is still good, just not red hot like recent years, said Anil Srivastava at Puget Sound Fly Co. Try pink-and-white and chartreuse-and-white Clouser-style flies. The Tacoma Narrows is producing some pinks headed for the Nisqually River.
Tacoma: The salmon fishing has been spotty, said Art Tachell at Point Defiance Boathouse. A few chinook and coho are being caught off the slag pile and the Gig Harbor shoreline. The majority of the pinks seem to have made their way into the rivers, but a few are being caught in the saltwater.
LAKES
American: The perch have been biting from midmorning to early afternoon. Try fishing worms off the bottom close to the docks.
Offut: Anglers are catching limits of trout early in the morning, said a staffer at Offut Lake Resort. Power Bait and worms are the best baits.
Potholes: The walleye fishing has slowed some, but anglers are catching lots of trout.
Tapps: Fishing for tiger muskies is showing signs of improvement. The fish are more active, just not the really large fish. Cast a spinnerbait toward weed-covered points.
Jeffrey P. Mayor, staff writer
