River anglers have their fingers crossed that the rain in the forecast will come to fruition.
The Puyallup River, for example, was running at 935 cfs Tuesday morning, almost half the average flow for this time of year. Anglers are hoping some rain will bring up river levels and send a new wave of bright chinook and coho into the rivers.
The first razor clam dig of the season gets under way Saturday at four ocean beaches.
Here is the schedule for the first dig, along with the times for the low tide:
Saturday: 5:41 p.m., +0.3 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks.
Sunday: 6:26 p.m., -0.5 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks.
Monday: 7:11 p.m., -1.1 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors.
Tuesday: 7:57 p.m., -1.5 feet; Twin Harbors.
Oct. 17: 8:44 p.m., -1.6 feet; Twin Harbors.
Oct. 18: 9:34 p.m., -1.4 feet; Twin Harbors.
All diggers age 15 or older must have an applicable 2012-13 fishing license to harvest razor clams on any beach.
RIVERS
Columbia: Fewer people are on the lower river, but some bright fall chinook and large summer-run steelhead are being caught. Last week, the state sampled 330 anglers with 13 adult and six jack fall chinook, seven steelhead, and one adult and one jack coho. Boat anglers are catching some legal-size sturgeon in the Bonneville Pool.
Green: Floating eggs or a stop-and-go retrieve on a plug seem to be working best for coho right now. The Green has been one of the more productive rivers.
Lewis: Boat anglers in the mainstem are catching some coho, while those in the North Fork are catching mainly fall chinook.
Nisqually: The fishing has really slowed down over the past week. Anglers say they do not even see fish jumping in the river.
Puyallup: A few fish are still coming upriver, and it seems like anglers are catching a single fish here and there.
Snohomish: Drifting corkies and yarn in orange or red beads paired with black yarn is the way to go when fishing for coho. There are lots of fish in the river, and a good number are bright.
Toutle: Some coho are being caught on the North Fork.
Yakima: The trout fishing is on the slow side in the Cle Elum area. Try drifting an orange Stimulator or other large attractor fly. The key is to keep moving until you find fish. In the lower river, the chinook salmon fishing has been steady.
LAKES
Black: The state stocked the lake last week with 1,800 1-pound rainbow trout.
Bradley: This small lake in Puyallup was stocked last week with 300 1-pound rainbow.
Nahwatzel: Anglers are catching plenty of rainbow trout and largemouth bass. Try trolling a pink Wedding Ring tipped with a worm. The lake was recently stocked with 1,100 2-pound trout.
Spanaway: The fishing has been good for 16- to 17-inch rainbow trout off the dock. Try using dough baits off the bottom. Fishing for brown trout has been best in the center of the lake off the boathouse. Lots of perch are being caught about 14 feet down. People are using worms under a bobber.
SALT WATER
North Sound: Anglers from Everett to Shilshole Bay are having lots of success fishing for coho. Most of the fish are being caught 40-65 feet down by people trolling spoons or squid behind a dodger.
South Sound: The salmon fishing has trailed off a bit, but the action is still fair. People are catching mainly coho. Look for the fish holding 60-100 feet deep. The clay banks and Point Dalco are the spots to find blackmouth. The salmon action in the Olympia area is still slow.
Strait of Juan de Fuca: The coho action remains very good to excellent, based on state creel samples. The best fishing seems to be off Port Angeles in recent days, but Sekiu remains very good.
get set for Crabbing
Recreational crab fishing will reopen Saturday in most areas of Puget Sound. While that includes the Olympia area, the waters off Tacoma will not reopen.
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Tuesday that the waters reopening at 8 a.m. are Marine Areas 4 (Neah Bay), 5 (Sekiu), 6 (eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca), 7 (San Juan Islands), 8-1 (Deception Pass, Hope Island and Skagit Bay), 8-2 (Port Susan and Port Gardner), 9 (Admiralty Inlet), 12 (Hood Canal) and 13 (South Puget Sound).
In each area, crabbing will be allowed seven days a week through Dec. 31.
The openings were approved by fishery managers after summer catch assessments showed more crab are available for harvest, said Rich Childers, shellfish policy coordinator for the department.
Also not reopening is Marine Area 10 (Seattle/Bremerton Area). Crabbing there and in area 11 (Tacoma-Vashon Island) reached the annual quota during the summer fishery.
The daily catch limit in Puget Sound is five Dungeness crab, males only, in hard-shell condition with a minimum carapace width of 61/4 inches. In addition, fishers can catch six red rock crab of either sex per day, provided those crab measure at least 5 inches across.
jeff.mayor@thenewstribune.com Jeffrey P. Mayor: 253-597-8640 jeff.mayor@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/adventure Contributing to this report: washingtonlakes.com, gamefishin.com, state Department of Fish and Wildlife, Art Tachell at Point Defiance Boathouse, Ted’s Sports Center, and Bud Herlitzka at Spanaway Park Boathouse.
