RIVERS
Chehalis: Coho fishing has been good to very good. Spinners, plugs and eggs all seem to work.
You can move around in search of fish or anchor and wait for them to come to you. Success is coming either way. It is a similar story on the Satsop.
Cowlitz: The river is producing some good numbers of coho as well as a few winter-run steelhead. Try the area around Blue Creek for steelhead and around Barrier Dam for coho. Back-troll plugs, or use eggs or jigs under a float.
Green: Fishing has been fair to good, with anglers catching mostly chum with some coho and steelhead as well. Jigs or flies in yellow or pink are working well, as are Dick Nite Spoons tipped with green.
Minter: People are catching plenty of chum salmon, and some are still rather bright. But there also are plenty of anglers, so some common courtesy is a good thing to bring along, too.
Olympic Coast: Fishing has been OK at best. The coho run just hasn’t appeared in the numbers that were expected. The Hoh would be a good place to start, but it has not been very good.
Puyallup: Fishing has been very slow. It is the same story on the Nisqually.
Skagit: Coho action has been decent in the Hamilton-Lyman area. Boat anglers are casting plugs into the slack water areas.
Try a Brad’s Wigglers in the BW-29 color, although fire tiger, fluorescent red herringbone, red and pink all are producing fish. Twitching a jig tipped with a small piece of sand shrimp or prawn has been productive, too.
Yakima: Trout fishing has been fair to good. Try streamers stripped through faster water for rainbows and cutthroats.
SALT WATER
Fly-fishing: Sea-run cutthroat trout fishing remains very good. Try surface flies, sculpins, sand lances or Clouser minnows. Anglers also are finding chum. Try small flies in chartreuse.
North Sound: Blackmouth fishing has been fair to good. Possession Point and Satchet Head areas on Whidbey Island and Jefferson Head in Marine Area 10 have been producing good numbers of fish. Try 4- or 5-inch Tomic or Silver Horde glow plugs in mother of pearl with green highlights.
South Sound: Blackmouth are being caught while fishing just off the bottom. They are feeding on herring and squid, so use small spoons or smaller sizes of hoochies behind glow and ultraviolet-finished flashers.
Anglers fishing south of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and near Green Point have been reporting good catches.
LAKES
American: Can’t say the fishing is anywhere close to red-hot, but patient anglers are reeling in some big rainbow trout. Some are topping 20 inches long.
Try yellow dough bait fished off the bottom.
Potholes: Fishing for yellow perch remains excellent. They are being caught in water 16 feet and deeper in the Lind Coulee area and near Goose Island.
Smallmouth action is good along the face of O’Sullivan Dam. The Crab Creek area is producing some largemouth bass as well. Walleye fishing is slow.
Spanaway: The pressure has been very light. Fly-fishing with a chironomid pattern is producing brown trout, some weighing 3-4 pounds. Worms fished off the bottom are producing cutthroat trout. The park will close at 3 p.m. Sunday to allow crews to prepare for the Fantasy Lights walk.
Contributors: Mike Chamberlain at Ted’s Sports Center, washingtonlakes.com, gamefishin.com, Mike Meseberg at MarDon Resort, Tom Pollock at Sportco, Phil Stephens at Mystical Legends Guide Service, Rob Sweem at R&K Guide Service, Bob Gooding at Olympic Sporting Goods, Bud Herlitzka at Spanaway Park Boathouse, washingtonflyfishing.com and Gig Harbor Fly Shop. Jeffrey P. Mayor: 253-597-8640 jeff.mayor@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/adventure
