Abundant fishing about to change

But for the next three weeks anglers have the relative comfort of a wide selection of venues and fish from which to choose.

RIVER SALMON

Freshwater salmon fishing should be vigorous with plentiful coho and chum salmon runs now the focus of river anglers.

Locally, the Nooksack, Samish and Skagit rivers are predicted to have fair to good returns of both "silvers" and "dogs" that should provide plenty of arm-wearying action.

Targeting hatchery (fin-clipped) coho returning to Kendall Creek Hatchery, the North Fork Nooksack is open for a brief salmon stint in October before its salmon are removed from the list of catchables to protect spawning wild chum there.

Also, the South Fork Nooksack up to Skookum Creek opens for targeted salmon fishing Thursday, Oct. 16, again to take advantage of cultured fish homing on the Lummi Nation salmon facility.

Native dogs and hatchery coho remain fair game in the main Nooksack and until it really rains hard, all reaches should be eminently wadeable. Release all non-clipped coho caught in the Nooksack.

ROSS LAKE RAINBOWS

The unique wild trout of Seattle City Light's Upper Skagit Valley reservoir are fair game for another couple weeks in the annual all-to-brief four-month season.

But rather than make the arduous trip up and around to Hozomeen, consider renting a kicker-sized boat from Ross Lake Resort for a day. Drive up the North Cascades Highway and take the short hike down to the dam and phone for a water taxi.

The fall colors are eye-popping now and the rainbows should be rejuvenated after their early summer spawning bids.

STREAM TROUT

Recharged by recent rains, almost every beaver pond is bank-full once again and their trout, sensing the chilling of home shallows, are snapping up everything that crosses their path. Flows in lowland and foothills streams take longer to rebuild, but creek-dwelling trout, also sense impending changes and start gobbling up the myriad of leaf chewers and earthworms set adrift by rain discharges.

The summer small stream and beaver pond season closes Friday, Oct. 31, in all but the biggest flow waters. Be sure to observe the longer minimum size and lower daily bag limits for streams and beaver ponds that are designed to protect vulnerable populations.

HATCHERY RAINBOWS

Look to lakes Padden, Toad, Cain and Silver for end-of-season action up to the last day of October.

This year's cast of rainbow trout not to mention lunker holdovers from the previous years stockings are much more finicky now that their numbers have been whittled down. A bait drifting technique or outright lure trolling will probably be more productive than simply still-fishing in one spot. Vary depth if pulling hardware.

Other notable waters managed for wild fish production that go off-line Friday, Oct. 31, for the winter include Lake Whatcom, Baker Lake and Lake Shannon (all with kokanee).

SALMON IN THE BAY

Saltwater salmon fishing in home waters (Marine Area 7) shut down at the end of October, leaving bay boat anglers with a three-month hiatus for bottom recoats, flasher polishing and other unwelcome diversions. Salmon fishing for winter blackmouth will resume Sunday, Feb. 1.

Marine Area 6 (East Strait of Juan de Fuca) is also open for the remainder of October offering a two-salmon-a-day limit of which only one may be a chinook, no shorter than 20 inches.

Marine Area 8.1 (Deception Pass Skagit Bay and North Saratoga Passage) already has closed to salmon fishing for the fall (except for the Oak Harbor net-pen coho opportunity, until Friday, Oct. 31), but will reopen Thursday, Jan. 1 for an early start to the winter blackmouth (fin-clipped chinook) fishery.

To the south, Marine Area 8.2 (Port Susan and North Port Gardner) has also closed except for the south Port Gardner sub-area off Everett and Mukilteo. When the south Marine Area 8.2 sub-area closes Friday, Oct. 31, all of Marine Area 8.2 will stay off-limits to anglers for salmon in November and December but reopen early (Thursday, Jan. 1) for a targeted hatchery chinook fishery through the winter to April 30.