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Bobber downs! Minter Creek tips! Coastal steelhead update - PNW Harvest Recreation Nov 18, 2022
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Feb 5, 2025
Bobber downs! Another action packed video that starts with ridiculous salmon fishing with a couple friends featuring many bobber downs and even some spinner fishing. The big news update for the week is winter crabbing opening up near Seattle and Tacoma (MA10 and 11), which is an incredible opportunity when paired with squidding or MA11 blackmouth (which is putting out fish!) We vide into the data again, looking at coho which has slowed with the lack of rain, but also really highlight and deep dive into the steelhead situation on the WA coast. We are getting really close to knowing the final regulations for the hatchery winter steelhead season! We finish by covering the harvest recreation opportunity we are thinking about: Minter Creek Chum fishing and exactly how to have a great experience, MA11 and MA10 opportunities, hunting, mushrooms and a razor clam update. I also share what's new with the PNWBestLife merch situation. Let us know what you liked, what we can do to improve and your own ideas for harvest recreation opportunities this week. Sub to the channel for more content like this coming at you more consistently going forward.
View Video Transcript
0:00
all right we got a lot to get to today
0:01
we got some epic bobber Downs we're
0:05
gonna talk steelhead you know are we
0:06
gonna have a steelhead season this year
0:08
on the Washington coast latest update
0:10
what we're hearing from wdfw on that
0:12
what the data showing and crabbing open
0:15
around Seattle Tacoma in the wintertime
0:17
are you kidding me all that and a lot
0:20
more stick with the video
0:23
isn't this spot crazy though like I was
0:26
just sitting all just sitting here
0:30
oh that's awesome oh that was him
0:33
Drinker B1 there he is laughs
0:41
this is a chrome as a chrome
0:44
I think that's a steel hat yeah just
0:47
steal it it's a steel hat no it's not
0:52
the steel hat that's also uh that's
0:55
street lingo for that street lingo for
0:57
Chum
0:59
such a chrome fish dude stop
1:03
[Applause]
1:08
[Applause]
1:10
I I learned how to zoom in on uh on
1:14
iMovie where I edit these videos I can I
1:17
can show you these bobber Downs which
1:18
are just absolutely awesome no one get
1:21
no one ever gets tired of seeing bobber
1:22
Downs uh when you're out there fishing
1:24
for salmon took some you know I've been
1:26
posting these videos and I got you know
1:29
my friends hit me up and they're like
1:30
hey look we gotta go to this spot we
1:31
gotta catch some Chumps so I took a
1:33
couple a couple more people out to the
1:35
uh the chum Paradise spot and uh you
1:38
know just just had a blast hooking hook
1:40
and Chum non-stopping and uh one after
1:43
another just it's so much fun
1:47
okay
1:50
smell like a bite yeah you did that
1:53
spinner
1:54
the Hoochie spinner bite
1:59
that don't go
2:02
so red
2:04
no it's a tough yeah my time jump out of
2:07
the water though
2:09
it happens when you
2:11
uh-huh
2:15
oh yeah he's got the thing right in the
2:17
corner of this look at those teeth holy
2:19
cow look at those feet
2:22
some Chompers things look at this thing
2:24
right in the right in the right in the
2:26
chops
2:32
wow
2:35
oh yeah he's taking it
2:37
[Music]
2:45
oh
2:49
[Music]
2:54
oh he gave it up that's all right that's
2:56
what I like the long line release
3:05
fish oh yeah
3:11
he swallowed it
3:14
oh just that's just something you shout
3:17
when you're hooking fish right did you
3:20
ever fish the skokomis oh my goodness
3:22
dude
3:26
this chick is so jacked up
3:30
you hook the log
3:32
I have no idea
3:35
it doesn't look like it's moving I think
3:37
you did
3:38
that's not a fish
3:46
[Music]
3:52
[Music]
3:54
this jig was bent like in half on the
3:57
last fish I forgot my head back it's
3:59
like
4:00
barely still a lure
4:04
[Music]
4:08
all right let's talk about sorry about
4:10
some of the news news from wfw that just
4:12
came out in this past week we've got a
4:15
click attack uh River just up there
4:17
their adult Coho limit to three from two
4:20
uh because the the Run size is better
4:22
than expected we've got we got Ringgold
4:25
Springs uh closed their their steelhead
4:28
season has the run there for steel it's
4:30
not as good as expected you know I wrote
4:33
a couple articles this past week on
4:34
pnwvestlife.com really highlighting a
4:37
couple of the washing steelhead rivers
4:39
and looking at kind of what we're
4:40
expecting there in terms of the data
4:42
we'll get to that here in a few minutes
4:44
winter crabbing open this past week
4:47
around Seattle Tacoma I can't remember
4:49
the last time green area 10 and 11 have
4:51
been open for winter crabbing uh I mean
4:54
there's so much to do in 11 right now
4:55
we'll talk about that in the rack
4:57
opportunity but in the South Sound you
4:59
and you can't complain you've got
5:00
reasons to get out there and be on the
5:02
water absolutely then wfw announced the
5:06
the Black Friday skip the shopping hit
5:08
the water for big rainbow trout trial
5:10
day stock bunch of a couple pounds 16
5:13
inches and above rainbow trouts all over
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West Side Lakes uh you can read the list
5:18
there pause you know capture it and uh
5:21
you know if you're if you want to get it
5:23
some more trout fishing in before before
5:24
winter time Yep this this is time to do
5:27
it
5:29
[Music]
5:33
here and uh what what's going on with
5:35
these rivers on the coast and around
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Washington so things have slowed down
5:39
quite a bit you know the run really
5:40
peaked last uh week 10 days ago we had
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the high water event and it's really
5:45
slowed down you know the numbers a
5:46
little bit less on hum tulipsatza uh
5:49
Cowlitz has come way down skagits come
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way down uh these Rivers probably still
5:54
have fish in them they're probably still
5:55
worth making a trip to to go out there
5:57
I'll probably be going to hit one of
5:58
these Rivers next week but uh just just
6:01
not as many fish as were there the Run
6:03
already peaked but uh probably still
6:05
worth worth your time no no nothing
6:06
we've we've got to talk about is is uh
6:10
Marina 11 black mouth you know if you
6:11
look at the numbers there's a steady
6:13
amount of fish coming out of Marin area
6:16
11. uh if you look at the schnook for
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angler it's pretty close to what it is
6:20
during the summer time when things are
6:22
good fish aren't going to be as large
6:24
but you know I mean that's that's worth
6:25
your time and I love it you can you can
6:27
squid right now you can Blackmouth fish
6:29
uh you can crab at 11. uh there's a lot
6:33
to do in the South Sound so you know
6:35
just one one other quick update before
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we jump onto the steelhead topic is is
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Razor Clan so you know uh I I don't
6:42
think we're clearing out the closures
6:43
anytime soon domoic acid from Oak rocks
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just a just one of the beaches I I
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grabbed here is is high and uh it's not
6:51
coming down yet so don't expect uh razor
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clamming anytime soon maybe give it
6:56
another month let's see what happens all
6:58
right so let's talk about the bogey
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Shield uh this is you know now it's
7:02
probably the I mean the main early
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Hatchery winter steelhead River left you
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know once they got rid of the Cowlitz
7:08
early winter run and so let's take a
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look at this real quick you know it's
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what is it November 18th right now uh
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between now and Thanksgiving uh if if it
7:17
hasn't happened already winter steelhead
7:19
are gonna be caught on this River it's
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currently open for steelhead that won't
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change probably until uh the the new
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Coastal steelhead uh seasons are gonna
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be announced uh December 1st that kind
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of effect North Coast South Coast
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Chehalis all of this stuff stay tuned on
7:35
that uh you know lots Gonna Change
7:38
potentially with our steelhead Rags but
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uh you know the bogey gets winter
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steelhead by mid-november late November
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for sure and
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um so here's a couple things to look at
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it so uh when you look at the Historical
7:50
run timing this this is up on BMW
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bestlife.com but this this run timing
7:55
graph you can see in recent history
7:57
right we've got uh runs that really kind
8:00
of peak in uh mid to late December right
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so this is when a lot of times people
8:05
have off for Christmas it's perfect I
8:08
highly recommend uh going with a guided
8:10
option there there's limited Bank access
8:12
except for some areas around the
8:14
Hatchery if you don't like fishing
8:16
around a lot of people you know then
8:18
guided trip could be the way to go and
8:21
get access to and have some space get
8:23
access to some some other water as well
8:26
uh There Are Places to to wait around
8:29
and get the other spots we're really
8:30
depending on flows and how how the
8:33
river's flowing with those places are
8:34
accessible or not but let's take a look
8:36
at the forecast for for the bogey what
8:38
can we expect you know if you look at
8:39
the small plants they're basically the
8:41
same in the last you know four or five
8:43
years it's been similar as a matter of
8:45
small plants so it really comes down to
8:47
the ocean conditions and other things
8:49
affecting the return of of steelhead
8:51
there and if you look at the trend for
8:53
escapement history you know uh we're
8:56
climbing out of some low periods in 2019
8:58
to 2021 2022 it was one of the best uh
9:02
escapements and uh in the last five six
9:04
years and some of that I'm sure was due
9:06
to the modified regulations last year
9:08
and so what can we expect this year
9:11
what's wdfw saying the Hatchery
9:12
steelhead forecast is right now well you
9:15
look at what they published in this most
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recent uh Town Hall you've got
9:20
588 Hatchery winter steel had set to
9:23
return uh that would be certainly uh you
9:27
know remove the uh the the the the sport
9:29
catch there and that would be one of the
9:31
best uh best runs we've had in quite a
9:33
while so incredible early winter
9:35
steelhead opportunity hopefully there
9:37
look at analysis of options that they
9:40
put out and you could see the cool you
9:42
which is what the bogey falls into
9:44
um you know there's there's a pretty
9:46
high sport impact limit and a lot of
9:48
green boxes on the analysis of options
9:50
so if nothing else we'll probably have a
9:53
fishery on the bogey but these little
9:56
symbols down here means that there's a
9:58
concern for if everything else is closed
10:00
down you have a shift of effort and the
10:02
bogey gets pounded additionally uh the
10:05
the really healthy run of Wildfish in
10:07
the quill you is the soul duck and and
10:09
so there's some variable variability
10:11
there No One's Gonna promise it's going
10:13
to be open but we'll learn on December
10:14
1st but this is certainly you know a
10:16
great uh or if it's open it could be a
10:18
great opportunity to get into some
10:20
winner how to rescule it let's just talk
10:22
about the steelhead update in general
10:24
um there is a plan 138 page plan going
10:27
in front of the state legislator to get
10:29
funding for better creel check and
10:32
biologists some folks monitoring the
10:35
sport catch data in future years because
10:38
that's one of the challenges with trying
10:39
to figure out these limited Seasons
10:41
protecting the wild fish is there's not
10:43
enough not enough staff not enough
10:44
people there has been even this analysis
10:47
of options it doesn't show anything for
10:49
the Chehalis available but I've seen the
10:52
quotes and things people are saying like
10:54
you know maybe one of the Chehalis trips
10:56
if they focused all other resources on
10:59
it could be open I don't know what that
11:01
does to places like the hum tulip so
11:02
we'll have to wait and see December 1st
11:04
is a really big day for finding out the
11:07
fate of these steelhead season so stay
11:09
tuned we'll be all over it
11:14
all right enough data let's talk about
11:16
recreational opportunities that are
11:18
going on right now so you've got again
11:20
uh South mid Puget Sound winter crabbing
11:24
oh my goodness I can't wait to get out
11:26
there drop some pots and do that
11:27
especially that there's there's things
11:30
to do while you're waiting for your pots
11:33
to soak and collect Dungey dungeons in
11:35
the South Sound have been a challenge
11:36
but there's some big red rocks in there
11:39
and certainly there's there's dungeons
11:41
available in the South Sound as well as
11:44
area 10 Mid-South so there's just a lot
11:46
of options additionally uh while you're
11:48
waiting for these pasta soap you've got
11:50
uh like I said black mouth fishing uh
11:53
it's providing a decent amount of fish
11:56
for those who are putting the time in no
11:58
you've got you've got Chum going on in a
12:00
lot of places right Kennedy Creek open
12:02
uh you've got roofers around Puget Sound
12:04
with chumble when you've got a ninja
12:07
Creek uh open for Chum right now is
12:09
usually the time for winter Creek I know
12:12
the last Escape report didn't have the
12:13
numbers yet uh but hopefully they're
12:16
there and they're coming coming in
12:18
certainly they should be staging off the
12:19
mouth that's an incredible opportunity
12:21
if you go up car Inlet and fish uh the
12:24
anchovy under a bobber there all right I
12:28
gotta talk you through how to have a
12:29
great trip uh at Minter Creek I know
12:32
it's got the reputation right it's the
12:34
snag Fest where all kinds of crazy stuff
12:36
happens uh down there fishing for jump
12:39
in November but a few a few tips few
12:41
ideas number one uh probably not the
12:43
place you take your kids right having
12:45
trouble casting a lot of people there uh
12:48
a lot of people who aren't always in the
12:49
best mood uh you know don't don't bring
12:52
the kids to Mentor Creek especially not
12:54
on a weekend Etc there are some places
12:56
to get some space and I'll talk you
12:58
through that but that's that's tip
13:00
number one uh number two all right
13:02
number number two show up on a weekday
13:05
if you've got a late start to work or
13:07
you have some flexibility and time off
13:09
Etc like the weekday versus weekend is
13:12
dramatic different from inner Creek if
13:14
you get a chance to show up on a weekend
13:16
morning give that a try in the middle of
13:19
the day which leads to to you know the
13:22
next step here which is a time your trip
13:25
with the with the tide these fish come
13:27
in on incoming tide if you want to show
13:29
up uh right before low tide or a little
13:32
bit around that time period I like to
13:33
show up around low time because I like
13:35
to kind of stand there and watch the
13:37
water come up watch the fish come in uh
13:40
it's pretty cool as the water comes up
13:41
you start to see schools of chum uh
13:43
coming up into the creek and it can be
13:46
really cool the other thing is is I
13:48
don't go to I always fish below the
13:50
bridge I don't fish right near the
13:52
Hatchery I like to fish on the tide flat
13:54
so if you go down there there's little
13:56
trails and stuff down there make sure uh
13:58
make sure you can get back right as the
14:00
time water comes up make sure your your
14:02
retreat's not cut off you can intercept
14:04
those fish just as they're coming into
14:06
the Tidewater which is super super cool
14:08
experience similar to similar situation
14:10
with like Kennedy Creek these little
14:12
creeks you gotta be strategic about
14:13
where where you're at in regards to tide
14:16
and the fish coming in you know use it
14:18
use a slip style float I've showed a ton
14:21
of footage on on how to do this and uh
14:24
you know I showed this this Chum rig
14:25
with you know 20 valve fluorocarbon or
14:28
mono purple pink style jig eight Downs
14:31
quarter ounce bring your store-bought
14:34
raw shrimp with shell on cut it into
14:36
tiny fingernail uh size pieces tip your
14:39
jigs with it and as you see the schools
14:42
of chum coming through cast up a river
14:44
right and just real enough so that your
14:48
your bobber doesn't matter whether it's
14:49
moving or not or you got flow or not but
14:51
just make sure the school jump is on an
14:53
intercept course with your bobber and
14:55
the rest is the rest is gonna work
14:59
itself out just fine those child one of
15:01
those jumps going to bite that jig and
15:03
squeeze fish on and absolute absolute
15:06
blast uh with so many fish such small
15:08
water great great way to have a good
15:12
time at minute Creek uh give it give it
15:15
a whirl if you've got if you got the
15:16
opportunity that lines up with the tide
15:17
and all that give it a shot you're gonna
15:19
have a blast all right let's take a look
15:20
at the weather forecast so you know pull
15:22
up what Aberdeen Washington here 10-day
15:24
forecast and you see that you know
15:26
things kind of get back to a little bit
15:27
more of the normal late fall
15:30
temperatures rain totals you know that's
15:32
going to help a lot of different
15:33
recreational activities coming up in the
15:35
week ahead get out of this crazy you
15:38
know dry November thing we got going on
15:40
here uh you know we just will be
15:42
finishing late Buck this weekend uh for
15:44
modern rifle I uh I decided not to hunt
15:48
today and of course uh I get found this
15:51
Buck on my trail cam 10 a.m 30 yards
15:54
from my blind uh and on public land
15:57
where I would have put this Buck down in
15:59
a heartbeat and uh of course I decided
16:01
not to hunt today and that was uh that
16:04
is inviting me but I have a multi-season
16:06
tag you have a late Muzzleloader and
16:08
archery you know you know several
16:10
different units uh getting going one of
16:12
the challenge challenging things has
16:13
been certainly during this dry really
16:16
dry cold period is mushroom growth not
16:18
happening the way you'd like to see it
16:20
they need that water we've got the rain
16:22
coming that's something you should check
16:24
out certainly in the coast the Cascade
16:25
Mountains of course there's still birds
16:27
being shot uh you know a lot of this
16:29
super cold weather uh win wind all that
16:32
it's moving birds around uh you know
16:34
that's going off on East Eastern
16:36
Washington Central Washington all right
16:38
last last topic uh I got these bumper
16:41
stickers with the new pnw best life logo
16:43
I've got I got 10 of them that's like a
16:46
first batch so I've got a few people who
16:48
have already asked me for them but uh
16:50
you know if you drop in the comments
16:52
that you want one respond we'll get in
16:54
touch uh I'll get you one of these
16:56
stickers one of these bumper stickers
16:57
and uh you know we'll get we'll get it
17:00
out there and I'll I'll order more as
17:01
well so uh you know we're just just
17:04
starting uh the merch approach here to
17:06
BMW best live and if you've got an idea
17:09
for something uh that you'd like to see
17:11
a pnw best like a really cool logo on uh
17:14
drop in the comments let me know and uh
17:16
you know uh we'll get we'll get things
17:18
going we'll get things started
17:23
[Music]
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