“That’s why they call it fishing” a statement often issued after a difficult fishing trip, or maybe during chinook season when things don’t always line up to put fish in the box.
What’s going on right now in Puget Sound though is called catching!
It’s river chinook time and that means bobber downs!
Maybe you’ve already got a full freezer from a successful season of saltwater salmon fishing, or maybe this is your first opportunity to wet a line for chinook. Regardless, angling for chinook in our local or coastal river is my FAVORITE PNW harvest recreation activity and you don’t want to miss out on the fun!
I went out this morning and got my limit in a few hours, so I feel inspired to write about river fishing for Chinook and tell you my story.
Why you should fish Buoy 10 and our lessons learned
Every year I have a friend who has fished with me from Arizona for the past 14 years. We’ve done many fisheries all over Western Washington and this year we decided to take on the mother of them all: Buoy 10.
Keep reading to learn why we chose Buoy 10, why you should consider it, and a few lessons we learned as Buoy 10 newbs.
Pink Salmon Beach Fishing August 2023
Fishing for Pink Salmon from the beach can be an incredibly exciting experience! We get to fish for pinks once every two years because of the odd-year return pattern they exhibit.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been fishing from my boat with downriggers for salmon for almost 2 months now, and though I didn’t have much choice this trip with my boat in the shop getting the autopilot repaired, I was really excited to put my waders on and head down to the local beach.
Easy Shioyaki Salmon Recipe
Shioyaki means “salt grilled” in Japanese. Shio = salt and yaki = grilled and the way it brings the natural flavor out of salmon and other fish is simply amazing!
This blog post breaks it down in a super easy way for you to make your own Shioyaki Salmon or other type of fish.
Chinook salmon retention closed in Marine Area 10 (Seattle/Bremerton Area)
Sad news and a sad day for Puget Sound chinook anglers who now have all the interior middle Puget Sound marine areas closed for chinook harvest.
Marine Area 9 Fishing Trip July 2023
I took my Dad out fishing for chinook and coho in Marine Area 9 on the final set of openings in the limited season for chinook in 2023 and wanted to share our trip experience, and lessons learned and write a little bit about what’s next for Puget Sound chinook anglers.
Westport Salmon Fishing 2023
With a 2023 salmon season management approach favoring the ocean and a robust forecast of chinook and coho headed for the Columbia River, the almost perfect set of conditions have been created to produce one of the most epic salmon fishing opportunities out of Westport, WA in recent memory.
This post is all about getting you prepped to head out there and give it a go. You South Sound chinook fisherman who’s already had their season closed. You know who you are and you know you’ve been thinking about it!
Changes I made to stop losing big chinook while trolling
If you’ve been a follower of our YouTube channel (you should be!), you know that we ran out to Neah Bay not long after the June salmon opener for a single-day incredible turn-and-burn trip. And on that trip, we hooked into 8 quality chinook but lost 6 of those, and only landed 2.
I’ve recently made some changes and have gone 11 for 11 on quality chinook since those changes. This blog post is to highlight what exactly I changed.
Salmon fishing suspended in Marine Area 11 (Tacoma-Vashon Island)
FISHING RULE CHANGE
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
July 13, 2023
Salmon fishing suspended in Marine Area 11 (Tacoma-Vashon Island)