As I write this blog post, I’m getting ready to head up north to fish for coho out of the Port of Everett for 3 straight days culminating with the Salmon for Soldiers Day of Honor fishing event on Saturday, Sep 14th.
After an early push of some ocean coho, things have been quite slow in Areas 9 and 8-2. There are still good numbers of coho being caught in Area 10, and there is a pile of coho out at Sekiu.
I’ve been keeping a close eye on the creel reports as well as what I’ve seen reported on social media. There are definitely a few fish being caught, but not near the numbers that were there last year.
The theory has been that these fish are waiting for the Pinks to clear out a bit before moving in. If you recall, forecasts predicted fantastic coho runs in the Puget Sound and Columbia Rivers.
“The expected return of 670,200 (Puget Sound) hatchery and wild coho is up about 15 percent from the 10-year average,” a WDFW report adds. “It’s also an increase of 113,000 fish from the projected returns for 2018. Bright spots include mid- and South Sound rivers such as the Green, Puyallup, and Nisqually as well as marine areas 11 and 13.”
WDFW
Perhaps, there are fewer coho headed up to the Snohomish system, so these fish are crashing into the beach in Area 10 and turning south. However, the catch in Area 11 is not reflective of that quite yet. We do have Silvers in the Puyallup already and there are a few now being caught further upstream as well.
Last year, during the Salmon for Soldiers event, we did really well around Mukilteo. There was also some action at Shipwreck and Possession. Hopefully, we can repeat, but we need these fish to move in over the remainder of the week. The numbers from the Edmunds PSA Coho Derby last weekend were not very encouraging as about 750 anglers caught 150 coho.
Freshwater options
In terms of freshwater options, the Nisqually still has some kings moving through, I got a nice one on Monday drifting eggs that cut exceptionally well.
Keep an eye on the river flow data as we continue to get this rain. Increased river flow levels will bring fish into the coastal systems, which many anglers love to pursue between now and the end of November.
Additionally, rain combined with cool days will stop the glacial melt on Mt Rainier, which will bring water clarity to systems like the Puyallup and Carbon.
Those clear water days early in the season can make for some epic fishing for coho as they will aggressively take lures such as spoons, spinners, and even jigs.
My first ever river salmon was a coho I twitched up on the Carbon in late September.
Understanding the river levels in response to rain requires a bit of experience and knowledge. First off, you need to keep this link bookmarked to gain access to the river flow data. If you have been watching the data and wondering why our recent shots of rain haven’t moved rivers up much, there are a few factors to understand:
- River levels move up when rain occurs for a longer duration at high elevations – these storms that are flying through here dumping water are not sticking around long enough to really dump water in the upper part of the watershed
- After a drier period, the ground absorbs a certain amount of water before rain starts to correlate with raising water levels on the river
Additionally, that first real rise in river water levels will “blow out” the river as loose sediment gets washed downstream.
Do not expect increased water clarity at that point. However, subsequent raising water to the same level will provide clarity, until a new level is reached and more loose sediment is washed down. Water will clear on the drop in those scenarios, however.
Wish us luck and drop us a comment if you are fishing 8-2, 9 and 10 or the Salmon for Soldiers event this year!