Area 9 Opener

[jasmillo]

I once hung a dead pink off my float tube while there were seals swimming around. Afterwards I realized how stupid I had been.

Leland

I had a similar thought when what I believed to be a stellar sea lion (based on how massive it was) swam past about 60 yards offshore this weekend when I had a salmon hanging off my belt. That would be a tussle I would lose fast. I think the salmon jaw would rip before I was dragged to the depths but who knows. Had me thinking I should come up with a better solution!

 

[Bagman]

I’m with you on that one, read about a guy spear fishing had his fish on a stranger as he swam around looking for more fish. Lost his leg to a shark that was after his fish.

 

[mtskibum16]

When you guys get a legal fish early what is the best method to keep it if you are not near a cooler while you continue to fish? Kiss of death question I know.

Depends where I'm fishing and how close the truck is. Sometimes I'll carry a fish bag/cooler with me, often I'll just put it in a bag and bury it in the sand (shaded). If I'm on say a flat further from solid ground I'll do the stringer to wader belt trick. If I'm close to the vehicle and there is a lull in the current or I need a bathroom break anyways I'll take it to the car. Weather can also be a factor. If it's cloudy and 55 I'll leave a fish buried in the sand a lot longer than if it's sunny and 75.

 

[Stonedfish]

Absolutely digging this weather.
Hopefully it gets some fish moving east then south.
SF

 

[copperJon]

Glow in the Dark got it done this AM as the moon was going down.

 

[Paige]

Interesting context regarding the data for Snohomish system:

"Snohomish River A total of 1,529,000 (rounded from 1,529,358) coho smolts are estimated to have emigrated from the Snohomish River in 2021 (Table 1). Coho smolt production in the Snohomish River is based on a mark-recapture estimate of smolt abundance from two smolt traps, one operated on the Skykomish River (river mile 26.5) and the second on the Snoqualmie River (R.M. 12.2). Traps are operated and results provided by the Tulalip Tribes (D. Holmgren, personal communication). In 2021, an estimate is only available for the Snoqualmie River trap. The estimate for the Skykomish trap is based on the recent (four year) average percent production in the Snoqualmie relative to the Skykomish. Smolt trap estimates for the Skykomish and Snoqualmie rivers are summed and further expanded for rearing downstream of the trap locations in the Snohomish River (per Zillges 1977). Coho smolt production from the Snohomish in 2021 was a 17% decrease from the average (geometric mean) of 1,841,791 smolts between 2002 and 2021 ocean entry years (Figure 6)."

Must be measuring 26.5 miles upstream from the mouth of the Snohomish, since 26.5 miles above Sky puts you a couple of miles above Reiter and not too far below the forks. Must be using 12.5 miles from the mouth of the Snoqualmie for the other trap, since the mouth of the Snoqualmie is ~23 miles from the mouth of the Snohomish.

Spring of 2021 the Skykomish fish trap had a log stuck on it for 80% of the monitoring season, and rarely seen it out so dont know how reliable any data from 2021 could be for the Sky.

 

[DrCrush]

Maybe we should be using bigger flies. This fish is slightly over 20".

 

[Kfish]

Got a keeper today, lost a nice one prior to this that broke the fly clean off. My fault for using 10lb flouro, promptly switch to 12lb maxima. That fish puked out a bunch of sandlance.

Nice to meet you today @SteelHeadDave

Guy to my right got a really nice fish on fly for the first time, it was fun to watch his excitement in landing it.

 

[Bagman]

I thought almost everyone used 20lb Maxima green

 

[Kfish]

I thought almost everyone used 20lb Maxima green

Yeah I don't know what I was thinking when I changed it out from last weekend.
Going to get some 15lb on soon.

 

[jasmillo]

I fished 3 days this weekend. Roughly 20 hours of casting and I went 7-11overall on keeper sized fish. 3 hatchery fish total. Having your fly in the water, at the right time, on the right beach (sometimes the right section of beach) made all the difference. You get in a lot of casting practice doing this. I fished about 6 hours today with nothing to show for it but a handful of shakers. The last hour of the day, multiple follows and short strikes by good fish made me switch to a fly with a stinger which resulted in 4 good fish to hand. Sometimes I’m not sure why I love this fishery….. but I do .

My 3 keepers for the weekend…

 

[Bagman]

20 hours I’m happy to get as many as 6 hours in a week, which is a the main reason I have no fish in the freezer. oh ya those are some nice look coho. Like the old saying goes You got to have a fly in the water in order to catch a fish. Good job keeping at it.

 

[copperJon]

Good weekend for me. Fished Fri/Sat and early AM Sunday. Limit on friday within an hour. Limit on Saturday after another rod mishap delayed my return to the beach. 3 cookie cutter fish in the 3ish pound range, and this beast that I was sure was a king until he showed up on the beach. Extremely king-ish bulldogging runs, line peeling, hooting & hollering, then pulled him up onto the beach autopiloting to the extended handle of my usual spey rod, snapped my rod at the butt section but got the fish. Weighed in on a cheap kitchen scale at 8lbs. 4oz. I hope this is a sign of good things to come for the late season.


Smoked up the cookie cutters in my new recteq RT-700 pellet grill.

 

[Stonedfish]

Good weekend for me. Fished Fri/Sat and early AM Sunday. Limit on friday within an hour. Limit on Saturday after another rod mishap delayed my return to the beach. 3 cookie cutter fish in the 3ish pound range, and this beast that I was sure was a king until he showed up on the beach. Extremely king-ish bulldogging runs, line peeling, hooting & hollering, then pulled him up onto the beach autopiloting to the extended handle of my usual spey rod, snapped my rod at the butt section but got the fish. Weighed in on a cheap kitchen scale at 8lbs. 4oz. I hope this is a sign of good things to come for the late season.
View attachment 27673

Smoked up the cookie cutters in my new recteq RT-700 pellet grill.
View attachment 27674

Nice work Jon.
That is the reward for getting up early and fishing under and over the stars.
SF

 

[Bagman]

Good weekend for me. Fished Fri/Sat and early AM Sunday. Limit on friday within an hour. Limit on Saturday after another rod mishap delayed my return to the beach. 3 cookie cutter fish in the 3ish pound range, and this beast that I was sure was a king until he showed up on the beach. Extremely king-ish bulldogging runs, line peeling, hooting & hollering, then pulled him up onto the beach autopiloting to the extended handle of my usual spey rod, snapped my rod at the butt section but got the fish. Weighed in on a cheap kitchen scale at 8lbs. 4oz. I hope this is a sign of good things to come for the late season.
View attachment 27673

Smoked up the cookie cutters in my new recteq RT-700 pellet grill.
View attachment 27674

Nice job out there, sorry about you rod but thats one nice coho.

 

[Kfish]

Good weekend for me. Fished Fri/Sat and early AM Sunday. Limit on friday within an hour. Limit on Saturday after another rod mishap delayed my return to the beach. 3 cookie cutter fish in the 3ish pound range, and this beast that I was sure was a king until he showed up on the beach. Extremely king-ish bulldogging runs, line peeling, hooting & hollering, then pulled him up onto the beach autopiloting to the extended handle of my usual spey rod, snapped my rod at the butt section but got the fish. Weighed in on a cheap kitchen scale at 8lbs. 4oz. I hope this is a sign of good things to come for the late season.
View attachment 27673

Smoked up the cookie cutters in my new recteq RT-700 pellet grill.
View attachment 27674

Nice!
I need to learn the smoking game, that looks great!

 

[M_D]

Okay...a little thread drift here as I try not to whine too much....but I would like to hear philosophies or strategies from those of you who've been successful.

Here's my background in a nutshell:

-I've been at it 5 or 8 years and I'm still trying to figure out the salt water beach game. I think last year I brought home two fish after a buttload of outings. I've put in a fair amount of time so far this year and have only gotten a net full of salad....yeah I know........someone call a whaambulance

-My running assumption is I'm after fish that are primarily passing through. That said, I try to position myself where my fishy brain thinks there is something to make them pause....like a kelp bed, a rip, or some underwater structure that might concentrate a food source. Aside from this, I'm just a casting fool, hoping to have my fly in the water when a willing fish or two pass by.

-From my limited experience, visible signs of fish are not always a good indicator of fish being present....meaning I get all giddy when they roll or splash about but I've also hooked enough fish when nothing was seen to tell me they were around.

-And finally, I was told or read somewhere that you're pretty much done fishing a beach when the sun gets high over head cuz for a handful of reasons it pushes the fish farther out/ into deeper water.


So here's my question....when you successful types are fishing 6 or more hours a day....what's telling you to stick around and keep at it? Are you seeing signs fish or are you simply flogging the water cuz you don't wanna go home yet and you're hoping the silver school bus is gonna arrive at any moment?

I'm guessing the answer is not so simple but I hadta ask. Whining minds wanna know

Mike d

 

[copperJon]

I'm just a casting fool, hoping to have my fly in the water when a willing fish or two pass by.

Definitely a bit more complicated, but a fly in the water catches fish, not one in the air. Plenty of fish within 40-50 ft (especially in the early am), but it's hard not to want to be a hero and huck it 80+ ft. minimize the false casting and keep that fly in the water.

You will also miss just about every fish that blesses you unless you strip set.

Sun, clouds, rain...it is what is. We only have so much time to fish. Clouds/marine layer are definitely a good omen, but just two weeks ago I watched a king roll in bright midday sun, slack tide, then eat a fly.

 

[jasmillo]

So here's my question....when you successful types are fishing 6 or more hours a day....what's telling you to stick around and keep at it? Are you seeing signs fish or are you simply flogging the water cuz you don't wanna go home yet and you're hoping the silver school bus is gonna arrive at any moment?

I'm guessing the answer is not so simple but I hadta ask. Whining minds wanna know

Mike d

Another thing I’ll add is sometimes it just takes time to find the fish. There are some days you limit in 45 minutes and some days in takes all day due to lack of fish…or lack of unclipped fish which has been an issue for me multiple days this year. If there are unclipped fish around, there are bound to be some clipped ones so you keep fishing.

Yesterday, I fished a dead beach where no fish were caught (with a number of guys I’ve seen be very successful catching coho). Some days that beach is great though. I then hit a beach that was hot earlier in the day but had cooled by the time I go there. Since I missed the fish there, I headed to a beach that can produce on the right tides and it paid off. Find the fish and you’ll catch fish for the most part.

I personally do not see the 5:15 minutes where there were no fish as wasted time. Your always learning (what might pull fish in, how is the bait reacting to the tide shift, at what tide does that nice rip set-up, what time of year a beach fished well or poorly, etc. etc. etc.). Compared to many, I’m also fairly new to this so more to learn still than most. Some guys who have been fishing the beaches for 20+ years may have made different decisions than I did yesterday and been successful sooner. In the end though, many days you just have to put some hours to find fish. It’s not like trout fishing in a river or even lake. Puget Sound is big, beach fishing access is limited and the fish are on the move.

 

[Stonedfish]

Okay...a little thread drift here as I try not to whine too much....but I would like to hear philosophies or strategies from those of you who've been successful.

Here's my background in a nutshell:

-I've been at it 5 or 8 years and I'm still trying to figure out the salt water beach game. I think last year I brought home two fish after a buttload of outings. I've put in a fair amount of time so far this year and have only gotten a net full of salad....yeah I know........someone call a whaambulance

-My running assumption is I'm after fish that are primarily passing through. That said, I try to position myself where my fishy brain thinks there is something to make them pause....like a kelp bed, a rip, or some underwater structure that might concentrate a food source. Aside from this, I'm just a casting fool, hoping to have my fly in the water when a willing fish or two pass by.

-From my limited experience, visible signs of fish are not always a good indicator of fish being present....meaning I get all giddy when they roll or splash about but I've also hooked enough fish when nothing was seen to tell me they were around.

-And finally, I was told or read somewhere that you're pretty much done fishing a beach when the sun gets high over head cuz for a handful of reasons it pushes the fish farther out/ into deeper water.


So here's my question....when you successful types are fishing 6 or more hours a day....what's telling you to stick around and keep at it? Are you seeing signs fish or are you simply flogging the water cuz you don't wanna go home yet and you're hoping the silver school bus is gonna arrive at any moment?

I'm guessing the answer is not so simple but I hadta ask. Whining minds wanna know

Mike d

Keep at it and it will happen.
One thing that will help is to always find and fish moving water and when possible, cast down and fish up through it more so then across it, though you will get fish that way as well.
While it’s nice to have clouds, I think most would take good tides over clouds. Having both is the best of both worlds.
These Stickman chronicles may help.
SF