Few coho smolts and bait in Area 9 & 10 this season?

Grandpa Jim · Jul 17, 2023

This is my 4th season fly fishing fishing for resident and returning coho from my local beaches on the Kitsap County side of Area 9 & 10. I don't have a long term perspective on this fishery like many on this forum have.

I've always seen and hooked a lot of coho smolts early in the season. Not this year. In fact there seems to be almost an absence of them this year. Are they still down in the South Sound? Have they moved west in search of food? I wonder...any thoughts on this?

I'm also seeing very little bait this year after seeing 10' diameter bait balls last year. I am only seeing occasional small schools of larger bait. I assume that last year was a banner year for bait and that this year is the other side of the spectrum? Still, it seems like this year has the least amount of bait I've seen over the last 4 years.

With the lack of coho smolts, I find it concerning for next year's fishery. Any thoughts?

Stonedfish · Jul 17, 2023

I saw a number of shakers in MA 9 on Saturday. Not as many as last year but a decent amount.
As far as bait goes, I saw a lot of sandlance and one of the fish I kept was stuffed with them. Most were about 3” long. Saw some herring as well.

Personally, I kind of like not having to deal with hooking up a bunch of shakers.
SF

IHFISH · Jul 17, 2023

Jim, your early season experience this year lines up very closely with mine.

Nick Clayton · Jul 17, 2023

Guessing it's just a timing/location thing on your end. I've covered probably 80% of area 10 in my boat the last few weeks and have seen an absurd amount of bait. From deep balls in 500+ feet of water to huge areas of it on the surface. Also seen an awful lot of krill, often with large amounts of herring feeding on it.
The stuff I've put eyes on has been herring but wouldn't be surprised if some that I've seen on sonar was sandlance.

Same with the smaller fish. I've seen an awful of of 6-12" coho and chinook. Caught a fair share of them but have seen far more following flies, herring, or just randomly jumping. I've come away from the start of this season feeling like Puget Sound is alive and well.

DimeBrite · Jul 17, 2023

Shakers went deep this year? I've also not seen many from the beaches this week.

Nick Clayton · Jul 17, 2023

It's always tough to get pics or video when sitting on a bunch of bait, but here's a large amount of herring Ira and I had some great fishing on last week

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02qhgphfDX6AHhBZh1C5Jf6qQkULJ4AjS2WP7JvSuDjiRCHQZ1QBEdWzH7NZrh5W2hl&id=1609166109&mibextid=CDWPTG

Chucker · Jul 17, 2023

Lots of bait in the area that I was fishing last week, but next to nothing in the same area this week. I think it’s impossible to get a handle on the year to year variation based on one person’s observations. The bait moves around too much and some days you find it, some days you don’t. I haven’t noticed any lack of smolts following stuff, though I have not hooked very many. Using giant flies might have an influence on that.

Grandpa Jim · Jul 18, 2023

Thanks for all of your thoughts! Interesting how some are seeing smolts and bait, and others like me are not. Kind of a mystery at times...
Encouraging though that smolts are still about!

The three times I have been out my experience has been that "drive by" small pods of this year's resident coho spawning class occasionally move into my area, some get a grab, and others do not. Then it's back to casting and changing flies until the next pod rolls through.