Non-Fly Dirtbag river Coho '24'

Shad said:
I do a lot of that this time of year. At low water, I'm finding that when and where they will bite spinners, they will also bite stripped flies quite well. I came across a pod of fresh dummies the other day. After I caught a couple on a homemade Wicked Lure, I decided to try them with a purple bugger, and well, it worked. Really, really well. Love these early fish, even if it's hard to find them in places where I can harvest them so far.
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Thanks for the tip.
 

Temporary closure scheduled for Skagit River from Highway 9 to Baker River​

Action: Closes all fishing from Highway 9 to the Baker River.

Effective dates: Sunday Sept. 22 through Tuesday Sept. 24, 2024.

Species affected: All species.

Location: Skagit River (Skagit County) from Highway 9 Bridge in Sedro Woolley to the mouth of the Baker River.

Reason for action: This area of the Skagit River will close to all fishing to avoid gear conflicts during scheduled treaty fisheries.
Additional information: Anglers are asked to respect tribal fishers and reminded to not interfere with tribal fisheries.
Future closures in this area to prevent conflicts during scheduled tribal fisheries are tentatively planned for Sunday Sept. 29 through Wednesday Oct. 2. Regulations for this fishery will be announced closer to the scheduled starting date. Conflicts that arise during ongoing fisheries could lead to additional time and area closures.

Anglers can check the emergency rules webpage for updates, or sign up for the Fishing Rule Change alerts email list on the WDFW webpage.
Information contact: Region 4 (Mill Creek Office), 425-775-1311.
 
First day on the water in the closed for netting section that reopened yesterday brought me a limit in the morning. The water was a little more colored up because of the hot day Tuesday and locally we got a ton of rain here yesterday afternoon. Gauge shows about a 6" bump and still rising. The Sauk went up 8" and still rising so I'm thinking there was rain up high. Could find a messed up river this morning.
 
My coho out in the big river have been plentiful but not particularly cooperative this year so far. If I don't start getting some to play I'm going to do some Sandy River floats to change it up.

Loooooots of chinook been hitting the deck of my boat though 🥳
 
Evan B said:
My coho out in the big river have been plentiful but not particularly cooperative this year so far. If I don't start getting some to play I'm going to do some Sandy River floats to change it up.

Loooooots of chinook been hitting the deck of my boat though 🥳
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This a float in the commander and cast spinners from the shore program?
 
Public service announcement..

This year started out promising in the Grays Harbor tribs, but the rain really fizzled out. Some fish moved early, but not a whole lot, and the rest are still milling in and out with the tides on the Chehalis. Nets go in tomorrow. Ugh.

19 days of gillnetting in the Chehalis in October; something like 14 in November.

The message is better head to points north or south if you want good dirtbaggin' this season, because out west is going to be a gillnet slaughter, with potential "emergency" closures when the nets either exceed quotas or report catches below expectations.
 
So...In the last email from WDFW it stated:
_WW_ said:
Future closures in this area to prevent conflicts during scheduled tribal fisheries are tentatively planned for Sunday Sept. 29 through Wednesday Oct. 2. Regulations for this fishery will be announced closer to the scheduled starting date.
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The closure which was supposed to start today was "tentatively planned" but there has been no official announcement as of right now. I also just checked the emergency rules page and there are no emergency rules in effect! Yay!
 
This fish nearly kicked my ass, was a complete sh$t show, rod was ripped out of my hands, but Wayne saved the day for our last fish to finish the limit with a great net job!


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We laughed for a good 20 minutes as we tried to get everything untangle and put away.
Was a fun day of fishing, we went 4 for 7 with 1 lost at the net.

Seen Herons, Otters, and Seals

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This Seal had a bad experience a few days ago!!!
 
Curious how everyone handles their fish once landed while bank fishing?

My method is to bonk and bleed, then keep in cool, shallow water. I basically try keep the gills from being submerged because I have heard that full submersion can affect meat quality, and I have the fish on ice or in the fridge by two hours or so. However, I would consider buying a fish bag and bringing it along if it would make an appreciable difference in the quality of the fish. I gut when home and fillet the next day after rigor has passed. Does keeping the fish in or out of the water really make much of a difference? And how long can a fish be on the bank before quality suffers?

I caught a few coho on Friday and used the above practices. All appeared dime bright, with bright eyes and red gills. However, the meat of one was very significantly mushier and more orange colored than the other two. I am curious if it was due to the biology of the fish (caught on the Cascade, so a fair bit upriver) or if I could have done something to better preserve the meat. I took it off the smoker this morning and got some nice eggs from the fish, and I'll have to see how the quality of the finished product is after work today.
 
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clear_lake said:
Curious how everyone handles their fish once landed while bank fishing?

My method is to bonk and bleed, then keep in cool, shallow water. I basically try keep the gills from being submerged because I have heard that full submersion can affect meat quality, and I have the fish on ice or in the fridge by two hours or so. However, I would consider buying a fish bag and bringing it along if it would make an appreciable difference in the quality of the fish. I gut when home and fillet the next day after rigor has passed. Does keeping the fish in or out of the water really make much of a difference? And how long can a fish be on the bank before quality suffers?

I caught a few coho on Friday and used the above practices. All appeared dime bright, with bright eyes and red gills. However, the meat of one was very significantly mushier and more orange colored than the other two. I am curious if it was due to the biology of the fish (caught on the Cascade, so a fair bit upriver) or if I could have done something to better preserve the meat. I took it off the smoker this morning and got some nice eggs from the fish, and I'll have to see how the quality of the finished product is after work today.
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When I'm retaining I basically use your method with 2 significant differences.

I'm trying to keep their gills submerged because in my mind that will cause them to continue to send blood to the gills, speeding up the bleed. Also keeps them from thrashing on rocks and sand. I also loop some mono through their gills and tie them off to a stick or rock or my wading belt when I'm on the move.

So land fish, bonk, gill, mono through the gill plate and submerge. I usually carry a net so outside of the bonk it stays pretty submerged.

I don't know how helpful any of this in terms of table fare is but it makes sense to me.
 
Pink Nighty said:
When I'm retaining I basically use your method with 2 significant differences.

I'm trying to keep their gills submerged because in my mind that will cause them to continue to send blood to the gills, speeding up the bleed. Also keeps them from thrashing on rocks and sand. I also loop some mono through their gills and tie them off to a stick or rock or my wading belt when I'm on the move.

So land fish, bonk, gill, mono through the gill plate and submerge. I usually carry a net so outside of the bonk it stays pretty submerged.

I don't know how helpful any of this in terms of table fare is but it makes sense to me.
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That is a fair point. I do hold them in the water while bleeding them until I no longer see any blood coming out. One of these days if I get a couple of similar fish back to back I may have to do some experimenting, though extraneous factors may be too difficult to rule out.
 
Man... what a weird year for Columbia coho so far. More fish than last year, but way less biters. Only 2 have hit my boat locally so far, one unclipped and one clipped. Last year I was at probably two dozen at this point. Both fish so far were caught on the troll going after chinook. I've got probably 12+ hours of casting to them this year so far with zero action. From my observations, it's not just me. Seems less being caught in the troll fleets than usual.
 
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