Puget Sound

Stonedfish said:
I hope not. That does look like some tough terrain. You getting any smoke out your way?
SF
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We did last week into the weekend, you could smell it for sure...and I can see it if I get in the right spots. This high pressure we have north winds, but things change tonight. And the Port Alberni fire smoke will be here for a bit I guess, then your favorite, rain and clouds for a few days.
;)
 
Stonedfish said:
I believe this might be smoke from the Bear Gulch fire up by Lake Cushman, which is now 5,000 acres. I could see it while I was fishing today but it looks like a lot more smoke than earlier.
SF

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I did a mostly-looking drive down the western shore of the canal today.
Somewhere south of Brinnon it started getting really thick
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Triton Cove
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Very few pinks showing anywhere I was today, even near Hoodsport
 
Stonedfish said:
I saw something while I was driving, but not sure what it was.

Another slow day and damn was it hot! 🥵
Quick question for @Cabezon
I was checking to see what time it was and my fly floated down to the bottom which resulted in a sculpin eating it. I noticed a small thin black worm type critter attached to it while unhooking it.
Whatever it is it wiggled quite a bit and moved pretty quickly along the fish’s body.
Sorry for the less than stellar macros, but what could this be, some type of parasite?
Thanks
SF

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Did somebody say sculpin?
 
Maybe it’s just me, but is anyone else seeing a lack of jumping fish close to the beaches so far this year? I’m seeing a good number of fish jumping, but they are all way out and well off the beaches.
I’ve fished a number of different beaches since the opener and have yet to see an adult size fish jumping within casting distance. I’ve seen this before in years past but was curious if others have experienced this so far this summer. Every year is different for sure. I’m hoping Friday’s weather change freshens things up.
SF
 
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Stonedfish said:
Maybe it’s just me, but is anyone else seeing a lack of jumping fish close to the beaches so far this year? I’m seeing a good number of fish jumping, but they are all way out and well off the beaches.
I’ve fished a number of different beaches since the opener and have yet to see an adult size fish jumping within casting distance. I’ve seen this before in years past but was curious if others have experienced this so far this summer. Every year is different for sure. I’m hoping Friday’s weather change freshens things up.
SF
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That seems to be the consensus from the FB group posts I've seen too. Boats finding fish consistently and bank fisherman not having a whole lot of luck.
 
My experience tracks with what you guys are finding. Have fished MA 9 from the beach three times this season.

Last week I fished a beach on the "wrong" tide and had it to myself, but two fly guys in a boat fished the opposite end of it for a short time. At one point, some borderline sized fish started crashing bait right against the shore, but it was in the midst of a thick salad pile. I hooked up twice and landed one, but it was still a few inches short of the bonk threshold.
 
Stonedfish said:
Maybe it’s just me, but is anyone else seeing a lack of jumping fish close to the beaches so far this year? I’m seeing a good number of fish jumping, but they are all way out and well off the beaches.
I’ve fished a number of different beaches since the opener and have yet to see an adult size fish jumping within casting distance. I’ve seen this before in years past but was curious if others have experienced this so far this summer. Every year is different for sure. I’m hoping Friday’s weather change freshens things up.
SF
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Same thing for me. I was actually talking to @Kfish about this the other day. I have mostly seen jumping fish way outside, and lots of them. Sometimes there will be a lot of jumping fish just outside of casting range with boats catching and people on shore not. The few times I have seen fish jumping closer in has resulted in hookups, but not necessarily catching fish 🙂
 
FerrousTortoise said:
Same thing for me. I was actually talking to @Kfish about this the other day. I have mostly seen jumping fish way outside, and lots of them. Sometimes there will be a lot of jumping fish just outside of casting range with boats catching and people on shore not. The few times I have seen fish jumping closer in has resulted in hookups, but not necessarily catching fish 🙂
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Thanks to your observations we were able to get those fish farther out. A boat was crucial to reach them.
 
Fish hanging out deep is probably due to water temps. Rivers and estuaries are relatively low and warm now. The fish are probably hanging in the deeper, cooler water until conditions for migrating improve. Looks like that might happen tomorrow or Friday with a significant rain event. We shall see.
 
1/4 today. Lots of shakers and a few big fish I had on for a second then popped off. I’ve seen a decent amount of big fish jumping close to the beach, especially today. Lots of bait with big fish crashing through it 20 feet out. Had a seal take two shakers off my line. Pretty interesting experience😆
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Shad said:
Fish hanging out deep is probably due to water temps. Rivers and estuaries are relatively low and warm now. The fish are probably hanging in the deeper, cooler water until conditions for migrating improve. Looks like that might happen tomorrow or Friday with a significant rain event. We shall see.
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That could be, but where people are beach fishing the sound for salmon the water temps are pretty consistent.
In some past years, fish just don’t come close to shore. Some still get caught from shore, but while the shore anglers generally struggled the boat guys kill it.
It’s good to hear @KFCDAVE saw some bigger fish today jumping near shore and pounding bait. That’s encouraging.
SF
 
It's a little early in Area 13. @BriGuy and I took a look on Sunday morning. We enjoyed a beautiful morning and saw lots of cool stuff, but obvious schools of pinks moving around were not among them. We saw a couple nice cutts chasing bait around, and I managed to catch one on a blind cast, but for the most part, it was cleaning grass off our gear with casting practice mixed in. There were clear signs of life slightly to our north near sunrise, but things got pretty quiet after that.

I'm thinking things will get going this weekend. Hopefully, something will venture close enough to the beach to be in play.
 
I’m just curious on the temps you’re getting on the beach? I just got back from a trip on the Oregon coast and when we are fishing we hunt for 50 degrees. Sometimes we have to run miles to find the temp and when we do we find fish. This years was odd 48 degrees was the ticket as the crab spawn and baitfish were focused to this temp. We had a real problem with jellyfish and they were thick in the 50 degree zone. It would be curious to what temp you guys are seeing from inshore to just offshore. A family member has a nice beach to fish from up north and has noticed the same results. I will have him check the temps and report back. On a normal year the coho and pinks are easily caught from his beach. Have you guys seen a big increase on the big red jellyfish in the sound?
 
Stonedfish said:
You know, good point. I wasn’t aware of that fire but that may be where this smoke is coming from as it looks like it is was moving north to south. We had north wind today and Cushman is southwest of me and where I was fishing today.
SF
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We had ashes on our vehicles and patio table in NW Whatcom county yesterday from the Vancouver Island fire. No smell of smoke though.
 
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