Northwest Fishing Reports

Its that time of year again!

Fall salmon is just around the corner and the expected run sizes for chinook and coho this year are looking better than ever! With an expected 150,000+ coho returning to the skagit compared to 53,000 last year, and strong stocks of chinook in puget sound, ready to enter our rivers, we are gearing up for a season filled with bloody fish boxes, screaming drags and chrome! (yes the skagit is also getting 1.2 million pinks, but i don't fish for pinks!! )

Most of the fish up this way (Skagit, Samish, Cascade) doesn't start until around the last week of August. I will be spending most of my time until then fishing up in Canada. We can expect chinook to begin filling the rivers around August 20th, and coho begin showing September 15th in strong numbers.

Last year I booked up solid much earlier than I expected, so if anyone wants to get out for fall salmon, whether it be from the bank, or the new 16 foot drift-boat, call or email this month! There may not be many free dates left open once the end of August nears.

I had a great time fishing with all my clients last year and was thrilled to meet so many awesome members of Walakes. I hope to see you all again this year and meet new fishermen as well. The fish are coming, and they are coming strong! See you on the water!

Check out my updated website for 2013 with new Drift-Boat options, new fisheries and changing rates
www.riverchromeguideservice.com

Also, heres what i have been and will be doing INSTEAD of fishing dumpies in August!

Nice fish!!!!

TOAD!!!!!!


But no joke guys, Danny slays when it comes to Salmon time.

I pulled than big boy out of a huge kelpfield and being chased and grabbed twice by a seal. Insane!

Thing about samish Coho is it may be closed by that time if people dont keep up with trash and trespassing. I'd love to actually be able to fish the silvers this year in there

skagit is going to be crazy this year up by marblemount, catch and release pink until our arms fall off and then a huge run of coho even though last year was steller. dusting off our sled and will be taking it up there this year, you will probably see me parked in the eddies putting a hurt on the pinks and silvers if you are taking your drifter.

Brat Bonker wrote:skagit is going to be crazy this year up by marblemount, catch and release pink until our arms fall off and then a huge run of coho even though last year was steller. dusting off our sled and will be taking it up there this year, you will probably see me parked in the eddies putting a hurt on the pinks and silvers if you are taking your drifter.

Yup. Huge run of coho way bigger than last year, and last year was great. And thats the good thing about a dumpie year, lots of fish to fight. Never know if your gonna hook a coho or pink

fishenfreak wrote:

Brat Bonker wrote:skagit is going to be crazy this year up by marblemount, catch and release pink until our arms fall off and then a huge run of coho even though last year was steller. dusting off our sled and will be taking it up there this year, you will probably see me parked in the eddies putting a hurt on the pinks and silvers if you are taking your drifter.

Yup. Huge run of coho way bigger than last year, and last year was great. And thats the good thing about a dumpie year, lots of fish to fight. Never know if your gonna hook a coho or pink

Man, why are you so vulgar toward the pinks Freak? These fish are awesome, just because there are a lot of them, doesn't make them worth less. Personally, in my book, a coho fight is the same as a pink, and when they're dark, they both eat the same. Which is to say not that well.

Dumpies will always be DUMpies!! Id eat a dark buck coho over a chrome pink all day long, and wouldnt eat a dark pink if you payed me! but i am kind of a fish snob with all the ocean salmon i get so im definetely really picky about the fish I eat. Pinks just arent exciting to me lol. And id have a hard time charging a client money to catch them

You should really learn to respect ALL wildlife, no matter how,lowly or ugly. Id eat any dark salmon, ive had dark humpy, tasted better than carp, and carp isn't that bad.

fishenfreak wrote:Dumpies will always be DUMpies!! Id eat a dark buck coho over a chrome pink all day long, and wouldnt eat a dark pink if you payed me! but i am kind of a fish snob with all the ocean salmon i get so im definetely really picky about the fish I eat. Pinks just arent exciting to me lol. And id have a hard time charging a client money to catch them

Who cares what a fish "eats" like? I won't eat a dark ANYTHING, but I'll catch me up some humpies and love it. If you won't take folks out for pinks, I'll take them. When you're talking about catching a fish every five minutes, all day long, fish that are five to ten pounds, and hot out of the salt, what's no to love? And when they start to get dark, every 2nd or 3rd fish will be a coho anyways, so the fight will be on until the fall kings show up on the Queets. That's when fishing gets exciting.

natetreat wrote:

fishenfreak wrote:fall kings show up on the Queets. That's when fishing gets exciting.

Exactly!!!

I got a nice silver Sat. at Deception, so the there are probably a few in Skagit already. I've caught 7 pinks there, too.
This has been my first experience eating pinks out of salt and have read both pos and neg opinions. Have smoked 4 and they are great smokers!! The rest are salmon patties that taste great with spices and a dill mayo! Talked to an exec with Trident Seafoods and he said every salmon patty they sell are from pinks. I think he said 200 million pounds.

I've been bleeding properly, cleaning and putting in an ice slurry right away. Meat stays firm. No idea how they cook up after sitting on the bank for hours....

Danny that was rude when you put all that blood on someone boat. You should be ashamed. Great video and a super fish. Danny youd better learn "Oh Canada"

wolff wrote:I got a nice silver Sat. at Deception, so the there are probably a few in Skagit already. I've caught 7 pinks there, too.
This has been my first experience eating pinks out of salt and have read both pos and neg opinions. Have smoked 4 and they are great smokers!! The rest are salmon patties that taste great with spices and a dill mayo! Talked to an exec with Trident Seafoods and he said every salmon patty they sell are from pinks. I think he said 200 million pounds.

I've been bleeding properly, cleaning and putting in an ice slurry right away. Meat stays firm. No idea how they cook up after sitting on the bank for hours....

Not well.

All the bankies should probably invest in a catch cooler and drag it along with them. It's not the taste that suffers, but the meat becomes mushy and icky. But when taken care of, they are great! They are actually my wife's favorite salmon to eat, and I don't mind them one bit. And I eat a lot of fish. I can afford to be choosy in what I take home,

i even mix some rock salt in with my ice on the real hot days, gets them chilled down fast and keeps them that way.

fishenfreak wrote:

natetreat wrote:

fishenfreak wrote:fall kings show up on the Queets. That's when fishing gets exciting.

Exactly!!!

Noooooo not the Queets you guys gotta leave a river for the rest of us... Oh well ill just go next door...

Exactly!!![/quote]
Noooooo not the Queets you guys gotta leave a river for the rest of us... Oh well ill just go next door...[/quote]

I'm going to be guiding the Queets this year, for kings and native steel, it's going to be EPIC. My favorite river in the state by far. When I go on vacation, that's where I go!

OK you fish the upper ill fish the lower... I love it too.... You ever fish next door the clear that's a hot little river too...