Northwest Fishing Reports

WDFW FISHING RULE CHANGE: Samish River salmon fishery extended https://fortress.wa.gov/dfw/erules/efis ... sp?id=1357" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

All species affected kings and silvers. Reopening due to an abundance of hatchery fish.

That is great news! I have fished the Samish my whole life, regardless of what people say, its' a great place to catch some wonderful king salmon. If you are like me and like to get away from the crowd, the uppermost mile and a half of river below the Interstate is the place to be. Plenty of room to find your own spot, and hardly any snaggers. I have limited 5 of the last 6 times I have been there this last week before work. Really incredible how many fish are their!
FYI- Parking is difficult, so I would recommend parking at either the end of Sam Bell road and walking the tracks down, or parking at the highway 11 (chuckanut drive) bridge. The best water is between these two places, which is about a mile or river. The river, and its bank are public property so do not let anyone tell you otherwise. Don't litter or trespass and you will be OK! Tight lines and say hi to fellow WALAKERS! P.S. The mouth of the river is also very good angling. But their you have to pay, and it's more crowded.

We already posted this rule change.

^That you Jborrell(kromekrusher) ? The cretens at fishwhatcom are persistant! You really have nothing better to do?

Really all this is just getting ridiculous. People need to stop! I'm getting tired of all these trolls on wa lakes.

Troll's, I havent slept under a bridge in years now...................
how are you fishing up there, float or drift?

I usually bobber fish, but most people fish with-out a bobber. I have found that using a bobber, I hook less fish, but they are usually in the mouth or head, compared to drift fishing when lots more and in the body. The water is mostly too slow for drift fishing too. The Samish being at the peak of the run, their are a lot of fish, but also a lot of people. It has to be the biggest run of kings I have seen in many years though, great time to bring the wife or some beginners! Primetime: you obviously are not familiar with this area of the river. Follow up on this, and you won't be calling me a troll. Chum a Chum Chum: Yes, you need waders. Most people use eggs, some use jigs. Either method will work, but one is more like snagging.

Welcome to WaLakes fishwhatcom cats. I look forward to seeing you out there catching kings at these not-so-secret spots. Your best bet is roe under a float first two hours of daylight, otherwise you're not going to hook anything you can take home. Remember, fish must be hooked INSIDE the mouth to retain, and I'll be out there with my cell phone with the sheriff on speed dial.

natetreat wrote:...and I'll be out there with my cell phone with the sheriff on speed dial.

We can compare recipes. I'll hand off a fish to him, it's a blast! You have to put a lot of drag on those fish to keep them out of the sticks, which means they pull HARD. I've seen rods swimming around on fish before because of a slippy grip.

eggs make slippy grip!

The upper holes were seemingly empty of fish today, pretty lame. is the water too slow to try the skokomish stroke technique?

theyre right about them not biting on eggs in the afternoon. think i'll try spinners if i go back, as recommended by the wdfw

A lot of the dark kings that had been staging around their (head of tide) pushed up into the hatchery area with that rain, that is why less fish last 2 days. Good tides this week will be pushing a bunch of fish back up their, regardless of weather. The next batch of fish will be fresher, and I expect to see a lot of them! Woady: The river is too small to fish the Skok stroke technique. It's just a little trickle. You will walk through empty water for 10 minutes sometimes then find the right hole the size of a VW Beetle that has a 100 kings, it's funny like that, just keep walking!!
It will be the peak of the run next 2 weeks, so get out their, because the fish will be going brown end of the month.