Barrier Dam bank fishing advice

[rmerikle]

Guys,

I am getting desperate. I have been skunked all season so far. I usually fish the Snohomish. Went up to Wallace River on Sunday and water was high and to many guys fighting for too few places to fish.

I am thinking about finally breaking down and heading to Barrier Damn. The stories of the crowds scare me. Is it really that bad? Not only is it 2.5 hours, but to get there at a good time means leaving the house at a really early time.

Any thoughts or input would be appreciated.

[schu7498]

You dont have to fish barrier. You can also park at blue creek and walk the bank and find areas that no one is fishing. The fish do tend to stack up at barrier though. Right before dark people tend to leave. I suggest stick it out, the best bite happens before dark. Try to go on a weekday and on a rainy day. That should cut back on the crowds a little.

[rmerikle]

schu7498, My thoughts exactly just hard to get a day off work. I was also thinking that maybe heading down in the afternoon and sticking it out until the end might work. One of the problems with showing up to a new place before sunrise is not knowing exactly where to go and not being able to see where to go. I could putts around trying different areas and then try to hit the dam towards the very end of the day.

[Weekend-warrior17]

Google maps :
Blue creek hatchery.
Barrier Dam Cowlitz river.

You'll get a much better visual on what your getting into . Barrier can be crazy but fun. Advice bring a long rod if you don't know much of the area. Blue creek is a great place for the average angler.

[mizm05]

The crowd at the dam is nuts...but so is the action. Catch 22.

[rmerikle]

Well I bit the bullet and headed out to Barrier Dam. All times are before time change since I refused to switch time until after fishing. Left home at 3:30AM and arrived barrier dam @ 5:30AM. Foggy Dark, but darn glad I got there so early. Got a great spot. First time I have really ever fished here and was losing rigs left and right in the dark. Really only one other guy that was fishing with me and he was hooking up every other cast. Frustrating.

Day break and finally started seeing what I was doing and by this time there were 20 some people lined up in the spot I was in. I was about waist deep in water just up from the boat launch. There were tons of people everywhere. It was getting crowded, but everyone was working together. Hook ups were many. Not uncommon to have multiple hookups going at the same time. I would say most of the people on the bank and not wading were have much worse luck. I was getting frustrated and then about that time bam first hook up. Fish jumped and I lost it. Shortly after that bam 2nd fish again jumped and lost it. A while later bam again and this time fought it for a while, but then lost it. About 11AM I get another hookup. I fight it down stream to the boat launch. Thought for sure I would lose it, but three really nice guys in a boat pull up and let me hop in. Fight the fish for another 15 minutes up and around the bend. Finally get it to the surface and it is a nice 25 to 30 lb King. We see it is wild and therefore I push hard to bring it in and break the line in the process.

It really was a catch 22. Great, great fishing, but lots and lots of people. I only had 4 solid hookups in about 5 hours of actual fishing, but there were guys hooking up left and right. A couple of guys were nailing them left and right. I even saw some first cast hook ups. I am still learning. The first part of the morning the group was good. The 2nd part of the morning was a group of people that just weren't very nice. Not sure if I was getting tired or they were getting tired, but there was a group that had been drinking since before light and were starting to show it. And lastly I would say maybe 1 out of 10 were landed and of those 1 out of 10 were fish people would want to keep. Lots of really beat up kings and lots of wild fish. The silvers that were kept were very good looking and it would have been an 5++ day if I had brought home some actual fish.

If you want to catch fish and are willing to brave the crowds then this is the place to go.

[rmerikle]

And not sure if this is the right place to ask, but what are the thoughts on cleaning fish at the river. I have always been under the impression that you do not clean your fish at the river. Although there seemed to be so many people doing it and so much discarded fish around that you would think it was OK.

[sickbayer]

Yup clean at the river nature will benefit.

[mizm05]

Kings aren't as much of a problem higher up by the actual dam....but if you thought the crowd was something down by the boat launch, you ain't seen nothing yet. LOL

Nothing wrong with cleaning your fish on the river. Throw everything back in the water and the other fish will clean up.