Northwest Fishing Reports

Hello everyone,
I grew up fishing in Oregon in the 70's and 80's. Perhaps that spoiled me some.
I have been tearing up silver lake in Whatcom county all summer. When I heard "the salmon are in the Nooksack" I ran out and geared up. First day I landed a 15" Chinook (tossed it back). That was to be the only fish I thus far have come across in all of the Nooksack from Everson to Ferndale. I hear tons of reports from fishermen that say "they aren't biting". I have noticed one other thing, a complete lack of surfacing, jumping, tail slaps you name it. I'm beginning to wonder if there are any fish at all in the river or coming up yet.
Growing up in Oregon, a 20-30 pound Salmon was an average fish for Coho and Chinook. My grandfather landed a 56 pound Chinook. So Im used to not just fish, but big fish.

This isnt a complaint, but more of a whats going on? Where are all the fish?

Wow those are big fish! Nothing like that in the nooksack really. My best silver out of the last couple of years was around 10 lbs. That would be a nice fish for this system in my experience. They are in there, but with the last bit of rain we got the river is really really muddy/silty. I haven't fished a ton yet this year, however at harksell rd (near ferndale) last weekend there was a good amount of fish rolling, but no takers. The nooksack always seems to be really hit or miss. One day you limit in less than an hour, the next you throw everything and the kitchen sink to no avail. Persistence seems to be rewarded so I would say if you put in the time eventually you will get something somewhere. In years when the pinks are running I don't really start fishing for just silvers until the very end of September or the beginning of October. The nooksack also has a chum run so you can be trying for salmon until late November on the north fork or the end of december if you are fishing from the south fork down river.

Thanks for the reply,

I'm about to go into back surgery so my season will be cut short in mid October. I typically fish above or below the Nooksack river bridge at Everson. So if you see a guy fishing wearing green chest waders, with an orange ball cap feel free to say hi.

I found the access at Harksell Rd. The slippery climb down to the rocks below, is what I refer to as "the express elevator to hell" that silty clay slope is going to get someone hurt one day. I did however see evidence of a fish being caught there. But the commotion of all of the boats racing up and down the river right on front of me didn't help the fishing at all.

Yes once the silt was stirred up, everyone quit trying (except me). But now the Nooksack is clean and clear again. But since that last silting event things have change. I'm not sure why.

If you ever go fishing on the Alsea river, (its a black water river) be sure to stop in at Taylor's Landing. That's where my grandpa landed that 56 lb fish. http://taylorslandingrvparkmarina.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The only thing I haven't tried on the Nooksack is bobber fishing with Roe. I hear that is a fish killer for Silvers.

Natives and commercial guys are netting the **** out of the system, don't let anyone tell you other wise. Danny, myself and a few others are witness to last years 97 days straight of netting, this year is no different.... I'm on the nooksack all the time, not only the north and south fork but the main stem all the way to slater road... I had a very good day with BNR soft beads one day going 7 for 10 coho, 6 were natives... After that there hasn't been anything.....

" Its not a mystery, when the nets are in the fish are absent..... "

ydeardorff wrote:If you ever go fishing on the Alsea river, (its a black water river) be sure to stop in at Taylor's Landing. That's where my grandpa landed that 56 lb fish. http://taylorslandingrvparkmarina.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The only thing I haven't tried on the Nooksack is bobber fishing with Roe. I hear that is a fish killer for Silvers.

Thanks for the good info! And yes eggs always seem to outperfom other gear on any of the rivers I've fished except for a few exceptions.

dj2loud wrote:Natives and commercial guys are netting the **** out of the system, don't let anyone tell you other wise. Danny, myself and a few others are witness to last years 97 days straight of netting, this year is no different.... I'm on the nooksack all the time, not only the north and south fork but the main stem all the way to slater road... I had a very good day with BNR soft beads one day going 7 for 10 coho, 6 were natives... After that there hasn't been anything.....

" Its not a mystery, when the nets are in the fish are absent..... "

This is unfortunate, but there is not a lot we can really do about that. Which website are you on when looking up the days they net? I've never really bothered with this just because it irritates the hell out of me . I've got a couple different soft beads from bnr they are awesome! Were you just drifting them by themselves or did you have yarn on with them? I will be heading out this evening to harksell or maybe flynn bar. Will post a report when I get back......

I was using the mottled natural 8mm on the 15th, since then nadda fish on em, and that's using all the colors..... as far as the nets are concerned last year i was off more then working, so i spent almost 5 months day in and day out on the river, between nooksack, samish, skagit ( what a dismal fishery that one was) and the sky...... as far as eggs, obv i cant make a decent cure even using borx o fire, fire cure or 3-2-1 methods.... haven't caught a single fish on eggs.... Maybe you know some cures....? i have a fresh king from yesterday and have 2 giant skeins curing as we speak ( some with ammerman's, some with Nate's, Fire brine, fire cure and borxofire...)

my go to egg cure is pro cure anything. Specifically their liquid cures. If you aren't good a curing eggs for whatever reason with the powders use the liquid cure. I have the pink one and the dark red or red hot...can't remember the exact names. Its insanely easy and only takes about half a day total. They just soak in a jar and when they are done you dry them as long as you want. Less for goopy eggs more for firm ones. I have used other brands and have had good success, but some of them just need a little more know how to really get them to cure up good. Pautzkes balls o fire is a good one too. There are a lot of guys down by slater road fishing today. I could see that as I was making a dump run before I head out today so I will definitely be avoiding that area.

I've been meaning to try pro cure products but haven't bit the bullet to buy them... i just posted the report from yesturday....

Well....didn't get a thing, but whats new there this year so far. Tried at Harksell and Flynn bar. Harksell was dead...didn't really even see anything roll. Flynn bar was a bit better just because I saw a few fish here and there. Mostly was just using vibrax and twitching jigs. Out of any of the products pro cure has the liquid egg cure for me is my favorite. Their line of scents is pretty awesome too since they have sooooo many of them. Don't know how their scents compare to others, but I would imagine they are pretty close to the same.

dj2loud wrote:Natives and commercial guys are netting the **** out of the system, don't let anyone tell you other wise. Danny, myself and a few others are witness to last years 97 days straight of netting, this year is no different.... I'm on the nooksack all the time, not only the north and south fork but the main stem all the way to slater road... I had a very good day with BNR soft beads one day going 7 for 10 coho, 6 were natives... After that there hasn't been anything.....

" Its not a mystery, when the nets are in the fish are absent..... "

You know, I have enough native American in me to claim legal heritage from two different tribes (Wyandotte, Nez Perce), and I see this as complete BS. I cannot remember EVER, in history that any native American tribe used synthetic gill nets, and blocked off the river system, EVER! They fished with nets yes, but they were hand made nets, and not gill nets. They fished for sustenance, not so they could cruise the county selling fish out of the back of their trucks for 20 bucks a fish.
This is flat out exploitation, and raping of the nooksack river system. And I'm not saying this just because I am not seeing any fish. This is literally destroying the entire fish run population each year. Then the fisheries are force to try to replace them.

I'm sorry folks, but since my move to Washington state Ive had more than a few "issues" with how things are run here.

I may grab a pack of Roe next week, but for now I'm just checking the river at the everson bridge each night, and flinging spoons and vibrax spinners.

Sorry for the rant! We all need to really do something about this supposed heritage netting of 99% of the rivers path.

Well, the fry are biting. I hooked into 4 or 5 4" coho fry tonight. Its something,...

And this is a video of Salmon caught in Oregon this season. Its a great example of the average size Im used to compared to what Ive been seeing here in WA.
https://youtu.be/wJjRPn5-f-Y

Ha! yesterday I saw several small fish jumping about. Figured they were trout, but yes at least you are catching something!

spenny1823 wrote:Ha! yesterday I saw several small fish jumping about. Figured they were trout, but yes at least you are catching something!

I was out at yesterday at the Everson bridge and saw the small fish jumping everywhere. Decided to throw a rooster tail since the salmon weren't around, and they ended up being salmon smolts. I was careful in handling to get it back into the water unharmed. They are probably the only thing that gets through all the nets.

dj2loud wrote:I was using the mottled natural 8mm on the 15th, since then nadda fish on em, and that's using all the colors..... as far as the nets are concerned last year i was off more then working, so i spent almost 5 months day in and day out on the river, between nooksack, samish, skagit ( what a dismal fishery that one was) and the sky...... as far as eggs, obv i cant make a decent cure even using borx o fire, fire cure or 3-2-1 methods.... haven't caught a single fish on eggs.... Maybe you know some cures....? i have a fresh king from yesterday and have 2 giant skeins curing as we speak ( some with ammerman's, some with Nate's, Fire brine, fire cure and borxofire...)

I have been using the cure below for years, it works great for steelhead and salmon. I use the brown sugar variation and add just enough store bought cure for color when making eggs for Silvers. Silvers love this cure.

I like the 3-2-1 cure, with three parts borax, two parts sugar and one part salt,” Ramsey says. “Sometimes I’ll add just a half-part salt.”
Buzz’s cure has caught on in recent years, although he points out old-timers have long enjoyed success with it. One of its advantages is it is so easy to use.
“I usually pre-mix a lot of the 3-2-1 so it’s ready to go when I need it,” he says.
Preparing the eggs for the cure is simple.
“I cut my eggs up into pieces, or sometimes individual baits,” Ramsey says. “I split the skeins lengthwise. Then I cut each skein into three pieces. One skein will give you six manageable pieces by splitting them and cutting them into thirds.”
Ramsey then places the eggs in a plastic container and sprinkles them with the pre-mixed cure. If the eggs are wet more cure is added to them.
The eggs can also be rolled in a bag of the mixed cure and then placed in a storage container.
“The idea is to cure them so they hold together,” Buzz says. “The neat thing about this cure is because of the salt and sugar content they stand up pretty well to freezer burn. They’ll freeze but not hard enough to burn.”
After a couple days of curing the whole container can be placed in the freezer. During the curing process, Buzz will add dye or food coloring if he wants brighter eggs.
The eggs will expel liquid during the first day of curing, then re-absorb it, along with any dyes or scents you add.
When it’s time to fish, Buzz separates the eggs into a few containers, and plays around with scents to see if the base cure or scent-enhanced eggs produce better.

branweeds wrote:

spenny1823 wrote:Ha! yesterday I saw several small fish jumping about. Figured they were trout, but yes at least you are catching something!

I was out at yesterday at the Everson bridge and saw the small fish jumping everywhere. Decided to throw a rooster tail since the salmon weren't around, and they ended up being salmon smolts. I was careful in handling to get it back into the water unharmed. They are probably the only thing that gets through all the nets.

Id love to (pardon the pun) "Hook up" with some local fisher-folk. I often walk to the bridge and look down to check the water condition. Then typically head out in the evening above or below the everson bridge. I usually have my polarized glasses on, and my black/orange ball cap on. If you see me, please introduce yourself and say hi! Id love to meet some people around here. Ive been busy being a student (after I retired from USN) for so long, I had no time to meet anyone.

ydeardorff wrote:

branweeds wrote:

spenny1823 wrote:Ha! yesterday I saw several small fish jumping about. Figured they were trout, but yes at least you are catching something!

I was out at yesterday at the Everson bridge and saw the small fish jumping everywhere. Decided to throw a rooster tail since the salmon weren't around, and they ended up being salmon smolts. I was careful in handling to get it back into the water unharmed. They are probably the only thing that gets through all the nets.

Id love to (pardon the pun) "Hook up" with some local fisher-folk. I often walk to the bridge and look down to check the water condition. Then typically head out in the evening above or below the everson bridge. I usually have my polarized glasses on, and my black/orange ball cap on. If you see me, please introduce yourself and say hi! Id love to meet some people around here. Ive been busy being a student (after I retired from USN) for so long, I had no time to meet anyone.

I take every spare afternoon I can to fish! This afternoon I will most likely be back at the Everson bridge, or somewhere along the nooksack. If I see you around I will certainly introduce myself! Good luck out there

Very cool! Ill be out tonight probably between 5 and 7pm. I usually fish upriver from the bridge. Tonight I may fish below. I know where some good sized coho are holding up right now. I may grab some roe to see if I can get them to bite.

I'm stuck to either the lynden or ferndale area for the entire week due to my work schedule. On the weekends i try and make atleast one trip further upriver for a change of pace. I think I asked this earlier, but what website so you look at for the netting schedules? I'm sure I could Google it, but wanted to see what you guys said as well

I looked it up on the WDFW site, and I cannot find any schedules for the Lummi tribe, or the Nooksack.

I called the Region 4 WDFW contact information center. They stated the Lummi Indian tribe does not share with them the netting schedules. However, I/we are free to contact the Lummi tribe directly and ask (should prove interesting).

Lummi tribes number: 360-384-1489

Lummi Tribe Fisheries: 360-384-2225

If you find anything out, please post it here so we can make it a sticky

Bumped for update.
Fish are in at Everson. Tails black backs sticking out of the water, even a fish swam up and looked at me. LOL
FINALLY! Some fish!!! No biters, but the fish are being seen now!