Northwest Fishing Reports

Went to green river in the kent and auburn area today to try some early chum from the last rain.
I wasn't surprised to find no cars or fisherman in site with the no coho retention. Sort of scared me for a bit so I reread the emergency rule and phew!

Threw bobber n 1/4oz jig (black/purple/pink) with a raw shrimp for 2 hours. Nada.

A guy walks in and goes to the top of the hole. Throws in bobber n jig (purple/pink) tipped with something purple (cured prawn?) and totally kills it. He goes 4/7 in 30 minutes! He leaves, I swap to his jig color pattern and throw on some raw prawns and I didn't have the same results as him.

Anyone willing to pitch in what the individual did to the prawn? Like usually raw or cooked shrimp/prawn works but man unbelievable. Was killer to watch.

He probably had some purple cure going on the prawns, likely making them stiffer so they stayed on the hook longer than a raw/cooked shrimp, but I'm suspecting that it wasn't the prawns but where he was situated at the top of the hole. If you have the stretch of river to yourself, always stop at the top of the hole and then work your way down every other cast. I've had the same experience before, except with a couple guys coming in after me and below me who were able to work down towards the fish before I had the chance...low holed as they say. You were probably casting behind them and they never saw your offering. Other than that purples and fuschias work great for chum. I've never needed bait although it may help in darker water.

TyeeMatt wrote:He probably had some purple cure going on the prawns, likely making them stiffer so they stayed on the hook longer than a raw/cooked shrimp, but I'm suspecting that it wasn't the prawns but where he was situated at the top of the hole. If you have the stretch of river to yourself, always stop at the top of the hole and then work your way down every other cast. I've had the same experience before, except with a couple guys coming in after me and below me who were able to work down towards the fish before I had the chance...low holed as they say. You were probably casting behind them and they never saw your offering. Other than that purples and fuschias work great for chum. I've never needed bait although it may help in darker water.

I did start at the top of the hole and worked down, that's when he got there and started at the top.

went to lower green river this morning, tried 3 different cured shrimp on jig under bobber, no bite. will keep trying.

I would be willing to bet sodium sulfite had something to do with it.

try a strip of squid 1-1.5 inches long or shorter, cured in Fire Cure. Tip your jig with it. The squid will be a bright cerise when cured. You get the mix of squid scent, krill scent, and sulfite, plus the durability of squid, all in one. The humpies loved it. Might be good for chum, if your prawns are not working.

Were you fishing at the right depth?

not sure about Big-Fish91, but I believe my jig was close to or a few feet above bottom. BTW, how to tell if the depth is right or not?

Get to know what your bobber looks like when it's hitting the bottom. Usually it's facing/tilted downstream as your jig drags on the bottom behind your float. If it's dragging slide the bobber up a few inches at a time until the bobber is vertical throughout the whole run. You can practice in water you know the depth of to get an idea of your bobbers "action" when it's dragging. It doesn't have to be right in front of them for them to take it, fish will rise to take it..but probably won't go deeper to get it (fish look up or forward, not down). In faster water group any split shot on your leader together and closer to your jig to get it down faster. In slower water space the splitshot more.

I can vouch for myself that I was close to the bottom, but not too close. Probably a foot off bottom.

That's good info to know TyeeMatt, I'll have to do that.

try soaking some shrimp in pautske's fire nectar overnight. just cut it into bait size pieces before soaking and it's works great.

What would you prefer, shrimp or prawn, for chums?

Shrimp - 71-90 ct. cut up into dime/nickel sized chunks cured overnight with a little sea salt.

Does anybody know if the lower green have any chum in it by now

yes, I saw a few jump, very bright.

There is still coho very bright in lower river. By the hatchery they are in pretty good shape too and decent amount.
Have seen chum too, but they are already colored. Still don't understand why they closed rivers for coho retention.
This joke is just such disgrace to fisherman community!

I respect wdfw in the decision they made. Like everyone else I enjoy chasing coho in our local rivers and really would have liked for our coho run to come in stronger. Though I did catch a good number of them in the salt, they were in the small size making me believe the run is suffering this year. Let the fish spawn and do their thing. Also to clarify for those who have asked if practicing catch and release for coho on the green is ok by the rules the answer is no. Any salmon species closed for retention is also closed for targeting. Wdfw knows that if you are targeting chum you might incidentally catch coho so they ask that you release those but that doesn't mean you are able to intently target coho. The warden will ticket you if he knows that is your intent. The only way for them to know is you telling them that is what your after or if they have been watching and believe that is your intent. Though it is not illegal to hook a coho and release it, it is illegal to go out in the intent to catch coho. I don't fish for salmon that I will not take home so as for me I will not be practicing catch and release on coho. Just let the fish do their thing, plenty of fish out there in our local waters to feel the tug if that's what your after but stop harassing salmon for your pleasure if you are not planning on bonking it. Hope this answers that question

I understand very well all your explanations RH and I agree with it 100% from one point of view! I am not targeting coho in any river in wa , just trying to find some chums! But accidentally getting some Ho! That doesn't make me happy at all, especially in closed for retention waters. That makes me to pay real attention to release that accidentally hooked fish gently.Problem is they are so thick. I do not support WDFW decisions at all based in what I see. I would like to see the real escaipment at the hatcheries by the end of year! It is going to be not very much less than last year! All that explanation about river closing is just bogus to me! Plus nets are in, commercials are doing their job very well too,and everything goes very fine and good for fishermans with their payment licenses. Believe me or not in next 4+ years there is going to be more Not very good explanations of closing rivers. So in general it is just beginning.
How many rivers are closed in Oregon?! Rain was pouring all over that state all summer!? Big snow pack after winter?!
Just curious!

Plus, I feel so much pain when I am driving along Hw2 by the hatchery on the Wallace river and seen some cars are parked along. Are those guys fishing for stealhead when river is closed for salmon fishing?! I didn't see much steelhead running that time on that river! Oh, yeah, they are fishing for steelhead?! Such BS! Why that very deserving respect WDFW wouldn't take care of that? Just bunch of BS, when we start talking about life saving precidures for salmon! Noncence!

actually I saw fair numbers of summer runs in the Wallace before they closed it. I got one hatchery on my card, saw several other people walk out with steel, and actually seen them holding while walking the river looking for silvers. it was a weird year on the Wallace with so many hatchery steel hanging out when the silvers should've been thick.

not by any means saying everybody fishing it right now is truly fishing for steelhead though. lots of poaching happens on that river no matter what regs are in place.