It took a lot of self-encouragement to hop in the car and make the drive out to Hoodsport this morning with the wind howling and the rain coming down by the inches. In fact, I was still considering a turnaround as I passed the Cabelas in Lacey (I'm coming all the way from Covington), but I decided to press on.

Before launching the Seadoo (yes, I fish from it!), I parked near the hatchery to assess the situation. Wow! Chum by the hundreds, just making their way into the hatchery gate. You could probably walk across the carpet of chum in the water. They are definitely in. It was the typical mix of colored, and some semi-chrome fish. Saw some nice hens that were chrome/purple.

I got there right before high tide, so bank access was tricky, and there were a lot of people fishing from the little stairway down from the walkway, which is a no-no, and of course, all sorts of people on the wrong side of the boundary buoys! Surprisingly, the crowd was pretty civil, and I didn't hear the signature sound of rods whipping in the air.

After verifying the fish were in, I drove back down to Potlatch to launch at the tribal run launch there. There was no attendant at the lot today, so it was free. I guess they figured anyone crazy enough to run a boat today, deserved a free launch. I didn't see any posted fees/prices, so I guess the rumors I have heard about a "dynamic" fee structure there is true? Regardless, the launch itself was in great condition. No dock, but plenty of gravel beach to jam your boat into while you park.

When I got to the hatchery zone, it was a kayak fest. I decided not to barge in with my noisy Seadoo (I get enough strange looks from people as it is, fishing on the Seadoo), so I anchored right in the transition zone between the deep/shallow, and swtiched between a brined anchovy under a float, to buzz bombs in chrome/green. I guess the fish didn't like my presentation, because I didn't get any hookups. I had one solid takedown, but it didn't pull the bobber down and it was more of a tug of war with the fish (I saw it roll at the surface as it spit the hook), and I didn't manage to hook it. I think I need to rig my anchovies better as well, as I lost many, without any action on the float.

Some of the people on kayaks were doing well, casting into the creek channels. It was definitely one of those "10% of the people catching 90% of the fish days." I'm giving this report a 3 star rating, based on what I saw other people catching.

BTW, the Skok was defintely blown out today. As I crossed the 101 bridge, I noticed that there was some flooding of neighboring properties by the bridge.

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