Northwest Fishing Reports

Welp i have never heard of a chum before. im rather new angler and itching to get back out there and go after a few more. last month and a halfs been very busy and i need to get a break from it. i hear chums will hit on green corkeys? and drifting works good to catch them? give me the run down please guys.

what exactly are they im guessing steelhead? are they good to eat? and put up a nice fight at all?
Where is a good place to go to catch them around the tacoma area?
What color and or type of corkey/spoon should i throw at them.

Thanks guys excuse the absence lifes been very busy for me hope to see ya guys around the water again.
Take care Yall

They definately are not a trout of anyform so steelhead is out. They are a salmon. Keta Salmon, chum, dog salmon. They are said that they are oily but they are not they have less oil in them then all the salmon but pink. They have huge teeth and are ugly as sin. Taste good? Nah only smoked from my expirience with em. Good fight? Oh hell yeah. They put up some great fights. They will take some line from ya for sure, nothing like pinks. I have never caught one on green. Thats not to say they dont bite green. I personally havent caught em on it. Youll need to mess around with color combos. Water clearity has something to do with what they like Ive been noticing. Make sure you got good strong main line and leaders around 15lb You will probably lose alot of leaders I do. I have been fishing the skok for them but they will start being in the puyallup carbon green nisqually etc soon if not already there. Corkie and yarn is best bet though.

They are salmon. I've been told they will bite green or purple corkies (many others too). Bill Herzog says to try purple or black jigs tipped with a grocery store prawn 3' under a float. Good luck.

Doesn't really matter what color, green, orange, pink, purple, they'll bite on any color yarn. They say Puyallup gets chum but I've never fished there for them. Other places kind of close to Tacoma are the Nisqually, that run isn't good until December. Minter Creek, Kennedy Creek, and John's Creek are three other places. And like previously stated, smoking is the best for them.

aTrOcIoUs wrote:Welp i have never heard of a chum before. im rather new angler and itching to get back out there and go after a few more. last month and a halfs been very busy and i need to get a break from it. i hear chums will hit on green corkeys? and drifting works good to catch them? give me the run down please guys.

what exactly are they im guessing steelhead? are they good to eat? and put up a nice fight at all?
Where is a good place to go to catch them around the tacoma area?
What color and or type of corkey/spoon should i throw at them.

Thanks guys excuse the absence lifes been very busy for me hope to see ya guys around the water again.
Take care Yall

What up bro, just use the same technique you learned at the Puyallup when you fished with us. Kinghunter is scoping out the Puyallup tomorrow, but he remembers seeing a bunch being caught there.
I have yet to catch one, but I will get that stink off real soon.

along the same lines can you catch these fish in the snohomish river? and when? can you get them on spoons/spinners or plugs?

jens you have never caught a dog.

curado wrote:jens you have never caught a dog.

Sure haven't...
Heading out tomorrow though, I have 3 locations where we are going to target and word is they are in pretty thick- Mud Bay, Kennedy Creek, or Hoodsport Hatchery..We were going to go to the Skok, but for some reason, Tribal is netting tomorrow, not to mention the non-stop rain.

if you dont get one pm me i will get you hooked up

jens: make sure to check out that spot I sent the pm about. guaranteed.

Chum in a creek are the most violent fish I've fought.

I'm gonna explore the Sultan today, since it's the only half fishable river around here. I'm probably a bit early, but we'll see.

Big Smooth wrote:jens: make sure to check out that spot I sent the pm about. guaranteed.

Chum in a creek are the most violent fish I've fought.

That is not an understatement, so heed this chum virgins! One of the best things I like about targetting chum is their fight. They fight in the class of the Big Fish.... Brutish... Bull doggish... Absolutely enjoyable. It is totally awesome. For those of you who have not yet hooked into a chum, hang on to your rod!!! You will be in for a treat.

Now if you'll excuse me, I think I am going to out my latte down.


One last thing, if you're a basser like me. Watch for their teeth. I remember the first one I landed. I stretched out my hand out of instinct to lip it and as my fingers were mere millimeters away, I caught sight of their teeth. I shudder at the thought if I had commited to the grab. Ouch! You won't want to these guys.

Go get 'em!

SAPIplate wrote:I'm gonna explore the Sultan today, since it's the only half fishable river around here. I'm probably a bit early, but we'll see.

Check your regs dude

aTrOcIoUs wrote:Welp i have never heard of a chum before. im rather new angler and itching to get back out there and go after a few more. last month and a halfs been very busy and i need to get a break from it. i hear chums will hit on green corkeys? and drifting works good to catch them? give me the run down please guys.

what exactly are they im guessing steelhead? are they good to eat? and put up a nice fight at all?
Where is a good place to go to catch them around the tacoma area?
What color and or type of corkey/spoon should i throw at them.

Thanks guys excuse the absence lifes been very busy for me hope to see ya guys around the water again.
Take care Yall

They are a salmon, and are only good for some tugging on the end of your line. I would'nt eat any of these fish, especially when they hit the rivers...

Ive caught quite a few last year and have landed 3 so far this year and lost several. They will take you for a ride when on the line. Taste good, never BBQ or anything with them, I have smoked them and there decent smoked. I am hoping to get one that is decently fresh to try out for putting on the table unsmoked. I have to admit that I even eat the pinks off the BBQ, so trying a chum is worth it to me as well.

Maurice wrote:Ive caught quite a few last year and have landed 3 so far this year and lost several. They will take you for a ride when on the line. Taste good, never BBQ or anything with them, I have smoked them and there decent smoked. I am hoping to get one that is decently fresh to try out for putting on the table unsmoked. I have to admit that I even eat the pinks off the BBQ, so trying a chum is worth it to me as well.

If I listened to every one that doesn't like pinks I would have missed out. I have now had them from the sound and river and know when they are smokers or BBQ or let that thing go. I will BBQ most of them from the river but some go to the smoker, and they are awesome.
I have tasted chum and they are ok, too. I have yet to catch one. Maybe this is the year!

Chum are a blast to hook up in the rivers and fight them.Their table value are poor in my book.I dont keep,cook,or smoke them.I release all chums in the river.

Awesome info and thnks for bieng so gentle on me for bieng a noob *Winks* I actually really enjoyed the pinks i got outta the puyallup i thought they were great. And i will watch the fingers when i get one of these nasty dog fish.

When and where is a good spot for the running steelheads? my neighbor told me they were already running. i have not seen any posts tho on anyone catching them.

Thanks again and awesome info keep it up and keep those lines TIGHT!

Check your regs dude

Umm, the Sultan is a perfectly legal river to fish:

Taken directly from reg book:

"SULTAN RIVER (Snohomish Co.)
from mouth to diversion dam at river
mile 9.7
(854)
CLOSED WATERS - from diversion dam at river mile 9.7 downstream 400'.
Dolly Varden/bull trout First Sat. in June-Feb. 28 Min. size 20". May be retained as part of the TROUT daily limit.
All Other TROUT First Sat. in June-Feb. 28 Min. size 14". Daily limit 2.
Other Game Fish First Sat. in June-Feb. 28 Statewide min. size/daily limit."

Anyway, I went up there today, the river is to off color and high to fish. There were some old ones milling about. It needs to drop a considerable amount before it's fishable.

SAPIplate wrote:

Check your regs dude

Umm, the Sultan is a perfectly legal river to fish:

Taken directly from reg book:

"SULTAN RIVER (Snohomish Co.)
from mouth to diversion dam at river
mile 9.7
(854)
CLOSED WATERS - from diversion dam at river mile 9.7 downstream 400'.
Dolly Varden/bull trout First Sat. in June-Feb. 28 Min. size 20". May be retained as part of the TROUT daily limit.
All Other TROUT First Sat. in June-Feb. 28 Min. size 14". Daily limit 2.
Other Game Fish First Sat. in June-Feb. 28 Statewide min. size/daily limit."

Anyway, I went up there today, the river is to off color and high to fish. There were some old ones milling about. It needs to drop a considerable amount before it's fishable.

Yep read your regs dude. The sultan is perfectly legal to fish, if you are fishing for dolly varden, other trout or gamefish. By definition, salmon arnt gamefish.