Area 8-1 questions

[Scheindogg]

Oh okay got it! Wow thanks so much for all of the advice you've been a huge help!!

[cobrar543]

When is King salmon season open on this area?

[18ftTrophy]

No.

[Scheindogg]

He said when not is it. The answer is november!! Until April I believe! But opens Nov.1!!

[Matt]

Yes, winter.

Winter blackmouth is the only time areas 8-1 and 8-2 are open for Chinook salmon retention.

[Scheindogg]

So 8-1 opens on Nov.1 for chinook. Does anyone know if there will be action right away or not really til January/February?

My buddy is eager to take me out but he has a cabin there he doesn't live there so he doesn't know when the salmon come..will deception pass be heating up or not yet? How about the southwest side of the island? Anything?
Thanks for any info as always..
Thanks for letting me pick all of your brains all the time, haha

[BentRod]

So 8-1 opens on Nov.1 for chinook. Does anyone know if there will be action right away or not really til January/February?

My buddy is eager to take me out but he has a cabin there he doesn't live there so he doesn't know when the salmon come..will deception pass be heating up or not yet? How about the southwest side of the island? Anything?
Thanks for any info as always..
Thanks for letting me pick all of your brains all the time, haha

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but by Nov, the salmon runs in the salt are pretty much over. There might be some resident blackmouth around that you could target. The winter blackmouth fishery is pretty popular.

The timeline is such:
Kings - July/Aug
Pinks - July/Aug/Sept
Silvers - Aug/Sept/Oct
Chum - Sept/Oct/Nov

They come in through the Sound and then move into the rivers. In November your best bet will be to target Chum in some of the upper rivers. Not much there worth keeping, but a whole lot of fun. Plenty of guys on here experienced in the way of the Chum who I'm sure would offer advice and places to try. The winter Steelhead season is starting about then too....Winter Steelhead will run from Nov-Jan locally and later in some other rivers.

[Scheindogg]

I'm sure you know much more about this than me, but isn't that only a few of the runs you're accounting for? Or is there only one run in the salt and a bunch of runs in the rivers?
The WDFW websites section for "places to salmon fish by month"
http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/salmon/whenwhere/month.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Says "the best bet is where black mouth fishing is open" which includes 8-1 for November and December and for February it says black mouth fishing in 7,8,9 is "traditionally strong"
So I guess those are the Kings I was talking about.
I'm not trying to sound like a know it all because I really don't know much but I was just trying to learn more from what the WDFW website implied

[Scheindogg]

Or are black mouths and kings not the same?

[BentRod]

No, you've got some correct information there. Blackmouth are Kings, but (as far as I know) they're typically considered "resident" Kings that have not made the run out to the ocean and are milling around in the Sound. They're also typically smaller on average than the returning Kings found in the Sound during the summer months. Additionally, there are odd runs of salmon on some rivers, but the bulk of the fish fit in the timeframes I listed. Obviously that doesn't mean you have to target them only then though, it just ups your likelihood of catching something. Like I mentioned, the winter blackmouth fishery in the Sound is pretty popular, so lots of information out there to study. Try looking back through the fishing reports here specific to the marine area you want to target and see what has been posted in past seasons for the months you want to try. Whenever I'm looking at fishing a new stretch of water (salt, river, or lake) that's what I do. And, a general google search on the subject never hurts. Good luck!

[Scheindogg]

Oh ok that all makes much more sense to me now. Thanks haha, sorry I'm such a noob.
I do that too for searching on google and such, which is part of the reason I posted here, to hope for people who potentially love in the area and know the fishery well to chime in- and such.
I will continue my online research tho as I feel that's never ending.. You can't learn too much! I've learned a LOT just from this website as well as said google searches.

Thanks for all the help!

I will also look back for old posts about the same fishery in different years

[BentRod]

We've all been there. My first experience with river fishing for Coho was comical to say the least. It only takes a couple seasons of experience before you figure things out.....or at least the basics. There's always something new to learn.

[BARCHASER10]

I've been fishing Blackmouth in 8-2 (Saratoga Passage) since the 1980's. Used to be pretty good in the winter but kind of slowed down the last few years. But last winter was better. Blackmouth (feeder Chinooks) are a fish created for sports fishing. They are raised in hatcheries and then kept in salt water pens beyond the time they would ordinarily migrate to the ocean. Because of this they tend to imprint on Puget Sound and don't migrate to the ocean. But there is always a lot of discussion about what is actually going on; i.e. rumours less money spent on producing these fish, less bio mass (baitfish in PS so the fish don't stay around like the used to) etc. etc. Who knows! Seems to me like they tend to be out in the Strait more than they used to.

Watch the fish checker reports for Everett and the Camino launch.
http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/creel/puget/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

On the optimistic side, last winter was an improvement with more fish around and more bait balls. In 8-1 and 8-2 my favs are Elger Bay, Baby Island and the Racetrack (bar that runs between Hat island and Camino Head). Blackmouth average between barely legal and 6-7 pounds. Although, maybe 10% or so can be over 10 pounds. You need the right gear, meaning downriggers, seaworthy boat etc. The biggest Blackmouth I ever got was 20 years ago in Jan at the Racetrack 18 pounds. It used to be now and then somebody would get a fish well into 20 pounds in the winter. But those were more likely early Spring Chinooks back when we had more Springers usually Skagit fish.

Good luck.

[BARCHASER10]

I reread some earlier comments. I didn't realize you are in a small boat. Your biggest issue is safety. I would recommend you both buy inflatable life preservers and use them. Shoot, I have a Seahawk and I always wear one. Check the on line marine forecast and if they are talking more than 15 kt wind ...stay home.

For Blackmouth, launch at Camano State Park. Start trolling right in front of the launch, troll south half a mile take a left and troll inside Elger Bay in 100-120 feet. There will be 4-5 other boats there and just follow the same track as them. You want to keep the gear near the bottom. Just keep following the same L shaped track back and forth.

Gear: 6 oz mooching sinker, 6 foot 20 pd test pre tied mooching rig, plug cut herring, fairly slow troll to keep the gear near the bottom. Or, buy some Point Wilson Darts and jig inside Elger Bay. Lower the Dart to the bottom, raise a couple cranks and jig away, move around a lot to try different spots.

Go to Johns Sporting Goods on Broadway in Everett. They will sell you the right stuff and explain how to rig it and how to plug cut a herring, Green label. Elger Bay is a fairly safe spot to start out and it does have fish. Eventually, you'll want to buy a cheap portable fish finder that clamps to the side of the boat.

This spot has fish, I've caught lots of Blackmouth there. Good part, you'll never be more than one mile from the launch so if the wind comes up the launch is close.

Watch out for crab pots. There is a tribal guy that has traps out there all winter.