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Best
Months to Fish by Area
Click
on the links for each area to see a chart showing the best months to fish
specific rivers or marine areas.
Coastal
Rivers
Coastal
rivers offer a much different salmon fishing experience than most other
rivers. These rivers tend to have far fewer anglers and tend to be less
developed, resulting in a more remote, wilderness type of experience,
although large crowds can still be found near the hatcheries. Fishing
can be terrific, especially in the Quilayute River system, Hoh River,
Humptulips River, Chehalis River, Willapa River, and Naselle River.
Columbia
River and Tributaries
Year
in and year out, more salmon are caught in the Columbia River and its
tributaries than any other region in the state. Spring chinook start showing
in March and run through May. When open, summer chinook are available
in June, July and August. Fall chinook and coho start showing up at Buoy
10 in mid-August, when the state’s most popular salmon fishery busts
loose. Coho can be caught clear through December in some streams. As with
other areas of the state, salmon regulations on the Columbia system change
year to year, or even weekly if in-season updates indicate a particular
run is weaker or stronger than anticipated. So be sure to check the regulations
and make sure the area you want to fish is open.
Marine
Areas
Salmon
caught in Illwaco, Westport, LaPush, and Neah Bay (Marine Areas 1 - 4)
are mostly Columbia River stocks. Chinook are the primary salmon caught
early, with coho coming on strong in August and September, although coho
can be abundant at Illwaco early. Willapa Bay (Area 2-1) and Grays Harbor
(Area 2-2) provide opportunity on mostly local stocks. Be sure to check
the regulations before heading out. In inner Puget Sound marine areas,
local stocks of chinook, coho, pink (odd numbered years) and chum provide
most of the opportunity. Chinook generally return in July and August,
coho in September and October, pink in August and September, and chum
in November and December.
Puget
Sound Rivers
Salmon
fisheries in Puget Sound rivers are limited by the amount of allowable
mortality on Endangered Species Act listed chinook salmon. Chinook salmon
opportunities are limited to those rivers with heavy hatchery production.
There are no directed fisheries on wild stocks of chinook salmon. Nonetheless,
many Puget Sound rivers provide excellent opportunities for coho, chum,
and in odd-numbered years, pink salmon. Rivers like the Skagit, Snohomish,
and Puyallup, kick out thousands of salmon each year in the heart of metropolitan
Washington. When the population is healthy enough to allow a fishery,
the Lake Washington sockeye fishery is probably the most popular urban
salmon fishery in the world.
Strait
of Juan de Fuca and Hood Canal Rivers
Salmon
fisheries in Strait of Juan de Fuca and Hood Canal rivers are limited
by the amount of allowable mortality on Endangered Species Act listed
chinook salmon and summer chum. Chinook salmon opportunities are limited
to those areas with heavy hatchery production, namely the Skokomish River
and Hoodsport Hatchery Zone. There are no directed fisheries on wild stocks
of chinook salmon. Nonetheless, many rivers provide excellent opportunities
for coho and chum salmon. Rivers like the Dungeness, Quilcene, and Skokomish
kick out thousands of salmon each year. Look for less crowded opportunities
on the smaller rivers like the Dewatto River or the Tahuya River.
Lower
and Middle Yakima River
WDFW is offering
a Spring chinook fishery on the lower and middle Yakima River and at Ringold
on the Lower Columbia beginning May 1. Not all water access site shown
here are open during the Spring Chinook season, check the 2008 Fishing
Regulations Pamphlet for more information.
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