In addition, anglers fishing off Westport will be allowed to retain only one coho as part of their two-salmon daily limit beginning Saturday, while the coho catch limit in Ilwaco will remain two fish.

Those changes do not affect ocean salmon fisheries off LaPush (Marine Area 3) and Neah Bay (Marine Area 4), where anglers can continue to retain hatchery coho but must release wild coho, Pat Pattillo, salmon policy coordinator for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, said today.

Anglers were initially limited to hatchery coho – marked with a missing adipose fin – to ensure the department would meet conservation goals for wild coho while allowing for an entire salmon fishing season, said Pattillo.

However, with a month remaining in the fishery, only 25 percent of the coho quota has been reached in both marine areas 1 and 2.

“With such a large percentage of the coho catch quota remaining in each of those two areas this late in the season, we can allow anglers to keep both hatchery and wild coho without exceeding our conservation objectives for wild salmon,” Pattillo said in a news release.

Through Sunday, anglers fishing out of Ilwaco, where there is a coho quota is 34,860 fish, had caught 8,861 coho. Anglers fishing off Westport, where the quota is 25,800 fish, had caught 6,507 coho.

Anglers have a two-salmon daily limit in all four marine areas off the Washington coast. Up to two chinook may be retained in all areas.

All ocean areas (marine areas 1-4) are open to salmon fishing seven days a week.
The ocean fisheries are scheduled to continue through Sept. 23 in marine areas 2-4, and through Sept. 30 in Marine Area 1.

I got this two calls after I had filed my report for Saturday’s paper, so I thought I would include them here.

Mineral Lake: People are catching rainbow and brown trout, fishing with worms and marshmallows off the bottom with a 6-foot leader, said Doreen Douglas at Mineral Lake Resort. The lake is warming up, so fish early or late in the day.

Silver Lake (Pierce): The trout fishing has been good, especially before the sunshine hits the water. The trout have been cruising near the docks looking for small largemouth bass. The fishing for catfish and bass has been good, said Amy Kenney at Henley’s Silver Lake Resort.

Here is an early look at some of the reports from fishing spots around the area:

Rivers

Nisqually: The fishing has been very slow.

Puyallup: The river is still fishing rather slow. There are reports of people catching some steelhead and chinook, drifting corkies and yarn through some deeper holes.

Skokomish: There are a lot of chinook in the river, and a lot of anglers chasing them. Most people are drifting corkies and yarn in dark colors, while some are fishing eggs early in the day.

Lakes

Harts: The crappie fishing has been very good, despite the heat, with some of the fish reaching 11 inches long. People are using crappie rigs with worms. The action for bluegill and sunfish also has been good.

Leech: The brook trout have been feeding on damsel fly nymphs as they approach the surface. Anglers are having to contend with lots of mosquitos, consider yourself warned.

Spencer: This Mason County lake has been fishing slow, but a little better than the rest in the area. Fish you dough bait or worms right off the bottom in the deep part of the lake.

Saltwater

Ilwaco: Anglers averaged 0.84 salmon per rod last week, but had to contend with bad conditions late in the week. The catch was nearly two thirds coho. Through Sunday, an estimated 21 percent of the coho quota and 48. percent of the chinook guideline had been taken.

South Sound: The salmon fishing has improved in the last week. Chinnok are being caught at places like the slag pile, Browns Point, Owen Beach, clay banks, Point Dalco, and from Redondo north. Fishing the tide change has been the best time, while method doesn’t seem to matter as much.

Westport: The salmon fishing has been off and on in the last week. It was the busiest, in terms of the number of anglers checked, 3,422. But the average catch was .68 per person. The albacore tuna fishing action has been very good, with boats heading out about 40 miles.

With that change, anglers will be allowed to keep two chinook per day in ocean waters off Westport (Marine Area 2), LaPush (Marine Area 3) and Neah Bay (Marine Area 4). Those fishing Marine Area 1 (Ilwaco) will continue to be limited to one chinook as part of their two-salmon daily limit.

All ocean areas are open to salmon fishing seven days a week. Wild coho must be released in all four areas.

Pat Pattillo, salmon policy coordinator for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, said the department initially limited anglers in these two area to one chinook as part of a two-salmon daily limit to ensure that the fisheries would remain open for the entire season.

“We’ve kept a close watch on the pace of catches for these fisheries, and it now appears that enough of the quota remains to allow anglers two chinook per day in Areas 2, 3 and 4 without exceeding the recreational catch quota,” Pattillo said in a prepared statement.

The ocean salmon fisheries are scheduled to run through Sept. 23 in areas 2-4, and through Sept. 30 in area 1.