I'll be out at Siltcoos most of October, just enjoying the beauty of a coastal lake (bald eagles, all sorts of ducks, loons, river otters...), and of course chasing elusive coho...all 3 lakes are great places to kayak fish for salmon, the powerboats spread out and are not annoying, most get bored after getting skunked a few times and move on, not really any guide boats bother...and because these coho are often in the shallows and reeds near shore, a kayak is a great platform for targeting these fish.

Regs are simple:  the 2 rod endorsement is cancelled until Jan 1.  you can retain 1 adult wild coho and 1 wild jack coho per day; annual max of 5 wild coho on your tag.  the lakes are not open for chinook or clipped coho (I am not aware of any clipped coho ever being caught in Siltcoos).  no steelhead in Siltcoos or Tahk, if one wandered in it becomes a large rainbow under the regs and legal to retain as your 1 trout over 20" (never heard of that but they do occasionally dump some large rainbows into the lake, not good eats but fight good).

once you tag an adult coho, you cannot continue to fish for a jack or for trout (SRC).  you can technically continue to fish for bass or perch but the assholes we see doing that are basically looking for a jack to illegally retain or trying to hook another adult and hand it off, also illegal.  the elusive "Siltcoos Limit", which I've done twice in 5 years, you just retain a jack first, then tag an adult, then enjoy the scenery.

based on the last 5 years, the best fishing is roughly Oct 15 to Nov 15, especially after a big rain.  I'll post some updates of my early unsuccessful coho trips and if anyone is looking for info on launches and general lure/location info, feel free to PM me.

I got out last week and found this tasty 16" SRC fresh in from the ocean (these run 8" to 20" and hit coho spinners and plugs, counted as part of the 5 trout per day limit):





 

This is a fishery I've been excited to try ever since I moved here.  Fishing for large trout in lakes was my bread-n-butter back in NE Cal, and these coho look like they'd scratch that itch quite well.  I want to explore Tahkenitch in particular, because I did a lot of field work in Fivemile Creek this summer and it'd be cool to see what the thousands of juvenile coho I handled look like as adults  .

Do you see much coho activity in the lakes prior to any significant rains?  There's almost no rain in the 10-day forecast.

Looking forward to getting out there Fri am.

I was out all day Thursday covering most of the lake in my Oasis, water temp is 65-67F (still shorts and t-shirt) and lake level fairly low, so it will take some significant rain to really get the coho run going.  I think in 7 hours out on a warm, sunny day, I saw 3 or 4 PBs, a couple of stand-up paddle boards, and 2 older ladies in small paddle kayaks heading down the outlet...one river otter and a lone bald eagle up the M-arm.  C&Red some SRC, no sign of any coho yet...cheers, roger

Went out for awhile today, got a late start, tossed some spinners around the reeds, than trolled parts of the south side of the lake, didn't see any fish action, although it was a beautiful day.

we need some good rain, I checked down the river below the dam and not seeing any coho action down there yet, planning a beach walk Sunday down to the mouth of the river, if the coho are queuing and starting to make surf runs to the river, there will also be some seals/sea lions hanging around the surf if many coho have arrived.

Campground update-  just off 101 at Dune City is the small Tyee Campground (13 sites) on the Siltcoos river, normally switches from 'Camping Only' to 'Day Use Only' as of Oct 1.  I met the new host, nice lady who is fairly new to the area, and they are keeping ~9 of the campsites open for camping this year, not reservable, $22/night I think.   The launch looks fine for kayaks and drift boats, smaller powerboats would be ok also if they tilt their motor up to clear the shallow weeds, half mile from there to the lake, no current (unless the dam opening has been increased and that usually means a surge of coho moving into the lake).

Been watching it like a hawk, myself, Roger.  Thanks!