Siltcoos/Tahk Coho Thread

Clayman- last week the algae was along the west side and at the Maple Arm where we went, can't say about south end or Fiddle arm. There is algae in the river and slight movement 3pm, perhaps just from the fish ladder and outgoing tide.

3pm update- the 7'6" tide at 11am just touched the top (note the light dry and darker wet sand) and there is some water flowing out approaching low tide, with some help from some people that dug a channel up top.  But as the tide went out, not enough flowing for fish, so maybe some fish got in near high.  We have an 8'1" at 11:20am tomorrow, might just be fun to see what's going on then and after...

good news- king tides and water flow at the beach, bad news- big algae bloom.

Thanks for the update Roger. Colleague of mine visited the area yesterday and said he saw some fish rolling in the river, so at least a few of them got over the bar. I really hope this week's rain is enough to get the dam gates open, coupled with the big tides. Our FS campgrounds are currently getting flooded with all the backed-up water.

Nov.3- Siltcoos outlet channel is established with water flowing all the time but only deep enough for fish today near high tide so I'm not sure how many made it in.  Should get deeper tomorrow.

Algae is still bad at Siltcoos. Not nearly as much in Tahkenitch but it didn't look like that dam (it's just west of the 101 bridge) was flowing any water (besides that going down the fish ladder) and the outlet creek below it was not moving, so I think Tahk creek might still be blocked at the beach. Siltcoos river was moving a bit so I think they have cracked the dam. Both lakes are really high and we are expecting heavy rain tonight, so fish should be pouring into both lakes soon, just not sure about this weekend.

Wind info- Siltcoos is a large, shallow (25' max) lake and the wind can really kick up some unpleasant white caps out in the center.  On windy days (Saturday looks like one) there are some tricks to still fish.  One is to use the Lane Country launch and stay along the west shoreline, past the outlet and down along and also behind Booth Island.  Another is to launch near the top of one of the spawning arms and just fish up there (bad news is this rain is likely to push any fish up there out of the lake). Getting across the main lake on a windy day can be just miserable and make trolling no fun. Casting near shore is better and if fresh fish are moving in it is worth fishing in the outlet area and river down as far as the campground.

Thanks for the updates. It’s great to have the local intel.
Looks like Friday midday may work but I’m likely to wait for Monday.

Siltcoos river flowing hard Thursday morning, dam open, beach breached.

Tahk dam not open, just fish ladder water flowing through it, king tides should be letting some fish in but probably not a big surge of coho yet.

 

Siltcoos boat launch Nov.4, water looks much better, algae flushing out quickly.

Even though I have no plans to come down there and enjoy this fishery I look forward to all of these updates - thanks!

I am almost certain that there are 'dime bright' coho in Siltcoos.  lol.  (a friend and I went 2 for 3 from my PB.)

Planning to check the Tahkenitch dam tomorrow and fish again Sunday and Monday.

Florence/Siltcoos area Saturday- strong gusty winds, sleet, blue sky, dark clouds and stinging rain, hail, sun breaks...on a random half hour cycle..lol

Siltcoos river running strong, feels like some of the bigger coho should be coming in soon...

Tahk outlet showing some movement so I think the king tides have opened things up at the beach. It didn't look like the dam was open but fresh tracks behind the locked gate indicate the operator people have been in there. I'm encourage enough that Pepper and I are going to give the Mallard arm a try on Sunday. 

Gear info- I think it's safe to say the top producing trolling/casting plugs at these lakes is the standard Brad's Wiggler, 3" body, 3/8oz weight.  I imagine similar sized Maglips and any 'steelhead' sized plug will work. Normal coho colors. I got my fish yesterday on a BW-10 under not dark but not sunny conditions.

https://bradskillerfishinggear.com/wigglers/

They have arrived.

They have arrived.

love it.  and the rest of the story...

Nice fish Roger, Oldhammer! Dimers  .

At the risk of starting a religious/political debate. What do folk think about treble vs siwash on a Blue Fox spinner? Picked up some new ones for a week at Sitcoos and they come with the treble attached and a siwash included. Back in the day in my drift boat, I swapped out trebles for siwash on plugs with some success.

My first Tahk limit! Went 3 for 4 in about 1.5hours of heavy rain up the Mallard arm (adult lost, 18.5" jack retained, jack released, adult retained). Just beautiful out there between downpours. 

26" Buck just out of the net...


break in the rain after gutting them...Pepper in her wetsuit was going to 'allow' me about 3 hours in todays weather; we were only out 2 hours.


if you noticed the 'touch of red' on todays buck, these lake coho hold up real well, as you can see here-


what I try to release are 'fire truck' bucks with big hook jaw and dusty/darker hens...

At the risk of starting a religious/political debate. What do folk think about treble vs siwash on a Blue Fox spinner? Picked up some new ones for a week at Sitcoos and they come with the treble attached and a siwash included. Back in the day in my drift boat, I swapped out trebles for siwash on plugs with some success.

I stick with trebles but almost always cut off the stock hook, add a split ring, and change to a slightly larger/wide gap treble from one of the big name brands. 

Nice to meet Roger today and to get my 1st Siltcoos trial done.
I hooked two within the first twenty minutes but failed to get them in the boat. A couple hours later I had success with a fat male … in the channel at the southeast end of the island.

Tom