Willapa Bay Report with short vid

NWnoob and I hit Willapa Bay last Sat. Weather looked amazing on the drive in with bright sunny skies, but the breeze was clearly a bit stiff once we arrived at the beach. Conditions crossing the bar were almost terrifying to watch even from the shore, but the "fishing area" didn't appear to bad...until we were in it...  Found out later there was a small craft advisory. Couple that with a strong tidal current, and stiff wind, well you get the point. I managed 2 fish to hand out of 10 hook ups. One was a 22" unclipped chinook that instantly went back, and the other was the coho pictured. NWnoob's luck was equal to mine. His one keeper fish was slightly larger, but neither were record breakers. After that day we were just happy to go home with fish at all!! just to add insult to injury, my GoPro had a low charge, so this was the only video I could muster. Great adventure, but I wish we had stickier hooks!!

Nice that the water calmed a little.  YakTrap and I fished it on Thursday and got skunked fishing the bay.  I thought Willapa it closed (early) on Friday http://nwsportsmanmag.com/headlines/after-an-outstanding-season-areas-1-2-to-close-early-for-salmon/

2-1 and 2-2 remained open. We thought they closed too until NWnoob called the WDFW hotline for clarification.

Good to know.  I thought because it had a "2" in it that it would be closed. 

Way to go get 'em guys!

I too was under the impression it was closed but thanks for deciphering the regs for us...how much longer is it open?

 As Willapa Bay and River are my home waters --- maybe I can shed some light . The salt water west of the line from Cape Shoalwater to Point Ledbetter is open at the same time the ocean is open and is now closed (Area 2.2). East of that same line (in the inner harbor) (Area 2.1) to the South Bend boat launch is open until January 31st. So my take would be that if you are fishing Around Washaway Beach---you are inside the north/south line that establishes the ocean boundary and are good to go.
 If you would like to try for salmon in a much more kayak friendly tidal river/rivers might I suggest a few alternatives. The North River/Smith Creek system is a beautiful short little bit of tide water that has a lot of feisty salmon running through. That system will open October 1st. Like so much tidal fishing-- it's pretty laid back stuff with a high probability for success. And the scenery is hard to beat kinda rustic with all the float houses.
 The upper Willapa River from South Bend to Hwy 6 is mostly all navigable by kayak. There are several launches including South Bend's, the 8tth st. park in Raymond (very tidally influenced--need at least 3 ft. of tide cause of the deep mud that was never dredged out). and Ward Creek near the top of tide water. The gill nets are out there right now......but they don't get all the fish. There will be silvers in the "Pa" though December. After that the steelhead ain't too bad either.
 The other rivers that dump into Willapa Bay include the Palix, the Nemah, and the Nasselle Rivers. And there are a few smaller creeks not even listed in the regs like the Bone and Newiawakum Rivers. All these streams have some fish in them. Some are more kayak friendly than others. A little exploration will work wonders. Or ask.............

 Thanks for sharing the video polyangler. Maybe see you out on some of the smaller creeks later in the season. I'm sure I'll be out there.

I believe the Bone is closed to fishing, but the Niawaikum is open (6 salmon total, up to 2 adults).  At least that's the case around November.  See pages 49 and 50 in the regs.