COHO in Ballard Locks

OMG! The locks were packed to the gills with coho. I have never seen so many schools circling around the entrance. You could even see hatchery from wild just swimming together in huge groups. Very cool!
Also a great place to view sea lions

I gotta get out there, maybe tomorrow evening.

Kurt

Thanks for the intel FB. I may be out there as well.

Z

buena suerte' hombres... wish i could get up there ...looking at the sat. maps, where would you put in and fish?? that kinda reminds me of the houston ship channel

Hey guys,

You can put in at Golden gardens park or along the same road before you get to the park there is a West Marine store. behind it is a small (and I mean tiny) sign on a large white iron gate that says "public access". Very short walk to the water, maybe 30yds. You have to park in the street because the parking is for the residents in that back lot. Watch for boat traffic entering the marina and the locks.
If you head south from the launch to There is lots of kelp in the areas outside the traffic lane and the water is only about 30ft deep. The fish are surfacing so if can't see or hear them you had better move on.
The rules state that you cannot fish 400ft East or West of the locks (makes perfect sense) So I may venture into the canal for a bit. I think the train bridge is close to the 400ft mark but I don't have a tape measure that big so I don't know for sure I'll also look for signs that WDFG may have up for markers.

Kurt

Did you make it out Kurt?  I'm thinking of hitting it in the morning.

-Allen

Hey guys,

You can put in at Golden gardens park or along the same road before you get to the park there is a West Marine store. behind it is a small (and I mean tiny) sign on a large white iron gate that says "public access". Very short walk to the water, maybe 30yds. You have to park in the street because the parking is for the residents in that back lot. Watch for boat traffic entering the marina and the locks.
If you head south from the launch to There is lots of kelp in the areas outside the traffic lane and the water is only about 30ft deep. The fish are surfacing so if can't see or hear them you had better move on.
The rules state that you cannot fish 400ft East or West of the locks (makes perfect sense) So I may venture into the canal for a bit. I think the train bridge is close to the 400ft mark but I don't have a tape measure that big so I don't know for sure I'll also look for signs that WDFG may have up for markers.

Kurt

Thanks for the info Kurt. I went by yesterday and checked the launch. Some residents saw me w/ the yak and didn't look too pleased. Unfortunately the wind was whipping and didn't make for good fishing conditions so passed. Looks like an awesome place to fish though. And from my interpretation of the regs I believe the border for the locks boundary is the pilings the jut out west from the south side of the bridge.

"It is illegal to fish for food fish east of a line which is parallel to the Burlington-Northern
railroad bridge and approximately 175' west of the bridge, and which runs
through the wooden piling tower structure near the south shore (west of
the Chittenden Locks). "


View Larger Map
Go get 'em Pole.

Z

I wouldn't worry about fishing too close to the locks.  Fish outside more from the last set of red/green nav buoys out to the bell buoy.  Or over at Meadow Point.

I think I'll switch from tomorrow morning to Thursday morning and get a high tide an hour after sunrise.

Perhaps go after some bass tomorrow morning ...

-Allen

Onw of tthe dock fishers on Vashon reported seeing 2 schools of about 30 silvers today....

Anywhere in the canal is smattered with indian gill nets. Tough to navigate with the boat traffic too.

I must have a good skunk on as I didn't get a single hit.
I did launch ok even though the wind was up. I have a tandem SIK and it takes a big wave to even get wet in this monster. I say monster because it weighs in at 95+lbs. I can take up to 3ft swells before I get wet. If the white caps are out though the fishing is usually pretty spotty.

I have family in town for my big shindig Bday bash. I took a vacation day from work on Monday the 22nd and I plan on hitting the water early. Leaning towards Meadow point but might put in at Picnic point too.
The fishing report had better catch results from the Armeni boat ramp than from Shilshoal.
A quote from the report.
"Some of the best harvest numbers were seen at fish checks in central Puget Sound. For example, 48 anglers were checked with 21 coho Sept. 12 at the Armeni Ramp. The following day, 125 anglers were checked with 35 silvers at Armeni, while 103 anglers were checked with 36 coho at the Shilshole Ramp."  

Sure wish they would learn to spell "shilshoal" If you want a reel laugh check out the WDFG weekender report on how they explain their goof on wild steelhead. They can make excuses all day long but it's still a mistake that must be causing some damage to the wild stocks. Be nice to fine the WDFG for each angler that mistakes the catch card for what it actually says.
Don't get me wrong, I want to protect the species too but when they make mistakes like this they ought to be held accountable. Aren't we?
Sorry for getting off subject, I'll step down off my soapbox.

Kurt