Siltcoos/Tahk Coho Thread

Is the tennis ball to keep Pepper focused towards the bow?

good guess, it's actually a reinforced standing/sitting down stick, grabbing it as I sit down makes my knees very happy.  and if I am standing up and things get wiggly, just reach down and grab it. Section of graphite golf shaft inside the PVC then into a Scotty Rocket Launcher, very strong.   

Genius!!! I have a rocket launcher I never use and can't stand up for crap.

I will most likely fish Siltcoos or Tahkenitch Monday, if anyone wants to join.

I'll probably wait to see the reports from this weekend before I decide which one.

I will most likely fish Siltcoos or Tahkenitch Monday, if anyone wants to join.

I'll probably wait to see the reports from this weekend before I decide which one.

I'm fishing Saturday- Tahk early, might stop at Siltcoos for the afternoon (if necessary). I'll post a report and join you on Monday (if I don't get #5 on Saturday). 

I’ll be at Siltcoos Rodger.  Want me to save you a parking spot out on the highway?

chilly morning but definitely coho in the Tahk Mallard arm that wanted to play, including some big fish from what I heard.

Found this 29" 'dusty' hen casting my gold-orange spinner at 9:30am.  Exactly what I was looking for, big load of eggs and light orange flesh that will smoke up nice.

That's 5 on the tag and Pepper was with me for them all!

I think both lakes will be kicking out nice fish right through T-day weekend, nice to have big healthy coho in the lakes this year, sure hope this trend carries over to winter steelhead in coastal rivers!

Tried to get on the water at Siltcoos around 9 am today. Of the four launches I tried, each was overflowing with trucks and trailers. Ended up driving around site-seeing for a good long while.

Eventually made it on the water much later than I hoped, for the maiden voyage of my Salty 120. Caught a jack around 3pm. But on the wrong end of the fish, so back it went. Saw one other jack get caught. Spoke to 10 or so boats. About one in four had a fish. Scuttlebutt was the fish were in the Maple Creek and Fiddle Creek arms.

Hit the Tahk Mallard arm today for about five hours. About eight other watercraft out there. One fish caught, one lost at the boat. Saw a few fish rise but otherwise just another nice day on the water.

One fish caught by you?
Thoughts on which lake tomorrow?

Spent Saturday 9-5 on Siltcoos … mostly trolling from nightingale, along the trestles and eventually up the fiddle creek arm … skunked.  FYI, there was about 1/5 the number of boats as last week.
We shifted to tahkenitch this morning. I spent 10-2 working the shoreline from the outlet to lord knows where. That is a huge and wonderful lake.  The boat ramp report was two bucks c&r on “five mile”and another three legal coho taken up near “lone tree point” (also five mile arm).  Looking at the map this evening I see that I almost made it to lone tree point but I turned back, knackered from Saturday.   The trick is apparently to find the spot, then stop trolling and instead spend time cast & retrieve … blue fox spinners in orange or orange and black.

I’m done. Maybe next year I’ll get it right.

Tom

One fish caught by you?
Thoughts on which lake tomorrow?

I only caught sun-rays and weeds, hah. I also met two other NWKA’ers out there today—same story for them as well. But it was fun meeting them.

I’ve headed back to PDX a day early, after overexerting myself on the new peddle kayak. Three days in a row right out the gate was apparently a little over ambitious.

Good luck with wherever you choose. Seeing how things have been going for you, I’m expecting fish pictures!

Spent two days hitting the Mallard Arm hard.  Saturday was all salad and no protein.  Saw two coho caught and blood on rodgerdoger’s bow.  Today I caught two bass and a nice cuthroat ….but no coho.  Didn’t see any nets out today.

Tahk update- hit the Mallard arm Monday 9am just to spend a few relaxing hours pedaling around with Pepper, looking for otters and eagles, no fishing gear.

I noticed something that I missed on Saturday- the water level has slowly been rising. It was very noticeable coming over the shallow weeds, no need to feather my drive.  Checked the dam on the way home and it was closed up tight, plus there was a huge log floating in the water just above the spillways.  This might explain the big surge of fish caught the 13-14th weekend after the dam was opened on the 11th, then a gradual slow down of the fishing since then. Coho can always trickle in using the fish ladder but it's the dam openings that seem to bring in big pods of fish.

As for today, smooth as glass, no kayaks, just one or 2 PB came and went. I saw a couple of coho roll but no otters.  Ran into a friend on his pontoon up top and we saw a few more roll about noon, so I stuck around for a while and he lands a chrome 27" hen casting a spinner near shore, his first coho ever from the 'toon.  Didn't see any fish hooked by any of the PB that we saw fishing.

 

   

Hit Siltcoos yesterday looking for that final coho.  Employed my usual strategy just working from the mouth to the floating restroom hoping to run into a fish who just emerged from the river.  Not sure exactly how tha dam works but I did not see any current in the river.  No bankies parked at the campground gate and plenty of parking in the lot.  Long story short, third skunk in a row after catching four in a row.  I don’t have a fish finder, preferring to just think there are tons of fish below me rather than staring at my screen and realizing there aren’t.  Talked to someone from the Fiddle arm who said he marked lots of fish but could not get them to bite.  Heard of a few scattered fish caught.

Hit Siltcoos yesterday looking for that final coho.  Employed my usual strategy just working from the mouth to the floating restroom hoping to run into a fish who just emerged from the river.  Not sure exactly how tha dam works but I did not see any current in the river.  No bankies parked at the campground gate and plenty of parking in the lot.  Long story short, third skunk in a row after catching four in a row.  I don’t have a fish finder, preferring to just think there are tons of fish below me rather than staring at my screen and realizing there aren’t.  Talked to someone from the Fiddle arm who said he marked lots of fish but could not get them to bite.  Heard of a few scattered fish caught.

I never see coho arches on my sonar in Siltcoos or Tahk, too shallow and they don't tend to hang at the bottom.  I do occasionally see a school of yellow perch (bait ball blob near the bottom). I do think that there are lots of things in the water that will trick a sonar set to try and identify things as a fish.

Like many people, I use the sonar/downscan/sidescan images to get a look at what's under and off to each side- weeds, structure (logs), bottom...