The coho are coming! THE COHO ARE COMING!!!

All,

I was down at Ted's tackle today (So. Everett, on hwy 99) and the buzz is ALL about the coho that are slamming the beaches on the west side of Whidbey Island.  The talk is that nearly EVERYbody (including hordes of beach bound fishermen) is catching a limit of 2 cohos over there.  The word is that they are bigger on average than last year, WAY more of them, and they are ALL more inclined to bite than they ever were last year.

Okay, in case it makes a difference to anybody... they say that herring on a hook below a bobber is out performing any other method, but that nearly everything being used is working.  Fort Casey is where most of the catching is being reported.  Can't be much longer at all before they get to the side of the island that most of us can more easily get to.

Fishin-T

I was one of those beach fisherman today at Ebey's Landing Just down from Ft. Casey.  Got skunked, but a couple of guys just down from me caught 3 in the 5 to 8 pound range.  It's not red hot near where I was fishing, but I'm going out to give it another go tomorrow.  What these guys were using was a 3in pink buzz bomb with a small fluorescent green squid beneath it above the hook.  They were not jigging the buzz bomb, but just reeling it in.

I caught two nice 7 & 8 pound coho just fishing for pinks with a 2" buzz bomb the last couple of weeks.  Good luck out there 

Gary

Okay, in case it makes a difference to anybody... they say that herring on a hook below a bobber is out performing any other method, but that nearly everything being used is working.  

I am heading out tomorrow morning going for coho.  How does one rig and work a herring on a hook below a bobber?  Single hook through the lip, tail, head, or a standard double hook trolling rig?  Slow retrieve?  If it's a live herring one would just let it sit, but we don't do much live bait fishing here in the GPNW.  I have some great styrofoam casting bobbers.

Demonick,

At Ted's, they were all out of frozen herring (probably since they were rumored to be working well) and so I didn't ask any more details about it.  If a buzz-bomb with a green squid works when reeling it in, wouldn't it also work if it were trolled?  Anybody?

Launching out again tommorow, eh?  Where will you launch and do you mind one more?

Fishin-T

wild idea; use canned sardines??? anyone know if that would work in a pinch??

wild idea; use canned sardines??? anyone know if that would work in a pinch??

Way too soft.

-Allen

The coho might be coming.  They may even be here, but they weren't biting Sunday morning at Richmond Beach.  Lots of boats trolling too, no one reported fish taken and saw nothing boated.  Some fish on the FF.

Rain due here later today. Fish on the move by tomorrow! Anyone up for paddling the lower Chehalis? You can troll, or cast and retrieve spinners or plugs, whatever. Plenty of coho in the river, as well as some kings which must be released.
Easy river fishing. Slow current. Launch in tide-affected zone and move the direction of tidal flow. After tide switches, return trip to ramp is easy.
Another spot, just above the tidal zone, also has a spot that can be paddled back up from, after going downstream to it to fish.
If it is raining steadily tomorrow, I might just go fish from the bank somewhere, but Wed looks to be dry.
After Wednesday, there's a lot of rivers that open on Oct 1st, and I don't know where i'll be yet.
Woohoo!

The coho might be coming.  They may even be here, but they weren't biting Sunday morning at Richmond Beach.  Lots of boats trolling too, no one reported fish taken and saw nothing boated.  Some fish on the FF.

High pressure and East winds (yesterday) are a combination that often has produced bad luck for me. But not always.     At least the weather is nice under those conditions. Makes for a more pleasant skunking. If you're a surfer, those conditions are golden.

Met up with Charliefl66 and his friend Will this morning.  Fished north of the Tulalip bubble.  Nobody caught anything until Charles and Will followed the lead of the shore fishermen.  They caught 2 pinks to take home.  One of the shoreline anglers caught at least one coho, so some have made it even this far north.  But not many.  Things should start to heat up to the north from Possession point over the next week or two.

Incidentally, I chatted for just a minute with a local guy at the boat launch.  He was only walking his dog in the park, but he repeated that story about Ft. Casey (west side of Whidbey Is. for non-locals) almost verbatim.  Mostly getting bites on fresh herring below a bobber.  Told me the name of the place where they get the fresh herring on Whidbey, but I can't remember it.  Said he knew two guys that caught 5 coho each.

Fishin-T

I am heading out tomorrow morning going for coho.  How does one rig and work a herring on a hook below a bobber? Single hook through the lip, tail, head, or a standard double hook trolling rig?  Slow retrieve?  If it's a live herring one would just let it sit, but we don't do much live bait fishing here in the GPNW.  I have some great styrofoam casting bobbers.

Jigging up herring off RB is the ticket. A sabiki rig and a small cooler are all you need for the best bait on the planet!

Z

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Jigging up herring off RB is the ticket. A sabiki rig and a small cooler are all you need for the best bait on the planet!

Z
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I'm familiar with a sabiki rig to catch herring, but what the heck is an "RB"?

Fishin-T

RB = Richmond Beach

Met up with Charliefl66 and his friend Will this morning.  Fished north of the Tulalip bubble. 

From where did you launch?  The Tulalip marina? 

Jigging up herring off RB is the ticket. A sabiki rig and a small cooler are all you need for the best bait on the planet!

Why didn't I think of that?  I have a sabiki rig or two.  Never fished for herring.  What do you use for bait for bait?

Then lip, jaw, between the eyes hook them, under a bobber on a drop shot like rig?