chum salmon

So when do the chum start showing in the south sound?

There are some places they start showing in late October, and it only gets better through November.

-Allen

Chums are in Hamersley Inlet and Oakland bay now.
Tom C.

When do the Chum start showing up in various parts of Puget Sound and how does one fish for them?

I really like this last sentence.... anyone want to hook-up I'd like to go.

WDFW website:
"A recently developed fishing technique has the potential to revolutionize salt water fishing for chum salmon. A south Puget Sound angler, Greg Cloud, pioneered the use of a small herring or anchovy drifted through chum holding areas under a float or bobber. The terminal gear is a 3-4 inch herring or anchovy (or herring strip) fished on a weighted leader with 1/0 hooks. This rig is drifted within a few feet of the bottom under a float either from a boat anchored up-current of a concentration of fish, or by letting the boat drift through holding areas and casting the float and bait out from the boat. Either way, when the bobber goes down hook-ups are almost automatic, which makes this a great way for kids or neophyte anglers to fish."

When do the Chum start showing up in various parts of Puget Sound and how does one fish for them?

I think what demonick is asking is what river/stream outlets see chum first, last, etc.

When do the Chum start showing up in various parts of Puget Sound and how does one fish for them?

I think what demonick is asking is what river/stream outlets see chum first, last, etc.

They usually all show up roughly at the same time.  Some streams, like Johns Creek into Oakland Bay get an early run.  Some, like the Nasty, get a late run (into January even).

On the Seattle side of Puget Sound, you can find the traveling lanes and work them with the bobber/herring as stated above.  I've see them out of Shilshole at Meadow Point, but even more on the Disco Park shoreline out to the West Point.  In Elliot Bay, try the west side of the Bay (the shore that Salty's is on).

-Allen

The early summer run of Chum in northern Hood Canal is probably over already. I used to fish the Quilcene R for Coho in early Sept, and the Chum were already in the river then. Those summer Chum are federally protected fish, though, and you aren't even supposed to target them. They are often a nuisance in the Quill when trying to get a Coho, because you don't want to hook or accidentally snag one, as then you have to bring it in and release it with great care, or else just quickly bust it off upon hooking up.

We get 'em in the coastal streams mid-late Oct and early Nov. We can't keep 'em out here, any more. Too bad, as I'll keep the really bright ones, if legal to do so.
Willapa Bay is managed by WDFW as a "kill-em-all" commercial gill net fishery, but it has strict C&R regs on most wild salmonids now for sport anglers. WDFW allows 1 un-clipped coho in the limit on most streams there, even though the earlier returning unclipped wild spawning coho are likely the progeny of escapees from hatchery stock.

Incubation boxes full of Coho eggs from returning hatchery fish used to be placed in small tributary streams, and those fry that hatched, of course, went unclipped.

The later run, larger coho (mid-Nov and later) that are unclipped are probably still mostly from wild native stock, but that gene pool has been compromised, too. All the native wild Willapa Chinook have been completely wiped out, and all the Chinook returning to Willapa Bay tribs are now hatchery fish.

Here's Zee with an Oakland Bay chum caught 11/2 last year.  They were all colored up good that weekend so I'm sure they had been around awhile.   We went back 2 weeks later and the were all gone.  Tom C said they are already in Oakland Bay now.

-Allen

We went back 2 weeks later and the were all gone.

Yep, I remember that trip.  It was however a beautiful day for a paddle on the south sound.

Great shot, polepole!  That is one randy-looking horndog! The fish! I'm talkin' 'bout the fish, not the happy guy with the goatee.  

On 10/22/2007 I reported this on NWKA.

Yesterday evening, I spoke to Greg at Kayak Alki (http://www.kayakalki.com/), a touring shop based at Seacrest.  He's been spotting schools of chum pushing through on their way to the Duwamish.  You can fish for them along the west shore of Elliott Bay.  Find the schools and work them with an anchovy under a bobber or other typical salt water chum techniques.

http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,655.0.html

-Allen

happy guy with the goatee.  

That's me, the happy guy w/ the fish. That was a pretty tough day but there were a few nice fish.

We went back 2 weeks later and the were all gone.

Yep, I remember that trip.  It was however a beautiful day for a paddle on the south sound.

The run timing last year was nuts. Just completely shut off.

Z

Chum update first hand from newbie:

I was off a few days this week and was focused on chum fishing.  On monday saw a couple small schools ofaround the area of Arcadia point (netting going on though).  Made a quick look-see at Kennedy Cr. on my trip out to Arcadia. and saw quite a few bank anglers at low tide - don't know what they caught.  Stopped at Kennedy on way home during the afternoon, high tide, bad weather, about 6 fisherpeople and no fish seen in or out of water.  Walk own to creek was pretty muddy.

chum update part 2:

Fished Hood Canal on Wednesday. Launched near Potlatch at hydropower station.  Lot of nets out, but the whole area I paddled was chock full of chums.  My route was north along the west shoreline and I would run across small schools of chum every couple of minutes, lots of herring?, and about half a dozen seals on the 2 1/4 paddle up to near Hoodsport and back. 

I trolled a small black & green jig under a float just to experiment and floated anchovies as well.  Caught several sculpins, 2 chums about 100 yds. south and outward from Finch Creek.  Was a great trip and I feel like I am 10 years old again!