Catch and release coho fishing has been good since the July 1st opener.

Fishing was good all winter and spring throughout the sound for resident fish. I encountered resident coho in places I've never caught them before while cutthroat fishing.

The size of the hatchery coho we've been encountering lately is excellent and they are already larger then most the fish we were catching last fall.
With or without harvest, this year has produced the best July coho fishing in a number of years based on my past experiences. We've encountered good populations of juvenile herring and sand lance which may explain the plump coho.

There seems to be some ocean fish sneaking in now. It will be interesting to see what the returns look like at the end of the year. Lets hope that as marine conditions improve so will the coho stocks in coming years.
SF