With a minus tide tomarrow i want go fish off the clay banks, and i've heard that salmon was open but i can't find anything of wdfw site saying so.

Sorry bud...not till July 1st.

Thanx HBP. didn't wanna go out and take the chance of bein' a poacher.

Ya, last year it opened June 1. This year July 1. Go figure.

Spokey, for future reference try this link, Marine Area Rules . See page 20 for Area 11 rules.

EL, the June closure is all about the ESA listing of the you know what river chinook, remember?

I think the ESA fish they are trying to protect are the Kings from the White River and maybe some from the Nisqually.

This area may be closed, but you can still fish for salmon off the puplic fishing piers. Theres one along the Ruston Way waterfront, the Les Davis pier. Another good one is the Dash Pt. pier. I don't know if any of those are producing, but I've heard that they are getting a few off the public pier on the Eastern end of Fox Is. (Pt. Gibson).

The closure until July 1st shouldn't bother any of us too much, as the fishing doesn't start picking up until then anyway. This just gives us all a little more time to get all those "hunnydoo's" out of the way, so when it's time to fish we can give em hell

Maybe so Trailrat, no offense intended, but I can remember the days when area 11 was open year round, and June was always worth fishing, especially at Pt. Defiance. Trust me, there are some nice fish out there right now. Even as recent as last year, after the spring closure the June opener was a hoot. There were lots of nice fat blackmouth and some nice springers 25 pounds and up were brought into the boathouse at Pt. Defiance during June. Punching a 1 fish limit was relatively easy. The action can be spotty in June, but worth the effort anyway.

When I used to live on Fox Island with my parents, June was a great month to fish for blackmouth, springers, and resident coho. I remember fishing with my dad in area 11 between the bridge and Pt. Defiance, on some days the coho were so thick that you literally couldn't get a hoochie past them to get deep enough to catch a King. Nearly non stop action...so it really is a shame that it's come to this now. I guess that the ESA is going to be the big pain we all have to live with from now on....too bad really.

But don't get me started...OK, too late...June also used to be a GREAT month to intercept the big hogs from Sekiu all the way into area 10, but those days are long gone too. We used to have the 30" slot limit in effect and we could bonk a couple of fat blackmouth and release big Kings to our hearts content. Those were some fun times. I know, I'm rambling...

As I crossed the Narrows bridge early this morning, the sound was laid down like glass and there was a single boat fishing off the concrete dock off of Fox Island...darn it, wish it was me! I can't wait for July!!!

I smell the red herring with this one. Something tells me there is some other political motivation for this one.

Just a quick question regarding the White River
(Stuck). It was my
understanding that the White river once flowed into the Green River drainage
prior to the formation of the Mud Mountain dam. This may or may not be true,
but if it is then are the spring chinook that are targeted for protection in
june in the south sound actually of wild origin? If anyone has any knowledge
of this I'd apreciate any history or information.
Thanks
Mike Kennedy

Dear Mr. Kennedy:

Thank you for your e-mail correspondence to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) Fish Program.

You are correct, in that the White River was historically a tributary to the Green River. The change of the White River's course did not eliminate the return of indigenous salmon stocks to that basin, but may have reduced total returns, due to straying back to the Green.

The key factor is that hatchery spring chinook were not introduced into the White River and genetic testing has demonstrated that this stock is unique among Puget Sound chinook stocks. There are currently hatchery spring chinook released into the White River, but they are part of what is termed an "integrated recovery program." The hatchery fish are the descendents of wild fish taken from the White River during the 1970s. All fish produced in the hatchery program have been identified with tags to maintain the genetic integrity of the hatchery stock over the past 30 years. Recent genetic testing has demonstrated that the current hatchery supplementation stock is indistinguishable from the naturally produced fish in the White River.

The answer to your ultimate question is that the fish being protected are both hatchery and wild components of the White River chinook stock. There is not any distinction in management priorities between those components, as they are both considered critical to the recovery of this stock.

If you have further questions, please email again or call (360) 902-2700. Our Customer Service hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Sincerely,
Fish Program

Seacat, I too grew up out there, just off Fox Is. I remember those days of year round fishing. As far as catching a resident PS coho when was the last time you did that? I can't remember the last one that I caught. I too used to be able to catch them year round. I've been hitting Pt. Gibson a few times recently and there are a few fish out there, nothing worth targeting though.

The point of my previous post was to point out that there are other options for someone that was wanting to fish off the claybanks, I took it as he was going to fish off the beach.

I for one am not going to get all excited about a closure that may benefit a native stock in need of protection. This is going to become the normal situation in the future as more and more stocks decline. So I decided to expand my fishing to include other fish that I hadn't targeted in previous years to fill the time until the July opener.

There are too many other great fishing opportunities right now than working all day for the hope of one or two fish.

As far as comparing the fishing now to what it was when we were kids fishing with our dads, well that was then and this is now......

Trailrat, my last resident coho was earlier this year on an outing at Pt. Defiance with Dogfish and Jeffhead. Can't recall for sure, but we might have got 2 that day. Also caught several last year in the Pt. Defiance and Southworth areas. Not targeting them, just incidental hookups.

Admittedly, area 13 isn't the hottest fishing around this time of year, but as recent as last June, area 11 did have some pretty decent chinook fishing.

I understand your point about other opportunities, and thanks for pointing that out. My response was directed more at your other comment. I'm really not getting all worked up about missing out on local spring time fishing either, but I do tend to think that there is a little more than the White River 'red herring' at play here also. Kind of rubs me the wrong way too, having lived through the Puget Sound enhancement fee program. The point of that program was to provide year round chinook fishing opportunity as I recall. Yea, I know...that was then and this is now.

Again, no offense intended. Keep in touch this summer, we'll probably be fishing the same local waters.

Trailrat77 you're right i do want to fish of the beach. Who ever hasn't tried fishin' off the clay banks on a minus tide you're missing out. Standing on the edge of the bank, i've seen huge balls off herring not even a foot away from me and a couple years back a big octopus decided he was coming up the bank to visit, scared the hell outta couple anglers that wasn't expecting it.

Thanx for all the posts, at least now i have an idea why the opener keeps being pushed back.

I slightly agree with comments on Area 13. However, the last couple of years, Area 13 has produced some awesome fishing in Spring/Summer.

Currently, the South Sound continues to be on fire (maybe I am just luck- I dunno). Anglers fortunate enough to spend enough time on the water are beating fish up like crazy. The current hot spot is Johnson Pt (when was the last time anyone talked of this place?) with the Fox Island sand spit in a close 2nd.

As far as resident Coho... this time of year, they are really selective on zooplanton before making the shift to herring and candlefish. We've been nailing some big fish on zooplanton patterns in Hale's Passage (Arletta)... On a side note, SRCutts have greatly increased in numbers too. I am finding better fishing for SCRs than any other year in memory...

Downriggin'

Downriggin, that's good news about the SRC,s. I used to fish for those years ago right off Cromwell and the inside of Pt. Fosdik. Remember doing real well untill they fell out in the late 80's. I'm glad to hear that they are coming back. Such a sweet little fish. With the added public awareness of their plight, improvements of the local streams and native fish release I guess it was only a matter of time before they started to make a comeback. If you ever want to hook up and show me the proper way to fish the south end shoot me an email.

Seacat, I think that you may on to something about that "red herrring" comment. I remember reading something concerning the North of Falcon meetings that had to do with trading rod hours in one part of PS for having another area open for fishing at a certain time. Does anyone have any more info about that? Concerning previous posts, no offence taken and none meant....

I guess if I still had my kicker boat and fished PS exclusively I too would be upset about the late opener. But since my PS fishing buddy doesn't even bother taking his boat out until July I should have kept my opinion to myself.

I hope you guys do well this summer and keep the reports coming.......

Remember folks, catch and release on native Sea Run Cutthroat trout and handle them as little, and as carefully as possible..........

Trailrat,

Interested in flies or gear? Depending on how much I finish on building my barn, would love to have you along this weekend. Although the "honey-do scroll" is long, can pull some free time most anytime. Barn has to go up first- one of the horses is getting ready to drop a baby.

Familiar with the Penrose SP area? If not, can always pick you in Wollochet. Will keep you posted on my availability.

Downriggin'

OXCAMP,
The White did used to flow into the Green. Not sure when they moved it but it had nothing to do with Mud Mountain Dam. The farmers down in the Kent valley were getting ticked because they kept getting flooded out. So they moved it to the Puyallup to apparently flood the farmers there out.
I was always told that the dam was built to stop the flooding in the Puyallup valley so the move may have happened before the dam was built. Alot of people don't realize that the dam doesn't provide hydro power it's just for flood control.

Not sure where the salmon originally came from. They may be true wild fish considering the fact that sometimes fish will go up the wrong river to spawn. This run of fish has always been hurting. Historically it's always been a small run. I heard from a Game Warden in 1985 that the previous year they got 4 salmon back up the river.

I don't think the state ever dumped enough money into this system to provide hatchery fish. They just let nature take it's course.

Now the Muckleshoots have a hatchery at the floom headworks dam. They've been dumping a ton of money into stream rehab all along the upper White and Greenwater tribs.

Glad to see someone is. Not sure if we'll ever see a fishing season on the white but we can hope.
I talked to a guy working at the hatchery about 8-9 years ago and he told me the numbers of fish they were getting back. Don't remember the numbers but it was amazing.

Anyone who wants to go for a ride, show me around the area, and do some fishing should post here of email me. I've never boated/fished the area but look forward to it. Figuring it out by myself is fun but I'd like to meet some of you folks.

JCW, I can help you out. Give me an email at ccostenbader1@attbi.com.

woohoo! only a week to go

YES, only a week to go! I am getting tired of trout fishing.