Went out to the Hood Canal Hatchery Zone today. GOOD NEWS! The chums are here! I caught and released about a dozen fish in a couple of hours.

How was the crowd? ( )
Thinking about heading down there next weekend.

Here are some pix of todays outing. These were taken at high tide. At low tide there were about twice as many people.



The crowd itself was very friendly and willing to help each other out. Other than the strong wind from the south it was a nice day of fishing.

Hey Easy...

So I didn't notice many boats? Were there many or did I just miss them?

How did the dogs look? Were they brite or were they dark (with stripes)?

Thanks!

There weren't to many boats there today, about a 6-8. After the wind kicked up there were none. The chums were colored, some were even chrome. For the most part the fish were in good shape.

Yes lots of chums being caught.
I was there sat. and sun. There were 3 to 4 times as many people there sat. than sun..
And 10 times the amount of boats sat. It was a zoo saturday

Duro, I must have just missed ya on Sunday. But then again you and I could have been there at the same time and not have known it. Where you boat'n it or bank'n it?

Easy,
I was just a spectator this weekend. I was finishing up working on a storage shed on my property. I just stopped by the hatchery for a look each time I ran to town to buy stuff I forgot for my shed. But I am done with the shed and will bring my boat with me next weekend. I need to catch some of those chums it looks like BLAST!!

If anybody's willing, I'd really appreciate getting some "expert" advice down at Hoodsport this weekend. I have an open seat on my boat, or if you have your own boat, maybe I could troll/drift nearby and watch-n-learn?

Are downriggers required? All I have right now are divers.

Thanks, and regards.

Finegrain
Woodinville

The water you tend to fish at hoodsport is from a few feet to about 12 ft, so I don't think you'll need 'riggers But sometimes the fish are out farther - and even then I'd say you wouldn't need a 'rigger.

Good luck!

Finegrain, you will not need 'riggers or divers for this fishery. You will need a good anchor. You anchor up right in front of the Hatchery Zone (see pix above) and cast your lime green corky and yarn towards the hatchery or where ever you see chums splashing and rolling. My rule is: if you anchor up in water where you can't see the bottom you are out to far. It is that simple.

Oh ya, make sure you take a good fishing pole and a back up fishing pole both spooled with at least 12# line (I use 15#). I saw three poles broken yesterday by chums. Guys think they can horse these fish and they are sadly mistaken.

I know a guy that does that fishery from a float tube. Strictly as C&R. He hooks one and it drags him around til it gets tired, then he releases it & goes for another.

He say it's fun. I can believe it.

I have seen guys float tubing, fly fishing, on rafts. It doesn't really matter, everyone has fun! This is a FUN fishery. That is why I will go over there two times in a weekend.

Hmmm, being dragged between the hog lines (boats on one side, bankies\waders on the other side) would be quite entertaining if you lived through it. I'd pass on the raft\float tube idea, unless, as stated, you can either anchor or easily break off of the fish drags you the wrong way

One thing to keep in mind is that while fishing the standard hog line in front of the hatchery can produce a lot of fish, there are other fish (and usually fresher) that can be intercepted up the beach or out in the deeper water - just look for jumpers, or watch your finder. You don't have to fish the hog line to find them.

The other thing to note is that the standard setup there accounts for just about as many foul hooks as fair hooks (depends largely on the fisherman, but even the ones who know what they're doing snag a lot of fish). So unless you don't mind snagging every other fish, try something different (like using a float and jig or float and bait). Last time I was there I'd estimate 80% of the fish I saw caught were snagged. Only one guy was clearly trying to snag fish with his buzz bomb, but all the other boats and bankies were snagging a LOT of fish. Our boat may not have appeared to have as much action, but our time was spent catching only fair hooked fish and 0 fish snagged....

Hmmm, being dragged between the hog lines (boats on one side, bankies\waders on the other side) would be quite entertaining if you lived through it. I'd pass on the raft\float tube idea, unless, as stated, you can either anchor or easily break off of the fish drags you the wrong way

One thing to keep in mind is that while fishing the standard hog line in front of the hatchery can produce a lot of fish, there are other fish (and usually fresher) that can be intercepted up the beach or out in the deeper water - just look for jumpers, or watch your finder. You don't have to fish the hog line to find them.

The other thing to note is that the standard setup there accounts for just about as many foul hooks as fair hooks (depends largely on the fisherman, but even the ones who know what they're doing snag a lot of fish). So unless you don't mind snagging every other fish, try something different (like using a float and jig or float and bait). Last time I was there I'd estimate 80% of the fish I saw caught were snagged. Only one guy was clearly trying to snag fish with his buzz bomb, but all the other boats and bankies were snagging a LOT of fish. Our boat may not have appeared to have as much action, but our time was spent catching only fair hooked fish and 0 fish snagged....