Anyone else going to hit it on the opener this week? Any thoughts on if its too early or if there should be fish in with this rain (or if there moving up the rivers already)? Also, if a guy wants to pick up silvers do you run any different than for kings, fish flash, dropper herring? Maybe just troll faster?

Thanks in advance.

There will be fish there but the rain is a double-edged sword........yes, it will pull fish in from the ocean but those fish will keep right on moving through the harbor and up the tribs if the rain persists and the rivers stay up. Johns river, in my opinion, always fishes best during a dry spell because the fish tend to stage in the exact area we fish with no upstream water in the tribs to really suck them on up. Worst of all would be if it REALLY rains this week. The harbor water could turn off-color/brown and that would botch things considerably.

No need to panick though. There will be a good month of fishing there and the bite WILL happen at some point.

The recent rains have already pushed fish upriver... most of the fish that have kegged up over the last week or two are long gone. Problem is the river fish won't be accessible until Oct 1.

Heard the same thing happening at Willapa Bay... very slow this past weekend. Fish have already pushed through.

There should be plenty of fish around for the opener.As far as Willipa bay I fished it Saturday and got a 20lb chrome bright king hen and a 12lb fin clipped hen coho.They had checked 19 boats and 14 fish at the time I pulled out 2:30 P.M. Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

Not hot fishin but enough to keep a guy interested.

I hope to hit the area below 28th street this weekend.
I've done better on silvers with smaller bait(green label) cut plug, other than that and lighter lead, the gear is about the same.

Thanks everyone for the thoughts and help. I hope to nail one!! Hopefully the rains hold off now that we have had a good shot.....

Rained all day today and more rain in the forecast everyday this week for Grays Harbor. AARGH! So much for any fish staging in the bay for the Sept 16 opener.

Silvers are pouring into the Aberdeen Lake hatchery, with credible reports of salmon pushing thru the Chehalis system in good numbers up into Wynoochee and Satsop. No doubt about it, the fish are on the move!

Of course with this year's regs, any salmon swimming upriver past the Chehalis Bridge in Aberdeen has a "get-out-of-jail-free" card thru October 1. By the time those fish are declared harvestable, they'll hardly be fit for cat food.

Talk about forgone harvest opportunity. With all the surplus hatchery salmon produced for this system ( both kings and silvers) it seems kind of silly that fish managers delay the bay opener til mid September and the river opener til October 1.

If we're not gonna be given maximum harvest opportunity on these abundant hatchery stocks, why produce them in the first place?

this is the first year in quite a few that we have had this much rain at this time of the year.. usually its dry and no rain till mid to late oct. the fish stack in the lower tide water holes and its a snag fest.. this also helps get a good number of fish up river far above the nets.. HOPE IT RAINS ALOT MORE.

Looks like you got your wish.... still raining as I speak (type) with the five day outlook forecasting even heavier precip than just a couple days ago.

OK, this is my only time to hit the bay. 16th and 17th. Any thoughts on intercepting fish heading to the rivers? Bouy 13? Should I just head to CQ?

Thanks again.

It all depends on what you are after. If you want to hook lots of fish go North. If you want to take a chance at a 30lb chinook go fish the harbor. There won't be as many bites but you stand the chance of hooking into a hawg.

Slabhunter, how do you fish the area below 28th street? Is that by Aberdeen? Is that a good place to intercept fish moving through vs. the normal johns river area? I do want a chance at a big one.

I just like to troll herring with the tide down toward the airport. For the kings the large purple lable size cutplugs, and green label for the silvers. We run a dropper 18-24in off a three way swivel with anywhere from 4-12oz. balls. Sometimes a flasher, but most of the time just bait. I also like the area down near the "goal posts" where the main and south chanel meet. The kings tend to be found along the bottom in 20-30ft water. And the silvers can usually be up along the <15 ft range. Look for the schools of anchovies and there will be fish around. I believe the salmon feel secure under the schools of forage and will put the feed bag on around the first tide change of the day. Then they will shut down for about five hours before things pick up again.

Thanks Slab. Hope you get a bigun!!

I allready did back in '97. Here's a pic of a polaroid, kind of fuzzy but you can get the idea of what's out there this time of year.
I just hope to be able to share an experience like that with my uncle while he is still alive. [IMG]http://www.piscatorialpursuits.com/uploads/UP6175.jpg [/IMG]

Edit: Well, I can't get the pic up in the reply, but trust me. She was a hawg!!

Hey Bugle1in, I will be down there tommorow, I will be in a 16.5 ft campion with 75 hp Merc on the back. Hopefully will let you know there are still some in the bay. I will be launching at Johns River around 1000AM ish.

NEN

NEN, hopefully this wind dies down. I'll be in a burgandy 16 foot smokercraft. honda kicker. Make sure you show off your catch as you troll by.

NEN, hopefully this wind dies down. I'll be in a burgandy 16 foot smokercraft. honda kicker. Make sure you show off your catch as you troll by.

ok slab hope you get another slab. BTW nice piggy.

Can someone tell me what its like getting to the Johns river from westport? Fished both but i have never made the trip from WP. Ill be there friday in a 16' tiderunner with a 115 yamaha fourstroke.

Real time lunch-hour report from the checker at 28th Street Landing.... 0 fish for 8 boats! And man is it coming down out there.

Isn't the high tide around 3 o'clock?
The top of the flood and first of the ebb is when I've done the best. So I believe the fish will show late in the day.

must have just missed you FPN i got there just about one oclock .. hung around for a half hr or so and she checked 3 fish while i was there.. probbly about another 8 boats or so ..

shoemaker,
It's about a ten minute run. Just follow the marker out toward "13" and head toward "15" once you clear the shallow spit.
maptech
Then just stay in the channel until you decide you're at a fishy spot.
Good luck!!!

Shoemaker It can get a little wet going back to Westport as you are typically headed into or slightly quartering the wind waves going back that way. Like stated the channel is well marked. Fog can beach your plans without radar also. Just something to consider. Most navigation programs however will have the channel clearly identified for you. So -

When I saw Fpn's lunch time report I was going to respond that the 8 boats with no fish were most likely 8 boats full of people who don't know how to fish Grays Harbor....but I got busy. Then I got a call from someone who does know how to fish down there, Slabquest, and he got a 25# slab after fishing out of John's River only 10 minutes. Mike Kelly, the guide who used to call himself Hell's Anglers until the Hell's Angels sued him, was there and limited as well.
Slabhunter wins the knowledge award for today as he pointed out that high tide was this afternoon and thus the morning was not as good. The high tide timing is critical.

So Fpn, no doom and gloom at John's River after all.

No gloom and doom intended Grandpa, just passing on the real-time info as it was unfolding. Thought some folks might appreciate it. Will refrain from such in the future.

How was the weather today? Did it get pretty choppy with the wind? Thanks

We launched at 1230 and the checker at Johns Rv ramp had 0 fish for 10 boats, could not believe these guys were leaving. We got out and hit two fish in the first hour but only got one and it was small, although so was the one we lost.

The fish we got were in pretty shalllow water 10 and 16 ft. Were the bigger fish deeper?

When we cam in around 5 PM, the count was closer to a fish per boat and getting better as a few boats had two and three fish. Guy next to us had two Kings, ah, limit was one and one silver.

The weather was not bad, very wet at times, but not to many white caps.
NEN

Thanks for the report.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

fishNphysician,
Keep on reporting the real time stats. Ever since the transfer of chinook for coho allocation, I've been thinking "doom and gloom" also. A phrase from my military days comes to mind. "Prepare for the worst, and hope for the best."

NEN,
Thanks for the report!!!

We went to 28th Street yesterday morning. Never fished that particular area before, so it was something new. Put in about 8AM, & on the first let-out, before it got all the way out, something was funny. Put the engage lever on & 2 cranks, the bottom started jerking. 20 seconds later the mainline broke. The guy's rod it was on was a little light & the mainline was also light, but he wanted to try it. Do not know if the mainline had a spot in it or the knot was not properly tied.

Did not get a bump the rest of the day. However at about 11:30 after tide change near the concrete docks upstream of the airport, there was a bite on. Saw a 22#er caught, & a larger one lost. It started thunder & lightning & a cloudburst about 2:30 & many of us headed for the barn.

Did not ask the checker the status, as it was RAINING, but the boat behind us had 2.

There was a guy selling (fresh herring) at the dock in the morning. However if you want ones without bloodshot eyes & gill covers, you might look elsewhere.

Talked to a salesman at Sunbirds this afternoon & he says with the river raised a couple of feet, the Chinook are already over Rainbow Falls near PeEll.

More reports from Grays Harbor show that fishing for those who know how is great.

Would like to learn the ropes fishing Grays Harbor or John River so if anybody has an open seat or I can take my boat please E-mail me

Messed up the last one so hear it is again, I would like to learn how to fish Johns River or the Grays Harbor area so if anybody has an open seat or would go in my boat please let me know.

Slabhunter and NEN, thanks for your help on this fishery. It worked. We fished hard from daylight until 1:30 before hitting our first fish an 37 lbr. I then lost a 35 and we ended with two more silvers. Fished friday and hit a 12 lb silver a 34lb king and a 25lb king. Missed a couple missed a couple more.

I am positive we fished next to the Campion with the merc on the back. My buddy fished yesturday and hit 2 12lb silvers and 2 20lb kings. GO gettem fellas.

Thanks again.

Just looking for any more current reports on the John's???? Planning to fish this weekend. Thanks!!!

ttt-

Any reports?

Heading out tomorrow morning 3am.

Grandpa-
You're a Jacka$$ on this thread ! give it a rest !

FNP, Please don't refrain from relaying on-the-water reports. They are the best kind of info. Although you might consider holding off on pronouncing a fishery dead before anyone trys it...

...although your posts gave me extra incentive to boat some fish.

Mr. Freezer,
I have a call in to a buddy that's fishing John's as we speak. I'l let you know here or you-know-where.

Lofty,
The name calling really shows a lot of class. :rolleyes:

I will be out there in the morning for a few hours, will post when I get home Friday night.

I must admit that Grmps seemed a little "on the raggy" towards FnP. I'm glad he puts the reports uip that he does and glad he was wrong too.

NEN

To set the record straight only:

Quote from Fishin Physician:

'Rained all day today and more rain in the forecast everyday this week for Grays Harbor. AARGH! So much for any fish staging in the bay for the Sept 16 opener.

Silvers are pouring into the Aberdeen Lake hatchery, with credible reports of salmon pushing thru the Chehalis system in good numbers up into Wynoochee and Satsop. No doubt about it, the fish are on the move!

Of course with this year's regs, any salmon swimming upriver past the Chehalis Bridge in Aberdeen has a "get-out-of-jail-free" card thru October 1. By the time those fish are declared harvestable, they'll hardly be fit for cat food.

Talk about forgone harvest opportunity. With all the surplus hatchery salmon produced for this system ( both kings and silvers) it seems kind of silly that fish managers delay the bay opener til mid September and the river opener til October 1.

If we're not gonna be given maximum harvest opportunity on these abundant hatchery stocks, why produce them in the first place?'


Sorry Lofty if you think I am a jacka$$ for simply calling FPN on his claims and providing some real facts....

From what I can see and from the "credible" people I talk to who know how to fish Grays Harbor and have been doing so since opening day, it appears that FPN's assertion that the fish have already gone up the river and therefore WDFW screwed us again with foregone opportunity by opening the fishery too late, is just not correct. No ill will intended, just the facts.

The Grays Harbor Chinook fishery is not predominently of hatchery origin. This year we are lucky that the run size is big enough to support this real quality fishery.

The fishing has been better than average and there are more than plenty of quality fish available and that my "lofty" critic is a fact.

I don't think FNP was trying to throw any dogs off the hunt--just simply sharing what he observed.

------------------------------------------------------------
Has anyone fished on the Hoquiam side?

Rory Bellows:

Your questions "Has anyone fished on the Hoquiam side"??? Not many, only about a 1000.........the other 2000 are fishing from Johns River......clear to the Bridge.

Have been here since 1968.........have never seen sport fishermen fish that area west of the bridge, except the past few years.

It's crazy that the Chehalis about the bridge isn't open..........sure should be!!!!!!

Hope all enjoy the good weather thur the weekend..........

"Worse day sport fishing, still better than the best day working"

Yah, its still good. May have to sort through darker Chinook if your looking for really bright fish, but I kept a good size dark male today and it was almost as bright inside as the chromer coho. Anyway we got 3 fish, 26,25 Kings, and 14 lb coho in about five hours of fishing, just could not find that last coho. Not a ton of big fish, only saw one above 40. But enough action to keep plenty of people there. I think the checker had 47 fish for 32 boats when we came in.


NEN

Yea, the fish are there for sure! We were there on tuesday and went 0-5. The problem is the fishery is so popular that others are driving right over your line while you have a fish on! It was great to be able to get out there, but in the fog of war some of the fish were lost due to trying to horse the critters away from the other boats. I was fishing down around the lower end of the south channel and had two guys run right over a fish. Hopefully in '06 I'll be able to get my uncle back out there to catch a big one. But things did not go well for us this time. :rolleyes: