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.