It is almost time for Chums on Hood Canal. I have not fished this fishery before but I do plan on making a trip or two this year. Does any one have any suggestions on where to launch a boat? Any fishing tips, tricks, or tactics would also be appreciated!

Thanks

Hi Carl,
I fished Hoodsport last year. It is a blast with a ton of fish to catch and last year the fish were huge. I expect the same this year based on the season we've had thus far. Here are some details:
Best rig to fish with was by far the simplest. Take a 1,2, or 1/0 hook and tie on some green yarn. That's it, nothing more. Leader is about 3 feet to a weight that is mainly used to just cast with. Cast this rig out and retrieve at a moderate pace, not too slow. You do not want it to drag the bottom. THIS IS NOT A SNAGGING RIG! The fish will hit this rig and hit it hard. You may add a small green corky too, it helps keep the rig suspended. By the day's end your arm will be ready to fall off.
Launching a boat: Here is the link that will show you available boat ramps: http://boat.iac.wa.gov/launches.asp?county=Mason#5
The ramp 1 1/2 mile south of Hoodsport is closest. I think it's kind of steep and slipery. Also, no boat pier. A better launch but farther away (I think about 6-7 miles by boat to Hoodsport) is Twanoh. It has a pier and the launch is less steep. I may use this one this year with my new boat.
Regarding the crowds - yes, very crowded. Be sure to have an anchor that will hold the rather smooth and rocky bottom. Last year everyone was constantly moving due to the tide pushing people's boats even when anchored. Seems like half the boaters had too small of an anchor.
Carl, if you can go on a Wednesday I would be happy to share a trip with you. My boat or yours. Just shoot me an e-mail. I live in Redmond.

Hey Mike, I do not have a boat but would be able to share expense and a Wednesday if you are open. Thanks for the tips.

Mike, THANKS! for the invite. I will have to look at my schedule to see if I have a Wednesday free. What is the best time in November to go? I know a couple buddies and myself are planning on hitting the canal in the middle of November. From what I understand it should be RED HOT then.

Let me know how the trip goes fellas

I too have been thinking about heading out to Hoodsport for the first time. So is the preferred way to fish these chum by anchoring and casting? I've always been more of troller myself. Is anchoring up more productive on this fishery?

A question for MikeC: On the setup you describe above, what sort of weight are you talking about? A small banana weight in-lined, or more of drift setup with something like pencil lead, a slinky, or bouncing betty?

Thanks!
-Jim

My wife and I made a trip there last year, you know, one of those sunny, sunday olympic penninsula day drives...with fishing rods tactically placed unknowling in the trunk. Of course we get there and "oh honey look at all the fish schooling way out there on the surface, I think I happen to have left my rod in the trunk". Oh yeah, and my waders and yours, and my vest, and yours. You get the picture.

It was high noon, none of the folks on the shore were catching anything. Of course the fish were schooling way out from the shore and they were casting 10 ft infront of themselves. Tide was out bigtime too. So I made myself the worlds largest slinky or two, or three and placed them all on my line and launched a peice of chartreuse yarn about a mile out into the sound there at hoodsport. I was just messing around to try and get all the line twist off my reel. I let my reel free spool for a bit and then I noticed the slack in the line went tight. Usually when your stuff hits the bottom, you get more slack in the line and it lays down limp on the water. Well, I started to retrieve and next thing I know I got a chum on. Wooohooo! So after a 10 min battle I had my first hoodsport chum. A nice chromer about 15 pounds. So I proceeded to make my wife a few slinkys the same size and showed her how to get some more distance on her casts.

Funny think was, there were several bank fishermen by us and they were amazed I had actaully caught one at low tide, and in the middle of the day no doubt. One local guy said, no one catches them in the middle of the day unless your out there in a boat.

Well after about the 3rd fish we hooked...by my wife, people started wondering over to where we were at asking what we were using. I showed them and they couldn't believe it. One guy hollered "They are just snagging them, don't listen to them!!!" So meanwhile my wife is reeling in her legally hooked chum and these guys are watching. So we get it in and one guy hollered back " Nope, she's got this one legal". And next thing ya know people are making slinkys, and tacking on 3-4 oz bananna sinkers and chartruese yarn, then launching them a mile out.

Well as the tide came in and the sun headed down, the chums came in close to shore. After that it was a arm buster! I can't even remember how many fish we caught and released. It was a blast!

Anyway, have fun, let me know if they are there yet.

Answers:
I believe it was mid-Nov. Unfortunately the report I sent to NWFishing never got posted (another reason why I added saltwater to our site. ) Anyway, that should be right and it should be good through the end of the month.
The weight is a small piece of drift pencil lead, just enough to allow a good cast. We used a sliding setup but I doubt it matters.The fish we caught took on the upper half of the water collum (sp).
This fishery is an anchor and cast fishery. I know that some troll but have never tried and really don't know what works. It's a blast to sit back and watch the boats and shore fishermen catching these chums! BTW, these are not bright fish and I've only caught one that I would consider taking home to eat. This is combat fishing, but I know there are spots along Hood Canal that are less crowded than Hoodspot. Hey, I don't mind it because I have no illusions about what to expect.
As far as which Wednesday in Nov, looks like I spoke too soon. I have two free Wednesdays - the 21st and 28th, and with the 21st I'll have to take my kids out of their half day of school. So I can only take one other angler. Man it's a drag working two jobs. Maybe I can squeeze out another day as I would be happy to take some of you guys along.

[ 10-25-2001: Message edited by: MikeC ]

Hoodsport can be a darn good place, but I just heard that Minter Creek was opened for Chums this fall, and might be a place to try. There's a small estuary stretch below the hatchery thats open, but man there are a lot of fish there. While visisting that hatchery, I've seen the place completely full of chums, just writhing with them. I think the paper said that 18,000 were returning this year. The creek is right by Purdy, and would probably be well worth a shot, if you were in the mood for more solitude (at least not until the word gets out).

Does anyone know of other good places to fish the chum further up the canal? My grandmother lives in Brinnon and I've been meaning to get over to see her anyway... I thought I should check if there's somewhere closer that I could be fishing. Perhaps off the mouth of the DuckaBush or Dosewallips? Anyone know?

Thanks!
-Jim

I read on a site about hoodsport chums to use green or chartruse yarn with a medium/large pinned green or chartruse corkies the corkie needs to be big enough to float the hook and yarn. use 30" leaders with varying slinky weights.
Tyler Hood Canal Chum Salmon
haven't been there yet but am planning to do some fly fishing at a very good lake for big bows but will be there the week after.

Minter creek does not open until Nov.1.

One tip for you new gear slingers. When you go out for chums for the first time, don't belly up right next to the fly fishermen. They need a little extra room and the gear guy's lead weights hitting the water do spook the fish.

I've been over at Hoodsport and purposely fished about 100 yards away from the crowds. One time we hit fish on the first cast and the "crowd" bellied right up next to us, close enough to where I could hit them with my rod.. about 3 feet away.

It ain't good etiquette...

Now that I said that... chum fishing is a blast... strong fish. Don't go undergunned as they will break rods. I've caught them up to 23 pounds on a fly rod.

Stopped by Hoodsport Saturday morning and found combat conditions....lots of people, lots of fish. I only had hip waders so opted to hit one of the rivers farther up the Canal. Spent the next 3 hours hooking and releasng until my forearms ached. Kept a few bright ones for the smoker. The article Tyler referenced on chum fishing was right on the money with lots of good advice. Thanks Tyler.

JMS

Thanks for the update Little Fish! Did you happen to notice how many boats were on the water? I might have to head that way this weekend coming up.

HI Carl,
Just posted a Hoodsport report today. Looks like things are in high gear. I haven't forgotten my earlier offer, I wanted to get in a couple Blackmouth trips first. I have the last two Wednesdays available. Let me know if either of those days work for you. Ditto to Thomas or anyone else wanting to share a trip. I can take two along.

Carl,
Early in the morning there were fewer than 5 boats around the actual creek mouth. Later when I passed by (noon) I'd say probably 10 to 15. Should be fun with a boat as you'll have a better chance to play the fish without crossing too many lines.
JMS

Does anybody have some information on whether these fish are in the rivers yet?

I have heard of some Chums being taken in the Green already. I have not had a visual on any though.
I will keep an eye out for them.

I fished the Green this afternoon down at Hwy 18. I hooked into a nice Chum, what a battle. It jumped three times before throwing the hook.
Oh well, maybe next time.
THE CHUMS ARE HERE!

Carl, what setup were you using. I have had no luck recently hooking into a chum....dry spells suck! . Thanks for keeping me posted about the action. Was out by Monroe the other day for a couple of hours of F&R (fishing and relaxation) saw a couple of silvers brought in but two guys next to me kept letting their drifts go too far down and snagging my line!! They when I was courteus enough to let my line out so it could be untangled, they were careless and I had to retie twice! Maybe we could get together sometime and fish the Green....send me an e-mail.

Hello, TJ. I fished the Hood Canal Zone this morning. I found a nice spot just north of the hatchery with few people and a ton of fish passing by. I only managed to hook one fish with a Buzz Bomb, didn't land it though. I think I will take my boat out there tomorrow.
When I fish the Green I either use a bright orange corky and yarn or a red and white 1/2 oz. Steelee spoon with a red single Gomakatsu hook, instead of treble, and a little shrimp sauce just for kicks. Patience and technique are everything. If you find an area with no snags (underneath the train bridge) cast and retrieve slooooooowllly.
We can "hook" up sometime to fish the Green. My only limitations are work and the lack of day light.

[ 11-10-2001: Message edited by: Carl Costenbader ]

If your lookin for a good river chum salmon set up. Try a pink, especially cerise colored jig under the float. It catches fish and 100% of them are legally hooked.

Thanks for the tips. I will try them out this week. I have an early schedule and am off work at 1:30pm so get to get a litle fishing in when the weather cooperates. Carl, are you planning to fish with Mike and myself on the 28th? I think he is trying to get ahold of you.

TJ, I have received an email from Mike regarding fishing on the 28th. As of now I am still undecided (work schedule). I work in the rental car business and business has been up and down and then up again from week to week. I will know more as we get closer to that week.
I will keep both of you posted in the forum.

P.S. I did take my boat over to the Hatchery Zone on Sunday. I was only able to hook into one fish.
Maybe I will have better luck next time!

[ 11-13-2001: Message edited by: Carl Costenbader ]

Knocked the snot out of the chums on monday with the fly rod,small crowd,lots of fresh fish fish, and a fish cop checking fishermen.

Hi guys- Well, I did the Tilton river down by the Cowlitz saturday and saw lots of fish but not many new ones put in that day so most had lock-jaw. Stopped by barrier dam to watch the insanity of combat fishing and then ended at the green by hwy 18 at @ 12:30 to try for some chum. After about two hours of throwing eggs at 'em finally got a hit that cleaned my hook. Put on some fresh eggs and WHAM!! a bright big chum freight-trained my line down stream..I followed it as far as I could until it got down to the knot on my spool and held on for dear life and it popped my hook. Whew! Needless to say I since have respooled with 10# test and hope to get out again sometime this week in the afternoon.. But they do hit eggs!! Maybe I'll see you there TJ or Carl- I'll be the guy with the suit under my waders!! Barry

Hey Centerpin, whereabouts (roughly)were you on Monday...Gotta window tomorrow morning and thought I might brave the monsooons for mr chum on a flyrod..

The rivers have got to be BLOWN OUT after all of the rain this week. Looks like Hood Canal will be the only place to be this weekend.

Hey Carl,
Good to meet you on the water. Thanks for the heads up on moving in a bit, it really helped. Caught a bunch more after you and Barry left. The bite died off quite a bit at 12:30 and we called it a day. High light of the day: my friend Brad nets his fish and brings it into the boat. I'm still reeling in my gear as he asks me "where's the fish club?". Next thing I know, his fish has some how got out of the net and jumped back in the water. Strangest thing I ever saw... Low Point: the guy fishing with a 4" white buzz bomb with treble hook. Didn't fair hook one fish but went away with his limit. I must have caught his line about 5 times. Unbelievable. We snagged a lot incidentally but released em, kept three for Brad's smoker. Hope you can go on the 28th. I'll send you a couple of the pictures I took of you.

Hey Mike, good to see you at the Canal. It is always fun to run into someone you know on the water!
I fished the Canal Sunday morning also. What A Blast! I have never caught so many salmon in one day in my life. I was hooking into fish every other cast. By 11 AM I kept three (legally hooked), lost 3 (legally hooked), and turned loose over a dozen snagged fish. My arm was worn out. I have found the Chums bite on the clown (green/orange/white/pink) colored corkie. I did not catch any fish in the mouth until I put on the clown corkie!
What a day of fishing.

P.S. I took some good pix of you and the battle with the sea gull. Unfortunately, my home online service in not fuctional right now so it will be a while before I can get those pix to you.

Am one tell me how long you the hoodsport chum fishery will last. I have never tried it but I need something to replace the bass fishing down here on the Columbia.( Vancouver) I think I have the basic rig down from the posts I have read.
Also will a open 17 foot alum. boat do there?
thanks in advance

Hello Bassin, from what I understand Hood Canal should be rockin and rollin until mid December. It is RED HOT right now though. Don't wait to long to get over there. The drive will be worth every gallon of gas. A 17 foot boat is perfect, take along a GOOD ANCHOR too. There is a free launch about 2 miles south of Hoodsport on Hwy 101.
I will be out there over this long holiday weekend.

Bassin,
I second Carl's comments. 17 foot is great, but BE SURE to have a heavy anchor, preferably a Danforth (I think that's what they call them) that will dig into the bottom. It's a rocky bottom and if you don't have an anchor that will hold you the wind and tide will pull you right along. I use two, bow and stern.

Carl,
I can wait on the fish, er, bird picture. I wish the couple I had of you turned out better.

Hey Mike, the pix I took of you and your friend from a distance did not turn out all that great either (blurry)
I guess that is one of the shortfalls of trying to zoom with a digital camera.

Say bassin,you probably might have some of the tackle already in your arsenal of stuff. Get a small corky, match it up with the smallest charteuse or green plastic grub body on a hook and you'll have a winning combo. Seems to get a majority of hens with it or it could be that they just happen to be more aggresive than the bucks. With all the chat about Hoodsport, you can't go wrong and find places to launch. You could even get a mocha or latte on the way out.

Good luck

P.S. to Carl and MikeC, wished you guys would of gotten into this fishery a few years back when they had the hatchery opened 24-7. You talk about a challenge catching fish in the day lite hours, try it in the dark.

--------------------------------

"DO THE WILD THANG"

Thanks for all the great pointers. I am going to try to make the run up Friday.
If you see a 17 foot Alumcraft backtroller.. it me.
thanks a again.
If any one on the page needs info on Smallmouth or sturgeon on the columbia or Willamette just ask.

Hey Mike, looking forward to next week. Wow, can't wait. I am looking forward to having my 'arm fall off' with fatigue! As an aside, do you know of people flyfishing for chums there? Or do you think that it would be too crowded?

Thomas,
I do see many flyfishers at Hoodsport and they do quite well. Not having fly fished for years, I can't really say what type of line to use. I would think a slow sinking tip would be best. Bring your fly rod if you want. My boat is open all around so it will make a good platform. I would think on a Wednesday the other boats will be thin enough that it won't be a problem.

Hey TJ, all the times I have been to the ZONE this year the fly fisherman do just as well if not better than the guys tossing green yarn. It can be entertaining watching guys in float tubes, fly fishing, get pulled around by a 15lb Chum.
If you have a fly rod, by all means take it.
I was planning on hitting the ZONE Thanksgiving morning but it looks like mother nature is not going to cooperate. I will be there Friday morning!

rocket red and green jig under a float takes the hens..They just cant seen to resist it..Now if ya just want to catch bucks green does the trick..

T.J. I use a W.F.floating 8weight line on a 4inch reel on a 10foot rod.Small flys tied in bright green,bright pink and pink and ornge combos.
I think the in comming tide is the best
good luck

Carl,
What day are you heading over?

On the flyrod information: I have WF floating and sink tip line on two reels. Which would be better or try both? I believe that I have some wooly buggers in green and chartreuse but nothing else. Would they work O.K. or should I get something else? Last and most important, I have a 5wt rod 8.5 ft, will this be sufficient? Keep in mind that I am new to flyfishing.

Also.....sounds like a blast fishing from a tube or pontoon boat for these monsters. Where would I let in? How far from shore to fish etc.....

Sounds like a great year. I am headed to the Satsop this weekend to try for, well, anything! Have never been out there though any recommendations? How about recovery of the river from rain?

DONT TAKE THE 5WT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tyler

ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzSNAP!

HAHAHHAHAHAHAH! That was really good. I laughed so hard my coworkers were commenting! I kind of figured that unless you had 10 miles of line a 5wt rod probably would be a bit of a disappointment. Still no answers about using a float tube or pontoon boat and distance from shore???

I'm goin either tomorrow or saturday. mabye in my buddies 12' alum or from shore but if anyone has any info on using a float tube and what kind of anchor to use it would be much appreciated!
Tyler
I'm pretty sure you dont have to get out that far from shore but then again i've never been.

[ 11-22-2001: Message edited by: Tyler Celli ]

You're right about not getting too far and the current isn't all that bad close, but, you have too be far enough away from the casting idiots or kinda fish in line with everyone else. Don't know too many guys using anchors but it will help a lot if you don't want to use too much energy on staying put and spend it on fish. You can launch tubes and small rafts on the north side of the hatchery. Keep in mind DO NOT LAUNCH OR COME BACK TO SHORE on private property. County mounties really enforce it hard. Seen many a guys get stranded out past where the creek comes out and can't cross it back to the hatchery shore, so, they have no choice to either get water over their waders or go south a few hundred yards and come up to shore to awaiting shore patrols. Just got to go and fish it. And if not there, just as many places to fish in the canal or south sound for the same fish.

----------------

"DO THE WILD THANG"

I fished the Hatchery Zone this morning (Friday). What a mess! I could not believe my eyes. The Indians were raping/netting the place with no regard for the fisherman on shore and on boats. A couple of guys in waders almost got run over by this clown/Indian that was netting the stream that flows from the hathcery.

Note to Mike and TJ.....we might want to plan our trip for a Saturday or Sunday instead of a Wednesday. During the week it seems as though the white man does not exist. They will run you over like you are not even there, literally. The fishing sucked too!

On another note, I ran into Bassin at the Zone. Helloooooo Bassin!

[ 11-23-2001: Message edited by: Carl Costenbader ]

Rainycity, I will be over at the Canal Saturday and Sunday morning. It should be a lot better than Friday was! Look for me, I have a 14ft tan w/red striped aluminum (see pix of boat on washingtonlakes.com home page).

Hey Carl, I am heading out ther on Sunday with a budy of mine. We will be fishing from the bank. Any ideas on best location? This is a new fishery for me and I am not sure of my way around. Unfortunately I only have Wednesday as an option unless I get out there on a Sunday again and miss church (wife would NOT like that) What's a guy to do? Maybe selective fishing should be applied to other things as well. Too late for me. Really though, I like church just hate missing those fishing opportunities. Any fishing opportunity. Got to set the example for my little one, right? Do you know what method of fishing works best from shore? Maybe I'll see you out there.

I want to second Carls comments, The Netters were out in full force. I cannot believe that they kill and waste fish just for the eggs. So much for living in harmony with mother earth.
It was my 1st time up there and I did catch 7 fish in the mouth,one in the back and one in the belly. Most of the fish were real dark. I did get two that still had silver sides and they are in the smoker.
Carl, it was nice to meet ya. If the wind is not blown next time maybe we could talk a bit more. I may be up Sunday. But I also hear that the crappie bite is on at Silver Lake. We'll see.

Hey TJ, I went over to the HHZ this morning, boy was it stormy, worse than it was on Friday! If you are hoofing it follow the crowds to the hatchery. You have to walk through the hatchery to get to the beach. Land on both sides of the hatchery is private property. Take your lime green corkies and yarn and have at it. The low tide is in the morning this weekend which is perfect for hatchery fishing. Also keep an eye out for a hatchery just south of the boat launch before you hit Hoodsport on 101, it is really small but I guess guys have been doing really well there. Look for a bunch of cars pulled off to the side of the road.

My friend Blair and I fished the Canal all day long today (third day in a row). We started out at the HHZ. Action there was a lot less than normal, I caught two bucks that seemed like they were swimming by the HHZ headed for somewhere else. The HHZ might be past it's prime now. The wind started to pick up and we decided to head south toward the other hatchery south of the boat launch. When we got there we found a ton of Chums and shelter from the wind. We spent the rest of the day there hooking Chums left and right.

[ 11-25-2001: Message edited by: Carl Costenbader ]

Mike C, Thomas J, and I fished Hood Canal. After driving four hours to get there due to snow. We arrived at the boat launch. The ramp had to much snow on it to safely launch the boat. We went to a turn-out down the highway by the Enetai hatchery. We caught a ton of fish from the beach. It was a lot of fun considering how cold, snowy, and rainy it was. We even had a visit from WDFW Enforcement. They cut us some slack for not filling out our catch cards right away. THANKS GUYS! To bad the entire Hood Canal closes for salmon on November 30th. Except for the Hood Canal Hatchery Zone.
If you did not get out there this year you missed some great fishing!