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!