If anyone is still interested, the Chum fishing in the green is still pretty good. Jumping in just below the park and walking halfway through, my buddy and I saw fish everywhere. A few ghost fish but most were rotless. River was a tad high and emerald clear green. Our biggest was a rotfree 15lb horse with a mouth full of daggers that just would not come in. Run after run. Green jig on a float and wigglewarts did the trick. Lots of fun if your still thinking of going out. Metzler was packed, strawberry patch was packed and most of Flaming Geyser was packed with people. Anywhere below the bridge hole to the first take out was pretty wide open. We actually couldn't see anyone around us at one time. So if your bored...

I second that motion! There are a ton of fish every where. Nothing like catching 10-15 lb. salmon at will. Take your kids, if you got'em, for a good time.

I was there saturday, and the only action I saw around the bridge hole (the one next to the model airplane field / parking lot) was a snaggfest. Espesially in and below the tailout where the salmon are spawning on their redds. Out of about 10 fish I saw landed, not one of them was fair hooked. Only fun I had was seeing the guy next to me fishing the deep pool break his pole on his 3rd consecutive (intentional) snag. Then watching him try to pull the line/fish in by hand!! At least most of them were letting the snagged fish go.
If you go - don't harass the fish on the redds!!

What time were you guys fishing? I was there at sun up and did not get a hit for a few hours. Do these fish bite better later in the day normally? I was there early in the week and legally caught fish after fish around noon.

Ya, you can't help but snag about 75% of the fish you catch. That is just because there are so many of them. There are as many fish as there are rocks on the river bed. The trick is getting the Chums to take it in the mouth. I have found the lime green corky/yarn combo and the clown colored corky/yarn combo work paricularly well. Also, presentation (slow drift)is everything when it comes to getting the fish to take a swipe at a corky and yarn.

75%?? Sounds a bit high (unless you don't really care wether you snag one or not - and from reading some of your posts in the past - I can tell that you try to be an ethical sportsman). Personally, once I snag my second fish in a spot, I change tactics or switch spots. I'd rather catch 1 mouth hooked fish than 10 snagged fish any day. Using a float really cuts down on the snags - and yet an aggressive chum will nail it hard. Makes it more of a sport than a slaughter.

[ 12-09-2001: Message edited by: Fishnbuddee ]

I am not saying that I enjoy snagging because I don't! It is a real hassle trying to reel in a fish that does not know it is hooked. Especially when the fish gets turned sideways in the water and you have to fight the fish and the current.

When there are a bunch of fish schooled up in one area and the water is only two or three feet deep you can't help but SNAG. When I fished for Chums in Hood Canal, from the shore or from my boat, I snagged more fish than I hooked in the mouth. The odds are against you when there are a large concentration of fish.

Yesterday morning at Flaming Geyser, my first two fish were hooked squarely in the mouth. Part of the challenge and where skill comes into play is trying to present the lure (corky and yarn) so you get more fish in the mouth. The Chums or any other fish will take a swipe at your lure if it is presented properly.

You should consider using a float and jig type approach. When fish are stacked, you spend more time fighting fish that actually wanted to strike (no flossing or snagging) and less time wrestling and harassing non biters that are snagged in the stomach (tail or whatever).

When I was fishing for pinks and silvers stacked in the sky, and chums stacked in both hood canal and flaming geyser - and only snagged 1 out of 10 fish (and never when I was using a float - which was most of the time).

In fact, if you use a pink and white marabou jig (other combos work too) you have a great chance at catching any of pinks, silvers, chum, trout, and steelhead - especially if you tip it with some prawn meat.

The nice thing about floats is that your line and hook are always (95% or so) above the fish - so incidental snagging is nearly eliminated - without losing your effectiveness at catching fish.

Thanks for the tip. I will have to try your tip this weekend. I bought a bunch of jigs for Hood Canal but never used them. I have a bunch of bobbers too.

I went up there this mornin and fished below the park for an hour and had one taker in the mouth in the tailout i fished saturday. Then i moved up to the old bridge hole in the park and 10 cast and 60 minutes later i left after snagging 4. It was almost impossible not to snag them. And almost impossible to get them in so i let them do their thing. I saw fish with hooks in there backs with green yarn still attached, sad. I'm not shootin ya down Carl, thanks for the info by the way(my first fish of the day), but i think deeper water away from the beds would spell less snagups. Cuz that other tail out just below the park entrance was full of fish and we dragged corkies through it for an hour and didn't snag one. But the fish seemed to be picky and after numerous setup changes john finally hooked up on a green jig, right in the gums. And i'd guess the fish that aren't on the flats aren't spawning quite yet but i'm just guessing. Not many people in the park or the strwbry patches but lots at Metzler. Rivers down another 8 inches or so. Could there BE any more garbage on the banks??? Pathetic.

FFF, you and I will have to "hook" up this weekend and I will show the "way" of the Chum. My technique works on the river and at Hood Canal. I have proof! Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. :p

Usually I only read the steelhead/salmon board unless I see information the green on this board.I know there are tons of chum through out the upper green. I have caught my share of chums but there is not much satisifcation in catching this fish (there was at first). There are so many spots above Flaming Geyser that have chums stacked in secluded holes.I fish mostly for steelhead if I can't catch them,then go after chums as a last resort. The steelhead are out there 90% of the fish I catch are without the hordes around. I have had 8 fish on in the last week landing 7 and taking home 3 hatchery fish while releasing the natives. Was shut out last time but fortate that a chum hit my spoon so I wasn't total skunked.

Tons of Garbage on the bank?? Hmmm, sounds like time to form another cleanup group...
Much as I enjoyed catching all the chum at Hoodsport this year, the attraction of winter steelheading has me in it's grip. And it's futile to resist... but I do thank Carl for posting this info as I will store it in my memory banks for possible future use.

Hey Carl, you trying to make it out there this weekend? I was planning on heading out on Saturday afternoon or something. Maybe Sunday. Hell, maybe everyday if the fishing is that good!!

Your post makes me thing of Zen Leacher. I think you might be better known as Chum Zen or ZenDog.

Mike - haven't been out for a couple of weeks but looking for some action near Christmas or New Years. Any ideas on some good prospects for Steelhead?

I will be @ Flaming Geyser Saturday morning and Sunday morning. It is just to good to pass up right now.

If anybody wants to stop by and learn how to catch Chums in the mouth, I will be more than happy to show you. :p

See you Sunday then I guess Carl.
How will I recognize ya`?

Are ya going to the Nisqually this saturday with us Carl? Or ya hittin the green? I fished Kanaskat and hooked 2 chromies but lost both. Man it was cold up there. River looked great though.

rainycity - Carl will be the tall one catching lots of fish.....if he is not catching in 20 minutes check for a pulse!

Can't get up there in the morning so will have to work it out later.

FFF, I am going to have to pass on the Nisqually this Saturday, gotta work @ 3 pm. I don't want you guys to have to worry about getting me back to shore. If you go on Sunday, I am free for the whole day. Otherwise, I will be hanging out at Flaming Geyser.

Raincity, a brief description of myself - I will be wearing a bright blue jacket with a blue knit hat. I am 6'2" and around 230lbs. Pretty hard to miss! Look for my vehicle too. I drive a dark blue Chevy P/U with a sticker on the back window that says "GOT FISH?".

I may have to check out the green again on Thurs morning before work. Anyone else going to be around then? Apparently, I was fishing to low in the river to find any chums - and I didn't find any steelhead either. Next time I'll head up further into the park...

Here is a challenge for you chum fishers:
See who can have the best fair to foul hook ratio. If a guy hooks 20 fish in an hour, but only 10 were fair hooked, that's nothing to write home about. If another guy hooks 8 fish in the same timeframe and only 1 was snagged, that is pretty impressive.

Maybe next year we can set up a little friendly competition (not that I want fishing to be comptetive - but it seems to suit chum fishing). Ground rules would be: 3 snags and your out. No fishing over Redds. Winner is the one with the highest fair hook per hour average. We could do hood canal or the green.
This is not intended to be a 'pi$$ing competition', rather an opportunity to show others that you don't have to snag fish to be successful. Thoughts?? Winner gets ___? Losers have to pack out 1 bag of trash each??

I'd be interested in seeing the result of that little contest. But EVERYONE should pack out garbage no matter what. Biggest snagger takes it all home.

A little competition is a great idea. I think the beach just south of Potlatch SP is the perfect place. The Chums hang around the beach but they are not sitting still and spawning like they are in a river. Will have to wait till next year though. The Green would also work except for we would be fishing for them in the redds where they are just sitting there. Not good for competition.

Carl,
I may have to work Sunday, I should know by tomorrow or Friday at the latest. If not, I will see you up by Flaming Geyser, I`ll be leaving around 6:30 a.m. and I should be there by around 7:30 or so. I`ll be driving my old blue Subaru Wagon.

Carl - I'm not sure what you are stating when you say

You don't have to fish the reds to cacth river chums. Or any other salmon/trout/steelhead for that matter. I don't want to beat a dead horse, but I know for a fact that you can find more aggressive biting, strong, and fresh fish moving through slots, holding in deep pools, ect. We should not encourage fishing over redds. Or am I just smoking something here? Are chums such a 'garbage' fish that it is OK to snag them and harass them on the redds? When fish are stacked up, is it OK to snag 75% of the time just for a chance at one biting? There are other effective ways to do it. If i'm way out of line here, please let me know. I'm not trying to be argumentative or a jerk - but I really don't get it.

Thanks,
Chad

ChadK, you've got it! I am just saying that from my experience fishing for Chums on the Green I have only seen Chums in the redds.
I am drawing a comparison to fishing for Chums on Hood Canal.

MikeC. Have you been back to that lake that we cleaned up last April. Little Lake Cav. Since I can't seem to get out anymore. I was wondering how dirty it has gotten. Jim S.

Mike, If the weather craps out on us for Saturday i'm pretty sure we are going to chose the green over the nisqually and the way it looks, alot of people from here are going to go saturday also. So how bouts organizing your clean up idea. The lower end of FG park could really use it and by the looks of it, with all the cars i see at Metzler, it is probably just as trashed.

Rainycity, I will see ya there!

FFF, maybe I will see you there too!

[ 12-12-2001: Message edited by: Carl Costenbader ]

Jim,
I haven't been back to Lake Cav since the clean up. I would hope it will take a few years to get that dirty again. :rolleyes:
FFF,
I was speaking in the abstract about organizing a clean up. I have my heart set on heading back down to the Cowlitz or over to the Sky Saturday for some steelheading. I think it's a great idea and would encourage you and the others going to bring along trash bags and spend an hour cleaning. I'll bet if you bring extra bags you could convince people there to help out. It's the kind of spontaneous activity that you can talk people into. I do want to organize a cleanup in the Spring again. I think it would make for a great yearly tradition.

Carl,
No work on Sunday, so I`ll see you up there...

Rainycity, I am all stocked up on corky and yarn for this weekend. Looks like the mother nature is going to be on her period too.
Nor rain, nor sleet, nor snow will keep me from my appointed rounds!

Hey Mike, that's cool. Wish i was going to the Cowlitz. I went up on the Green again today and i guess someone couldn't stand all the garbage cuz most of it was gone. Still lots and lots of stray line and birdnests tangled all over the place. Talk about rain sheesh. Non stop downpour the whole time. Tossed it out for steelhead for an hour or so, no takers. Hooked 1 chum and a white fish, oh boy. Still tons of chum everywhere. Have fun Cow tippin.

Just stopped by Flaming Geyser after work to check out the water conditions. WOW! was the water high, fast moving, and muddy. Caught four fish though. Fish the slow moving water or back eddys at your feet. The chums are hanging out close to shore. Hope the water drops and clears a little by tomorrow otherwise access will be really limited.

Fished FG this morning. Water was still high and muddy. The water dropped a lot since yesterday but access was still very limited. Found a stream farther back in the park where the Chums were packed in hiding from the fast water.
I hope the river gets back into shape soon!

Hey Carl, John had to work at the last minute so we didn't go. The river looked way high so maybe it wasn't that bad getting a christmas tree instead of fishing. But atleast ya found em. Anyone up there today from PP? I got those pics of johns brute up on the website if you wanna check them out. Awesome clear pics but they make it look around 9lbs not 15. Salmon page 6 then click the pics to enlarge them. Nisqually is lookin slow still.

FF, I did not see any one from PP. I think tomorrow is suppose to be the big gathering day.

Those of you planning on heading to Flaming Geyser tomorrow, don't waste your time! Access is very limited and the water is very fast and muddy.

I was thinking of heading to Kanaskat-Palmer myself to check things out there. I don't think they will be any better than FG.

Mother Nature is really on the RAG.

Fished at Kanaskat-Palmer first. I only saw three guys fishing there. I fished for a while with jig and bobber with no luck. Went up to Headworks. No public access beyond the damn now, I guess because of Sept.11th. Then I cruised down to Flaming Geyser and fished the bridge hole. Hooked into a couple of chums there and the water was a lot lower than the day before but still very muddy.
All in all a not-so-good day of fishing.

Can anybody give me directions to the bridge hole at flaming geyser? I live in Battle Ground. I don't get a chance to fish much, being 15, so when I do go I want to know I'll have a good time. What should I use to catch'em on? I was talking to my dad and he said that when he was a kid he would take a three way swivel and tie a two foot leader on one end, his line on the other, and on the third end he would have a two foot leader with some sort of a spinner at the end. I guess he fished this off of a bridge, so he didn't have to worry about it getting tangled in a cast. If anybody would like to know of any good fishing places in their area, I have sources, and might be able to help.
Thanks

FB5, for you the best way to get to Flaming Geyser is I-5 North, take exit 142 (Hwy 18) going EAST bound towards Auburn, take the Auburn-Black Diamond exit off of Hwy 18. Follow the signs to the park. The park is eight miles from Hwy 18 on Green Valley Road. Be lookin' for the park entrance on the right side of the road or you will drive right by the entrance! When you enter the park you pass over a bridge that is over the Green. Look to your left and you will see the parking area and probably see fisherman wading in the river.
It will be a long drive for ya but if the weather cooperates fishing for Chums will be worth while all the way to the end of the season for salmon Dec 31st.

P.S. If you are serious about hitting the Green I would be more than happy to show you around!

FB5,

P.S.S. I use a bullet sinker (3/8 oz) on top of a swivel with a with a lime green corky/yarn or a clown colored (pink,green,yellow,white,orange,and pink) corky/yarn. I don't use pencil lead like every one else because the bullet sinkers don't SNAG like pencil lead do. Try it! It really works!

Hey Carl, if you wondering about the headworks, yes it is closed for security reasons but also closed for good because they are putting in a fish management center by the dam and at the gate they are putting in a salmon hatchery(chated with the guy in the gate house). Which i totally disagree with. All the salmon up there are wild. Now they are going to have hatchery fish spawning in the same area as the wild fish. Dumb idea. Like there aren't enough salmon in the green already. And for what i saw up there last year i'd say the wild run is pretty strong.They said the new facilities will be up in 2 years. Kiss those sweet holes goodbye!!!

Carl, do you use a bullet sinker just in that area or other rivers too?? i havent seen anyone use that technique before but it makes sense. i use them in lakes bouncing worms along the bottom for bass and almost never hang up using them but i didnt think about bringing them to the river with me, everyone uses slinky or pencil lead out there.

KSR, I have started to use bullet sinkers fishing for chums and silvers at Hood Canal and all over the Green River. I saw a guy using them on the Green down by Boeing Field when the silvers were runnin. He did not snag half as much as guys using pencil lead and he was catching fish too.
Try'em out sometime, I am sure they will be effective on any river.

CC, I can't get up there. My parents won't drive me and I can't get up there any other way. Thanks for the offer though, I sure would like to go fishing with someone that I could learn from.
Thanks

Carl,
I headed up there early Sunday morning but the river was BLOWN, I ended up going home and picking up the wife and kids and heading up to Snoqualmie falls for the day, maybe we can get together over Christmas and fish though. I`m off from Dec. 21st till Jan 2nd. Let me know.

RC, sounds good to me! I am taking a couple of extra days off myself. Hopefully, mother nature will cooperate a little and the river will fall back into shape for Steelies and Chums.
I will be off the 22nd through the 26th and then again the 29th through the 2nd.

Carl,
Let`s try and set up a day to get together and fish..
The 24th and 25th of course would be tough days to fish, except for early in the A.M. on the 24th is a possibility. Any of the other days, no problem..

RC, how about this weekend? Looks like the weather is going to be nice the next couple of days. The Green should drop back into fishable condition by the weekend. Saturday? or Sunday? I will be there both days.

Carl,
Let me know where you`ll be and I`ll meet you up there.
I normally fish around Kanaskat-Palmer area but Flaming Geyser or anywhere else will work also..

Uh - check out the river levels... Should be pretty dang good tomorrow...

I think I will start at Flaming Geyser. How about between 8 and 830 AM on Saturday?

Carl,
Sounds good, I`ll be at Flaming Geyser between 8:00 and 8:30 Saturday..

Went and checked out Flaming Geyser after work. The water was a lot lower and was emerald green in color...PERFECT!
Fishing should be excellent this weekend.

I might see you boy's there...
Got to be home early to get the digtal cable hook up....Sunday 5:00AM off to Dalla,Tx......

How will I know you OMC? Look for my truck, dark blue Chevy with a rear window sticker that says "GOT FISH?"

Hey Carl, any news as to what is happening on the Green????? How about the steelies?

TJ, I fished the Green last Sat, Sun, Mon, and Tuesday. Didn't see very many fish caught. Saw a few fish being carried out at Kanasket-Palmer. Saw a few at Soos Creek launch too. All in all a pretty slow four days.
Might be hitting the Cowlitz this weekend with a buddy.

Sounds good, I might try hitting the Sky. Depends on how much rain we get. I am going to try jig fishing for them. Have you caught any steelies on jigs???

I hear jig and bobber fishing for steelies is a good way to go. I have tried this technique with no luck so far. Guess you have to find the fish first. Try red, purple, and orange for colors. :rolleyes: