The last report that I heard on the snoq. was from Carnation to tokul was very good. Is that really what's going on? What is the brat situation on the snoq. this week, anyone? If there is nothing going on there I'm heading to Bush point. Never been there before. Does anyone know about fishing the salt by bush point. They use the spin-in glows and a red hoochie skirt but how do you retrieve it? Is it a slow retrieve or does the current take it like drift fishing?

Brian, I'd say a "medium" retrieve works best. Hints: Don't stand in the water, retrieve the lure all the way to your feet, if you see one chasing the lure don't slow down your retrieve, and if you see one take your lure make sure you feel the fish with your rod before setting the hook. Just a few commonsensical tips from one that's been there and done that.

The Snoqualime is bad. Sooooo bad the fisheries dept is closing the river (includes tolkul) saturday from plumbs landing up river. Normaly right now the hatchery has 400 or so fish to process, they have 97 as of yesterday. they are also closing for natives. the sky from the cable hole above is also closing. This tells you there aren't very many fish around.

The closure has not been posted on WDFW website or did I miss it?

I haven't fished Bush Pt much but did go on an obsessive "quest" to catch steelhead in saltwater a few years ago; fishing winter runs every free moment @Ft. Casey. I'd be embarrassed to tell you how many hours I put in but I did manage to hook 12 or 13-landing nine (one wuz a real hot fish that cleaned my clock). Ft Casey has more (public) beach access than Bush Pt. I caught most of my fish on a slo to moderately slo flood tides (usually about 2.5'/Hr), 21/2-3 hrs after lo slack, usually around 10-11 in the morning.
To rig up start w/a two hook leader; lead hook 2/0-3/0, trailer a pink marabou aerofly(probably totally unnecessary!) w/a #1 hook (tie so they are as close together as practical). Next-slide on a #12 corkie, a double-skirted hootchy (which resemble, but aren't the same, as those used for salmon fishing, there's usually a good selection @Ace Hardware in Oak Harbor--ask for Gary or Kevin)another #12 corky, a plastic bead, a #4 spin-n-glo and finally peg another plastic bead in front of the spin-n-glo (to prevent the whole mess from sliding up the leader). I ran long leaders (36-48") w/a #8 or #10 crane swivel between leader & mainline. Onto this swivel hang a small duo-lok snap & attach a small piece of punched pencil lead it (u can also rig the pencil lead slider style). Slinkies make it easier to detect bites but I think that the jerking of the pencil lead as it moves along the bottom adds to the (attr)action. The most successful set-up for me was a long leader, clown spin-n-glo w/mylar wings, rocket-red corkie, hootchy w/pink outer and translucent yellow green inner. Most fish hit w/in 10'-15' of the waters edge (Wild fish seem to like this set-up better than hatchery fish). I didn't have much success til started using Pro-cure sand-shrimp oil. I would also reccommend a medium slo to slo retrieve. It gets pretty damned cold due to the incessant wind so dress warm. I hardly believe that any fish would go after this rig but t seems to work better than anything else anyone has come up with. Some people claim to have caught fish on spoons. Fishing seems to be better when there is surf crashing against shore. I hooked two fish by watching my hootchy as I retrieved it and noticing it moving strangely. Both fish were only 12-15' from waters edge and I didn't feel a thing. When hootchy moved again I set the hook and there was a fish there. Every fish I caught felt like a snag till I lifted rod tip. The current doesn't usually make your lure drift so you pretty much have to retrieve constantly. Fishing is at best usually very slo. Hope this helps.

Good Luck!

Roger, wow thanks for the post. It's funny how subjective it is when trying to describe "slow, medium and fast" retrieves. One fisher's slow is another's medium, etc. I'll admit also that comparatively the catch per angling hours is horrible off the beach. Some seasons "hours" can be replaced with "days." Yet, there's something about this unique fishery that keeps me coming back to the island.

Brian, think I'm going to join you at Bush point! Snoq. just flat sucks this year, has been going down-hill fast-last 6 years I've been fishing it. Will keep you posted on success or lack of, on the saltchuck.

chrome to the bone!

I talked to a couple of fall city locals a few days ago. The fishing has been really slow according to them, but they did tell me they saw a 19lb and heard of a 22lb fish come out. one last week and one the week before. both were caught lower on the river.



[This message has been edited by Stadle (edited 01-14-2000).]