It's No Longer Just A Case Of Imagining Things

Let's face it, no matter how you look at things this season has been a bust so far. Yes, there are people who have caught fish but there's been a whole lot of fishing and very little catching.

Case in point let's look at shakers. Correct me if I'm wrong but it seems the only shakers being caught are the small ones, the 6-8" variety. Missing are the ones bigger than that, the 14-18" that are big enough to let you know they're there but not big enough to keep.

Let's talk about bait, or should I say the lack of it. Places like Jeff Head usually has tons of it. My trips out have found very little bait and what there is seems to be deep, really deep like over 200'.

There's other indicators too, like the creel census numbers or the tribes not even putting in their nets in Sinclair Inlet. Everything seems to point out "the fish are not there."

After a casual dockside conversation I think there might be a reason.

So, let me throw this tidbit out. Seems this guy spent 4 days up in Canada salmon fishing and caught a total of 3 fish. One of the guides there advanced the theory that the near shore water temps are much higher than usual, like 4 degrees. Because of that the fish are staying out in the ocean. Makers sense to me. I don't keep records but today the surface water temp was 58 degrees. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think I remember last years temps being more like 52 degrees. With all the 80ish temps we've had this summer it seems like a logical reason. I'd like to hear everybody else's 2 cents worth.

Pretty darn good fishing along the Oregon coast!
Can't believe they are not out there someplace?

I've seen quite a bit of bait on all my outings this year. But something might be going on. I'm in no way an experienced fisherman so I don't have any comparison data but it may not be as simple as them being in the ocean.

There's too much troubling data about the health of the oceans and climate change to overlook. I don't think it's one specific cause.

I concur with the lack of bait this year. They are saying its an el nino year. So what makes salmon fishing bad I think will make the tuna fishing great.

I think all the great ocean fishing this year is the 1.6 million kings and 1 million cohos headed to the Columbia river.

If the fish are staying out hopefully its for another year and not just late. Make some nice biggins for next year.

There does seem to be a lot more cohos coming in early in the straits so hopefully that is a sign of a huge run of them later this summer/early fall.

A commercial fisherman friend from AK says in his area the run was about double the forecast. Fraser sockeye seem to be below forecast, Lake WA and Baker were low, some summer steelhead returns were dismal in GH, as also appears to be fish off the coast.

Traditonally, when AK has good conditions for salmonids the opposite is true in OR and WA.

Plenty of fish out deep in the ocean......and bait balls. I'm not scared yet, plenty of time to have some fun.Good luck,

SZ

That's sort of my point. My intention wasn't to say the fish aren't coming. It's more like they are out there. Is it the higher surface temps of the near shore waters holding them out in the ocean longer? Returning fish key in on the fresh water from their natal streams that float on the surface. Higher temps in the surface layers might be holding them back.

During the humpy run we were not seeing the huge schools of fish along the shore line like we have seen in past years. The fish were there, they just weren't following their customary patterns. The abundance of pinks that hit the rivers attest to the fact that the run size was huge, but those of us that targeted them in the salt found it somewhat difficult to find them. (Ok, this is where Mr. "I caught millions" chimes in). But for many, many of the salt guys I spoke to it was hard to find the schools.

I bumped into a WDFW fish biologist and asked his opinion as to the change. His response was "water temps"! He say that Puget sound is heating up. And that the fish are seeking cooler water channels as they enter the sound. Those channels (current flows) have shifted due to the higher temps. Sort of like moving inversion layers, only like cool water rivers running through the water. Those currents are deeper and move around, so it is very hard to predict where the fish will be at any given time. As an interesting note, he also said that they suspect that it is also impacting the chinook to some degree and my help explain the down turn in catch ratios. They fish just aren't where they used to always be.

What causes population?

Big Stick watch. Not a full-on warning yet, but the conditions are conducive. . .

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Temp is certainly important. I fish the Columbia pretty regular including 4 days in June with the water temp still cool at a Spring level. We fished in water 12-14 feet deep and did well. But for URBs in Sept the water will be much warmer and you need to fish down at 35-40 feet because down deeper the water is cooler.

Vaginas?