Great Coho Fishing Trip Near Edmonds!
I had the great honor of joining Guides NW for a little Edmonds Coho Derby pre-fish this morning. This year, fishing everywhere in Puget Sound for Coho Salmon has been nothing short of incredible.
Easy limits are boated before mid-morning in most areas so far this season, and I wanted in on the action.
Long story short, Captain Kent Alger and Captain Andy Shanks operate a completely world class charter operation based out of the Edmonds Marina.
Now for the long story…
Although I hadn’t talked with the guys from Island Guide Service for at least two months, Andy heard word that my Alaska guiding season was cut severely short by a couple broken fingers.
“6am tomorrow Edmonds marina R dock. Nice handicap parking close by. Bring a cooler you’re going to need it!”
When you receive a text like I did last night, you don’t ask questions and you don’t hem and haw… you commit.
Coho Fishing Has Been Off The Charts
Fishing for Coho in the Puget Sound has been nothing short of phenomenal in the past several weeks, with catches great as of last weekend and only getting better. On Sunday September 2, Shilshole fish counters checked in an astounding 169 salmon (2.4 fish per boat), and Everett fish counters checked in 155 salmon (1.8 fish per boat). Needless to say, I was excited and confident we would find fish. Captains Andy and Kent met Gerald and I at 6am on the dot.
We rigged up and made a quick stop at Bud’s Bait. As ole’ Bud counted out our dozen herring, I couldn’t help but notice that the freshness, sheen and scale-intact baits looked better than any frozen baits I have ever fished. We were ready.
Lots Of Boats Out Catching Salmon Near Edmonds
Just beyond the breakwater, the Edmonds armada was fully mobilized. Kent knew that there were fish from Edmonds south to Richmond Beach; he also had a gut feeling that the Snohomish brutes would be just a hair north. We went for numbers and headed south. Within minutes of dropping the downriggers down, not only did we get bit but we witnessed numerous boats in the area hook fish including a double!
We trolled south to Richmond Beach, dodging eelgrass mats and other boats. While the highest concentration of boats fished between Edmonds and the Oil Docks at Point Wells, several charter boats focused on Richmond Beach. There were fish everywhere.
Our fresh herring didn’t disappoint. We fished one surface rod most of the day, fresh cut plug behind a 6 ounce sinker, which tallied up half of our hookups. Gerald was the herring master. I was on the surface rod (only left-handed reel that I could actually use due to my injury). After each quick smack of the herring rod, Gerald would run back and “feed it to ‘em” by stripping back a few pulls, it worked like a charm!
Coho Trolling Gear Choice
We fished 11 inch flashers with Silver Horde spoons and squid. We caught fish early in the morning off the downriggers where gear was set less than 70 feet. After about 9 am, the gear at greater than 90 feet was producing hookups. While I wasn’t really counting, I would say that by 11 am Kent and Andy put Gerald and I on over 12 fish. I will admit that their one-armed guest (me) lost plenty of fish with fumbling around fighting fish with rod in the rod holder. Their patience was nothing less than amazing. I will admit that I lost far more fish than I landed, and their demeanor truly revealed how dedicated they were to offering a great fishing experience.
We ended up with five Coho Salmon landed out of at least twelve.
To anyone looking for a phenomenal fishing experience, I would highly recommend fishing with Captain Kent Alger of Guides NW. Check out their program… guidesnw.com/
My First Albacore Tuna Fishing Trip!
