If you can’t tell from all my recent posts and reports, I absolutely live for salmon fishing in Puget Sound during the summer months. The early alarm clock wake-up is welcomed on every day I get to push out of the slip or boat ramp and cruise out to the fishing grounds. If you are like me, this is our time to breath it all in… the calm summer waters of Puget Sound, watching the sun crest over the eastern shoreline, planning the day, and deploying our thoughtfully prepared rigging and gear in hopes of a big catch. I wanted to send out a late-August post of the recent happenings in Central Puget Sound’s prime salmon spot, Marine Area 10.
We have at least another solid month of local salmon fishing, and can say that we have as many Chinook in our local area as we have seen at any point in the season, but there are also plenty of Resident Coho still around and the first push of Ocean Coho should hit any day.
Late August Marine Area 10 Salmon Vibes
Chinook have pushed into Puget Sound, and we have been finding them at all the usual Marine Area 10 locales… Jeff Head, Kingston, Oil Docks, Richmond Beach, Boeing Creek, Meadow Point and West Point. I personally have to say that it hasn’t been a guaranteed limit at any location and the general theme is that you need to pick your best location based on how you are feeling about the tides and just go for it. Late summer means that the Chinook are close to heading up into their spawning tributaries, and although they are still feeding, will not necessarily be on the bottom, the last handful of days we have picked up all of our Chinook at mid-water in 50′ to 100′. Coho have been very hungry some days and somewhat elusive the next day. In my recent experiences, the beauty of being able to target suspended Chinook means that you can deploy your spoons, trolling squid rigs and herring at mid-water depths and have a great opportunity to catch both!
The recent weak tides have allowed alot of grass to collect at our favorite spots, and constant gear checks have been part of my program, if we are trolling through it, we will check gear every ten minutes. Stay vigilant and it will help you ensure that your trolling gear is fishing the way it should.
I hope you all get out and enjoy your time out there on Puget Sound, summer will be over before you know it!