Fishing with Cliff

I will never knock Canadian fishermen ever again.  These are some serious hardcore ice fishermen to be…   Well, watch this video and see for yourself!

Insane Canadian Fisherman – Watch more Funny Videos

Now is the time to get commenting if you want a say in the next round of rule changes for fishing in Washington State.  The WSDFW is taking written commentary on the new fishing rules and will be having a public meeting on December 4-5. 

Here are a couple of the proposed changes, but you should visit the WSDFW Website to read all of them and find out where to send your comments.

• Prohibit the harvest of all species of “unclassified” marine fish and invertebrates – such as blennies, tide pool sculpins, starfish, sand dollars and shorecrabs – which can either be found on Washington’s beaches or in nearshore waters. The proposal does not prohibit collecting empty shells from any species.
• Develop a set of protective measures for rockfish, including prohibiting retention of rockfish in marine areas 6 through 13 and closing the retention of bottomfish in waters deeper than 20 fathoms in marine areas 4 (east of the Bonilla-Tatoosh line) through 13.
• Close fishing seasons that allow retention of hatchery-reared steelhead a month earlier on a stretch of the Skagit River and two weeks earlier on portions of several other north Puget Sound rivers including the Pilchuck, Raging, Skykomish, Snohomish, Snoqualmie, Stillaguamish, Nooksack and north, south and middle Nooksack rivers, as well as Pilchuck creek. All of those rivers would close to retention of hatchery steelhead at the end of the day on Feb. 15 under proposals designed to further efforts to conserve and restore Puget Sound wild steelhead, which are listed for protection under the federal Endangered Species Act.

So if you want a say in how our fishery is managed, now is the time to take action.  Kind of like when the election comes around, this is your time to complain and make a difference so get on it!

If you haven’t been paying attention to the news lately, there is a name change coming to the Puget Sound region.  Puget Sound along with the adjoining waters are being renamed the Salish Sea.

This move has passed the initial hurdles and is currently awaiting the approval of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names and the Canadians.  I am just wondering if if they are going to leave the individual names in place or if we are all going to become Salish Sea residents?

The move is actually fine with me, and I understand the need to have a coordinated effort to preserve the shared waters of what will soon be the Salish Sea.  May be this will help make a focused effort from everyone that enjoys the bounty of the Salish Sea, including the commercial fishermen and the Indian tribes, both of which I cast a accusatory eye at.

Stay tuned, a map change is sure to be in our future!

The rain is here in earnest, so why not go indoors and stay dry while at the same time learning something new about fishing.  Here are a few Seattle area seminars and events that you may want to check out!

• Ted’s Sport Center, 15526 Highway 99 North in Lynnwood, is hosting a free blackmouth fishery clinic 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday with Captain Downriggin’s John Abbott. Details: 425-743-9505.

• Three Rivers Marine and Tackle, 24300 Snohomish Woodinville Road in Woodinville, is hosting a blackmouth fishing seminar 7 p.m. Wednesday with Capt. Randy Doucet of Northwest Fishing Charters and Capt. Andy Shanks with Island Guide Service. Details: 425-415-1575 or www.3riversmarine.com.

• The Orvis Store in Bellevue is hosting a winter steelhead roundtable at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Learn from the best steelhead anglers about flies, presentation techniques, casts and water reading. Details: 425-452-9138.

• The Sportsmen for the Preservation of our Rivers and Streams are looking for volunteers 9 a.m. to noon Saturday for a cleanup on the Skagit River in LaConner. Details: 253-861-8964 or rosendo64@yahoo.com.

I just was at the Washington State Fish and Wildlife website this morning and notice that they are wired up and on Twitter as well as have videos on YouTube?  If you are a Twitter-holic be sure to add them to your follows!

So we got a comment on our video Steelhead Trout Fishing on the Skykomish recently asking about fishing for Pink Salmon.  We were amazed since usually what we are getting is insults!  FishingGuy101 asks:

Cool i went fishing today for 10 hours wading for pink salmon using buzz bombs,pink spoons,pink squids,and pink jigs but had no luck any tips?also we are heading snohomish river and tips there

I am going to guess that you were fishing the salt for them and I am thinking they are pretty well up and out of the Sound and on their way up the rivers by now.  That would explain why you didn’t pick anything up.  Either that or you fish like we do, horribly.

On what to use, the same type of things you would be using in the salt water works in the rivers, just downsize a bit.  Drifting a pink jig works well, just watch for the bite on the drop and work it slow.  Heading for the rivers, I would grab a fist full of pink spoons in different weights for use in fast or slow water.

The big question for me is if you can find some shoreline without people on it!

It does worry me that the Humboldt Squid will take up residence in our Northern waters.  Traditionally they have stayed down off the coast of California, but to see them coming all the way up to B.C. is a bit unnerving.

Article on Humboldt Squid being caught at Sekiu

The most recent article I have read was written by Seattle Times writer Mark Yuasa about people catching Humboldt Squid off of Sekiu.

My only question is anyone actually going out trying to catch them, and if so what are you doing with them?

With the start of the Fall rains, I am going to guess that the Pinks will be heading for the rivers now, but during their stay in Puget Sound they have been a lot of fun.  Anglers from shore and boat have taken their share of what is said to be a run of about 5,000,000 Pink Salmon into Puget Sound.

Sorry for not looking my sexiest (yes I need a haircut) but even the FWC crew has managed to boat a few of these small but feisty fish.  Now it will be time for the anglers in the rivers to take up the charge, and from what I am hearing, they are doing rather well.

Plenty of people have definitely been out fishing for Pinks.  If you go to pretty much any sporting goods store, their supply of pink squids and white flashers is pretty well wiped out.

You would think that this would give some indicator of what sort a boon it is to have BIG salmon runs in this area.  It would be nice if our elected representatives worked a bit harder to promote the interests of the recreational fishermen over the commercial and tribal fisheries.  But that is another rant for another day.

If you haven’t gotten out and got in on the action, I wouldn’t wait much longer, or else head for the rivers.  Of course Coho season is on the doorstep, so if you have missed the humpies there is always their bigger cousins to go after.

Winter fishing is coming and I know Thomas will be complaining that his fingers are cold when we are out trolling on Puget Sound this Winter.  By far the leader in the market is Glacier Glove but I know there have to be some other manufacturers of quality winter fishing gloves.

So, the question of the day is what is your favorite cold weather fishing glove? 

One of my favorite lures is a spoon.  For Trout, Salmon and a bunch of other fish, it is a greatly overlooked lure.  My main focus here though is how to modify Salmon spoons so that you keep more of the fish that you hook.  The common problem, especially for those of us using barbless hooks is that the spoon can  twist the hook right out of the Salmon as it starts thrashing around.  In this video from Captain Downriggin, he talks about adding a swivel to your Salmon spoon to prevent this!

How to Modify Salmon Spoons by Adding a Swivel

One thing he briefly touches on is that he swaps out the hook as well.  Often times the hooks that come on spoons are cheap Chinese junk that will bend or break.  Not to mention that they will not penetrate as easily or stay as sharp as a top quality hook.

In any case, don’t just run your Salmon spoon straight out of the box.  We need all the help we can these days putting fish in the bucket, and adding a swivel between the hook and the spoon is just one more trick for making that happen!