09-23 REELLIFE digital - Flipbook - Page 27
Marine Area 5, better known
as Sekiu, is where you will find
me and several other anglers in
September. As the fish filter out
of the Pacific and enter the straits
they start to break apart, with
Canadian stocks and American
bound fish heading into the San
Juan Islands, where the Canuck
bound silvers such as those
headed to the Fraser will make
the turn north. Coho headed for
places like the Skykomish, Green,
Puyallup, Nisqually, Skokomish,
and Minter will turn south. This
make-up of fish is projected to be
760,000 coho, which is up from
the 2022 run of 666,648 silvers.
They all will travel by Sekiu, and the
calm waters out of Clallam Bay
means anyone with a boat can
catch them.
Once they go past Pillar Point and
continue east, the fish will pass
right by the entrance to Hood
Canal.
Here, the Skokomish, Quilcene,
and other rivers and creeks that
feed into the fjord will break away
from the crowds and head south.
It is the only place where you can
target Skokomish bound fish, all
26,609 of the 112,710 Hood Canal
coho projected to return this year.
Continuing to Puget Sound and
Marine Areas 8, 9, and 10, fish
here are heading to rivers such
as the Nooksack, with 76,943
coho projected back, or the
Snohomish system, with 93,500
silvers expected to return this fall.
The Green River that turns into
the Duwamish and dumps into
Elliot Bay is expected to get 110,756
silvers. This makes the central
Puget Sound waters prime for
September coho fishing.
Deep south of Puget Sound,
Marine Area 13 sees good runs of
ocean coho as well as a healthy
population of resident coho which
are caught here year around.
Beach anglers and fly fishers are
known to target resident coho
in the springtime, but come
September, it is the ocean fish
everyone wants to catch. The
Nisqually is projected to get 16,898
silvers and Minter Creek about
15,130, but it is the Squaxin Island
net pens which raise the majority
of the resident coho that helps
pump out an expected return of
45,417 coho this year.
The total return for the deep south
Sound area 13 is 92,754, but keep
in mind if you plan to target the
Minter Creek return in the salt
water that you must stay 1,000
feet away from the oyster outer
stakes at the creek mouth.
When it comes to catching coho,
anglers need to look ,at the top
water.
SEPT 2023 | 27