SALMON FISHING IN Sekiu has been solid almost non-stop since the ocean salmon season opened July 1.
But recently there have been some tempting obstacles.
While targeting hatchery coho, anglers keep reeling in their wild counterparts.
Unfortunately, it isn’t the wild silvers’ time, so rule-abiding anglers are forced to send them back into the water.
A word of warning to the adipose-finned coho who read this column: Eat up because your days are numbered.
That number is two.
“Come Saturday, you don’t have to release any,” Gary Ryan of Van Riper’s Resort (360-963-2334) in Sekiu said.
Even with wild coho being off-limits, the silver fishing has been strong.
“It’s been excellent,” Ryan said. “I’ve even had some guys tell me it’s been fabulous.”
Ryan also said that he went out a couple of times earlier this week and caught nine fish one day and eight the other — though he only kept one each day.
Eric Hodgson of Strait Fishing LLC (360-460-2237) in Sekiu said that has been common on his boat.
“We’re getting our limits every day, but it seems like you have to go through eight wild coho to get one hatchery [coho],” Hodgson said.
It’s hard to imagine Sekiu salmon fishery being any better than it has been, but apparently that is what is in store.
“Effort typically drops off after Labor Day and then picks up again the middle of September, when anglers fishing off Sekiu can retain any coho,” Steve Thiesfeld, the Puget Sound salmon manager for the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, said.
“But anglers might not want to wait until then because fishing for hatchery coho has been pretty darn good.”
It appears many anglers have been waiting.
Ryan said Van Riper’s Resort is filling up to levels only seen this year during the chinook opener and on Labor Day weekend.
“It has been a trout opener and derby mentality rolled into one,” Ryan said.
Hodgson said the native silvers he has seen sent back into the Strait of Juan de Fuca are “big pigs,” with many weighing as much as 14 or 15 pounds.
“The big ones are rolling in. It’s exciting,” Hodgson said.
“It’s going to be a banner year for wild coho. It’s very likely a state record will be broken.”
The daily limit in Marine Area 5 will remain two salmon. Chinook and chum must be released.
Go shallow
Peninsula resident Pete Rosko has a Sekiu fishing tip.
Recently he did some jigging in the kelp beds off Mussolini Rock for the Angler West television show.
From the first time he dropped his white glow half-ounce Sonic BaitFish from Mack’s Lure, Rosko was hooking fish.
“It went this way as long as we stayed,” Rosko wrote in an email.
Rosko said that salmon anglers don’t utilize the shallower water enough.
“I’ve been fishing Sekiu for over 30 years,” he said.
“During that time, I can count on one hand the number of boats that fished near me off the kelp beds between Slip Point and Pillar Point.
“Especially during this time of year, almost all the boats travel far beyond the kelp beds to troll over the 300 to 500-foot depths.
“Sadly, most are missing terrific action within a few minutes of launching their boat.”
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Outdoors columnist Lee Horton appears here Thursdays and Fridays. He can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5152 or at lhorton@peninsuladailynews.com.
