IF YOUR AIM is coho, the premier methodology is dropping the boat off at the ramp and heading out where the fish are.
Not everyone, however, owns a sea-worthy vessel with downriggers and the latest GPS and fish-finder navigation systems.
What to do if you can’t pull together the next best option: cadging a ride on a Strait of Juan de Fuca-bound boat?
You can try your luck from shore.
It’s a tougher task, but it can still yield an entertaining outing, and just maybe a coho fillet for dinner.
Point Wilson
Head into Fort Worden State Park and drive all the way to the parking lot at the lighthouse.
Salmon returning to central and southern Puget Sound waters must pass through Admiralty Inlet, with Point Wilson positioned squarely in the middle.
Like Marrowstone Point, Point Wilson produces an hour before and after high tide.
For lighter bait, which will work as well here as Marrowstone, use a medium-heavy spinning rod, of a length of about 8½ feet.
You can rig it up with a 12- to 15-pound test line for salmon.
A bonus here is you can use the same rod and rig to fish for coho on the Dungeness River or on the Sol Duc, Bogachiel or any other West End river. The setup provides that versatility.
Use a much lighter or limber rod if using the cut-plug or herring strip method.
Marrowstone Point
Located in Fort Flagler State Park, Marrowstone Point is on the far northeastern tip of Marrowstone Island.
Enter the park, turn right on Marrowstone Point Drive and follow the road down the hill to the beach and lighthouse.
Anglers can target hatchery coho now through Sept. 23 and wild and hatchery from Sept. 24-30.
A two-hour window to catch salmon can be found at this beach, which juts out into Puget Sound and provides stunning views of Mount Baker and the Cascades, and a prime view of the busy shipping channel.
The best time to fish Marrowstone Point is an hour before high tide to an hour after, waiting for all that water to come in against the beach and push the fish in.
Buzz Bombs are what the majority of people are going to employ.
Crocodile or pixie spoons, 1-ounce darts also work — anything resembling a small baitfish.
Using a cut-plug herring or a herring strip is another method to try.
If using herring, just be careful on the cast and use a little touch. If you cast too vigorously, the hooks will pull through the herring and it’s over before it started.
Portage Canal
Cross the bridge over to Indian Island and take the first right to South Indian Island County Park just off state Highway 116.
Coho and even some kings will run through here, as well as sea-run cutthroat.
This also is a productive clamming beach to the east around the jetty, so an enterprising angler could kill two birds with one stone if the seasons line up and there are no restrictions in place.
High tide produces the best results on the Indian Island side, and low tide is a better time to fish the beach on the mainland side off Old Ferry Road.
Watch for private property on this side.
Anglers also could drive a few miles down Oak Bay Road to Oak Bay County Park to try a cast or two out into the bay.
Gibson Spit
Gibson Spit is in Sequim Bay, which is open Aug. 16 through Sept. 26 for hatchery coho.
Parking for this spot is available at Marilyn Nelson County Park at the end of Port Williams Road near Sequim.
When this portion of Marine Area 6 opens, fish a later tide. There’s an eddy that forms off Gibson Point and catches bait fish and moves them around. Bigger fish will cruise the point and wait for them.
Tongue Point
Tongue Point at Salt Creek County Park could provide another shore option.
It’s an easy walk out on the beach from the small parking lot near the private Crescent Beach, and it does get you out further into the Strait, but the kelp beds can really slow the casting action.
Ediz Hook
Ediz Hook is the obvious standout. It pokes outwardly into the Strait and offers the best chance at a coho.
Folks will shore fish right around the big silver cans there near the mill as coho will come in closer to shore on occasion.
High tide would be the best time to attempt a cast.
And a tip: fish toward Vancouver Island, not toward Hurricane Ridge.
Fishing 3- or 4-ounce tackle is the move, or go with pulling a tried-and-true spoon like a Coho Killer or tie up the old-fashioned way with a cut-plug herring.
That herring, if you choose to accept it as your method, should be a bit smaller than a normal summer chinook cut-plug as the coho aren’t necessarily looking to enjoy a bait buffet.
Anglers also can take the easy way out and do some jigging with Buzz Bombs.
________
Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at sports@ peninsuladailynews.com.
