HOOCHIES OR COHO Killer spoons. Those are the ways of the angler seeking silvers on salt water.
Football analysts on television enjoy pointing out that the NFL is a copycat league, meaning if a team finds success with a concept, others will soon follow.
That type of thinking also applies to anglers.
“Coho Killers and hoochies are always the most popular, and they are what folks are having success on this season,” said Brian Menkal of Brian’s Sporting Goods and More (360-683-1950) in Sequim.
“But it’s not so much what you have, it’s when you find them. They are a pretty aggressive fish and almost anything will provoke them.
“But it’s hard to resist making a change when somebody brings in a nice 9-pounder on a different setup and you are struggling.”
A bevy of Port Angeles-based reports from members of the North Olympic Peninsula Chapter of the Puget Sound Anglers show hoochies to be the method of choice.
These anglers are predominately fishing the Rock Pile off Port Angeles while slowly trolling with white UV hoochies.
Downriggers are being set at depths ranging from 50 to 90 feet.
“All the guys I’m talking to seem to be consistently catching limits,” said Jerry Wright of Jerry’s Bait and Tackle (360-457-1308) in Port Angeles.
“There’s an occasional fish that gets up into double digits or even the low teens, but for the most part there’s really no size to them.”
For anglers to have success, they must stay patient.
Some groups are staying out for an afternoon and hooking into four to six fish in a four-hour span.
Tough go on rivers
Conditions are difficult with low water levels still plaguing most West End rivers.
“It’s tough, especially on the Sol Duc since it’s so low and clear and the fish are educated by now,” Wright said.
“And there’s just not a lot of fish in there right now.”
Menkal headed west Monday and stopped to fish the Sol Duc.
“We went to the Sol Duc Hatchery and there was no activity and no fish in the river,” Menkal said.
“There was nobody at the Shuwah Hole, either, and that’s when I thought, ‘Uh oh.’
“We went fishing in the Calawah and there were some older steelhead and a few salmon, but it was rough.”
Wright ventured down to fish the Hoh River on Sunday and Monday.
“We got our limits casting spinners and pulling plugs but we really had to work for it,” Wright said.
“I had first water pretty much the whole way through and never got a bite.
“We were just picking them up in little pocket waters and near tree limbs in the water.”
Wright also reached out to gauge the opinions of other anglers.
“It was tough for me, anyway, and I talked to quite a few guides out there who said the same thing,” Wright said.
“I talked to a guy that fished the Clearwater, and he said it was terrible.
“I was surprised. I didn’t even see many fish rolling. I just haven’t seen that [lack of activity] at this time of year.”
Dungeness slow
The Dungeness River opened for coho and trout fishing last Friday, but anglers had trouble finding prospects.
“Guys are saying there’s hardly any fish in that river,” Wright said.
Menkal fished the Dungeness on Wednesday and Thursday and said he saw some fish trickling in.
“These were nice, bright fish, but they were only coming three or four at a time, and not in any big schools,” Menkal said.
“There are just very few coming in, and with the really low water it’s a test.”
Menkal said he had one on the line but it threw the hook near the bank and came loose on him.
He advised to go with a finesse approach at first, trying out corkie and yarn setups, before attempting to cast with spinner lures.
“Agitators will provoke a fight or flight response,” Menkal said.
“You don’t want to spook them or they wont touch anything, so it’s a good bet to go soft first and then switch it up, if need be.”
With the low water levels, the coho will be wary and will look for deeper pools.
Spinners can get good results in these situations because the vibration they release as they are pulled slowly through the water can trigger aggressive strikes.
Wright still holds hope for a solid fall coho run.
“We just need to get some weather in,” Wright said.
“I still think we can get some fish, but they are out waiting for the rain.
“I think its just a later year due to the weather we’ve been having. Or not been having.”
Buck fever
I’ll always do a double take when I hear a high school athlete is missing a game for the deer season opener.
There will be ample season openers in one’s life, but how many high school football games do you get to play?
The best line came from Clallam Bay coach Cal Ritter after his team beat Crescent last Saturday.
Ritter already had clocked a few early morning hours that day hunting.
“I don’t know what these schools are thinking scheduling games on opening day,” he said.
Ritter was joking, but the shred of truth behind his line was evident.
Menkal said the mild evening temperatures aren’t helping hunters.
“Many might still be nocturnal and not out feeding during the prime hunting times in the morning or late afternoon,” Menkal said.
Weather effects
“Our unusually warm fall, no frost here yet and tomatoes still coming, has had some remarkable effects on hunting and fishing success here on the North Olympic Peninsula,” said Ward Norden, owner of Snapper Tackle Company and a former fishery biologist.
He went to check Lake Leland and found something curious.
“As of Tuesday this week, Lake Leland has actually gotten warmer in the last three weeks,” Norden said.
“The water temp has climbed to 54 degrees instead of a more normal 45.
“This warm temperature has kept the trout planted a month ago actively feeding, and their numbers have been seriously thinned by all the anglers taking advantage of the situation.”
Norden said the fishing for those trout has slowed, but that may not be a bad thing.
“The warmer water has lead to the first big blue/green algae bloom I have seen on the lake in a couple years,” Norden said.
A check with Jefferson County Public Health’s Environmental Health and Water Quality division showed a “Caution” for Lake Leland as of Oct. 5.
The lake is listed as having a “moderate bloom,” and a toxin is present.
Under a caution anglers are advised to clean fish well and discard guts.
“I recommend not eating the skin of any of the fish an angler might catch at the lake,” Norden said.
“The meat will be fine, of course, and as soon as the water cools down, the algae will disappear quickly.”
No ducks on the bays
Norden thinks the warm temperatures are keeping the feathered flock away from Hood Canal bays.
“In some areas, where there would normally be a few thousand birds and lots of teal, currently there are only a few hundred birds and no teal,” Warden said.
“Opening day hunters did have limited success on mallards and pintail, but we can just hope some big storms headed into B.C. and southeast Alaska will drive a few more birds south soon.”
Fishing course
Menkal will hold his two-part “Introduction to Salmon and Steelhead” fishing course at his store starting this Tuesday and continuing Tuesday, Nov. 3.
The class meets at 6 p.m. each night.
Menkal will offer information on how to fish all the major rivers on the North Olympic Peninsula.
The cost of the course is $25.
To sign up, phone 360-683-1950.
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Outdoors columnist Michael Carman appears here Thursdays and Fridays. He can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5152 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.