My buddy and I decided to try and fish the high tide this morning at the Boeing hole before work. We arrived at the spot before sunlight and had lines in the water a few hours before peak high tide this morning at around 7am (peak high tide was around 1045am). We attempted to drift some store bought eggs (Ted's) and corkies. We're both fairly new to fishing the Duwamish and are relying on fairly popular and well known spots. We are also still learning how to read the tidally influenced areas of the Duwamish and decided to check out this spot we've fished on low tide, during the incoming high tide. We still have a lot to learn.

We were using about 28" of leader on medium sized corkies tied to a size 1 hook and half clumps of salmon roe. We tried to drift these at first light throwing them as you should but the water was doing very crazy things. My drifts were going all over the place and the water was almost "swirling" in front of us at the spot we settled at. We only had an hour to fish so we decided to just suck it up and see what happens.

After a few casts and having no luck at getting a good natural drift I opted to swap out my slinky weight with a 3/4oz bank sinker to try and "plunk" with my eggs sort of. I had a few nibbles (probably bait fish) but nothing that warranted setting the hook. After about a dozen or so casts, the alarm rang and it was time to hit the office.

High tide this morning wasn't what I hoped for (hoping to land a fish of course) but it was a good learning experience at the spot I've seen in low tide. I'm not sure if a lot of fish have moved down river at this point or if I was fishing simply at the hardest/worst time you could, but I will be back down on the Duwamish this afternoon after work to try my luck again. If anyone knows of some decent spots fish hold at, PM me and I'd be grateful. If anyone has any advice please drop me a line as I need as much as I can get.

good luck and hope other people have better luck than I did this morning. Go get em.

"A bad day of fishing is better than a good day at work." --Unknown

riverhunter

10/7/2016 10:42:00 AM

Personal opinion is to fish it on the outgoing tide. Don't fish the duwamish very often but the way I like to think it works is that the fish are on the move at high tide and not interested in much but urge to move upstream. Outgoing tide in the other usually for me holds more fish as the water level drops so fish tend to hold in areas better as they try to fight current more and are sorta trapped by the lower water levels. This is just my opinion and not being to familiar with duwamish can't really say it is true. Also that swirling effect is caused when currents from the river going out meet incoming tides causing it to swirl.

jrodell27

10/7/2016 11:52:00 AM

Thanks for your advice @riverhunter! This may sound like a dumb question and although I have some very basic knowledge on the tides - how can you tell which set is "incoming" versus "outgoing"? Looking at the height levels? I figure if the numbers are going "down" from the first tide to the last tide of the day that is "outgoing" yah? If they are rising, that's incoming?

That swirling effect must have been due to our poor timing and fishing this spot. At least I know during that "time" the hole isn't the best place to be fishing at! :) I might move further down river than the Boeing hole tonight (maybe Allentown). I get off around 4 so I should have a couple of hours before it gets dark.

chantaclair

10/7/2016 12:18:00 PM

at low tide a lot of fish hold in that power line hole, i see them with my new fish/gps garmin. I fish from a boat , but if i was there i would try to fish from the point on the north end of that hole. I would use a jig or a spinner/spoon. The river is pretty shallow in some parts after you pass tukwila intl. blvd. bridge. there is a deep hole at a bend in the river as you go towards allen town, i think it is across the street from a park. it is before the allen town store( i'm not to sure of the streets ,i just know the area by traveling around there) i think it is where south 115th street turns into 42nd avenue south. Hope this helps

riverhunter

10/7/2016 2:12:00 PM

https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/noaatidepredictions/NOAATidesFacade.jsp?Stationid=9447029
This can help figuring out tides. Usually 1hr plus difference from day to day

jrodell27

10/7/2016 3:43:00 PM

@Chantaclair - thank you for the tips kind sir! I have been to the powerline hole during high tide and it was terrible not having back casting room. I will try this another time at low tide and maybe I'll fair a little better! Thank you so much for all your help - I will report if I get lucky!

@Riverhunter - thank you very much for the information sir. I've been using SaltWaterTides.com but I like the noaa format better with the graph. Much appreciated for this reference!

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