Tides, Rivers, and the Salmon

A place for readers to talk about river fishing in Washington.
Forum rules
Forum Post Guidelines: This Forum is rated “Family Friendly”. Civil discussions are encouraged and welcomed. Name calling, negative, harassing, or threatening comments will be removed and may result in suspension or IP Ban without notice. Please refer to the Terms of Service and Forum Guidelines post for more information. Thank you
Post Reply
User avatar
Dustin07
Commodore
Posts: 965
Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2007 12:45 pm
Location: Enumclaw

Tides, Rivers, and the Salmon

Post by Dustin07 » Fri Sep 11, 2009 12:10 pm

Do you think tides play a role on these Salmon runs? I noticed that my best fishing experiences on the Puyallup these past weeks has been about 1hr after high tide in commencement. Thoughts?

User avatar
noclothes1
Lieutenant
Posts: 228
Joined: Tue May 01, 2007 1:10 pm
Location: Bellingham

RE:Tides, Rivers, and the Salmon

Post by noclothes1 » Fri Sep 11, 2009 12:25 pm

My understanding is usually the high tide will bring/push fish into the system. Depending on where you are on the river will determine what part of the tide cycle will put the "new" fish in front of you since the fish need to travel. Also, fish in the river will move faster depending on the whether the tidal water is rushing back out or not. The best thing to do is what you are doing; fish, make observations, take notes, lather, rinse, and repeat. Some access areas will fish better at different times of the tidal shifts. Lower tidal water and estuaries tend to fish better two hours before through up to high tide. This doesn't mean you can't catch fish at other timers though.
"It's the failure that keeps me coming back"

User avatar
returnofthefish
Captain
Posts: 656
Joined: Mon Apr 20, 2009 7:41 pm
Location: 206

RE:Tides, Rivers, and the Salmon

Post by returnofthefish » Fri Sep 11, 2009 7:26 pm

I think that the tide does influence the fish in some rivers. An example is the Duwamish/Green river. I hear that the bite is dead when the tide is high at that river. I was on a footbridge yesterday and observed schools and schools of fish swimming through. The pinks were jumping a lot. The guys were casting thier lures through the schools and not one bite. Some of the reports said the fish were caught at low tide.
Catch and Release Wild Trout
Catch and Release Wild Women

Blackmouth
Lieutenant
Posts: 250
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2008 12:27 am
Location: Seattle

RE:Tides, Rivers, and the Salmon

Post by Blackmouth » Fri Sep 11, 2009 7:38 pm

Fish tend to push into rivers on incoming tides. Thus, the reason for more successful "catching" in your case returnofthefish just past the high tide mark.

User avatar
Dustin07
Commodore
Posts: 965
Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2007 12:45 pm
Location: Enumclaw

RE:Tides, Rivers, and the Salmon

Post by Dustin07 » Sat Sep 12, 2009 11:46 am

Interesting-

What I've been seeing personally, is that I have caught much more a few hours after hightide. The last few times I've been out have been during low tide and I have not had near the success.

Post Reply