Hoodsport fishing

[The Quadfather]

I am making a trip over to the Hoodsport area next weekend for something other than salt water fishing.... but if my plans fall through, i can put the boat in around Hoodsport somewhere.
Can anyone tell me of a launch I can use near there? And of course I didn't look at my regs. before posting this, but what is running through there at this time,, silves??

help....

[A9]

Silvers/Chums from what I've heard...Early chums though...

[zen leecher aka Bill W]

Might be a little early for chums. Early November is good for them, though. There is a launch in Hoodsport with a big parking lot and a paved launch. I believe it's free. It's about 2 miles below the hatchery.

[shawn]

The silvers are pushing thru in pretty good numbers right now in that area,and the chum are also showing up as well just not in great numbers yet.The chum that are around are still in there ocean phase of their apperance not too uglt yet.

[The Quadfather]

Might be a little early for chums. Early November is good for them, though. There is a launch in Hoodsport with a big parking lot and a paved launch. I believe it's free. It's about 2 miles below the hatchery.

Thanks for that info.

[Mike Carey]

I've never fished forthem but I have heard the king run is pretty good as well, but this may be late, don't know...

Main saltwater launch is about 2-3 miles south, Potlatch I think it is. State park. Long, cracked double lane ramp with no pier. Can get busy on the weekends, plus the netting boats clog it up. But it's the only game in the immediate area.

Beware a strong south wind that can kick up in the afternoons sometimes, coming back is a bear in a smaller boat.

[littleriver]

The potlatch ramp is almost exactly 3 miles south of hoodsport hatchery. Hoodsport hatchery is a "double decker" kind of thing supporting both chinook salmon and chum. The chinooks return in August the Chums in Late October into early November. There is another chinook hatchery further south on a tributary to the Skokomish River and a coho hatchery near the mouth of the Skok.

There are other launching options though. The little town of Union (on the south shore of the canal) has a small ramp with limited parking and no dock. Further North (about 15 miles or so) there's a pretty good ramp at Triton Cove State Park. There is another ramp way up north by the floating bridge. It's called the "Shine Wetlands" access area. It's a pretty good ramp but it's steep and there's limited parking and no dock. It's right next to the west end of the floating bridge. The last two places are good spots to intercept coho and chum (it's way too late for the chinookies) headed for the skokomish river, the Quilcene River, and the Hoodsport Hatchery. One of the neat things about Hood canal is that right now the limit is 4. That brings back memories of the good ol' days when a license cost $6 and the limit was 5 and there were no punchcards. But now I'm dating myself. Anyways, in regard to intercepting chum, one of the hot new tactics that made a lot of news last year was to use small baits (i.e. herring or smelt or anchovies about 4 to 6 inches long) below slip bobbers. According to the reports the guys who do it right enjoy catching and releasing dozens of big Chum in a day of fishing. But to "get it right" you need to know more than how to rig a slip bobber or how to stick a small smelt or herring on a hook. You need to also know that chum move close to the shoreline and that they are very sensitive to shadows and noises. So, to be successful, you need to know how to move into the hot zones with a lot of stealth and how to figure out where those hot zones are.

I haven't tried the technique myself yet, but one of these years I'll get out there and see how it works.

[Easy Limits]

The chums usually start to show in numbers at the Zone around the last week in October. Best fishing will be the first two weeks in November. Get there before the tribe start netting because there won't be any fish left after they are done.

[shawn]

I was out in area 12 yesterday.The silvers are pushing thru pretty good right now.The chum are starting to show but not in alot of numbers.I caught 2 Silvers and one Chum.The report should be up later but no pics since I played butterfingers with my digital camera and gave it a salt water bath in about 30 feet of water. Thank God it was just and old cheapy I bought to take fishing.

[littleriver]

On saturday the fish checkers logged 25 chum for 37 anglers at hoodsport.


So it sounds like the run has just begun.


I think that's where I'll be headed this weekend. Gonna be a zoo, but
it's really crazy how many fish seem to be able to get by those tribal nets.