Northwest Fishing Reports

Does anyone know any good beaches where I can saltwater fish for steelhead? Here is an article about saltwater steelheading. http://www.steelheader.net/steelhead/sa ... elhead.htm Are there any more methods?

Check the Shorefishing on the Sound thread just below this one. I talked into some depth about it...

That method is pretty much the standard rig out there...Bluefoxes and Spoons would probably do the trick too...

The old stand by is Bush Point on Whidbey Island. They use the "Bush Point Specials" out there which are a large orange/red hootchie with a LARGE spin and glow ahead of it. Just make a good long cast and reel it back in slowly. They will often hit right at the shoreline so don't give up on your cast too soon.

That's where I've fished plenty of times off the beach, and where I plan on going...

Make sure to stand a few feet off the shore, otherwise you'll spook the steelhead that run really shallow cause often times they are on the shoreline..

GJorgy wrote:The old stand by is Bush Point on Whidbey Island. They use the "Bush Point Specials" out there which are a large orange/red hootchie with a LARGE spin and glow ahead of it. Just make a good long cast and reel it back in slowly. They will often hit right at the shoreline so don't give up on your cast too soon.

Hey, what about the other side of the sound? Any good shore points there? Also, what if I can get access to a boat? I happen to know someone with a boat in Kingston that has expressed interest in getting some steelhead.

They run so close to the shore you might be at a disadvantage when fishing from a boat...

Lots of these steelies run down around Whidbey up to the Snohomish and the Stilly too I believe so I'd think that some steelhead could be intercepted over there...

What about like des moines redondo, or hoods canal?
I would like to intercept them before they get to the nets.

in a way i understand the nets buti dont really like the way they impact the fishing in that area. i say let some people catch steelhead the way they should be caught. hook line and sinker. thats almost the only way you can enjoy their great fighting skills.

Fisherman_max wrote:in a way i understand the nets buti dont really like the way they impact the fishing in that area. i say let some people catch steelhead the way they should be caught. hook line and sinker. thats almost the only way you can enjoy their great fighting skills.

AHAHAHAH try telling the Indians that...

yea i know, they have their rights to the land's recources especially cuzz we ran them out without barely giving them a chance.

Derrick-k wrote:What about like des moines redondo, or hoods canal?
I would like to intercept them before they get to the nets.

If not the Des Miones or Redondoe area what would be the closest to those areas?

After having fished for saltwater steelies, my conclusion is that it is a waste of time. YOu will roughly average about 1 fish for every 6 hours, if you are lucky. Most of the time you will get skunked for many trips. If you hook one, you will have a challenge bringing it to shore, since you are required to use barbless hooks.

Your odds of regularly hooking and landing a fish are much much better in the river.

Shad_Eating_Grin wrote:After having fished for saltwater steelies, my conclusion is that it is a waste of time. YOu will roughly average about 1 fish for every 6 hours, if you are lucky. Most of the time you will get skunked for many trips. If you hook one, you will have a challenge bringing it to shore, since you are required to use barbless hooks.

Your odds of regularly hooking and landing a fish are much much better in the river.

A lot of rivers reported by the WDFW and by fishermen show a lot more then 6 hours per steelhead off the shore...

Barbless hooks aren't that much more difficult, certainly not a challenge, to bring fish to the shore. With the proper tension on the fish you should be able to land almost as many fish as you do with barbed hooks...

If I catch 1 fish per every 2 or 3 days in puget sound region that is, then that's good alot of the puget sound rivers are preaty much dead. Can I expect a catch mostly of hatcery fish?

Earlier in the winter, yes it'll be mostly hatchery...Later in the winter it'll be the nates rolling through..

I've heard that a few folks fish for them around the Picnic Point area near Edmonds too.

6 hours per fish isn't bad if you compare it to some other species like musky. They're definately not like humpies where you get 6 FISH per hour.

There is a reason they are often referred to as, "the fish of a thousand casts."

It just wouldn't be as much fun if they were easy to catch

All I can say is, when that cold wind is blowing in your face from the Straight of Juan de Fuca, the wind chill factor gets really low (frozen face, ears, nose). Casting repeatedly into the surf gets old real fast. It's nice to have a challenge when fishing, but some things are not worth doing for 6+ hours straight.

Fishing the salt was how I started fishing for steelhead, and then I realized that it was easier and more successful and more fun to fish a river. The concentration of fish is higher, you know where the fish will be lurking, the weather is usually better (no ocean breeze), and you have a much more reasonable chance to catch a fish. As a result, I haven't fished for saltwater steel in about 7 years.

When the river fishing is hot, the saltwater steely fishing is barely OK a week or two beforehand.

When the river fishing is cold, the saltwater steely fishing is horrible.

Have fun if you do go. Catching a saltwater steely is fun and their table quality is much better than in the river.

Shad_Eating_Grin wrote:
When the river fishing is hot, the saltwater steely fishing is barely OK a week or two beforehand.

When the river fishing is cold, the saltwater steely fishing is horrible.

Have fun if you do go. Catching a saltwater steely is fun and their table quality is much better than in the river.

I find that hard to believe. They come in a continuous stream throughout the winter, whereas other salmon such as pinks will push and there will be a month (maybe 2) gap of when the fishing starts to heat up to when it dies...Winter hatchery steelhead are in from November through March and then the nates follow up after that...

also you can still catch summer steely's in some rivers were it is to shallow to make it back to the ocean so they kinda chill in deeper pools until they can get through. and soon us people who fish the lewis will start getting some new fresh winter steely's in.