I understand the silvers are in, averaging 8 lbs, at Quilcene. Any good tips for these fiesty critters?

Are you talking about Puget Sound? If so - are they in the bay or in the creek? Let me know I might be able to help!

Hood Canal, Dabob Bay, Whitney Point to Quilcene??????? Thick, rolling on top, jumping on surface, from shore to 75ft.

Yes there are fish in the bay and I understand there are fish in the river two, by the end of this week there should be for sure if we get all the rain they are talking about. The fish are averageing 4-8 pounds, and depending on when you go you can sort through the smaller ones. Friday we got 4 limits and no fish were smaller then 6 pounds. Saturday 3 fish for 3 people in 8 hours. And went back tonight and got three in just over two hours.
Friday jigging was the way to go, if you had the right jig and found a school, you could have a fish every 5 min. Saturday, I was not there, but friends got 3 in 1 hour and nothing else on jigs all day. Tonight we got ours on jigs but the trollers were doing better with herring and spoons. There are some nice crab too. Send me an e-mail if you want more info.

NEN

Weather is real brutal right now for fishing the salt in Quil Bay but the good news is rain. I will be on the river Thursday and Friday for sure. Small vibrax/mepps spinners in the upper river are best. A method combining drift and plunking techniques using orange yarn works best down around the Rogers ST access. There are some Coho in the 10 to 12 pound range....last season saw one chromer fly caught buck that weighed just over 16. Make sure you are totally legal as fisheries patrol is behind the trees. Also expect to rub shoulders with a ton of Quillabilly snaggers.

And I thought I was one of the few that called them Quilbillies . I might try fishing down there tomorrow with eggs and I'll see what happens.

~ Dr Pepper

I was thinking about heading over there friday. Are there any fish to be had in the saltwater? If so are there certain areas that are better than others. I was planning on flyfishing from a small boat. Any info is much appreciated. you can E-mail me if you like.

Hey, Doc,
Do you really want to know what happens when the warden finds you using eggs there? It's selective gear only, if you weren't just kidding around.

Coho are scattered all along the shoreline from Pt. Whitney to the river mouth. They have been stacking up just north of Frenchmans Pt( best for flipping green buzzbombs). Nasty if the winds out of the north and unpleasant if its blowing hard from the south. You can usually troll between the shellfish lab and south of Frenchmans even in a hard blow from the south. Fishing partner found the rain bringing them into the river in large schools tuesday before dark. Chartreuse yarn worked for him if the chum aren't too thick otherwise orange is the ticket. No eggs and read the selective fishery regulations real careful as they aren't giving warnings this year.
I'm there tomorrow...glorius 12 pounders in a little dinky river...HooYah!

Yo, Y all me and some of my boyz will be hittin the river hard dis weekend, do ya now
if da man when he checks yo license does he check for warrants too!
the dog

No I wasn't kidding about the eggs! I didn't check the regs until I got to the river and then realized it was selective gear rules. My dad and I were fishing there yesterday. There were lots of people even on a week day. Prepare for some combat fishing on the weekend. Just about eveyone there was snagging. One guy had about a 5'6" foot halibut rod and he got 10-12 silvers that we saw; all of them were snagged.

If there is a sportman out there that wants to try legally catching a fish, use a spinner. Yesterday the river was muddy brown from all the rain so I used a chartuese and silver spinner. I just let it sit in the current for about 5 seconds and a nice buck came up and nailed it. Good luck combat fishing if you go!

~ Dr Pepper

Yo Dog all the Quillabilly rednecks have outstanding warrants so just blend in sort of if any of you are worried. :p Doc's choice of silver/chartreuse vibrax spinners is a good choice as the fish are really moving thru the lower river. A new fish bud from Alabama got his first, second, third and fourth silvers ever on one. Busted my butt all day for my legally caught limit using yarn and he had his in an hour. Won't be leavin my spinners at home tomorrow.

Doc the guy you saw with the tuna rod snagging fish was likely Butch. He's from the Jamestown S"Klallam Tribe and is harvesting fish for tribal elders. He's cool with us locals. He is one of several progressive tribal harvestors I am working with who would rather see tribal fishing rights taking advantage of sport guide/charter opportunities ala Quinalts. Regardless of opinions this is a way to eliminate nets which should be our goal regardless of race.
Anyway Butch is a good guy to get to know as he except when feeding the elderly generally catches his fish same as the rest of us with sport legal gear and methods....his knowledge alone of winter steelhead runs on the peninsula is worth the friendship.

I couldn't tell whether he was an indian or what because he was quite a ways away. I was down there again this morning. Went down on Rodgers Road and caught 2 on a blue/silver spinner. I was one of the few that wasn't snagging. Even saw one guy with a Buzz Bomb. The guy with a buzz bomb didn't get anything and I got 2 fishing legally with a spinner. It seems like the fresh fish that are coming up that low on the river bite good. I got lots of bites, but the single hook on a Blue Fox spinner doesn't seem to be a good hook. After I caught 2 there I went up above to the 101 bridge. About a 3-4 minute walk downstream there is a nice big hole that was absolutely loaded with silvers. I accidentally foul hooked quite a few. With the barbless hook you could give them some slack and lots of times the hook would come out. The guy next to me was actually trying to get the fish to bite and he had better luck than I did with a #3 brass blue fox spinner. I ended up with 4 nice fish. The smallest was probably 5lbs and I got one nice buck about 12lbs. The smoker will be going for awhile .

~ Dr Pepper

[ 08-24-2001: Message edited by: Dr Pepper ]

Fished above Rodgers St for 3 keepers this afternoon. The incoming tide brought in just a huge continuous stream of fresh fish. Rivers dropping low and clear. Got to fish with Joe from Vision Hooks. Joe if you read this it was a pleasure meeting you and Tyler. I owe you for the new secret weapon for Quilcene silvers. After your demonstration of just how really sharp your hooks are I'm a convert. Ouch that looks like it hurt! Hold me a spot if your there early sunday.

goose,

That's good to hear. Some dude came up to 101 from Rodgers Rd. yesterday AM and said there wasn't much happening down there, but they were thick in the upper end. I was thinking they might taper off, but it sounds like more are heading in, just following the tide now.

Thay Tyler kid is a pretty repectable little angler, isn't he? Joe is training him well, I figure he'll be a major threat to the fish in the near future!

I don't quite get all the snagging going on.....they aren't that hard to fair hook with a little effort (and a spinner :D). These guys are just admitting they have ZERO angling skills......they'd better stick to a trout farm.

You're a lucky man living that close to the Quil., goose. I might have to set up residence there if I lived as close as you....you must be a happy man this time of year!

[ 08-25-2001: Message edited by: Dan S. ]

I hit the Quilcene today for about 4 hours. I was fishing about 300 yards below the 101 bridge. The river is completely loaded with silvers and most of them are still very bright. Literally couldn't see the bottom of the river in some places...

Caught almost all of my fish on marabou leeches dead-drifted or quickly stripped in.

It is crowded however and snaggers are out in full force, and not hiding it.
So be prepared for the madness....

Here's the scoop on where and when. Hit the upper river in the mornings through mid-day if you don't mind bringing your own rock. Fresh fish are pouring in on the late afternoon tide and by mornin they are all stacked up high. Morning thru midday is real spotty down low. In between is the big corner hole which is filled with sh t
loads of bright fish and half the town of Quilcene busting them with some really innovative gear.
I've been fishing a spot that even today I had pretty much to myself. About 5pm they just start blastin upstream and you get a feel for what the runs are like up in Alaska.
Spinners if you like but now that we have discovered the new secret weapon now its only a matter of making my one and only package of ***** yarn last until I get to the big town for more. I don't about up high but we were getting pounded by large fish up to 14 lbs right at dark. Had one just smoke the hide off my thumb headin back to the salt and walk right through 15 lb test on its way. Just love it.

Wife and I hit the Quilcene creek, er i mean River Friday and Saturday.
The snaggers at Rodgers road disgusted the hell out of me so we were there for about 20 minutes or so and ran up to town, called 911 gave them my info and headed up to the 101 bridge.
Walked downstream a ways, found ourselves each a rock to stand on, didn't even have to bring our own.
We got 2 on friday and 3 on saturday. All legally hooked I might add.
Man, there's a ton of chums in there. Brought a 13 pounder in on my Shimano noodle rod with 8 pound line. That was a kick.
Wife caught her first salmon now. Got her hooked. Now she understands why I live for this time of year. Out of the blue on the way home she says "I'm hooked" Couldn't figure out what she was talking about at first. LOL.
Got me a new partner for the streams now. She'd go before, but really wasn't into. Got a feeling that will change now.

BTW, got all of ours on silver and brass blue fox spinners.

I thought I would be smart and get away from all the crowds and fish the bay on Saturday. I figured there was no way all the fish went up the river with one rain right? Wrong, about thirty people out on the bay and heard of one fish caught all day. Did manage 9 big crab though in three hours. Maybe if we do not get anymore rain for a while, they will start to build in there again.

NEN