I would love to go ruiver Salmon fishing for the first time in my life. I know the Salmon come in soon but when would my best bet be or did I already miss it?

And, could I do ok salmon fishing from the shore? I can cast accross the whole river, its just very deep.

Neds to rain. As in rain a bunch. Check out the Sekui reports. Not there yet. Possesion is slow as well.

When possesion and the local 8.2 areas start to heat up get ready.

Go up to Douglass bar, cheapskate drift, Thomases Eddey, or crab bar. Watch what the locals are doing. (a lot of small Dick Nites) you will see. Ask a few questions. Pick up some garbage, and have fun! If you are not sure of the locations of these holes, hit the Triangle beverage store in Snohomish for directions. I would just screw you up.

or .......just fish the river(where open), and have some fun, the silvers will be rolling/jumpin, you will see them.

The above advice is good...., on the dick nites, get em quick, at least the 50/50's .

They were out in alot of stores last year, mainly because of humpies though....speaking of which..... There should be a few of those too ......check your regs before you go........and know how to identify the difference.

* and remember....tidal river.

I am no expert there, but that is what I know.
Hope that helps.....

Last year it was Packed on one side.....the river road was closed.....not this year...I don't think? anyways

Woodsy Wayne

Do any of you have a recomandation on what size of dick nites to use. Never fished with them before.

Firstly, if you're new to salmon fishing, or even if you aren't,you really need to learn the regulations for the water you are fishing. There are gear restrictions and you can't keep every type of salmon or fish you may catch.

There's a few salmon in the Snohomish system right now, but you can't legally fish for them until September 1. Silvers-coho will be coming into the river in September-October,and chums will be entering the rivers from late October into December so you will have plenty of time to fish until the Snohomish system closes for salmon at the end of December.

Probably 90 percent of the salmon fishing on the Snohomish system is done from the bank, and you just need to cast to where the fish are holding, not necessarily across the river. I would find one spot on the river with bank access where the salmon hold and learn to fish it through the season like Thomas Eddy on the Snohomish (where Short School Road parallels the river), or Lewis Street on the Skykomish in Monroe. These are two popular areas and you could probably get help from other anglers as to techniques. Spinners and spoons are probably a good choice if you are a beginner.

Anybody care to share their favorite technique for silvers on the lower Snohomish and its sloughs? I've fished it a few times in the last few years and only found spotty action at best. That spotty action has come on Dick Nites and spinners casted from a boat on an incoming tide.

The two best sizes I've found for dick nites,are the #1 and the "wee" dick nite. The #1 is 1" long and the wee is about 3/4" long. It's the craziest thing...we catch silvers in the sound on 5" herring and they won't bite a spoon much bigger than a dick nite,in the rivers.

The half and half ,chartruese,and the frog pattern caught the most silvers for me last year,which wasn't alot,I'm still learning the river stuff.

I troll the lower river in my 12-foot yacht. A well tuned wiggle wart will seriously piss these Snohomish fish off! The dick nites are my second choice when I get bored trolling the plugs.

BD's theory why coho slam little tiny dick nites...they think there sea lice floating helplessly in the water after a fellow coho has just shaken them off. You know is the ole theory kill it before it re-attaches to me or a buddy. Crazy I know, but what do you guys think?

BD

I just got my license so I am going to check out the Snohomish when it is open in September. I live on a hill and can see the whole valley, river etc. The road I take to Snohomish goes right into town so I thought I would go into snohomish, buy some lures at triangle beverage and ask about some spots.

Red wort with the yellow eyes in the lower and mid (where the pilchuck dumps in) river. Dick nite in the same area. Boondogging eggs above crab bar.

It seems that the fish we see are not the biters. The biters are the ones down on the bottom.

Hate to see guys wrking the cast and jerk method.

Your headed in the right direction Bruiser.

One last thought. See if the guys at Triangle or the Do-it center have directions to the Zilstras. They are the ones that own the Douglass bar access. I think the bank fishing access is 15.00 for the year.

There is also good bank access just downstream from there at the fishermen's park. It's accessed off of Springhetti Road, south of the airport, east of Highway 9, on 111th St. S.E.. They do seem to be lockjawed around there quite often, for the most part, unless you're trolling plugs.

Bob Heirman Park

I've seen them rolling and jumping at the Robert Heirman park, anyone having any luck catching?

SEA LICE? That's what fish think of my lures?!

Aaaaaaaaargh! Oh well, I grew up with the name Dick, I guess I can live with being compared to sea lice!

At least he didn't say CRABS

Thanks for all the help guys. I will try those in the next few weeks. School starts tomarrow so thats won't allow as much time for fishing.