Fished the Satsop Today after looking at the Nooch, and it was a good choice. 9 fish hooked, 7 landed, 2 were big kings. Silvers were brght and good size. First time on the river and it is a no brainer for the novice. Still is high and fish were tight to the bank most of the time..

Have you ever fished the Satsop when it was crowded ? ??????

GS, thx for the report. I was fixn to be going there this weekend. With the water still being high how was the clearity. Did you get any chance to fish the mouth?? I hear ya Local, at times not so fun with the crowds. Got pretty lucky last year, fished around good people.

Erndog

i fish the satsop every year, i really like it down there, but i put it off as long as i can because of the crowds.

You mean like tomorrow?

Dan S. "Correct a mongle".

Good one Dan. You ain't lying. Report or no report I was heading down there this weekend. I usually it every year right after a good rain. Looks like this year the crowd will be there early also.

Erndog

Interesting post. I must however question the validity of your post. I too was on the Satsop today. Hooked a few yes, but all were boot chum. We did hook a nasty king also. Not sure what happend to the coho. We were expecting an epic day. Spoke to several other boats. Same story. A few dogs but the silvers were absent. Come to think of it I probably spoke to you. Interesting that you come down from Seattle and "school" the locals? Oh, by the way, I hear the Sky is on fire...limits of mid-teen silvers for everyone.

Paranoid, all the silvers probably came in a mad rush when the rivers blew. We were doing damned good with mint bright silvers a couple weeks back. When they put the nets in on the Chehalis, they were clobbering them, couldn't keep up. I assume, with size they were pulling and we were catching, they were the piggie runs heading to the Sop. So, I'd say, a good chunk of them went to nets and up with floods. Where they went after that, well, umm, check the trees. LOL

I agree, 69. Fished it again today. Same story! a few chum showing up with the rain. The snaggers are showing also. Time to take a break I guess.

Musta been that hot report that lured in the big crowd.

Do people really drive to the Satsop from Seattle?

Here we go again. You guys are gonna wine because somebody is doing what this site is set up for.
To back up his initial post my buddies brother went 4 for 6 day before yesterday and got 2 real nice silvers.

Is it whinning ? or is it telling some one to be a little more careful about posting hot spots. The Satsop is not like the Chehalis or Westport. Those waters can take the pressure. The Satsop cannot. I have always thought the idea behind this site was to post informative information about techiques, gear and areas in general to fish. For example, If I posted a report that the Nooch had a log across the river above white bridge 4 miles,(it does) it would be to advise others of possible danger. If I posted that I just caught 20 chrome bright silvers on the lower Nooch and anybody can do it, what is accomplished ?

I just cringe a little when I hear a "I got 20 on XX river today". You can bet XX river will be packed the next day. It's true. If you don't believe it, then you weren't on the Satsop today and yesterday to see the difference in crowd size.

The funny part is just about every river in the state is full of fish now. I don't know why so many people follow hot reports instead of fishing local rivers.

No big deal though. I know what I'm doing......and some extra guys aren't gonna stop me from catching fish. The thing that worries me is that crowds mean garbage, and garbage means PO'd land owners and PO'd land owners mean NO Trespassing signs, and THAT ticks me off.

In my opinion, the Satsop is no zipper, and I don't go there looking for solitude. This reminds me of the day I drove down to the Satsop one October day in 1992, after having moved back to the area. I fished the Satsop a lot in 68, 69, and 70. By 1992 it had become a lot more popular. I drove by all my former haunts, from the mouth to Shafer Park, where I ran into a guy I knew from Issaquah. I asked him what he was doing way down here when he had such good rivers near home (there were at least 20 rigs parked at Shafer). He said it was well worth the drive to come and C&R a bunch of chums in a day - and less crowded than Hoodsport, in his opinion. I told him I'd driven up and down the entire river that day and counted more fishing rigs parked at the usual spots than I'd seen in all of three years back when I fished it regularly. And no one I knew ever fished for chums on purpose - anywhere. I only knew of fishing the Satsop for cutthroat, silvers, and steelhead. It was the first time I ever parked at Shafer when there was another vehicle there, if that's an indication of its increasing popularity - or my increasing age. And no one was learning about it on the internet, either.

Seems interesting that the fishing isn't as good as "it used to be," but there are ten times as many people out there doing it. So what does it mean to say a river cannot take the pressure? That too many surplus hatchery salmon will be caught? Or the quality of the experience is diminished because of the crowds?

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

AS FOR THE TOPIC OF LAND OWNERS GETTING PO'D. HOW ABOUT THE GUY ABOVE THE S CURVES ON THE SATSOP POSTING HIS LAND AND RUNNING AROUND WITH A 9 MM STRAPPED TO HIS HIP YELLING AT FISHERMAN ABOUT CALLING THE SHERIFF. THEN CALMS DOWN AND SAYS TO ME THAT HE IS PO'D ABOUT FISHERMAN TRASHING HIS ACCESS AND GIVES ME AN EXAMPLE OF A REFRIGERATOR BEING DUMPED. YAH, SEATTLE FISHERMAN DRAG REFRIGERATORS DOWN TO THE RIVER TO DUMP THEM. WE ALL KNOW IT WAS A LOCAL BUT WE GET BLAMED. ON FURTHER DISCUSSION, HE ADMITTED HE BOUGHT THE PROPERTY TO FISH IT HIMSELF. I HAVE SEEN LOCAL KIDS DRINKING BEER ON THE KALAMA WHILE SNAGGING FISH AT NIGHT BY THE HATCHERY ONLY TO COME BACK THE NEXT MORNING TO FIND A DISCARDED HALF RACK ON THE RIVER BANK. SAME WITH THE SATSOP BY THE BRIDGE 2 WEEKS AGO. MOSTLY LOCALS HAD BEEN FISHING IT BUT I AM SURE "OUTSIDERS" WILL GET BLAMED. I HAVE LIVED IN WASHINGTON ALL MY LIFE AND DONT CONSIDER MYSELF AN OUTSIDER ANYWHERE IN THIS STATE. ANY TIME YOU SEE ANYONE LEAVING GARBAGE, DEAD FISH, ETC ON THE BANK, CHALLENGE THEM. DH

Good point Salmo G, obviously we live out here for a reason. I also remember the days gone by of fishing the Satsop/Nooch. Now days when I go to the Nooch and I can't find a place to park, I go home. That's my choice, I don't like combat fishing, fishing is more than catching fish. It has to be or most people wouldn't fish at all!!!

Local

And to think I thought the purpose of the board was political discussions.

OK who hasn't heard of the Satsop, isn't that river as well known as the Columbia...........

On one hand, we don't want to share the hotspots with anyone but our "good old boys" network. On the other hand we expect the public to vote for fishermen and for fishermen's issues when it comes time to go to the ballot box.

We're not being selfish now are we?

I've come to realize that we are better off if more citizens are out catching fish than just having a few citizens catching a bunch. All of our fellow citizens should be able to enjoy catching some fish now and then.

BTW, why are you hitting the rivers this time of year and expecting solitude? When I hit these places, I try to enjoy the company. Try it, you just might make a new friend and help someone catch a fish!

The river in question isn't the issue at all. It's ANY river that gets the "hot" report. It brings crowds......more than the typical day. No crime in that..........

The crowds in the early 90's are nothing compared to what they are now. Before the early 90's (mid-70's to late 80's) you'd see a handful of boats on any given weekend. Then a certain guide, who has since left the area, started write-ups in F&H News about the native steelhead and late-season coho on the Satsop. The crowds increased to a dozen or so DB's in the east fork and about the same number of sleds below the west fork. People fishing the late season coho got wise to the kick-ass tough-fighting chums and you started to see significant crowds fishing them in the early 90's.

Then a dillweed STS writer, who shall go un-named, wrote an article about a phenonenal day of salmon fishing on the Satsop that he and his friend (who shall also remain nameless) had. The STS article and the repeated write-ups in F&H News really built up the number of people fishing the Satsop. By the mid-90's it was pretty well known by the majority of fishers in the area. It's gained popularity since..........because it can be a tremendous fishery.

Like I said before.........I'll still head there and do my thing, but the banks of that river are becoming a sty with $hit left all over the place. That's really the only thing that fires me up about it..........thinking you can go back to the day of 3 boats on the Satsop is a waste. Same with the Hump, Nooch, Skok, and umpteen others around the west side.


So go and enjoy.........but pick up a little trash while you're there, it will do us all a lot of good.