Welcome to town! It's a great one--moved here with my wife right after we married so she could get her Masters and we never left.
Re: fishing, I can't be of much help as I am still very much a novice--still very much learning the ropes and haven't caught a salmon or steelhead on the rivers in this area. I've mainly targeted the Nooksack and Skagit and am planning to check out the Samish as well. For fishing reports, check the H&H Anglers website at
http://www.hhanglers.com/. You might also check with the folks at both H&H Anglers (downtown) and Yeager's (northwest end of town). I've had very friendly service at both places, and they can help you out with more experienced advice on local fishing than I can.
Also, Uncle Wes writes a column in the Whatcom Independent, a free local paper you should be able to find on campus. It comes out every Friday and is available online as well (http://www.whatcomindy.com). He has mostly written about lake fishing but as I recall he'll be covering salmon fishing soon, so that may be of help to you.
You may also check Uncle Wes' website (http://www.unclewes.com/index.html) for more info. He's developing some lures for salmon fishing soon.
Take care!
Zambi
P.S. I promise I don't work for any of those places
I've just found them helpful.