This was my first time there and probably my last. Needless to say I was not prepared, I didn't expect the entire thing to be almost nothing but mud. (maybe I didn't walk up the river far enough.) I threw eggs for about 1 hour and didn't see anyone hook/land anything.

This was also my first experience fishing with lots and lots of people around. On my way down the river I saw 3 guys standing about 8 feet from the opposite bank all within 4 feet of eachother "casting" 3 feet in front of themselves against a bunch of logs. I asked myself how they expected to catch anything if they were pretty much standing on top of it. I stopped and laughed then decided to go home.

defintly a first timer up at the samish I can tell. Some of the best fishing is right next to those wooden pilons. Hit it at low tide because that is where the higher water is and the fish tend to hide along them it is decent when the fish are there but have heard thatis has been pretty disappointing so far. Could be because all of the netting that has been going on.

Fish On
Kevin

Luke,
Dont feel bad I was there this morning myself, and all I got was cold and wet. But I'll be back there probably tomorrow, I figure I cant get skunked the whole year.

Hi All

It has been a different year on the Samish. 1st, we have a good day with a decent amount of fish in late August and then the RAIN comes and blows the river out for the 1st time that any of us can remember (during August & Sept). Since then, the fishing has been spotty with a couple of so-so days then a good day. Then this past Sunday I show up and it is up and muddy again. I fished 3 hours and never saw a fish played in an area where there were over 20 people. Of course there was 2 inches of visability and the river was running fast.
The next early-morning low tide will be a good gauge as to what the season will be like. So far I would put it below average. People I know who usually knock the heck out of them have only been doing so-so.

A note to people who have not fished the Samish before. If you do not like crowds this is NOT the place for you. YOu will be shoulder to shoulder in the more popular areas. Most of us have it figured out so things don't get to crazy and fights etc are rare. Also, please pick up your garbage and help keep the place clean. The landowners are nice enough to let us use there land to fish and to park on.

Thanks and good luck

I picked up a nice 20+ pounder yesterday. Lost one yesterday and today. I heard there were only 5 fish caught yesterday. Only saw one netted today. Including mine that got away, I saw two others lost. Pretty slow and muddy from what the regulars are saying.
Tim

The Samish is a joke.

About 15 years ago the Samish was a nice place to fish. Not nearly as crowded or as much snagging going on and everyone knew everyone there. I quit fishing there about 10 years ago. Things got to crowded and to much garbage being thrown around. The clincher was a couple of drunks getting into a fist fight over a snagged boot of a fish. Although comical watching these two idiots rolling around in the mud, the blood, and the beer it was all I needed to see to never fish the Samish snag fest again. I will on occaision head down to watch the show. It is good for a laugh or two.

I feel the same way as CUPO!

I fished there once about 3 years ago. To cut down on the flossing (incidental or not), I switched to eggs under a dink float. No weight.

I'd cast out right next to the logs, and the dink float would make the smallest and slightest "twitch" I'd ever seen. Set the hook and you'd hook a nice king in the snout (not flossed). If you waited more than a nano-second on the "twitch", you'd set the hook and get nothing back.

You can get legal fish there, but most people do not, and prefer the corky/hook thing where they'd cast out, let the line sit on the bottom, and when they felt a line bump, would set the hook and haul the fish in. They were all kept, regardless of where they were hooked.

I ended up with two nice hens. Good eggs, but bad fish. The fish smelled nasty and were really slimy. I had the fish smoked, but it turned out to be crap, so I tossed it all.

I'd never go back, but it was fun, and I had a good host who showed me the ropes. Thanks Brian - that was still a fun day!

I first fished the Samish 30 years ago and it was a very nice fishery at that time. However I quit fish it in the mid- 1980s as it had become much more crowded and the anglers as a whole much less respectful of the other anglers, the fish and the private property we all were fishing on. The Samish is not a joke but we the anglers have made it one.

Parker -
Thirty years ago a (the most) effective technique was a fresh bait of eggs suspend below a float. At the time we didn't have "dink" floats but rather made our own from cork rings - typically a thumb size "float" with a center hole and cedar peg to hold the line in place. And yes the fish ate the bait big time and the legal anglers outfish the snaggers by a large margin. One interesting change was then there were lots of jacks which were great fun on light tackle (for several years only the jacks were legal game).

Kerry -
You might be interest to know at that time there was a great opportunity to take adult chinook on the fly. With the smaller crowds is was relatively straight forward to take multiple fish each tide; often with more time with fish on the reel than casting. Often would see the big hogs chasing the bug into the shallows. Of course the crowds today I would not dream of attempting to throw a fly now.

I have many fond memories of fishing on the Samish in times past.

Tight lines
S malma

Hi All

SMALMA. You could still go do the fly thing up there. Just go on high tide. It is not nearly as crowded. You'd have lots of room and I hear the rains have washed some of the weeds, sticks etc out. I tried the high tide a few times but I hated having to clean my spinner off after every cast.

As for the rest of you that talk like the majority of people that go to the Samish have to deal with drunks, fights, people keeping everything hooked, garbage and fish that taste bad (that one still makes me laugh) keep on telling everyone that. We don't need anymore people.

Yes it's crowded (so are a lot of places), no the fish don't taste bad/different if you take proper care of them and catch them when they 1st come in the river. I've been going up there for 6 years and have never seen a fist fight and I know of very few altercations of any kind which still amazes me for the amount of people.

As for the snagging etc, the funny thing is the Game Warden has been up there numerous times and can watch from a distance. I have never seen or heard of a snagging ticket being written in the section of river I fish. And I guess it's amazing how all those hooks can end up inside the mouths of all those flossed fish. It's just a plain miracle.

Last, because of an open line of communication between the property owners and the fisherman, the garbage problem on the lower end has been cut back dramatically. There are still asses that leave stuff at the river or in the parking lot but then there are people like me that pick it up.

But PLEASE make sure you keep on telling everyone it's crowded with drunks that fight and snag smelly/bad-tasting fish (is your name ROD?) surrounded by garbage. We don't need anymore people.
Thanks

k&P

Glad you have a good time fishing the Samish. I will watch from the bridge and get my laughs watching everyone slip and slide around in the mud.

The Samish was fun for me also years back. I guess I am to old to wade in mud up to my arse to fish side by side with 200 other guys.

Actually if you were standing in mud to fish you were in the wrong place. I stand on nice hard-packed sand. It can be a little muddy getting there but once I'm in the river it's great footing. I haven't slipped once. And as for the 200 people. Most of them are better behaved than places I've fished with that had under 10 people. You'd be surprised how smooth things run when the same people have been going to the same place for years.

Last time I was there a guy hooked one in the belly and kept it. Two of us politely reminded him that he could get a ticket. Several other anglers let us know that our opinions on snagged fish weren't welcome.

k&P

When I fished there I did pretty good. Took me a year or two to figure out how to catch 'em. And I know what you mean about the guys being there for years. The spot I used to fish had the same guys in it year after year. Some of them you would only see when the kings were running. I would look forward to the season so I could see some of those guys again and catch up on fishing stories. This was 15 or more years ago and there was no where near the people then that there is now.

I am glad that you guys are making an effort to keep things clean and civil. Cool stuff indeed. That style of fishing just doesn't appeal to me anymore. But, again it is good that you are haveing fun. That is what it is all about.

KerryS

Fishing the Samish is not my favorite type of fishing. But since I love fishing Kings and it is not as bad as everyone thinks, I do it for a month or so a year. Then I start heading for Forks. Since I know that area well, I can make the decision if I want to fish with people around or go to one of my out of the way spots where I see very few people.

I just get tired of and also get a laugh at some of the things said about the Samish. What I do know is that there is a large % of us that are law-abiding fisher-people who try and keep the river clean, let snaggers and people who keep foul-hooked fish know, 1st that it's illegal to do and 2nd that we don't want them around. And when the majority feels that way, you'd be surprised how well people behave. I fish down low so I have no idea of what goes on upriver. I have myself *****ed at people who wanted to keep a foul-hooked fish. My favorite is to tell them the Game Warden sits up on the Dike and watches with his binoculars and has written tickets in the past. That usually gets them. It will always be crowded but when as you said, the same people are there and everyone understands the situation it can be enjoyable. And you do meet some nice people.
THanks