WATER LEVELS HAVE ebbed and flowed on the West End rivers over the past few months, same for the steelhead bite.
After consecutive weekends of measurable precipitation, things are a little murky conditions-wise, but the fish are catchable.
And with just more than a month to go in the wild steelhead season on most North Olympic Peninsula rivers, anglers are willing to endure some high flows for a chance to chase some chrome.
Jerry Wright of Jerry’s Bait and Tackle (360-457-1308) in Port Angeles was out on the Sol Duc recently.
“We did fairly decent in there,” Wright said.
“We really didn’t catch any big ones, but we were having good success, and the fish were averaging 8 to 10 pounds.”
Wright said his group had seen some sign of springers pushing upriver, but it’s early for those hatchery-bound fish, especially with steelhead still the prime target.
And those spring chinook are a fussy bunch anyway, according to Wright.
“They are just a very sensitive fish,” Wright said.
“Downright finicky, really. They don’t seem to like to bite when the water is up and muddy. The lighting has to be right. They are hatchery fish and there are just a lot of factors at work.”
One of them is a lack of curiosity, at least compared to steelhead.
“They aren’t on the bottom as much, like steelhead, and they won’t react like steelhead,” Wright said.
“Springers aren’t like that. They go on timing. You can have 20 guys on them and they will wait and wait for the dinner bell and then go for it.”
Keep that necessary patience in mind as more work their way up, gearing toward a peak in middle or later May.
Blackmouth bite
The final weeks of blackmouth season beckon, and one thing is certain: the catch has been consistent in its inconsistency.
“On the salt water, there has been some good days for blackmouth, enough where you think things have improved, and then it falls off,” Bob Aunspach of Swain’s General Store (360-452-2357) in Port Angeles said.
A good day was had last Sunday, when 17 chinook were brought aboard by 25 anglers in 16 boats at the Ediz Hook ramp in Port Angeles.
“Sunday was pretty solid,” Aunspach said.
“It’s mostly trolling with a flasher.”
Wright said that “everybody is hitting and missing” on blackmouth this season.
“There are guys I’ve talked to in Port Angeles who have been out at Freshwater and say it’s inconsistent,” Wright said.
“But then I did hear of a 21-pounder at Freshwater Bay over the weekend, so you just have to be out there.”
Both Wright and Aunspach said that smaller spoons in the 2- to 31⁄2-inch range are their most requested blackmouth lures.
“The Gold Star spoons are probably the most popular,” Aunspach said.
“The bait are smaller in the winter and spring so any of those in those sizes are really popular right now.”
Wright said he had heard good reports on Herring-Aide and T-Rex spoons in the 3 and 31⁄2 sizes.
“I’ve got the Herring-Aide and a T-Rex 3 in a green glow with a darker green back on it,” Wright said.
But as Ward Norden, a fishing tackle wholesaler and former fishery biologist, puts it anglers must focus on “matching the hatch” with their lures.
“Coho Killers and the smaller Kingfisher spoons are all about the same size as candlefish,” Norden said.
“Like all other predators both waterborne and landborne, they tend to lock into a certain prey if it is abundant, often ignoring other prey if it is a different size or color.”
“The Coho Killers and Kingfisher lures are made by Silver Horde Fishing Supplies at their factory across Puget Sound in Lynnwood.”
Wright also had a report from Discovery Bay, where herring are the preferred baitfish.
“Down to Discovery Bay where the fishermen are coming in close to shore where herring are spawning, and they are trolling blue or green label [herring] to match the herring size,” Wright said.
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Outdoors columnist Michael Carman appears here Thursdays and Fridays. He can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5152 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.