Salmon Anglers Complaint: Too Many Coho At Sekiu

At Sekiu, the beef among some salmon fishermen at midweek was about too many coho.

``That's right,'' said Chris Mohr of Van Riper's Resort, ``some guys complained that they couldn't get their bait down through the coho to the kings.''

Midweek coho action was heavy both at Sekiu and at Neah Bay at the west end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Mohr said he wondered if the thick plug of coho is the vanguard or the peak of the coho run.

``My concern is that there could be too many fish too early. I'd like to see them stick around at least for another couple of weeks.''

Most years, coho fishing in the Sekiu-Pillar Point holds up well until late September, often even until mid-October.

Coho fishing has been a disappointment so far in the Buoy 10 area of the Lower Columbia. But that situation could change suddenly.

In the meantime, the ``best bet'' ocean fishing continues at Westport, where midweek charters reported limits or near limits, about 20 percent king, 80 percent coho.

Although ocean coho have begun to trickle into Puget Sound, their numbers are so few that weekend anglers will be better off concentrating on kings at Tacoma's Point Defiance and Commencement Bay and in Seattle's Shilshole and Elliott bays.

``The weekend should be as good as it will get, but how good it will be remains to be seen,'' said Dave Nelson, manager of Elliott Bay's Seacrest Boathouse.

The bay produced almost a king per boat for early-bird fishermen yesterday. It also yielded its largest king of the year, a 37-pounder to 10-year-old Mark Denniston Jr. of West Seattle.

Young Denniston, fishing Tuesday afternoon with his father about 200 yards north of Salty's Restaurant, slipped the trophy king into the landing net after playing it and himself almost to exhaustion for more than 30 minutes.

Seacrest Boathouse will be headquarters for Saturday's Puget Sound Hook One for Hutch Salmon Derby to benefit the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

The $25,000 prize list will be topped by a new pickup truck. Hours will be 5 a.m. to noon. The $15 derby tickets are available at Seacrest Boathouse, Point Defiance Boathouse, Meadowdale Marine and Dick's Texaco-Shilshole Bay Marina.

OUTDOOR PHONES

-- Department of Fisheries - 1-753-6600. Department of Wildlife - 775-1311 (Puget Sound office); 1-753-5700, Olympia headquarters. Poaching hotline - 1-800-47-POACH. Red Tide hotline - 1-800-562-5632. Salmon hotline - 1-976-3200. NOAA steelhead hotline, for weather, river flows, 526-8530. Tacoma City Light Fishing Line, for flow information on Green, Cowlitz and Nisqually Rivers, 1-383-9690.

FISHING, CLAMMING TIDES

-- SEATTLE AREA - HIGHS TOMORROW, 9.5 at 8:13 a.m. and 10.9 at 8:13 p.m.; LOWS TOMORROW, 2.1 at 2:05 a.m. and 3.1 at 2 p.m.; HIGHS SATURDAY, 9.2 at 9:10 a.m. and 10.5 at 8:39 p.m.; LOWS SATURDAY, 1.7 at 2:47 a.m. and 4.4 at 2:39 p.m.; HIGH SUNDAY, 9.9 at 10:19 a.m. and 10 at 9:10 p.m.; LOWS SUNDAY, 1.5 at 3:29 a.m. and 5.6 at 3:24 p.m.

-- NOTE: Some beaches in Puget Sound are closed from time to time for clam digging because of a high risk of paralytic shellfish poisoning. To be safe, call first to the Department of Social and Health Service toll-free Red Tide Hotline, 1-800-562-5632.

FISHING SPOTS

-- 1. San Juan Islands - Fair trolling, mooching for kings off Orcas Island's Point Lawrence.

-- 2. Midchannel Bank - King slump continues.

-- 3. West Whidbey Island - Slow, but improving fishery for ocean coho off Bush Point and near white rock to the north.

-- 4. Point No Point - Fair out-tide mooching bet for kings and blackmouth.

-- 5. Possession Bar - Continues to be scratchy, though the bar continues to produce a few kings daily.

-- 6. Hood Canal - Slow for salmon.

-- 7. Jefferson Head - Good king, blackmouth bite Tuesday evening. Otherwise, slow fishing.

-- 8. Shilshole Bay - Has been fair for kings daybreak off West Point, on flats and off Meadow Point.

-- 9. Elliott Bay - Fair to good daybreak mooching bet for kings from Duwamish Head to entrance to waterways.

-- 10. Point Defiance - Fair for kings early morning off slag pile east of boat ramp and through out tide off Clay Banks.

-- 11. Anderson Island - Remains slow for salmon.

-- 12. Skagit River system - Slow for steelhead. Fair for kings from Sedro-Woolley downstream through north fork.

-- 13. Stillaguamish River - Low, clear. Reportedly fair at times for summer steelhead in Fortson area.

-- 14. Snohomish River system - Fair early morning, evenings for summer-run steelhead near Reiter Ponds.

-- 15. Green River - No report.

-- 16. Puyallup River - King salmon at mouth in Commencement Bay.