Coho Me Coming -- After The Long, Nearly Salmonless Summer, Anglers Are Suddenly Delighted By Mother Nature's Compensation, A Bumper Crop Of Coho Coursing Into The Veins Of State Rivers.

It's Salmon Homecoming. And this time, they really are.

As usual, civic and tribal leaders gathered on the Seattle waterfront earlier today for a ceremonial welcoming home of spawning salmon.

But unlike most recent years, Puget Sound coho were responding right on cue this week, making frequent giant splashes in streams from Olympia to Everett.

At the close of a summer salmon-fishing season destined to be remembered as Washington's worst, coho salmon are returning with a vengeance.

Up and down Puget Sound, fishermen loitering on river banks and in river mouths are finding salmon - particularly hatchery coho - in larger numbers and sizes than the recent past.

"We're seeing big coho all over," said Tony Floor, a state Fish and Wildlife spokesman. "Most of them, even the smaller ones, are really plump, like a big weenie dog," he said. "Whatever restaurant these guys have been hanging out at, they're having seconds, thirds and fourths."

Coho salmon typically average between 5 and 8 pounds. Many of those being caught in state waters this month are between 10 and 12 pounds, with some as large as 20. Sheer numbers also seem surprisingly high. Many streams that typically see few coho until late September already are teeming with fish.

In a way, it's all according to plan. No one but the ocean knows why this year's coho are larger than usual.

But conservationists say it's no coincidence that coho numbers are up on the heels of unprecedented, summer-long saltwater fishing closures. Commercial and recreational salmon fishing was halted along the West Coast, the Strait of Juan de Fuca and northern Puget Sound this summer to protect troubled wild coho stocks.

It's too early to be certain, but indications are the strategy is working, both for wild and hatchery coho and other species. Summer-run steelhead trout, rainbows that migrate to the sea from one to three years before returning to local streams, also have appeared in strong numbers in recent weeks on rivers such as the Cowlitz and the Snohomish system.

The strong return bolsters anglers' longstanding suspicion that, under normal fishing rules, huge numbers of prized coho and steelhead are intercepted - purposefully or incidentally - in saltwater commercial net fisheries, most of which were canceled this summer.

It also thrusts saltwater fishing into the spotlight as a huge factor in keeping fish from their spawning grounds.

Many commercial and recreational fishermen lay full blame for salmon stocks' demise at the feet of loggers, El Nino, suburban developers and Canadian fishermen. It is clear that habitat degradation is a key element in the salmon's troubled recent past.

But if coho return in large numbers this fall, biologists will have proof that, in spite of those environmental roadblocks, spawning salmon can thrive when the state's saltwater fishery is stopped cold.

Floor said fisheries officials planning seasons for 1995 are likely to see spawning numbers jump from previous years, then ask a question saltwater fishermen might not like to see answered: "If (spawning) numbers are up, what's the variable?" Floor asks. "The variable is that nobody was fishing. Fishing is it. Fishing is the problem. That's kind of a scary variable."

It's also mostly conjecture at this point. But in the short term, strong coho returns are very good news for anglers who prefer to catch their salmon in rivers.

Strong steelhead and coho returns provide plenty of fish to satisfy spawning demands - and leave enough to provide what might be one of the best fall freshwater salmon fisheries in years. Most of the river fisheries close Oct. 31, to allow unimpeded wild coho migration. But in the interim, angling action could be hot.

One emerging bright spot is the Snohomish River, which opened for salmon fishing Sept. 1. The Snohomish coho run, which typically does not peak until late September, appears unusually robust - and early.

"People started catching them as soon as it opened, but it really started kicking in Saturday," said Jim Strege of Triangle Beverage in Snohomish, which serves as a weigh-in station for many local anglers.

Snohomish coho have been averaging about 7 pounds, with some up to 10, he said. And they're being caught all the way from the river mouth in Everett to high on the river.

Large numbers of coho bound for the Duwamish have been hooked recently in Elliott Bay, and South Sound fisheries also have been quite productive.

On the coast, fishermen pursuing hatchery chinook inside Willapa Bay have instead been taking limits of hatchery coho, many of which dip into interior waters on their way to the Columbia River.

All things considered, it's a promising fall for the intrepid salmon angler. With the flow of coho just now switching from a trickle to a gush, it might be payback time for that summerlong fishing drought.

As always, river fishing is more productive after a strong rain, which lures more fish from the Sound into streams. Pick a place, pack a pole, and try your luck:

-- Snohomish River: The river should have a very strong coho run, not to mention steelhead fishery, from now until well into October. Boat fishermen use bait or weighted flatfish; bank anglers have success casting spoons and spinners. The river is open until Dec. 31, with a six-fish daily limit. Minimum size is 12 inches, and only two of the six can be adults over 20 inches. All chinook and pink salmon must be released.

-- Grays Harbor tributaries: Rivers such as the Humptulips, Chehalis, Hoquiam and all other Grays Harbor tributaries opened last weekend under an agreement between the state and the Quinault tribe. Wild coho in this system are troubled, but hatchery runs, particularly the 40,000-fish Humptulips chinook run, are expected to be strong.

All the tributaries are open through Oct. 31 with a daily limit of six chinook. None may be less than 12 inches, and no more than two of the six can be adults of more than 24 inches. Barbless hooks are required, and all coho and chum salmon must be released.

The Humptulips is open downstream from the confluence of the east and west forks, although no adult chinook can be retained above the Highway 101 bridge. The Chehalis River is open between Centralia and Aberdeen. Also open are the Elk, Hoquiam, Johns, Wishkah and Wynoochee rivers.

Grays Harbor itself is closed, except for the Westport boat basin.

-- Westport boat basin: It seems odd, watching anglers cast spinners from docks where great hordes of charter boats once were moored. But it's effective. Westport docks are open through Jan. 31, with a daily limit of six chinook, none of which can be less than 12 inches, and no more than two of which can be adults. Unlike the Grays Harbor tributaries, barbed hooks are allowed. Try big spoons and spinners.

-- Puget Sound: Remaining open through this month and beyond are the Sound south of Vashon and "bubble fisheries" in Elliott Bay, Allen Bank, east Kitsap County, Tulalip Bay, Oak Harbor and at the Snohomish River mouth. Willapa Bay also is open, as are the San Juan Islands through October, although the area has switched to a one-fish limit.

Elliott Bay has been particularly productive for coho of late, particularly near the Duwamish waterway.

-- Willapa Bay: Returning hatchery chinook appear to be either late or nonexistent, but anglers have been hooking plenty of plump, 6- to 8-pound coho bound for either the Columbia or Willapa rivers. The lower Willapa River is open now through Jan. 31. The upper Willapa opens Oct. 16. This should be a productive fishery through September.