COLUMN Point Evans is a good fishery for the incoming tide, when the bait gets pushed down from the shores near Gig Harbor. Starting at the powerlines that cross the Tacoma Narrows just north of the twin bridges, drift with the current while mooching. Chinook returning to Chambers Bay and the Nisqually and Deschutes Rivers, as well as coho heading back to the tribal net pens at Squaxin Island, travel through this narrowest part of Puget Sound. The Nisqually sees an early return of Chinook and fish will be in the river system by the beginning of July.
TO TARGET THE coho, as well as sea-run cutthroat, troll small spoons such as the Cripplure by Mack’s, with the treble switched to a size 6 Gamakatsu siwash, or a small Coyote by Luhr Jensen. A lightweight kokanee or trout rod can make this a very exciting fishery in early June. By midmonth switch over to longer rods, as the resident coho will be putting on weight and some transient fish will begin to show. It is also not uncommon for Chinook returning to Chambers Bay and Minter Creek to use the west shoreline as a guide through the Narrows. Just to the outside of the kelp is where you can target all three species. Anglers who prefer to fish from the beach have several options in the South Sound. Narrows Park puts you on the long gravel edge of Puget Sound near the bridges on the Gig Harbor side. Another is Sunnyside Beach Park in Steilacoom, at the outlet to Chambers Bay. Penrose State Park is known for its sea-run cutthroat fishing. And if you can find access to a beach on Harstine Island, you will be in a prime location for the Squaxin coho and some native cutts. As June turns to July, the most famed fishery of all of Area 13 heats up. Known as the Green Can, the buoy marker for the channel into the Nisqually River, this is a troll fishery. A large flat formed by silt fills the Nisqually Delta, and just along that edge is where you will find the Chinook. Here, schools of fish will either turn into the river or keep heading south to the Deschutes River through downtown Olympia. 76 Northwest Sportsman
JUNE 2018 | nwsportsmanmag.com
With a far longer season than spotties, coonstripes are a viable option for Sound Sound shrimpers out to haul up appetizers or bait to cure for Chinook and steelhead. (JASON BROOKS) Most anglers use an 11-inch Hot Spot dodger with a squid skirt trailing behind, but give a Coyote spoon in cop car behind one a try too. Smear the spoon or fill the squid skirt with Pro-Cure Herring Super Gel or Super Sauce, which is very sticky and won’t wash off.
DROP SOME POTS before you fish to try and catch coonstripe shrimp. These small crustaceans are great for salads or frying up as a “popcorn” shrimp. And if you like to use prawns for fall Chinook and winter steelhead, then this is the best way to get fresh bait to cure up. You can use ½-inch mesh pots for coonstripe and pink shrimp, as long as there are no openings for spot shrimp in your area. And the season runs throughout the summer with a limit of 10 pounds per person, per day allowed (check regulations for each marine area you plan to shrimp). One of the biggest mistakes that coonstripe shrimp anglers make is not keeping their catch separate. Be sure to have enough containers onboard so that each angler can account for their own catch. Canned cat food and canned tuna are
popular shrimp baits. I like to use the cat food that is “gelled” and scoop it into a bait container. Then I take a can of tuna in water and punch some holes in it and put it in the shrimp pot so it can leach as the currents push it around. Don’t use oilpacked tuna, as oil floats, which means the scent will not disperse near the bottom where the shrimp are. I prefer to put my pots in 130 feet of water, but be sure to check if there is a depth restriction where you plan to shrimp. This is done to protect spotties, which prefer deeper depths. I hand sort my coonstripe and pink shrimp by size, with the smaller ones kept for bait, the larger ones for cooking later. I simply put them into a Ziploc with my name on them and put them into the ice chest, keeping them cold. By sorting them as you pull them out of the pot, you can identify any spot shrimp and safely return those to the water.
IT’S HARD TO beat a fresh-cooked fillet of salmon with a side of garlic-sautéed shrimp on a summer’s day, and you can enjoy that after productive late spring and early summer outings on the South Sound. NS