The Salmon Spawn is on

After my trip to Colorado, I returned home excited for the salmon spawning season and the trout that follow them in search of eggs. While the best fishing is typically in September, getting out just just wasn’t in the cards for me as shortly after my daughter started school, both her and I came down with a nasty flu. It wasn’t until the last weekend of the month that my energy had returned enough that I finally was feeling like myself and was able to get out on the river with Dyllon.

Dawn on the river

We lucked out on the day, as recently rains had kicked the flows up a bit drawing fresh salmon in, but the river was now dropping and we were treated to a blue bird day on the water. When we arrived, signs of salmon were everywhere, with a mine field of redds, plenty of active spawners and spawned out fish lining the banks.

A spawned out hatchery Chinook Salmon

I initially started out with the October caddis and egg dropper that I had been fishing over the summer, but when Dyllon got a couple fish in the shallows it was apparent that I need to go lighter. As such, I removed the caddis and switched just to a single egg imitation and this was certainly the ticket as on my first cast my line had barely hit the water when my indicator disappeared. When I set it a 15” trout shot out of the water and proceeded to jump at least a half dozen times before I was finally able to get the better of it and slide it into the net.

My first fish of the day - a beautiful spunky native Rainbow

After the fight, I wasn’t surprised to see that it was a Coastal Rainbow at the end of my line and after a quick photo, the fish shot back into the run to continue gorging on eggs. While I was now on the board, it was Dyllon who had the hot rod and proceeded to catch several smallish fish behind me before hooking into something big. This trout had his rod doubled over and gave him a real run for his money, but he had a good hook set and after a few minutes I helped net a chunky 18”+ Rainbow.

Dyllon with a gorgeous native Rainbow 

With Dyllon out fishing me at least four to one at this point, I knew I had to do a better job of matching the hatch and switched from a freshly spawned egg imitation to a dead egg imitation. Again this proved the right move and a few casts later I hooked into a fish that completely doubled my rod over. I got one good jump out of the fish, that looked to be around 20” before it tore away downstream and sent my hook fly back at me. A few casts later I hooked into another fish, but once again it popped off and after that the run seemed to have switched off and we decided to press on upstream.

A tailout absolutely alive with spawning fish

As moved upstream, we had to take great care to avoid stepping in any redds as the tailout above where we had been fish was completely turned over by spawners. For a long stretch of river there didn’t seem to be too much activity, but as we came around an oxbow corner we again found a run with a mass of spawners at the top. We started out in a riffle below the spawning salmon and it didn’t take long to find signs of life. Dyllon took the top of the riffle, while I started in the middle and when I placed my first cast on the inside in perhaps a foot and half of water, my indicator shot under. Unlike the first fish, this one didn’t jump, but after thrashing on the surface stayed down and took short quick runs. However, it wasn’t too big after a few minutes started to tire and I brought a beautiful native Coastal Cutthroat to the net.

My first Coastal Cutthroat of the day, a thick 16” male

A close up of the Cutthroat 

One thing that I love about this fishery, is that you never know what you are going to find on the end of your line and already just an hour into the day, I had caught two species of native trout and had seen four species of Pacific Salmon (Chinook, Coho, Chum and Pink) in the river.

Dyllon working a run

A few casts later and still in the shallow inside water I caught a small Rainbow, followed by one of the more beautiful Coastal Cutthroat I have caught in a long time. This Cutthroat had deep rose red lower fins and dense large spots over a yellow olive background that photos just don’t do justice.

One of the most unique and beautiful looking Coastal Cutthroat I have caught in a long time

After the riffle stopped producing, we moved upstream to where the salmon where spawn and sure enough within a few casts I hooked into another Rainbow that immediately went airborne and looked to be around 16”. However, just as I was getting ready to bring it the net it popped off. Next cast thought Dyllon was on it and apparently found the twin of my fish when he hooked and landed a beautiful 16” Rainbow. Not long after I hooked into yet another fish, but this time the fight didn’t feel like either a Cutthroat or Rainbow, instead it felt like dead weight with an occasional head shake. When netted it I saw why as it was a post spawn female Pink that had decided to grab my egg imitation, likely in an effort remove dead eggs which can spread diseases from around nest.

A surprise Pink Salmon in her spawning colors

Signs of fall on the river

As we continued upstream, we came to a run that tends to be very productive, although I personally had never managed to catch anything bigger than a smolt out of it. This time the riffle upstream was loaded with spawning salmon and it didn’t take long to find some trout too. With the water up, all day the trout had been showing a preference for shallow riffles over the deeper runs and this spot was no different. We started working our first casts in perhaps only a foot of water and sure enough within a couple casts my indicator shot under. This fish ended up being quite acrobatic but unlike the last trout I got a good hook set and a few moments later brought a beautiful heavily spotted 16” Rainbow or perhaps Cutbow to the net.

A beautiful Coastal Rainbow Trout with perhaps a touch of Cutthroat genes - note the yellow on the jaw

A group of Pink Salmon spawning

Shortly after Dyllon got a similar sized Rainbow, as well as a few smaller ones before we once again moved on this time to our farthest upstream run of the day. On a previous trip Dyllon had gotten a really nice Cutthroat out of this spot, so he fished through in first, while I headed just upstream to check out a tailout. This tailout looked like a series of craters and was filled with Chinook redds, with a couple spawners still holding on a redd, which was a good sign for trout. After working my way into the sweet spot I immediately hooked into a fish but unfortunately lost it. However, there were definitely more trout in here and over the next 20 minutes I landed five more fish that were a mix of Cutthroat and Rainbows and ranged from 12” to 14”. Nothing huge but still tons of fun.

A bright Coastal Cutthroat fresh from the saltwater 

Unfortunately, the run Dyllon was fishing wasn’t producing today and he had only gotten one grab so we decided to start working our way back downstream. We both hooked few fish as we went, but nothing stuck until Dyllon managed to hook and land another beautiful 16” native Rainbow.

A lone Chum Salmon cruising the shallows

Shortly after we ended up running into our friend TJ who was fishing with his two year daughter in tow and decided to hit a couple more runs with him before heading out. Although we didn’t find anything of size Dyllon and TJ each picked up a couple fish before the fishing slowed down and it was truly time to go.

Cottonwoods just starting to show their fall colors 

I’ve always said that mid September through October is the best time to fish and Western Washington and this outing really showed why. There is nothing like the crisp fall mornings, the sound of salmon in the riffles and fishing with good company and I can’t wait get back on the river again.