Biting right now — August

This is the heart of winter steelhead season and we run our drift boats hard on the coastal rivers for it. Fish are moving through on higher, colder water and we swing and nymph the deeper runs where they hold up. Everything else is dead this month, so steelhead is the whole program.

Steelhead fishing stays at its best right through February and the rivers usually clear up enough for good swings between rain events. We chase fresh fish pushing into the mid and upper river sections. No other species is worth a trip this month, it is steelhead or nothing.

Steelhead fishing is still good into March even as the run tapers off, and spring chinook start showing up in the lower river holes as water temps climb. Trout, lingcod and rockbass are all just waking up and bites are slow and inconsistent right now. We split days between the last of the steelhead and the first chinook of the year.

Spring chinook are stacked in the deeper river holes and this is as good as that run gets all year. We split time between working bait and jigs for those kings and running out to the reefs where lingcod and rockbass are already feeding hard. Winter steelhead are on their way out and trout have not woken up yet, so we do not chase either one this month.

This is the month we build the whole season around. Spring chinook stay strong in the river while lingcod hit their peak out on the structure, and we can genuinely fish both in the same trip if the tides line up. Trout are still slow and winter steelhead have shut off completely, so we leave those rods at the shop.

Rockbass and lingcod both peak this month and the bottomfishing is about as easy as it gets on this coast. Spring chinook are tapering off but still worth a look early in the month, and trout finally turn on in the lakes and slower river sections. Fall chinook and coho are not in yet and winter steelhead are done, so we are fully focused on bottomfish and trout this time of year.

The rockpiles outside the bar are stacked with lingcod and rockbass this month, and we spend a good chunk of the day working structure for them. Fall Chinook are starting to show and trout fishing in the lower river is steady, but coho and spring Chinook are not worth our time yet. We build most July trips around the bottomfish bite with salmon as a bonus.

This is one of the strongest months on the water. Fall Chinook and trout both hit their peak, lingcod are still thick on the rockpiles, and coho start showing in numbers worth chasing. We run full days to cover salmon water in the morning and bottomfish structure in the afternoon.

September is the peak of the season. Fall Chinook, coho, and trout all stack up together, and lingcod stay strong on the rockpiles even as rockbass fishing eases off a bit. Spring Chinook and winter steelhead have nothing going, so we do not fish for them, but everything else on this water is firing.

This is the month we build the whole fall around. Chinook and coho are stacked in the lower river and tidewater, trout fishing is at its best in the feeder creeks, and lingcod are still active out on the structure. We run long days this month because there is too much going on to fish short.

The fall salmon push is winding down and bites get harder to find, but trout are still working well in the tidewater creeks and the first winter steelhead start showing. We slow down and fish smaller water this month rather than chase fading chinook and coho. It is a good month for a shorter trip with realistic expectations.

Salmon, trout, lingcod and rockbass are all done for the year, so we do not book those. Winter steelhead are the one bright spot, showing up in decent numbers in the usual tributary water as the rains push through. We keep these trips focused and short since it is one species, cold water, and a smaller window each day.