North of North Sound SRC hunt

[Pink Nighty]

I read a lot of pessimism about fishing for SRC in the North Sound. And the "North sound" is defined as anything north of Seattle it appears. From general tone, it appears that Whidbey is the last point north of productive SRC water.

I live a bit north of there in Blaine. And while I have a passionate love affair with the beaches of whidbey for salmon fishing, the thought of 1.5-2 hr trips each way to learn to target SRC is a tough proposition. With a 3 month gap in river seasons, bass still cold and decent tides I'm gonna try and see what swims up here.

The Place: From Bellingham Bay to Boundary Bay, including Semiahmoo and Drayton Harbor, Birch Bay and Birch/Cherry points.

This area is bounded by the mouth of the Nooksack to the south and the mouth of the Fraser to the North, though I wont be going international on this adventure. There are also 3 fish bearing streams on the US side and 4 on the Canadian side that drain the area between the large rivers.

There is a lot of potential habitat to probe here. Enormous boulders dot sand/cobble flats. Dense patches of eelgrass cover flats off gentle beaches in some places, while kelp beds encroach on the steep bouldery beaches of others.

Life is relatively abundant here. I have employed these beaches for other uses for years and the amount of bait can be staggering at times. Crab, octopus, all kinds of shellfish can be found and birds/marine mammals are generally present.

The time:
From today though April I am planning on making this my primary fishery. After that will depend on how its fishing because I cant just ignore bass forever guys jeez.

The first month presents opportunities to fish high slack and outgoing tides. I will often be restricted to midday with my baby on the back, which looks decent for the next while with midday exchanges of 9+ft. As april approaches I should have shots at large exchanges on the incoming tide.

The gear:

Felt bottom waders, round laundry bin with wading belt through the holes for a stripping basket. Chest pack full of gear, backpack full of screams.

Echo Carbon Xl 9' 5wt
200gr floating Skagit head on Lazar line, tips from floating to t11
OR
WF5F from SA (I think)

Fenwick glass 8'6 6 weight
Skagit setup as above
OR
Integrated tip/shooting head with a 20 ft 5ips tip

I'll update this post as I go, using it as a log for tides, wind and strategy. I'd really love any thoughts related to this area. The SRC advice in other threads is fantastic and I have consumed it thoroughly, so I am hoping this thread can relate more specifically to the area 7ish region.

Wish me luck! Gotta be better than not fishing.

 

[Pink Nighty]

And for the first report:

Tues, 7/22 8:41am high tide (9.3) with a 3:49pm low (1.4) wind 15+ sustained 30+ gusts from the NE. Clear skies and 30 degrees.

Monday night featured howling winds dropping temps, souring my hopes of starting. At the school bus stop with the kindergartner at 730am however, no wind blew so the decision was made to go. By 930 the baby was up, fed and bundled up. As we head out to the car I notice a breeze, but nothing to fear.

As I get views of the water I notice the area I intended to start was boiling from the wind. I decide to park and get a peak at some water that "should" be protected. The wind cas blowing with the flow of the tide and producing what was certainly swingable water pocketed by boulders. Several large congregations of birds could be seen, but did not appear to be feeding.

Decision to bail without gearing up was made on account of the kids comfort. It did look fishy as all hell in places and I could definitely swing flies in this wind/current situation if I was solo.

Next opportunity will be Thursday, similar tide exchange but without the wind (so they say).

 

[Smalma]

Pink Nightly-
Sea-run cutthroat are actually quite numerous in the North Puget Sound area; in fact in my opinion, I think they are more numerous than in south Sound. It is just that they behavior differently with their tendency to over-winter in freshwater for months rather than weeks as is typical in south Sound. By late fall both the mature and immature are in our rivers and tend to remain there until the spring. In March in that area we see some of the post spawn fish in the salt with the year's smolts and the immature fish hit the salt in late April and May. While I don't know if it has been documented I suspect that the cutthroat from those smaller independent streams behave somewhat like their Alaskan cousins who typically over-winter in lakes with both fish from that basin as well as those from nearby systems without lakes using a lake. Those mature non-natal fish to the lake system will spend much of the winter in the lake to drop back to the salt and migrate to their spawning stream and may return to that lake post spawn. The difference in the north sound is that such fish are potentially using the lower portions of those larger river system.

This adoption of local behaviors to the specifics of the area is just one of the many aspects that may our coastal cutthroat a favorite of so many of us.

The end result is that as weather improves are should start finding more and more fish peaking in June(?). Not only should you find better fishing the weather should be more baby favorable!

Curt

 

[Pink Nighty]

Pink Nightly-
Sea-run cutthroat are actually quite numerous in the North Puget Sound area; in fact in my opinion, I think they are more numerous than in south Sound. It is just that they behavior differently with their tendency to over-winter in freshwater for months rather than weeks as is typical in south Sound. By late fall both the mature and immature are in our rivers and tend to remain there until the spring. In March in that area we see some of the post spawn fish in the salt with the year's smolts and the immature fish hit the salt in late April and May. While I don't know if it has been documented I suspect that the cutthroat from those smaller independent streams behave somewhat like their Alaskan cousins who typically over-winter in lakes with both fish from that basin as well as those from nearby systems without lakes using a lake. Those mature non-natal fish to the lake system will spend much of the winter in the lake to drop back to the salt and migrate to their spawning stream and may return to that lake post spawn. The difference in the north sound is that such fish are potentially using the lower portions of those larger river system.

This adoption of local behaviors to the specifics of the area is just one of the many aspects that may our coastal cutthroat a favorite of so many of us.

The end result is that as weather improves are should start finding more and more fish peaking in June(?). Not only should you find better fishing the weather should be more baby favorable!

Curt

Just so I have this straight, your proposing that a small stream cutt in the north sound may overwinter in the lower reaches of the larger rivers, intermingled with cutts of that river and potentially several others? Do you think these fish may inhabit the lakes of the lower Fraser as well, more aligned with their Alaskan brethren?

If I got it right, that is beyond cool (and because its SRC I'm sure it's cool if I didn't get it right). It brings more questions to me however. Once the salmon are gone, what are these fish feeding on? Why would they choose the relative meager forage of the lower nooksack when there is a feast for them just around the corner from the mouth?

Thank you for the response, the baby is tough as nails but the wind makes me hook the backpack sometimes hahaha

 

[Divad]

I enjoy your reporting data, I hope you continue this into a habit for the endeavor. SRC knowledge has such depth in the salt, those details will be incredibly enjoyable to review once you have a good few.

Might even discover other hidden gems to the heartbeat of your water.

 

[adamcu280]

Looks like I'll also be targeting this zone more often than not from now on so I'll be following along!

 

[Pink Nighty]

Looks like I'll also be targeting this zone more often than not from now on so I'll be following along!

Feel free to add any trip reports here. Be cool to get some data going. Good luck to you!

 

[adamcu280]

Feel free to add any trip reports here. Be cool to get some data going. Good luck to you!

I'll see what I can do but I probably won't have a chance to hit any beaches for a while.

 

[Salmo_g]

I think your area might offer both SRC and bull trout beginning in March, April for sure. In the Skagit it seemed to me that bull trout were following salmon fry downstream in March to Skagit Bay, cutthroat probably slightly later. When winds and tides allow, you find some pleasant surprises along those beaches. There are fish, and they have to pass by those places at some point. Give yourself the assignment of figuring that out.

 

[Pink Nighty]

Report for 2/26
Tides: 11:41am high of 8.7, 7:58 PM low of -1.1ft.
Weather: low 40s, overcast and calm

Arrived at mouth of C creek at 1030, near the high slack. Habitat is mud flats strewn with erratic boulders and several tide/creek channels. Very little rock other than the boulders. Scattered birds, no sign of aquatic life of any kind. Water was clear free of salad. Fished a gurgler down the beach from the mouth for an hour, no strikes or follows.

Drove around to S beach. Lots of people on the beach, took half an hour to watch birds and see if people dispersed. Birds (surf scoters, coots, pintails and buffleheads) were diving near shore in shallow water. Never concentrated but consistently up and down the beach.

Saw some rocks starting to peak out in the ebbing tide and grabbed the rod. Popped on a fry pattern under the gurgler and started working down the beach.

Fished about a mile of beach over the next two hours. The water was dropping but not producing a current. Birds continued to display feeding behaviours but no bait was seen and the birds never really seemed to lock in on a location. Area generally felt fishy however, there will be something there at some point.

Takeaways on the day are that the mouth of C creek does not appear to provide a good forage environment. Also was probably too early in the tide exchange to get some moving water.

Onwards and upwards.

 

[Josh]

I'm going to bump this thread to try and keep @Pink Nighty from getting too distracted by bass and bluegill.

 

[Pink Nighty]

Man I feel called out, and rightfully so! The excuse is that life and work and family have not coordinated with the tides, but that's definitely more excuse than reason.

All this chum fry talk has me wanting to get back out though. Back to the tide charts for me!

 

[NRC]

Man I feel called out, and rightfully so! The excuse is that life and work and family have not coordinated with the tides, but that's definitely more excuse than reason.

All this chum fry talk has me wanting to get back out though. Back to the tide charts for me!

Brief thread drift. What is your baby carrying setup? I’ve got one arriving in July and I’m intrigued. Particularly if it’s got a way to protect the back of the little one’s head from incoming clousers…

 

[Pink Nighty]

Brief thread drift. What is your baby carrying setup? I’ve got one arriving in July and I’m intrigued. Particularly if it’s got a way to protect the back of the little one’s head from incoming clousers…

I go full backpack style as seen in my profile pic. It covers the back of the head with a pullover sunshade.

If I were buying again, I'd invest in one that has some more rain protection and definitely a kickstand. Cant reiterate the kickstand enough, it allows you to take the baby off the back and put them down without tipping. Mine does not have the kickstand, but my brothers does. My brothers is far superior on account of the kickstand.

 

[NRC]

I go full backpack style as seen in my profile pic. It covers the back of the head with a pullover sunshade.

If I were buying again, I'd invest in one that has some more rain protection and definitely a kickstand. Cant reiterate the kickstand enough, it allows you to take the baby off the back and put them down without tipping. Mine does not have the kickstand, but my brothers does. My brothers is far superior on account of the kickstand.

Thanks!

 

[flyfisherdon]

I'm from Blaine, as well, though I am old and really hard physical activity is now beyond me, from a bit of a heart condition. I fish both the Yak and the Methow and am considering a trip over to Eastern OR. I have never gone down the SRC route but reading of the experiences here sure makes me interested. I have oogled the streams and beaches in this area but have not yet had the courage to go forth and explore. I would really be interested in this thread, should it continue. Thanks for sharing!! Cheers!

 

[Vandelay Industries]

Thanks!

We had something similar to this, the one we had is no longer sold, https://www.rei.com/product/147418 Deuter Kid Comfort Active Child Carrier #REIapp.

The kickstand is essential. Also, get the rain/sun cover. It'll keep them happy.

Good luck and enjoy the time being able to carry them.

 

[Zak]

Cant reiterate the kickstand enough, it allows you to take the baby off the back and put them down without tipping.

This! I think mine was a Kelty and it had a kickstand and a high back. Fished a lot of small open streams with my kids on my back!

 

[Wanative]

SRC are available north of Lummi Island but rarely in my experience.

 

[Josh]

SRC are available north of Lummi Island but rarely in my experience.

Okay, what about south of Lummi but north of say... Hwy 20?