Northwest Fishing Reports

Do you think tides play a role on these Salmon runs? I noticed that my best fishing experiences on the Puyallup these past weeks has been about 1hr after high tide in commencement. Thoughts?

My understanding is usually the high tide will bring/push fish into the system. Depending on where you are on the river will determine what part of the tide cycle will put the "new" fish in front of you since the fish need to travel. Also, fish in the river will move faster depending on the whether the tidal water is rushing back out or not. The best thing to do is what you are doing; fish, make observations, take notes, lather, rinse, and repeat. Some access areas will fish better at different times of the tidal shifts. Lower tidal water and estuaries tend to fish better two hours before through up to high tide. This doesn't mean you can't catch fish at other timers though.

I think that the tide does influence the fish in some rivers. An example is the Duwamish/Green river. I hear that the bite is dead when the tide is high at that river. I was on a footbridge yesterday and observed schools and schools of fish swimming through. The pinks were jumping a lot. The guys were casting thier lures through the schools and not one bite. Some of the reports said the fish were caught at low tide.

Fish tend to push into rivers on incoming tides. Thus, the reason for more successful "catching" in your case returnofthefish just past the high tide mark.

Interesting-

What I've been seeing personally, is that I have caught much more a few hours after hightide. The last few times I've been out have been during low tide and I have not had near the success.