Northwest Fishing Reports

the openers on monday. whos all gonna go out for some mud buggin? what do you like to use for bait?

dead squawfish, if the Eagles don't get them first.

do ya use them whole or in lil pieces

cut in half, then use 1/2 and cut the other half in little pieces.

Got a supply of coho carcasses, gettin' pumped.

where ya mainly like to go?

So, anyone been out recently?

I hit cassidy saturday. One pot had 12 keepers and the other one had 15. Not the best day but enough for a snack

Nice. Do you go there very often for them?

how deed are you going for them? i found my pots the other day but dont have a clue on where to start dropping for them? deep, shallow, by some downed logs? how long should i let them soak?

Usaully a few times a year. I try to look for brush piles in the lake. Some are a few feet deep. And there is some 15+ feet deep

Rock piles in rivers are good too, by bridges, etc.

I think the river crayfish taste better than the ones in lakes. I grew up catching them out of the Yakima river on my grandparents property. Yum.

River crawfish taste way better! The pilchuck river in snohomish is loaded with them

Yeah, but I've tried putting pots in there before and both times they were either stolen or pulled up and messed with. Maybe have to plan next time when there won't be so many people.

Don't use buoys, hide the pots down where people can't see/get to them.

Then on your smart phone, download the app called "gps-marker". Then when you sink a pot, mark it on your gps marker and then the next morning, bring your broom handle with a hook on it and pull out your pots, following the spots you marked!

Night is the best time, but if you have some good raw meat in your pot, you can get them during the day too. In that case, just toss it out while you're fishing.

FYI: I just downloaded this app, or at least one called GPS-Marker while at work. Sitting at my desk I marked my location, then immediately tried to locate that spot. It indicated the spot was 0.7 miles away. I erased that point and remarked my desk. I looked for that point and was told it was 3 miles away. A third effort marked my desk 0.4 miles away.

Cell phone service is spotty at times here, but I don't know if this is significant or not.

Be careful until you have some confidence in how this works where you are.

The app interface is very intuitive, and does allow you to take a photo of the location.

That sounds like it's using your cell transponder to locate. I have to turn the GPS in my phone on to get it accurate. Mine is accurate to within about 8 inches.

Another option is to turn GPS tagging on your photos and just snap a pic of each place you put a pot.

Every shellfish pot, ring net, or star trap left unattended in Washington waters must have its own buoy line and a separate buoy that is permanently
and legibly marked with the operator’s first name, last name, and permanent address (telephone number is voluntary).

Pots without bouys are fair game to take. I believe all pots need a bouy on them.

Ah yes the bouy, ill tell you what i do with my traps. I have three of them and all of them have 50' of small black rope that sinks. I use a black crab pot bouy with a chunk of pvc ran thru it, lead at the bottom, and i paint about 1" of the pvc a bright color. write your name below the water line with a silver sharpie. Completly legal. i drop my pot, let it hit bottom, attach a 10oz lead weight to the line via clip. then go towards the shore and hide the bouy in the grass/logs/rocks. then i mark it on a gps. Unless someone watches me drop the pot your never gonna find it. When i trap the river i usaully try to make it were if the person is gonna pull my pot the are really gonna have to work at it. Ive got a few places on the pilly and snoho were its a 1/2 mile walk to were i drop my pots in, then i do the same thing- throw the pot out with the lead inside it, but i use a smaller bouy and hide it in the rocks.