The chums are definitely in. It was a wet, but great day of fishing, and people watching.

The tides were a little on the high side today, so bank anglers were limited to the sides of the hatchery. More adventurous folks were wading chest deep along the hatchery wall to get a better spot.

I was the weird guy fishing from the SeaDoo (I did this a couple times last year too). I had decent success floating brined anchovies under a bobber. Definitely go this route, if you like the assurance of hooking a chum in the mouth. After I ran out of bait, I switched to a corky and yarn setup, and found it to be more effective today. The only downside to this approach is that it is prone to snagging, and the all-too-often missed hookset. The rate of bites on the corky/yarn rig is great fun, and had me casting right up until I absolutely had to sprint back to the boat launch before it got too dark (I can't run at night with my SeaDoo).

Watching the boat and kayak anglers around me, everyone was having good success today. Saw a father and son duo absolutely nail their limits (I saw them doing some catch/release in the process), and leave in good time. One interesting observation was watching another father/son duo in a small Livingston, putt right up to the hatchery gate, and set anchor. They were quite literally parked in knee deep water (at most), over a cloud of fish. I can understand wanting to get your kids onto fish, but this was a bit over the top (pun intended).

Lots of nets in the water today between Potlatch and Hoodsport. I almost ran right into a long set on my way back to the launch. Thankfully, there was a lighted buoy which I caught at the last second.

Lastly, a quick note about the controversial boat launch in Potlatch. If I'm not mistaken, it was a muddy gravel lot with a couple of porta-potties last fall. This year, it's all paved, and has nice painted parking spaces, and pretty clean bathrooms. The launch itself has not changed. Nobody was there to charge a fee today, which has been my experience during all of my fall Hoodsport adventures. People sure like to take their time launching and retrieving their boats here. I must have waited a solid 15 minutes at the front of the line, for a tribal boat to: throw their catch one by one from their boat to their pickup bed; then load their boat onto the trailer; chat for a while; take off their rain gear; change out of their boots; think about getting into their truck; get into their truck; pull up the ramp; stop about 3/4 of the way up; check some things, and then finally get out of the way for the folks in line. What a circus.