Went down to the Puyallup early this afternoon after work to meet up with a friend from Portland and get in on the flood of fish that are pushing through right now. Started at 3pm and fished until 7pm, going 9 for 11 in that period with a number of other very brief hookups, all fish released. My friend had a harder day, going 2 for 4 from 4pm to 7pm. There really isn't a lot to this fishery, it is pretty much standard drift fishing. My setup is as follows: 1/0 barbless hook with hot pink yarn in the bait loop, followed by a small (size 14 or 12) white glow corky, followed by a bigger (size 10) hot pink corky. I make my leaders around 4' long, and on this particular day I caught fish with both 1/2oz of lead as well as 3/4oz of lead. 3/4oz is way more than you need to properly drift right in front of you, but it really helps to keep your gear down in the strike zone as your setup begins to quarter out from your 12 to your 10, or so. You just have to stay on the reel and very carefully manage the weight as it bounces in front of you to keep it from snagging.

And now, I will offer a few points on river etiquette in combat situations, as well as general tips.

1. You don't need to wade out further than the guy next to you, it will just make everyone else annoyed.

2. Contrary to popular belief, you don't need a 10' leader to catch fish. As I said, I used 4' today and did just fine. You can actually feel the bite better with a shorter leader.....think about that for a second. It also increases the likelihood that the fish will actually hit your gear, rather than you snagging/flossing them.

3. Scent is good.

3. When standing in a line, wait for the guy below you to cast first, then cast above him. It will work like magic and everyone will get to fish more because people don't get tangled.

4. You don't have to cast clear across the river. I had numerous hookups tonight cast well short of that. The fish are everywhere, so work the water on the far side as well as the water that everyone else just casts right over (watch your weight though if you cast into areas with lower current).

5. When you hook a fish, reel up on it quick and try to get it behind the line of guys where you can easily fight it while everyone else fishes.

6. If you are an experienced fisherman, don't freak out at the newbies. Remember, these are just pink salmon.

Tight Lines!

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