Been reading the coho reports for Lake Washington and am surprised by the slim pickings! I've been on the north west end of the lake since Sept 16th and the coho bite has been great! Trolling has never produced so I switched to jigging the schools from my kayak as I located them. I haven't gone a day without fish. Last night, Oct 1, the lake went crazy with rollers and jumpers so today I wandered around trolling again with no joy. Heading home, I passed over a school and decided to drop my jig. Bang!, an instant hit. Imagine my surprise when I saw a mature sockeye male on the line. I reeled him in next to the boat and set him free. A few minutes later I pulled in two coho off of the bottom in 60 feet of water and was ready to say "Enough fun for 1 day!".

salmonbarry

10/3/2021 9:08:58 PM

That's awesome and funny as when we went out last Wednesday brought along my jigging gear and thought about doing that but my buddys fish finder was not working well and had trouble locating schools. Will definitely give a try nest time out!

BentRod

10/4/2021 6:37:42 AM

Congrats! I've been fishing down by Kirkland and the Coho just won't touch a jig (and I've tried!)....trolling has been the only way I can get a hit. Sounds like it's been a great season for you.

pgfrmr

10/4/2021 10:51:16 AM

Vanholmes,
Great job with your success. I've only had the one chance to get out per my previous report from Sept. We met a kayaker in the slough on the way back into the launch. Maybe it was you? If I get back out again maybe I'll run into you or Salmonbarry. Not literally however.

vanholmes

10/4/2021 12:12:27 PM

Thanks PGFRMR, not me, I'm in on orange touring Kayak.: A rod, a paddle and a little Garmin portable. I rarely get over to the slough. Just being on the lake is great!

The bite seems to be getting tougher: just 1 fish on Sunday.

kurtkettel

10/6/2021 9:46:44 AM

Killed 30 coho first 5 days the season was open (lights out) both trolling & jigging Kirkland...after the nets went in, been out 3-4 times with little success even though large schools both on the bottom & surface (Kirkland). Curious to know what color buzz bomb you use. I jig mostly off the bottom in 60-70ft also...that seems to be where they are. Good eating this year for some reason too; not generally a coho fan but tasty this year (fat & healthy?!). Great report!

vanholmes

10/6/2021 11:28:31 AM

They have been hitting the blue and white, bright orange, and green iridescent. They seem to react the most when the jig comes off the bottom and up through the school.

kurtkettel

10/6/2021 8:02:16 PM

Good intel...that's the same thing I experience...right on the bottom'ish. Hoping is lasts a few more weeks...still catching them in the salt!

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