Fishing report

▪ The recreational chinook salmon fishery in Marine Area 9 will close Sunday.

▪ Crabbing has been fair in the South Sound.

▪ Bass and walleye fishing have been excellent at Potholes Reservoir.

SALTWATER

SOUTH SOUND: Salmon fishing remains spotty, but there are a few pink salmon here and there. The crabbing has been fair, with a lot of females being caught, according to people at the Point Defiance Boathouse Marina.

NORTH SOUND: The salmon have been biting for the last two days, said Mike Chamberlain at Ted’s Sports Center. In the last week, the fish caught have weighed in the lower teens and 20s. The chinook salmon fishery in Marine Area 9 will close at the end of Sunday. State fishery managers expect the catch quota to be met. Fishing for coho and pink salmon will continue, but all chinook must be released. Anglers fishing from the Edmonds Fishing Pier can still retain chinook.

WESTPORT: Mostly coho have been caught in the last week. The chinook catch rate has improved, with most fish coming in shallow water off the Quinault casino area.

LAKES

AMERICAN: David Anderson of Bill’s Boathouse says the fishing has been slow recently and that angling off the dock has provided the best results. He said yellow and green bait has been attracting the most fish.

BLACK: The fishing has been good for bass and panfish. While people are not catching a lot of big fish, the quantity has been high otherwise.

CLEAR (Pierce): The kokanee action has been fair to good. People are catching fish about 30 feet deep with a green dodger followed by a corn-tipped hook.

POTHOLES: The bass and walleye action has been excellent, said Annie Meseberg of MarDon Resort. Bass anglers are using spinnerbaits, crankbaits, Senkos worms, tube baits and 5-inch grubs on a football jig head. The best spots to jig for walleye are the mouth of Frenchman’s Wasteway, near Goose Island, and close to the orange buoys at the outlet to the Potholes Canal.

SPANAWAY: The dock fishing for trout has been good lately. The south end of the lake has also been good, said Bud Hertlitzka of the Spanaway Park Boathouse. He says marshmallow and worm bait has worked best.

TANWAX: The best bait has usually been worms, according staffers at the Rainbow Resort. They say many fish are on the bottom of the lake, including perch and trout. They say the trout have been active because of the warm temperatures.

RIVERS

COLUMBIA: The upper river will be closed Sunday for sockeye salmon retention. The closure covers the river from the Rocky Reach Dam upstream to Chief Joseph Dam. The state Department of Fish and Wildlife is imposing the closure because of elevated water temperatures that have resulted in higher-than-expected mortalities of sockeye.

COWLITZ: Staffers at Barrier Dam Campground Tackle Shop report that the fishing has been good to excellent. There have been a couple of spring chinook caught, but steelhead has been the main catch. They also report that most fish have been caught using shrimp and eggs.

YAKIMA: The action for trout remains good, even though water temperatures are warm. Dry-fly fishing with hopper patterns has been effective in midmornings, said Joe Rotter at Red’s Fly Shop.

This story was originally published July 24, 2015 at 7:26 AM with the headline "Fishing report."