Fishing report for Dec. 1

LAKES

Moses: The perch fishing has been good. Look for the fish holding close to the bottom in water 15-20 feet deep. Fishing with a worm has been working well. With the forecast calling for high temperatures in the low to mid 40s as the week progresses, this might be a worthwhile trip.

Roosevelt: Anglers making the drive are catching plenty of rainbow trout. Look for fish holding in 150 feet of water. Trolling with a pink and purple hoochie with a pink Smile Blade or a Rapala in a perch pattern have been productive.

RIVERS

Cispus: During the past week, Tacoma Power employees released 34 coho adults, 61 jacks, four cutthroat trout and one winter-run steelhead into the river near the mouth of Yellow Jacket Creek.

Cowlitz: The fishing has been fair at best, based on state creel samples. A check of 48 anglers showed a catch of two adult and five jack coho, with three adult fall chinook released. During the past week, Tacoma Power employees released an adult fall chinook, 15 coho adult and 24 jacks at Franklin Bridge in Packwood. A 24-hour test netting Nov. 23 resulted in nine smelt being caught. Dipping for Columbia River smelt, however, remains closed statewide.

Green: River conditions have improved, and the fishing has done the same. Certainly not great, but people are hooking chum salmon. Pink-and-white jigs have been effective, more so than corkies and yarn. Anglers are catching some whitefish at Flaming Geyser State Park.

Lewis: Fishing on the East Fork has been fair. A check of 29 bank anglers showed they caught two hatchery steelhead and six wild steelhead.

Olympia Coast: Fishing for hatchery coho on the Sol Duc, downstream of the hatchery, has been extended to Dec. 15. The fishery was to have closed Monday. Fishing in the area rivers has been fair to good, with people catching coho, steelhead and trout.

Skykomish: People are catching some steelhead around the hatchery. Drift fishing seems to be more effective than fishing with jigs.

Tilton: Tacoma Power employees released 111 coho adults, 87 jacks, 52 fall adult chinook, two jacks and 13 cutthroat trout into the river last week at Gust Backstrom Park in Morton.

SALT WATER

Hoodsport: A few chum salmon are being caught at the hatchery, but the number of anglers and number of fish being caught have dropped significantly.

North Sound: Recreational crab fishing reopened in Marine Area 10 (Seattle/Bremerton) Tuesday. The area is open seven days a week, and like all other areas of Puget Sound, will be open through Dec. 31. The salmon fishing has been very slow.

South Sound: Very few people have been fishing, so few fish have been caught. Try trolling 120-150 feet down in water 130-180 feet deep at the mouth of Quartermaster Harbor, off the clay banks or the flats off the Point Defiance Boathouse. Crabbing and squid fishing has been fair.

This story was originally published December 1, 2015 at 6:30 AM with the headline "Fishing report for Dec. 1."