End of Summer Update - Five Weeks Left to Fish

A common assumption people make is to think the weather on shore has anything to do with how good or how bad the fishing is .. while the weather does matter, the correlation of the two is not really intuitive ....


During the heat of the hot summer, our fishing for this year's mature, 4-year old king salmon was excellent with many limit or near-limit trips resulting in stuffed coolers. Lots of fish in the teens were caught as well as several 20lber's and a 21lb fish too. About three weeks ago however, waves of weak and strong cold fronts began moving into the area. Making the air temps more comfortable for us but it served to break up the schools of fish and move them offshore. The reason why is because is when it's hot, it's normal to have a wind regime in place that keeps subsurface cold water, fish and baitfish concentrated nearer to shore. When it cools off during cold fronts, we normally have heavy north winds that push walls of warm surface water up against the shore, thereby forcing out the cold water layer below, and everything else with it out to deeper water.

It had been a hot summer indeed and the mid-lake NOAA buoy set a record for the highest ever air and water temperature in its existence. When the heaviest cold front arrived in mid-August and carried gale force winds with it, the buoy also set a record for the highest waves ever recorded in August. We've seen larger recorded waves in the spring and fall at the buoy but never that large in August. So while we set records for super-summer extremes with heat, we also did so only shortly after that for large waves in early August because of an unusually early, heavy cold front.

The weather has been more comfortable now with a few hot days again here and there which has served to carry subsurface cold water nearer to shore again. Fishing has been ok to decent recently and we are still catching good size king salmon and lake trout. An occasional steelhead and brown trout are also found and we expect to see more coho salmon soon following their move way off shore after the most recent cold fronts.

It is my duty to tell you that we have most likely passed the peak of the fishing for the big, mature 4-year old kings. We still have big kings available but the numbers are diminishing. I will always be honest with you in these regards. However, on a more forward looking basis, this most certainly does not mean that fishing will be poor for the fall, 2012 season. More seasoned anglers will remember this time of year - the fall months - as the time for the big king salmon run. This used to be true however it can be a very hit or miss proposition. It always has been. And frankly we have caught so many large kings all season long. More than in recent memory from the very beginning of the season into August, that their numbers are also diminished as a result.

But as fall approaches we have other fisheries to choose from such as offshore, two and three-year old kings in the 7-16lb range. This particular fishery is not well-recognized by many anglers but has been red-hot in recent years. We usually find ourselves focusing in this direction more often than not since many times the near-shore fishery for big kings finished or not worth it. But if the conditions are right for a good near-shore big king bite, we will gear out for that. Otherwise we also have a near-shore brown trout fishery that can be excellent as well as an offshore program for lake trout too. In any case, we will outfit ourselves and fish those waters that offer the best chance to catch the most and largest fish. Beyond that, when the weather is nice in the fall, it is often the best weather we experience all season long. For those varieties of reasons I have customers who choose to come fishing only during the fall.

Most of the remaining weekend spots for 2012 are now booked at this stage but some weekday availability remains. My last day to fish this season is October 12th and I will also be leaving in a few days for a canoe trip in Canada. When I return, I look forward to closing out the remaining five weeks of the 2012 season.

Attached are are few photos from recent weeks. Some are of weather shots. Which fits into the extremes we have recently seen. Remember to 'like' the Windycitysalmon facebook page if you haven't already as I post these photos and sunrise shots there as I take them: https://www.facebook.com/windycitysalmon



Thanks for Reading,
Capt Rick