2023 Siltcoo/Tahk coho thread

Opening day report-  we did a full counterclockwise loop of Siltcoos on Oct.1, the extended storm in late Sept. really helped, despite dry summer the lake looks better then recent years, 65F water temp up both arms and weeds not heavy at top of both arms (good for trolling up there). 

I checked the mouth of Siltcoos river on Sept30 at near high tide and it is not blocked at the beach, there is a nice connection (with 5 seals swimming around in it).  Coho should start trickling in over the fish ladder after the next good sized rain event. 

Pepper is ready, she even practiced standing way up high on our landing gear wheels, might need to give her a refresher course on low center of gravity.

Planning to be out next week in the rain and again on Oct.14 for the eclipse.  cheers, roger

Thank you Roger!  Looking forward to getting out there soon!

Thanks for the report - eagerly looking forward to trying Tahkenitch again this year...on a warmer day this time!

checked the lake level today, just as it started to rain, the red star is about how high it usually gets before they crack open the dam.  until then, we will have coho coming in over the fish ladder but the big surges of fish are usually related to dam operations.

Siltcoos was cloudy during the eclipse but about an hour later, things got real shiny...saw him roll in an area with about 3' of water over weeds, switched to a 3/8oz spinner and about the third cast, what I thought might be a weed pulled back and then ran off about 50 yards of line.  shiny 27" buck.

Very nice! I will be watching the forecast for a potential trip on Wednesday. Should be a fair bit of rain Sunday-Monday.

I am expecting coho to trickle in for now so it's worth fishing if you are looking for a nice day at the lake with a chance of coho.

The next significant rain just popped up on https://www.nwrfc.noaa.gov/rfc/ about 10 days out, the more the better.  Based on that, looks like end of October is when Siltcoos gets really hot and Tahk fires up.

As for weather, just watch the wind, not much fun out there at 10mph or above and down right dangerous if it gets to gusting.

my video from a relaxing day out there yesterday, I did include some extra info on approach and lures I use for these lake coho...

https://youtu.be/4VUGqgbCIMM?si=W_qmtiN2elSFCQuz

Great video! Too bad about the battey.... Fun stuff.

Tuesday- as expected, a few coho rolling in places but not on the bite, we did hook one in the afternoon near the outlet, absolutely no other boats out in that area, it looked similar to my eclipse coho, we lost it at the PB before a netting opportunity. 

next rain is the key, looking like the end of Oct and first 2 weeks of Nov are going to be lake coho fun. beautiful out there now and there are some coho, just limited numbers as of now.   

My catch of the day, lil largemouth.
Puppy was bored with lack of action too.

Spent the day kayaking, mostly with Cameron, and with Roger and his power boat a little bit. Saw a few fish rolling and was casting at them, but they just wouldn’t bite. Didn’t see any hooked on the maple arm. We fished from 830 till about 330 so we put in our time!

Wednesday afternoon East side Maple Arm: 3 hours, 3 rolls, 0 bites.

Made it Siltcoos lake this morning. Talk to a couple of people launching and they were all headed to Miller arm for maybe a hail-mary salmon. They see my fly rod with the super small trout like fly and made the comment that this was more a salmon run now then a trout run. As I turn to walk away, I made the comment I wasn't here for the trout.  Headed out going left towards Booth Island, at first didn't see much -you know turtles some birds, people on the docks having morning coffee and waving. The plan was to cruise the shoreline looking for any and all activity. Well, that plan fell through! So I started casting like I was bass fishing. Right off a fine jack hit and we tussled a bit before being released. A couple of hours go by and few more were had just under legal salmon size. Came to a small feeder creek and made a cast and before I could even blink the fly line was peeling out into the lake. A few scenic rocket jumps and a couple of attempts to get back into weeds she was in the net. Rested and revived I let her swim off hoping for more to come. I was not wrong, 3 more came from the same spot. Then it was time to head back for my mother-in-law birthday party.  All in all 4 -Silvers and 3- jacks with one jack going to the M-I-L. Would have kept one of the Silvers but didn't want to show everyone else up at the party.

excellent.

Roger, I had to go really small on the flies, like 1"- 1 1/2" orange/gold.