There’s no shortage of fishing opportunities for anglers willing to brave the colder fall temperatures settling in around the Northwest.

Anglers looking to mix it up a little might want to try jigging for squid, which typically make their way through Puget Sound in fall and winter. Fishers are also reeling in an assortment of coho, chinook and chum salmon, as well as hatchery steelhead, from waters around the state.

In addition, two areas of Puget Sound are set to reopen Nov. 1 for late-season crab fishing and two razor clam digs are tentatively scheduled for later in the month.

The Washington Department of Fisheries and Wildlife offers the following breakdown of fishing, crabbing and razor clamming opportunities around the state.

North Puget Sound

Anglers are still hooking a few coho in the region’s rivers and streams, but chum will soon be taking center stage. Meanwhile, some anglers fishing areas of Puget Sound have been reeling in blackmouth and will soon have the option of dropping a crab pot in select areas.

Starting Nov. 1 at sunrise, Marine Area 10 (Seattle/Bremerton) and most of Marine Area 9 (Admiralty Inlet) will reopen for sport crabbing seven days a week through Jan. 2, 2010. The portion of Marine Area 9 south of a line from Foulweather Bluff to Olele Point will remain closed for the season.

Crab fishing also will remain open seven days a week through Jan. 2 in marine areas 4 (Neah Bay), 5 (Sekiu) and 13 (south Puget Sound), where the fishery has continued uninterrupted since summer. Marine Area 12 (Hood Canal), currently open Wednesdays through Saturdays, is closed for the season at 6 p.m. Oct. 31.

Sport crabbing will not reopen this year in marine areas 6 (Strait of Juan de Fuca), 7 (San Juan Islands), 8-1 (Deception Pass, Hope Island and Skagit Bay), 8-2 (Port Susan and Port Gardner) and 11 (Tacoma/Vashon Island), where the summer catch reached the annual recreational quota.

The daily catch limit in Puget Sound is five Dungeness crab, males only, in hard-shell condition with a minimum carapace width of 6¼ inches. Fishers may catch six red rock crab of either sex per day, provided those crab measure at least 5 inches across.

For more information about recreational crabbing in Puget Sound, see WDFW’s website.

While on the Sound, why not fish for blackmouth? Beginning Nov. 1, opportunities for blackmouth will increase as marine areas 8-1, 8-2 and 9 open for chinook. Anglers fishing those marine areas, along with Marine Area 10, have a two-salmon daily limit but must release wild chinook salmon. Marine Area 7 closes to salmon retention Nov. 1.

In the rivers, the coho season is winding down and chum salmon will soon be arriving in greater numbers. There are reports of anglers still catching a few coho in the region’s streams but overall, fishing has been slow.

Lake Sammamish is also an option for freshwater salmon anglers, who have a daily limit of four salmon and can retain up to two chinook. All sockeye must be released and fishing is closed within 100 yards of the mouth of Issaquah Creek.

Lake Washington is closed to salmon fishing after Oct. 31. Until then, anglers are allowed four coho daily (minimum size 12 inches) from waters north of the Highway 520 Bridge and east of the Montlake Bridge.

Since retention rules and fishing regulations vary on the many waterways throughout the region, anglers are advised to check the 2009-2010 Fishing in Washington pamphlet before heading out.

South Sound/Olympic Peninsula

Anglers targeting chum and coho in Puget Sound and area streams will soon have some other options to consider, including jigging for squid, a late season Dungeness crab fishery and two more possible razor clam digs.

Crab fishing will remain open seven days a week through Jan. 2 in marine areas 4 (Neah Bay), 5 (Sekiu) and 13 (south Puget Sound), while Marine Area 12 (Hood Canal) is closed to crab fishing after Oct. 31.

Sport crabbing will not reopen this year in marine areas 6 (Strait of Juan de Fuca), 7 (San Juan Islands), 8-1, 8-2 (east of Whidbey Island) and 11 (Tacoma/Vashon Island), where the summer catch reached the annual recreational quota.

The daily catch limit in Puget Sound is five male Dungeness crab, in hard-shell condition with a minimum carapace width of 6¼ inches. Fishers may catch six red rock crab of either sex per day, measuring at least 5 inches across.

Recreational crabbers are required to send in a winter catch card or report their catch online by Jan. 15. People failing to submit their winter reports will receive a $10 fine when they apply for a 2010 Puget Sound crab endorsement.

Meanwhile, chum salmon are gathering in front of the Hoodsport Hatchery in southern Hood Canal, where the fishery has been open since Oct. 16. Although it’s the early part of the run, the numbers are building, said Mark Cylwik, WDFW hatchery specialist.

“The run normally peaks just before Thanksgiving, so November is a good month to enjoy some chum fishing,” Cylwik said.

To avoid competition with tribal beach nets, Cylwik recommends fishing on days other than Tuesdays and Thursdays, when the Skokomish Tribe has been conducting its fishery. Anglers can call 360.877.5222 for a recorded message about Hoodsport fishing conditions.

The mouth of Kennedy Creek near Shelton also is known for attracting chum, but so far the run has been light. Other traditionally good November chum rivers are the Skokomish and Nisqually rivers, where salmon fishing is currently underway.

Starting Nov. 1, anglers can target chum in several other streams, including the Dosewallips and Duckabush rivers in Jefferson County and Minter Creek in Pierce/Kitsap Counties.

On the Chehalis River in Grays Harbor County, participation and catch rates have slowed as salmon head out of the mainstem and into the tributaries, said Scot Barbour, WDFW fish biologist.

“The Wishkah and Satsop rivers are good bets right now and lots of people have been fishing the Humptulips,” Barbour said. “But this time of year, success depends on the weather and the height of the river. Anglers need to hit the rivers when they’re high enough to bring in salmon, but not so high that they’re unfishable.”

Barbour reminds anglers that only hatchery coho with a clipped adipose fin and jack chinook and coho may be retained on a number of area rivers, including the Chehalis, Elk, Johns, Satsop, Wishkah and Wynoochee rivers in Grays Harbor County and the Skookumchuck River in Thurston County.

Anglers fishing in the Quillayute system—which includes the Bogachiel, Sol Duc, Calawah and Dickey rivers—can keep two adult salmon, plus two additional adult hatchery coho, as part of the six-fish daily limit. No wild coho may be retained.

In the South Sound, anglers fishing in marine areas 11 and 13 (Vashon Island to South Puget Sound) may retain wild chinook as part of their two-fish daily limit, but will be restricted to one chinook starting Nov. 1. Also starting that day, anglers may retain wild coho caught in Marine Area 13.

Meanwhile, anglers looking for some late-season trout fishing might consider a trip to Black Lake in Thurston County, where 2,500 one-pound rainbows will be stocked in time for the Oct. 31 weekend.

“In the past, this late fall plant has resulted in good catch and effort through the winter,” said Larry Phillips, WDFW fish biologist. “In addition to these fish, anglers often encounter large hold-over fish from last spring’s planting, as well as wild coastal cutthroat.”

On the coast, many of the 30,250 razor clam diggers who participated in the Oct. 16-19 season opener on five ocean beaches took home their 15-clam limit. More digs are tentatively scheduled Nov. 4-7 and Nov. 14-17, subject to the results of marine toxin tests. Final word on those digs will be available on WDFW’s shellfish hotline at 866.880.5431 and its website.

For a change of pace, anglers may want to venture out some evening and try jigging for squid. Good bets include the Les Davis Pier in Tacoma and the Elliott Bay pier in Seattle.

Squid fishing is open year-round with a daily limit of five quarts or 10 pounds. Best success usually occurs at night. Legal gear includes a baitfish jig, a maximum of four squid lures or a hand dip net. Each angler must have a separate container. Squid fishing is closed in Hood Canal (Marine Area 12).

More information on squid fishing is available here. Information on fishing piers is available here. 

Southwest Washington

Hatchery coho salmon are still providing most of the action on the lower Columbia River, though bank anglers fishing for sturgeon immediately below Bonneville Dam are also catching fish.

From the Wauna power lines near Cathlamet upstream, anglers can keep one white sturgeon daily measuring between 38 and 54 inches fork length on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays only. Anglers are reminded the statewide annual limit is five fish per license year (April through March).

Meanwhile, anglers looking for hatchery coho have several good options to choose from, both above and below Bonneville Dam. The hot spot is still the Klickitat River, where bank and boat anglers have been taking home an average of one fish apiece. Fishing pressure has been heavy throughout the lower river, and boat anglers have been doing well trolling prawn/spinner rigs just off the mouth.

Fishing also continues to be productive in the Cowlitz, North Fork Lewis and Kalama rivers, said Joe Hymer, WDFW fish biologist. The Elochoman and Washougal rivers would also be good bets, he said. As of Oct. 21, nearly 35,000 adult coho had returned to the Cowlitz salmon hatchery, the highest count by that date since at least 1990.

“We are now fairly confident that total coho returns to the Columbia River Basin will meet or exceed the pre-season forecast of 700,000 fish, making it the biggest run since 2001,” Hymer said. “The great thing is that the fish are still biting fairly well. The rain has really recharged fishing throughout the system.”

Anglers fishing the Cowlitz River have also been intercepting some chinook, steelhead and sea-run cutthroat (especially near the trout hatchery). Hymer noted, however, that all adult chinook salmon intercepted on the Cowlitz River from Blue Creek upstream to Mill Creek must be released.

Under a new emergency rule, Columbia River anglers can retain up to three adult coho salmon from the Rocky Point/Tongue Point line upriver to the Highway 395 Bridge in Pasco.

Anglers fishing the mainstem Columbia near the mouth of the Lewis River are advised that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will begin blasting and dredging the shipping channel around Warrior Rock on the north end of Sauvie Island on Nov. 1.

All watercraft will be prohibited from entering a 1,500-yard safety zone around the site without permission. Boaters wishing to enter the safety zone can contact the Coast Guard at VHF 13 or VHF 16 for specific instructions. Additional information is available here. 

Ready for winter? Hymer noted that four winter-run steelhead recently turned up in the trap at the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery, a portent of another fishing season ahead. That fishery usually starts to ramp up around Thanksgiving, he said.

“Talk about a quick transition,” he said. “I’m still trying to get used to the fact that summer’s over and fall is here.”

Anglers who want to make the most of the current season might want to try Swift Reservoir, which will remain open to fishing for game fish and salmon through Nov. 30. Fishing has been reported to be excellent for rainbows averaging 12-13 inches, with some up to 20 inches. Hymer also suggests fishing Silver Lake near Castle Rock for crappies. Anglers have reportedly been doing well there too in recent days, he said.

Eastern Washington

Steelhead fishing on the Snake River continues to heat up as temperatures cool. WDFW fish biologist Joe Bumgarner said limited creel checks indicate good catch rates in various river sections.

He reminds Snake River system steelheaders that barbless hooks must be used and all wild steelhead must be kept in the water and released immediately. Because of the abundant return of hatchery-marked steelhead (clipped adipose or ventral fin with healed scar), up to five can be retained daily.

Many streams, rivers and lakes throughout the region close to all fishing Nov. 1. Waters that remain open year-round and are currently providing good catches of rainbow trout include Sprague Lake on the Lincoln-Adams county line and Lake Roosevelt, the Columbia River reservoir off Grand Coulee Dam.

North Central Washington

Methow River hatchery steelhead fishing recently expanded, thanks to greater numbers of wild fish moving upriver. Now open is the section from the second powerline crossing upstream from Pateros to the first Hwy. 153 Bridge. The daily limit is four adipose fin-clipped, hatchery-origin steelhead, with a minimum size of 20 inches.

Regulations require anglers to retain any of these fish they catch, since the open area expansion is intended to reduce the number of excess hatchery-origin steelhead on the spawning grounds. Increasing the proportion of naturally produced spawners is expected to improve genetic integrity and stock recruitment of upper Columbia River steelhead through perpetuation of steelhead stocks with the greatest natural-origin lineage, said Bob Jateff, WDFW district fish biologist.

Anglers are required to immediately release all steelhead with an intact adipose fin. Any steelhead with one or more round holes punched in the caudal (tail) fin must also be released.

Selective gear rules apply, no bait is allowed and a night closure is in effect. Boats with motors are not allowed.

South Central Washington

Paul Hoffarth, WDFW district fish biologist, reports Columbia River steelhead fishing in the Tri-Cities area has been picking up in the past week. Although the steelhead and salmon sport fishery above the wooden powerline towers is closed, the steelhead fishery below the powerline towers is scheduled to continue through April 15, 2010.

Hoffarth noted that through Oct. 25, an estimated 1,509 steelhead have been caught between the Highway 395 bridge at Pasco/Kennewick and the wooden powerline towers. Of these, 982 hatchery steelhead were harvested and 344 wild steelhead were caught and released.

The three-hatchery steelhead limit for the Columbia River from the Hwy 395 bridge at Pasco/Kennewick upstream to the old Hanford town site wooden powerline towers reverts back to a two-hatchery steelhead limit Nov. 1.

Perry Harvester, WDFW regional habitat program manager, said some standard techniques are being used for the steelhead.

“Trolling lighted Brad’s Wiggler plugs work at night, and using dyed shrimp with purple/pink/black jigs in various combinations under a float work day or night,” he said. “Plugs and spinners can work during the day as well, but appear less effective than lighted plugs at night. In areas with faster moving water, drifted eggs or shrimp work, too.”

Harvester also reports there are still bright coho salmon in the Klickitat River and in the Columbia River off the mouth of the Klickitat. The catch limit within that reach of the Columbia River was recently raised to three adults. 

Jim Cummins, WDFW fish biologist, reports a few of the region’s year-round lakes have recently been stocked with hatchery rainbow trout, but noted that most rivers and streams are closed after Oct. 31. The exception is the Yakima River catch-and-release fishery, which should continue to provide fishing opportunities this fall until colder weather sets in.