Pacific coast
Salmon (coho, chinook)
Oncorhynchus kisutch, O. tshawytscha
Summer ocean salmon at the river mouths and tide rips of the Pacific northwest.
What they like
- 5–40 musual depth (they tolerate 2–150 m)
- 8–16 °Cwater temperature they feed in
- clear or coloured waterwater clarity
- deep water, channels, open even bottombottom they hunt, in order
- a moving tide (rising or falling)tide
- dawn and dusklight
Estuary mouths, tide rips and bait balls near shore in summer; the first light of day.
Season by region
Peak months, shaded. Outside them the species may still be around, just less reliably.
Bait and technique
Methods: bait, spinning / casting, fly.
Bait and lures: Trolled herring and anchovy, spoons and hoochies behind a flasher, buzz bombs.
Technique: Troll near bait and tide lines with the lure in the top 15 m for coho, deeper for chinook; mooch where allowed.
Rules
Pacific states: Seasons, areas and marked-fish rules change through the summer (ODFW, WDFW, CDFW, NOAA). Verify before you go.
Seasons, sizes and bag limits change every year and differ by zone. Check the current regulations before you keep anything.
Preferences are expert estimates from the fisheries literature and angling practice, not measurements at your spot. The likelihoods on the maps are a planning aid, not a catch prediction.