Area 11 Update: Steelheader.net- Steelhead, Salmon and trout fishing

Hey Tex, I probably fished area 11 about 200 times when I lived in WA. I'll tell you what worked for me, and if the fish are in you'll hook up. One thing about area 11 is the fishing can be very spotty this time of year, but it should pick up in July, and you want to fish as much as you can last week of July/First week of August.

From now until the end of July, set your downriggers at 140 feet (blackmouth are near the bottom, having one at 120 feet for example and you won't get fish on it if you are trolling 140 feet of water, and when you troll stay at 140 feet, follow the contour of the bottom. The current almost always runs from The Slag Pile towards the end of the Clay, if the current is running fairly strong, start trolling at 140 feet on the Puyallup side of the slag pile and keep going until you reach the dropoff towards the end of the Clay banks, then pick you gear up and motor back to the Slag pile and start over again. You may have to pull up when you reach the Clay banks if there are a lot of moochers.

Clay banks is good, in front of the ferry terminal is good, slag pile is good and sometimes Owen's beach. On an incoming tide stick to the Slag pile and in front of the ferry terminal.

If you find bait near the bottom, stay with it if you can.

An excellent place to fish if the tide is right and the moochers aren't too thick, is on a moderate outgoing tide, when you troll down the clay banks at 140 feet, as you get near the end the bottom drops off, if you can turn around and troll into the tide and basically hover there going against the current or maybe moving slowly forward, it's an excellent spot, bait sweeps off that shelf and the salmon just sit there and feed, Chambers creek fish like that spot when they come in in mid to late July.

I always used a Pearl white rattling silver horde plug, replace the trebles with #4 or #2 Gamis. Tie up some extra plug leaders because you will catch dogfish and salmon and they will fray the dacron on the leader. Also glow green flashers with matching hootchie are excellent. I would not troll herring unless you like checking you bait a lot

I always slathered everything with blue herring smelly jelly.

Anyway, you'll catch fish if you follow what I said here. That is if there are reasonable numbers of fish in the area.

When Commencement Bay opens, fish it. Get there at first light, or better yet right before it gets light. Troll plugs at 20 feet down first thing in the AM, then work your way down to 60 once the sun comes up. There's a drop off by the mouth of the river, troll up and down in fron of it. Again, if the fish are in and you are persistant, you will catch fish. You may get lucky and get a thirty pounder at the mouth of the Puyallup.

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I'd rather be fishing