WSFR Rivers Reports (Puyallup) - http://www.nwfishing.com





	Needs overview, submit your overview here. Current Conditions - Graph format of flow rates of the Puyallup at Puyallup from the USGS Current Conditions - Graph format of the Puyallup River Basin from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Current Conditions - Graph format of flow rates of the Puyallup near Alderton from the USGS

	Oct. 5, 2000 Thanks to: geoff I was fishing with yarn and caught one but a lot of other people are using eggs and doing well also. Feb. 6, 2000 Thanks to: wayne t. Hit the puyallup about 8:15 at my usual hole and popped into a space below all the other drifters. No one was even near the tailout...had a pink corkie/purple corkie double up with two colors of pink yarn and some shrimp oil on. Not much happened 'til about 9am got the first one on and immediately lost it, set the hook dummy-don't just watch it roll and say wow a fish...about 9:30 a nice 7 pound buck nailed my rig and after a pretty long fight to keep it out of the heavy current down river a guy helped tail it. Nice fish. Went home did some chores and hit it again about 2:30. Same deal, forty minutes of flippin' and driftin' then pow! another nice fish hiding behind the same exact rock as the earlier one, same rig, this time though I tightened up the drag and said oh well one in the freezer today if I lose it no biggee, after a couple nice runs I had a nice hen...only had about 10 eggs left in her belly, either spawned or got her eggs harvested at the hatchery. The fish with no adipose fin are in the Puyallup now, maybe not tomorrow though! Jan. 28, 2000 Thanks to: Tim Fagan Great day to float. Left above McMillian bridge 7am . Level is down, clear water. Saw only two boats, bankers were out more pressure than expected. Tried everything in tackle box, saw and heard of no fish caught or any strikes. Took out BMX. Always tomorrow. Jan. 8, 2000 Thanks to: John Daschofsky Nothing! My partner and I have been fishing the river for weeks and have only heard of 2 fish one native one hatchery. That is sad. We collectively have over 50 hours and not a bump. Something needs to be done and soon. Disgusted Puyallup Fisherman, John Daschofsky Oct. 24, 1999 Thanks to: Wayne T. Went down to the Puyallup Sunday AM got there late (8:30 or so) flipped eggs and corkies n yarn for an hour or so before I got the first one, about a 4 pound silver. Not too bad color, ended up with three in about 3 1/2 hours, never knew what I was missing til I got my new 10' 6" Lamiglas, they sure do tap it light. Should be good after this week's rain, once it drops back down. Lots of guys at the BMX track, Alderton Bridge and 115th street. Not many catching fish though, too much hardware and lead. I use a little chunk of egg, a piece of yarn about 1/2 inch long and a single small Big BB corkie with one or two pieces of BB shot on the line 18" above the hook. I'm on my second punch card so it works... Oct. 12, 1999 Thanks to: Wayne Went down to where the Carbon joins the Puyallup at dawn. Broke a rod, so had to run home and get another rod. Got back to the river about 8:15AM. Hooked and landed 21", 3lb. Silver on a Hot Shot plug at 8:30AM. Fish was just starting to show color. Saw a hen caught across the river. My first sea run salmon ever. Even a small one thrills me. Sept. 29, 1999 Thanks to: JAY BLAIR Went down today behind the skating rink after work to see if any silvers were in. Finally after a couple of hours, landed a 4-pounder and a 3-pounder close to dark. River rose up 20 feet [really?] in one hour. Fish were jumping all over. Looked like a fresh run was just coming in. River was in great shape. Sept. 8, 1999 Thanks to: Jim Finnie I drift fished the Puyallup at the Alderton bridge for 3 hours Tuesday evening, had one on and lost it. Caught a couple of bullheads, that's all. There were salmon rolling through there at a rate of about every fifteen minutes so I know that there are fish to be caught. I was drifting eggs from last season that I had kept in the freezer and I wanted to use them up. They were pretty ripe, but sometimes the fish like em that way! I will know have to buy some fresh ones and try it again tomorrow. Sept. 7, 1999 Thanks to: Andy Arrived just before the P.M. high tide at around 3:30pm. Plunked the lower river with no luck. Saw a couple of fish roll, but that was about it. Talked to a couple of people and they say fishing in the morning is not much better right now. Should be picking up in the next week or so for silvers. Sept. 6, 1999 Thanks to: jeff Got to river 7:00am, fish rolling everywhere, maybe 10 people fishing not a bite for anybody. Moved upriver about 1/2 mile at about 8:45am 7 people fishing heard of two dark fish caught. 15 min later everyone goes home except one guy. 9:00 I hook about a 10-12 lbs king 2 min later lost fish. Lots of fish around but was time to go golf. Maybe I found the answer will find out this week. Sept. 6, 1999 Thanks to: Young Gun Got there after school and fished where the Carbon and Puyallup come together. Saw quite a few fish roll on the north side of the river. Then they turned off. I looked down river to see a very big fish jump out of the water so I went to check it out. Fihed for another hour the fish would jump right in front of you but you couldn't get them to bite. I did have one brief hookup fishing right below the Carbon with a spin n' glow with a lot of wieght, kinda plunkin' where they were jumping. Did talk to one guy who fished the day before and caught 3 and lost one big one. There are fish in the river but it is tough getting them to bite. I'd love to fish the morning but I have school now. Sept. 5, 1999 Thanks to: Eric Riemer 1st time to this river and tried a Blue fox for about a hour then changed to another. I fished under the bridge in Alderton at 410 and landed my very first river salmon 17 lbs. A King and it put up a fight. After 25 min. on a trout pole with my very first tied knoots what a beauty... Sept. 1, 1999 Thanks to: Ron I took my daughter and nephew down and plunked the Puyallup. The river was very muddy. After about 3 hours we only landed one large bullhead. Well any fish caught is better than none. However on this trip my trusty fishing pole broke in half on a cast. I feel the loss of my good buddy fishkiller. I will have to send him to pole heaven. Now I will go looking for another. I am looking for one around 10 ft long with light action. I use it for the beach and steelheading. Aug. 28, 1999 Thanks to: W. Thompson Went down to the Puyallup about 7am, stopped by the BMX track not a lot going on there for the hour or so I spent fishing in the mud puddle. The river is not really high but with the overcast last night the snow up high kept right on melting. I think the hydro at Alderton said it was in the neighborhood of 1500-1550 cfs, milky though. Went up the river a bit and went through another bag of eggs, had a couple of good hits about 9:30 or so. Finally hooked up on a nice one at about 10:15, she weighed 7 and 1/2 pounds on my rusty deliar after I gutted her out. Pretty King really bright, she had one bad eye, (probably ran into a stick with the low visibility!). I was using my own cure eggs, a Pink/white winged spin-n-glo on 2' of 10# and two slinkies with 11 pieces of shot in each. Figured I better quit while I'm ahead 'til October. Next weekend is Buck-n-Bull chasing time with my Bow. Aug. 26, 1999 Thanks to: Young Gun I arrived after the morning bite, but thought I would give it a try anyway. Water was very murky. I fished in a small pocket after I walked down a gravel road about a 1/2 mile. No one was around, anyway I caught three kings in about 45 minutes. I used a small egg imatation. If you fish the carbon please pist reports on your luck, I like to know where the fish are. A word of advice if their are some rainy or cooler days go fish the Puyallup it gets some of the silt out of the river. Aug. 26, 1999 Thanks to: B Swim Went fishing for about 1.5 hours at 115th, didn't see any fish rolling, had no luck. Seen one roll at Alderton last night. Keep hearing reports of people catching kings but I have yet to see any action Aug. 10, 1999 Thanks to: Ron E. I took the kids down to the Puyallup Rover to check out the conditions of the river. I went to my favorate spot at Alderton. The river was muddy and visibility was about 3 inches. I casted my lures for about an hour with no luck. Feb. 20, 1999 Thanks to: jeff davis Went fishing at the 115 hole about 0700. Saw 1 caught: nice bright native about 8lb. 2 more hooked and 1 broke the line. Feb. 19, 1999 Thanks to: Jesse Rainwater I went fishing on the Puyallup River Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. A buddy and myself fished everywhere from the Antons to Voits creek. I had one to the shore and it made a final run and broke off on a log. After about five more casts I hooked another one but I didn't set the hook good enough. They were the only fish that I heard where hooked. Good Luck to any one who goes. Feb. 17, 1999 Thanks to: jeff Went to the 115 hole about 7:00 this morning. Saw two roll, nothing caught. Dec. 24, 1998 Thanks to: Lou Wood We got to the river a little late this morning to find about ten anglers in our normal untravelled fishing spot just outside of Mcmillin on this snowy X-mas eve morning. We decided this was a gift from Santa since under the frigid circumstances our favorite hole was probably too fast (the water was 33 deg.) so we crossed the river and hiked down to a slower hole. On my 5th cast into the slower seam edge I found out that there really is a Santa by hooking into an 8-plus pound hatchery buck steelhead! Under the chilling circumstances he put up a valiant effort. and for his effort he was released safely back into the river with only a few snap shots and an increadible X-mas eve memory! Oct. 17, 1998 Thanks to: Robert Stockbridge Last weekend my buddy and I were fishing at the Puyallup River and both my friend and I got skunked but an older gentalman pulled out an 18 inch king salmon weighing around 12 pounds or so. Heard lots of reports about nothing, but this guy just used a jig and a single corkie. I fished for about four hours total but had no luck. We plan to go next weekend. Oct. 12, 1998 Thanks to: R. Elliot Work is slow so I fish. I went to my favorate spot on the Puyallup by Alderton. I arrived around 10:30 and ran into a buddy. He was heading home with a 3 pound silver caught on eggs. I went down to the river and worked it with my trusty blue fox spinners. After about an hour out in the rain I hooked into a nice 10 pound silver in the fast water. She put up a good fight. I landed her and was amazed at the size. She was bigger than the ones I've caught off the beach at Browns Point. I retied my knot, casted out again and hooked another silver. It looked like a six pounder. I got it to shore and the knot that I had retied in a hurry from the previous catch gave way and the fish sliped back into the river. I continued to work the area and saw several fish roll over. I guess the moral of the story is to take your time when tying knots. Have fun fishing! I prefer the Green chartreuse blue fox. It is almost florescent in the water. I like #3 and 4 sizes. I had one get tangled in a mess of line across the river and lost it. I saw about 10 minutes later a sliver trying to get it and it got tangled in the mess. Luckily it got free and is hopefully spawning so we can have more with the genes that like my favorite spinner. I hope in a few years the returning salmon will prefer the chartuse blue fox and I will have lots more fishing reports to submit. Oct. 11, 1998 Thanks to: Mike Guardipee Fished near Alderton under the bridge from 5:00 till dark around 7:30. Used a all Silver #3 Vibrax. Did not get any hits or any action. Went upstream above the rapids and the fish were rolling all over. Casted at em with the vibrax rooster tails, mepps, and corkies and they wouldnt take any of my offerings. I talk to a couple of fellow fishermen and they said someone caught 2 silvers using spoons but that was the only action on the river that night. I talked will several others whom also had no luck. I am going to hit it again with some fresh copper river king eggs in the morning. What is the best color blue fox vibrax for this river?? R Elliot? Anybody? email me with ideas: mikeg@seanet.com Puyallup River - Oct. 9, 1998 Thanks to: Jesse Rainwater Well today i fished with a buddy on the other side of the river from 115th st. With no luck. I tried plunking, eggs spinners, corkies, you name it I tried it. The water was dark. The fish were jumping everywhere. Everybody I talked to had no fish. I think that I will try in the morning. Oct. 7, 1998 Thanks to: R. Elliot I went back to the spot that I had fished just a few days ago. The Puyallup near Alderton off the Orting Hiway. I arrived at about 11:00 and as I was walking down to the river I ran into two fishermen. They said it was pretty dead today. They said yesterday [was] hot. They were using spinners. I still went down and tried under the bridge for a while, no bites. After a while I moved further up the river just before the rapids. I saw some roll over and I continued to fish using my blue fox. A friendly guy down stream hooked a nice 3 pound silver. I went down and netted it for him. He was using a red Mepps spinner. I kept using my blue fox spinner. I finially hooked a large king but he snapped my line. I put a new spinner and went back fishing. I loosened up my drag so I would not lose another. I fished for about 15 minutes and then I hook another king. As I reeled him in, the guy that I had helped rushed over and grabbed the net and netted him for me. The he was a she and it was about 6 pounds just right for the BBQ. Oct. 5, 1998 Thanks to: R. Elliot I went the other day to get my lisc. to fish for steelhead. I had never went steelheading before so this was all new to me. I arrived around 11:00 and hiked over the dike under the bridge. I put a #3 Bluefox spinner on without weight just to try it. On the third cast I hooked a nice fish but he jumped and spit out the hook. I tried several different spinners and lures that I had and finially went back to the blue fox. I casted for a short time and then I hooked a salmon. As I set the hook this salmon took off snapping my line. All I saw was a very large tail. I put a new blue fox #4 on and loosened up the drag and went after him. I kept casting and then I hooked a nice 4 pound steelhead. It put up a good fight. I had a great time on my first outing steelheading. Oct. 1, 1998 Thanks to: Cal Osborne I went to the Puyallup River on Oct. 1, caught 3, lost 3 in 2 hours plunking the lower end. Sept. 26-27th Thanks to: Tyler Celli Fished the Puyallup Saturday the 26th and Sunday the 27th. [We] got there at low tide Saturday, could walk 3/4 of the way across in my waders-it was ankle deep-no fish. Sunday started fishing at 6:45 two hits before 7:00 nothing till 12:00 when we moved to under the 38th street bridge 4 hits in half an hour. Saw one 6# silver and a 12" silver caught. An old lady next to me had two on but lost them both. Good luck. Use eggs and pink corckies with no wings. No yarn. September 2, 1998 Thanks to: Bill Tapia I was up on the upper end at the the carbon river confluence, and all I can say is mud. Saw a few fish roll, but I'm sure that they couldn't see me. Looks like we're gonna have to wait for rain to get something to move up here. March 11, 1998 Thanks to: Jeff Dannaldson Went out with the intention of steelheading on the upper Puyallup, just above the confluence with the Carbon River. No luck with the steelies, so on the way back to my truck I decided to gear down for fun. I caught and released several 8-12" cutthroat in just under an hour. I was using the smallest Rebel Crawfish crankbait (1/10 oz., brown) with a single barbless Siwash (Gamakatsu #6), two small split shot 18" up the line. I used my steelhead rod and 8# test just in case a steelie bit. I have heard the steelhead action on the Puyallup and Carbon is picking up for natives only, but I have yet to actually see anybody catch one. Hmmmm...... January 23,1998 Thanks to Denman for the following report: Decided to try fishing the Puyallup River on the 23rd. Started out at the "116th st. hole" but walked downstream and shortlined it along the riff-raff as the water was perfect. (4ft. visibility) I fished with a #14 peach corkie with peach yarn and a sand shrimp tail. After 25 casts and no takers, I decided to move down stream. I had just casted again and started to walk sideways through the trees and rocks, holding my pole outward, when suddenly my gear stopped dead in the drift. I set the hook and out of the water came a fresh, chrome bright 8lb. hen which after 2 quick runs and 1 more jump I brought it to shore.(not an easy place to land a fish...should have had a net. I tailed the fish and hung on!) I fished for another hour or so with no luck but I saw two other fish roll nearby and a boat went by with 2 fish. I was planning a return trip over the weekend but the rain stopped that idea real quick. September 22, 1997 Thanks to Birger Lerdal for the following report: Have fished the Puyallup River 3 times in the last week. Yesterday (Sunday) I got one silver about 4 lbs. However I'm fairly new to silver fishing in rivers. I did see a lot of fish taken. I was fishing a few miles below Puyallup and I saw several fish taken all along the river. Must are small and are being taken close to shore, best time seems around noon. I tried two early mornings and one late evening last week and had no luck. Good luck. February 7, 1997 Thanks to Steven Russ for the following report: Fished the Puyallup today. It has all the beauty of fishing an irrigation canal thanks to the dredging of gravel that has been going on. The landowners say its to prevent flooding but that doesn't keep them from selling the gravel at prime prices. ENUF COMPLAINING! Hooked two fish landed one. Native buck about five pounds. Both fish were hot and scrappy. Both hooked on a Steel Wooley on a downstream drift with sink tip line. Beautiful partly sunny day. Nice day to be out. One of those days that remind us why we live in Washington.