This is a photo of my first Toutle River Chinook salmon.  What a fun fight, as it beat for the rapids and I ended up with tired arms and wet feet, but I landed it. Unfortunatley, the season had just closed to keeping chinook, so I let it go--right after the photo!.  Now all hatchery fish on the Green River have a clipped addipose fin.  (note the intact adipose on this fish).

August 1 marks the start of salmon season on the Toutle River system,.  As with steelhead, you will need a Washington state fishing license, a Columbia River endorsement, and a punchcard with salmon as an optionn.  Drews grocery can get you fixed up with all of these documents.  

The rivers might be open, but the salmon don't show up unless we get some rain.  The first fall fish to arrive will be Fall Chinook (aka Kings) headed for the Green River Fish Hatchery.  Then, if we are lucky, the silvers (aka coho) come with the next batch of rain.  Like most fishing, timing is everything.  You want rain, but not so much rain that the rivers turn to chocolate milk.  Sometimes dedicated anglers spend an entire month at Kid Valley Campground, which is a short drive from the mouth of the Green River, where many folks try their luck.  

Again, the rules are complex, especially around the hatchery.  It is so complex there that I feel there should be an accredited course put on by the local Junior College in "fishing regulations".  To be safe, use single barbless hooks with no bait, something like number 4 Blue Fox spinners in various colors.  Salmon move through fishing holes, so you can spend several hours working one hole.  It can get frustrating seing salmon jump and splash all around you but they refuse to bite.  Because of the temptation to "snag", gear rules get more restrictive near the hatchery during prime fishing time.  Carry the regulations with you.  Anything you catch with an adipose fin must be released and not removed from the water.  Bag limits and species are in the rules, but generally only hatchery coho, chinook and hatchery steelhead can be kept.  The rules sometimes change mid-stream mid-season, so check the WDFW website for updates before you head out. 

The same areas I described in earlier posts for swimming and steelhead work for salmon, too.