Photo by Terry W. Sheely

Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock.

Time is crawling by as Northwest salmon anglers await the one true love they long for all year: monstrously sized fall-run Chinook, bound for countless estuaries, bays, tidewaters and lower river sections throughout the Pacific Northwest.

These bad boys are starting to show this month, which means it's time to spool fresh line, sharpen those hooks, organize your tackle, pre-tie your leaders, check your net for breaks and frays, and hit the coast for some of the biggest salmon swimming anywhere. Be sure to consult your regulations on opening dates and limits, as some of these fisheries are available in July, some don't open until August, and some not until September and October.

ROGUE RASCALS
Life starts to get interesting on the lower Rogue River come about the first or second week of July. Big autumn kings begin the process of staging just off the bar at Gold Beach, then begin ascending into the bay on incoming tides. They'll flux in and out of the bay for the larger part of the summer, feasting on anchovies and herring. The warm summertime water temp in the river acts as a thermal barrier, keeping these big fish down low and out in the bay. They won't begin their upriver run until the days shorten, those summer temps temper down, and fall rains begin.

Your best bet for these famously big fish -- Rogue kings can run anywhere from a modest 12 pounds to a staggering 60-plus pounds -- is trolling the bay and lower river when the tides are running. (Slack tides are not productive here.) A Rogue Bait Rig is the absolute all-time top producer, fished with a dropper weight and trailing a whole anchovy.

If you want to learn this fishery from an expert, contact Steve Beyerlin at the Rogue River Country Guide Shack at the mouth of the Rogue (800-348-4138). And, don't overlook the upper river in July -- it's a prime month for the Rogue's famous half-pounder steelhead.

COOL COQUILLE KINGS
Plug-cut purple label herring is the ticket for lower Coquille River fish. Here, a high slack tide is best, using a dropper with 2 ounces of lead, and a 5 1/2-foot leader. Launch at Rocky Point or Bullards State Park. In a high surging tide, troll in the direction of the water, but under more moderate tides and at slack tides, trolling in either direction will score. When this fishery starts up, expect sporadic action, maybe one boat in six getting fish. This is a fishery that starts out slow but picks up steam as the season progresses.

Still, you can expect these fish to be bragging-sized. There will be plenty of 15-pounders, sure, but fish in the 25- to 37-pound mark are remarkably common, and every season anglers manage to hook into fish pushing 54 pounds. Looking for a pro to fish with here? Try Rick Howard at Rick Howard Guide Service (541-347-3280).

IN AND OUT OF SIUSLAW BAY
Perhaps more than other locations on the Oregon coast, kings in the tidewater of Siuslaw Bay tend to be cruisers, really moving around, in and out of the bay. Says Bill Pinkney of The Sportsman (541-997-3336) in Florence, "They'll go out to the ocean for a week, then come in again, all with the big tides. When they come in, it's not just across the bar. They'll come in five or six miles if the tide's big enough."