Visiting from upstate New York, Rich Napierala got word of the salmon fishing on the western shores of Whidbey Island and decided to give it a try.

He was told shore anglers were hooking into coho salmon with regularity from Ebey’s Landing in Coupeville Wednesday, so he  got there a day later only to be left wondering what it must’ve been like.

The only tug on his line he experienced was that from a diving shorebird, which had mistaken his lure for a small fish.

“Luckily, these are barbless hooks,” he said, noting the bird was able to be released rather easily and escaped any noticeable harm.

Then, he assessed his afternoon.

“That’s where I’m at: one duck, zero fish.”

It’s at this time of year when fishing for coho salmon off Whidbey Island is generally at its peak.

With September often the best time to experience success, good saltwater fishing usually continues well into October as coho arrive in Puget Sound from the ocean and continue their fall migration toward freshwater rivers.

Nearly 873,000 wild and hatchery coho were projected to enter Puget Sound this year.

Surveys from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife indicate that this year’s run appears to be a late arriver.

“We had a pulse of fish come in in early August,” said Aaron Dufault, state fish biologist. “It kind of dropped off a bit. There was a lull for a while. They’re starting to come in now. A lot of stocks are coming in late this year.

“It’s very possible we have a good amount of coho run left to come in.”

That wouldn’t surprise Bob Crouch.

Crouch has been at the fishing game on Whidbey for decades and is a resident expert on the subject. He is often consulted by customers in the sporting goods section where he works at Sebo’s hardware store in Bayview.

“It’s starting to get hot on the whole west side,” said Crouch, who fishes regularly from Bush Point in Freeland. “We needed that rain.”

Crouch said he caught his limit of two coho, or silvers, as they’re also called, during high tide Sunday.

He said there is excitement for anglers this weekend because of when the morning and evening high tides fall.

Most anglers say they often find their best success fishing in the hours leading to high tide.

“This weekend is going to be a super weekend for fishing,” Crouch said. “Sunday (high tide) is 8 in the morning. Get there two hours before high tide and you’re in the zone.”

Anglers mostly fish for coho from Whidbey’s west side in Marine Area 9, which stretches from Admiralty Inlet to Possession Point.

Some of the most popular spots for shore fishers is the Keystone spit in Coupeville and Bush Point.

Another common place to fish for salmon from shore is along the beach near the Deception Pass bridge in Marine Area 6.

Many coho caught off Whidbey are headed to area rivers such as the Skagit, Snohomish and Stillaguamish, which present another fall fishing opportunity for bank and boat anglers.

Many saltwater shore fishers are using green or pink lures such as Buzz Bombs or Rotators. Only a single, barbless hook is allowed.

Crouch said he used a shiny, chrome-colored Rotator with green stripes on the side, coupled with a pink hoochie, to land his two fish Sunday.

“I was the only one there nailing them,” he said.

Robert Hartman of Oak Harbor figures he’s hooked into about 10 salmon since he started in July and has caught five. He said he landed three Wednesday but released them.

Hartman said fishing for coho is nothing like the pink salmon fishery that hits the Puget Sound waters every odd-numbered year. He said he caught nearly 60 salmon last year.

“I expected better,” Hartman said of the 2014 season. “We should have more fish than this.”

Mike Crowell of Coupeville is among the anglers who line the beach daily at Driftwood Park at the Keystone spit.

He figures he fishes about six days a week and has hooked into about seven coho in September. He said the season hasn’t been as good compared to the past two years but added that some anglers have caught at least 15 fish on the beach.

Crowell isn’t so optimistic about the prospects of a late surge of coho this season.

“I may get tired before it happens,” he said. “I’ve casted out there 1,000 times.”