Humpies are late, but they’re bound to show up

Pink salmon are sort of the meat loaf of Puget Sound saltwater.

They’re a pair of torn jeans; They’re a dirty Ford pickup; they’re beer and television, and tent camping on the weekends. With their slightly strange habit of spawning only on odd-numbered years and their slightly strange nickname, “Humpy,”

The smallish fish are an everyman’s version of their larger and somewhat more sophisticated brethren. If you want to compete, or be elite, chase kings or coho. If you simply want a fun day on the water, preferably with family, or to put a couple of tasty salmon on the dinner table, then look for pinks in your favorite river.

This is a humpy year, and soon there will be hundreds of thousands of fish available to anglers on local rivers. They may be a few days later than usual this season, according to Snohomish resident and All Star Charters river guide Nick Kester (425-252-4188), but they’ll be soon be here in crowd-pleasing abundance.

“They’ve been about a week late in the usual saltwater areas,” Kester said, “so I would look for decent numbers to be available in the lower Snohomish by about next weekend.”

The Snohomish River opened to fishing Aug. 16, along with the Skykomish below the Lewis Street Bridge in Monroe, for up to four pinks per day. The rest of the Sky, and the Stillaguamish, opens Sept. 1. Because of a depressed run, the Skagit will have no pink season this summer.

The rule of thumb is to try to get your humpies as early in the season and as low in the river system as possible, to increase your chances of finding fish in top condition.

“I’m an incoming tide fan, myself,” Kester said. “If you want pinks so fresh they still have sea lice, then fish the lower Snohomish on an incoming tide. Watch for schools you should see them jumping and splashing and drift right on upriver with them.”

The big river is tide-influenced from about the city of Snohomish downstream and, while there is substantial bank fishing opportunities available, a boat is the best way to fish it. Launch at the Port of Everett ramp and kick upriver, or at Langus Park or Lowell, in the heart of the lower river fishery, or at the old but still useable Snohomish ramp.

Kester likes trout-weight spinning tackle no heavier than 8- or 10-pound test for pinks. He even carries a couple of ultra-light “Snoopy rods” in his river sled just to, as he says, “play with the humpies.”

More and more successful pink fishermen are going to jigs, he said. Quarter-ounce or half-ounce mini-jigs in bright pink or red, cast and jigged back, can be very effective, and Kester said he prefers the rubber hoochie-type as opposed to marabou. He uses a lot of shrimp scent, and most scents, he said, destroy the action of feather jigs. Rubber jigs are also more durable.

One drawback to fishing jigs, Kester said, is that pinks will often hit them on the drop and less experienced anglers may not even be aware they’ve had a take. Focus on your line when the lure is sinking, keep a little tension on it, and be aware.

Other popular lures include the pink Dick Nite spoons in size “0” or “1,” fished with a sliding weight above the swivel; the small 2-inch pink or red Buzz Bombs (rigged with a mandatory single hook; read the regulations pamphlet); and various other pink or red weighted spoons.

“If you’re casting spoons,” Kester said, “don’t reel them in too fast. Use more of a jigging action and slow retrieve, because pinks will tend to take them as they’re fluttering on the drop.”

On the lower Snohomish during the outgoing tide, Kester switches from jigs to Dick Nites or other spoons worked tighter to shore. He’ll rig a spoon with 6 or 8 feet of leader, and a piece of pencil lead an inch or two, depending on current strength on a dropper, then drift or anchor and cast toward shore. He’ll cast to showing schools, or along current breaks and eddy water.

“Let ‘em swing down and around, and twitch ‘em a little bit,” he said. “You don’t want to constantly be tapping bottom, however, or you’re going to be below a lot of the fish. You want to try to work just above bottom in most cases.”

Regardless of the tide, Kester said if you’re not fishing to jumpers or a splashing, showing school, you’re wasting your time.

Bank fishing access is available at many spots along the Lowell River Road, between Everett and Snohomish; at Langus Park; along the new walkway in the City of Snohomish; at spots along the road downriver on the north bank, below Snohomish; at Thomas’ Eddy and Bob Heirman Park above Snohomish, on the west side; at the “cheapskate hole” stretch near the Short School Road; and near Picnic Bar, 111th Street off Springetti Road.

“Bank fishermen can use the same gear as we’ve been talking about,” Kester said, “but don’t overweight. Tend to go lighter rather than heavier, or you’re going to lose a lot of tackle.”

Pink salmon are very good table fare, Kester said, if they’re properly cared for. Come equipped with a cooler and ice. Cut the gill rakers, to bleed the fish, immediately, and put on ice. Clean your salmon as soon as possible, but remember that the crucial factor is to bleed them and cool them immediately.

“Don’t just put your fish on a stringer and leave them in the river,” Kester said. “It’s too warm and you’ll ruin your salmon.”

Up on the Skykomish, Arlington resident and guide Sam Ingram (360-435-9311) said he’ll start seriously fishing pinks at or below Monroe about Aug. 25, assuming rain doesn’t bring them in sooner. He said the first week in September should be prime time, and that the fishery should last in the Sky through about Labor Day weekend.

Again, the earlier in the season and the lower in the river say from the Ben Howard access down the better. Before Sept. 1, Ingram said there’s a good hole under the Lewis Street Bridge for bank fishermen; another opportunity at the Reformatory Hole; and again on both sides of the Snohomish just below the confluence of the Sky and Snoqualmie, under and below the highway bridge. The west side is the deeper, and better, choice, Ingram said.

“But wherever you’re fishing, if you don’t see humpies rolling or splashing, forget it and move on,” Ingram said.

After the Sept. 1 general opener, he said the percentage of fish in table shape in the Sky starts dropping and fishermen must start being more selective. Bank fishing spots include downstream from the mouth of the Sultan, on the Sultan side, where the fish lie right under your feet along the rock rip-rap; and at the park on the east edge of Monroe, where the old railroad trestle once stood.

Boaters do well a lot of places from Sultan downstream: There’s usually “a ton of fish” in the Taylor hole, Ingram said; the two-bit is good, along with the Elwell and afternoon holes.

“Actually, almost any deeper water should hold pinks from Sultan down,” he said. “Fish the frog water and along the current breaks.”

Plunkers rig with a No. 6 pink or red Spin N Glo and a shrimp tail, held down by a dropper and 2 to 4 ounces of lead. Put it right where they’re rolling, Ingram said.

Drifters choose a No. 1 Dick Nite spoon in 50-50 brass-nickel, brass-green, pink pearl, or frog with nickel back. Use trout-weight tackle, 8-pound line and 6-pound leader, 6 feet of leader, and a 12 to 18-inch dropper with several split shot.

“The critical factor is a very slow retrieve,” Ingram said. “If you’re not doing well amid jumping pinks, then you’re probably fishing too fast.”

He prefers to anchor his drift boat at the bank, above a deep, swirly hole with fish showing, and cast to them. Toss upstream, he said, and let the lure spoon or pink mini-jig swing around and into deep water, on a very slow retrieve.

Big, heavy Buzz Bombs or large weighted spoons are not necessary to catch pinks in the Skykomish, according to Ingram and, in fact, might bring unwanted attention.

“Our wildlife agents are very good at recognizing who’s fishing and who’s snagging,” he said.