The humpy run in local waters is in full bloom just when it should be (the rule of thumb is mid-August), and if you can’t boat a fish or two over the next couple of weeks, you have some serious piscatorial problems.
“The pink salmon action is about as hot and heavy as it gets,” said Mike Chamberlain at Ted’s Sports Center in Lynnwood, “and experts are telling me that the success rate at this point is as good as they can recall.”
The only downside to the predicted 6.8-million-fish run, Chamberlain said, is that this year’s pinks are a little smaller than usual — maybe 3 pounds on the average instead of the normal 4 pounds.
Pinks can be found pretty much anywhere now along the Edmonds/Everett shoreline — Brown’s Bay, Picnic Point, the shipwreck, humpy hollow and Mukilteo. Chamberlain said his customers are hooking fish from the surface down to really deep, but that the majority are probably being caught at 30 to 70 feet or so.
The standard trolling rig is a size “0” dodger or 8-inch flasher in white or white/pearl, followed by about 12 inches of heavy leader (dodger) or 16 inches (flasher) and a hot pink mini-squid on either one 3/0 hook or a double, 1/0 and 2/0/
Pinks are decent table fish and great smokers, but they’re fragile and have to be treated with care. Bleed and/or clean the fish immediately and be prepared to get them on ice as soon as possible.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has a pretty good pink salmon primer online, text and video, at www.wdfw.wa.gov/fishing, then enter “pink salmon” in the search window.
Creel samplers with the WDFW on Saturday at the Port of Everett ramp checked 533 anglers in 226 boats with 1,139 pinks and 12 coho, and on Sunday it was 575 anglers in 233 boats with 1,006 pinks and 28 coho. At the Point Wilson beach fishery on Sunday, 25 fishermen had 1 coho and 4 pinks; at the Port Angeles ramp 71 anglers had 3 chinook, 4 coho, and 127 pinks; and at the Cornet Bay ramp at Deception Pass State Park, 59 fishermen had 11 chinook and 80 pinks.
Part of the reason this year’s humpy fishery in local waters is unusually good is that biologists have predicted a massive return to the Snohomish River system of 1.6 million fish. That’s about 600,000 salmon over the average for the last four odd-year runs, managers say, and those are the fish now providing fun and games in marine areas 9 and 8-1.
Chamberlain said the Snohomish River fishery hasn’t kicked in yet, perhaps at least partially due to much warmer water temperatures than normal in this drought-ridden summer.
The Skagit is a better bet right now for river fishermen. Kevin John at Holiday Sports in Burlington said that while it’s not yet the peak of the run, fishing has generally been pretty good from Mount Vernon to above Burlington.
“Temperatures may be holding them (pinks) out in saltwater to a degree, but on a good high tide they’re coming in fine,” John said.
River trollers are pulling spoons such as the Dick Nite and Wicked Willy, while plunkers are soaking sand shrimp or an FST. Lure colors are usually red, pink or red/white, John said.
Crab closures
Because of the recent closure of most of the coast to commercial and recreational crabbing, due to unsafe levels of marine toxins, fishers are wondering if there’s any correlation between that and a possible closure of the in-Sound recreational crab season for similar reasons.
Almost certainly not, says state crab manager Don Velasquez at WDFW’s Mill Creek office. He says there has been no intimation that the state Health Department has even been considering an in-Sound crab closure, but says nervous crabbers may want to follow the situation on the Health agency’s website, www.doh.wa.gov, then click on Commercial and Environmental Health. He also suggested checking out crab cleaning and cooking guidelines on WDFW’s website.
“To my knowledge there has never been a marine-toxin-caused crab closure in the Sound,” Velasquez says. “Plenty of clam and mussel closures, but not crab.”
Which is a good thing, because this is shaping up as a banner crab season, Velasquez says. Particularly in marine area 8-1, around Oak Harbor and Maple Grove, and in area 8-2.
“Crabbing in those two areas has been better than good,” he says.
Buoy 10
The salmon opener Aug. 1 on the lower end of the Columbia produced record fishing, and the “buoy 10” fishery has held up well. Creel checks last week showed an average of about a chinook for every two rods, which is a very good success rate on kings, according to WDFW biologist Joe Hymer in Vancouver.
Anglers are working on fall chinook in the lower river now, Hymer says, which are larger than spring kings, running from mid-teens to the occasional 30-pounder. A prime scenario, he says, would be a high slack morning tide, above the Astoria bridge, on the Washington side, trolling with a 16-ounce lead, an attractor of some kind, then a herring, anchovy or spinner, fished right on bottom in 30 to 35 feet of water or less. Downriggers are frowned on, Hymer says, because of the fish control necessary in a crowded environment.
Creel checks on the lower river Monday showed 79 anglers in 30 boats with 33 chinook and 25 coho.
Baker Lake sockeye
The number of sockeye trapped this year at Baker Dam, 27,605 fish through Tuesday, is approaching the record of 28,410 set in 2012, and there are still fish coming. The count currently stands second, ahead of the 2011 count, 27,195, and an additional 164 sockeye were trapped on Tuesday.
Waterfowl seasons
With a record number of ducks counted on the northern breeding grounds — some 49.5 million compared to last year’s record 49.2 million — the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission has set fall and winter hunting seasons similar to 2014. Set under federal waterfowl guidelines, this year’s hunting opportunities include a 107-day statewide duck season, Oct. 17-21 amd Oct/ 24-Jan. 31. A special youth hunting weekend is scheduled for Sept. 19-20.
Most duck limits remain the same, except for canvasback, raised from one to two per day.
Goose seasons vary among management areas, but most will open mid-October and run through late January. One new twist involves the Skagit County brant season, scheduled for early January and normally opened for eight days when 6,000 brant were counted during an aerial survey. The new rule authorizes a three-day hunt when counts exceed 3,000 birds but fall below the 6,000 bird threshold.
Duck dinner
The Northwest Chapter of the Washington Waterfowl Association’s first fundraising banquet is scheduled for Sept. 19, doors open at 5 p.m. and dinner served at 6:30 p.m. at 19299 Rexville Grange Road, Mount Vernon. Dinner is tri-tip or chicken with BBQ sides and soft drinks available. Tickets are: Single, $35; Couple, $60; and Youth, $20. Auctions, raffles, and all the usual good stuff. For more information call Reb Broker at 760-859-7442.
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