Puget Sound Anglers Expect Huge Pink Salmon Run

A Record Run of 5 Million Fish in 2009 Will Spark Lights-Out Fishing

Mar 4, 2009

Washington state fish biologists say the biggest pink salmon run since the 1960s will roll into Puget Sound - and up many rivers - during the late summer of 2009.

Puget Sound anglers wallowed in great fishing for pink salmon during the late summer of 2007, when an estimated 3.3 million fish returned to bays and rivers, such as the Puyallup, Green, Snohomish and Skagit.

Pinks - which average about 3 to 5 pounds - also crammed into rivers that hadn't seen the small salmon for decades.

The 2009 run, at 5 million pinks, promises lights-out fishing - if the fish return as predicted.

Puget Sound Pink Salmon Biology

Pinks spend two years in the Pacific Ocean before returning to fresh water to spawn, so the offspring of the massive 2007 run are expected to start prowling Puget Sound beaches in late July of 2009.

Puget Sound pink salmon runs are growing in size, said Kyle Adicks, Washington Fish and Wildlife salmon biologist.

Puget Sound pinks return to Puget Sound every other year to spawn another generation and then die. Pink salmon are the smallest and most abundant of Pacific salmon species.

Pink salmon spawn in rivers very close to saltwater, and the young pinks immediately head for saltwater for their two-year round trip to the North Pacific Ocean and back.

Pinks in Puget Sound Saltwater

Pink salmon migrate close to the surface, and big schools of fish prowl South Puget Sound beaches - particularly spots in and near Commencement Bay near Tacoma.

Beachfront parks, such as Dash Point State Park and Browns Point Lighthouse Park, are good spots to wade into Puget Sound and cast a fly or lure to huge schools of snappy pink salmon.

Pink salmon are very aggressive, and they are chrome bright, hard-fighting fish.

Fly anglers cast small pink flies, such as Clouser Minnows, and slowly retrieve them in areas with schools of pink salmon. A strike usually comes quickly. Just about any pink fly, including Wooly Buggers and Comets, will work. Sometimes the fish prefer green or chartreuse shades.

Anglers can catch and release up to 40 fish a day. One or two fish are often cleaned right after they are caught and then put on ice in a cooler. Pinks are tasty fare if they are kept cool before cooking.

Pink Salmon Fishing in Rivers

Fishing a river while 1 million or more pinks are rumbling upstream is a wild sight. The fish, which begin changing into spawning body shape soon after hitting fresh water, sometimes fill the river and even bump into the legs of wading anglers.

Male pink salmon are often called "Humpies" - for the large hump that develops on their backs.

Fly anglers try to find slower sections of the river, and they then cast pink flies, such as Wooly Buggers and let them swing downstream through the schools of fish.

Fly anglers may need to use a sink-tip line to get down bottom-hugging pinks in fast water.

Pink Salmon Run Sizes

Pink salmon will cram into these rivers like sardines in a can during August and September:

Pink salmon are easy to catch, hard-fighting, tasty fish, but anglers should not dawdle when the runs arrive in Puget Sound in late July. After all these fish only arrive every other year!

The copyright of the article Puget Sound Anglers Expect Huge Pink Salmon Run in Saltwater Fishing is owned by Chester Allen. Permission to republish Puget Sound Anglers Expect Huge Pink Salmon Run in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.