Northwest Fishing Reports

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Woah dude. Sounds like you need to just fish down south and on the coast for a few months and stay clear of the sound. You won't find mpinks on the Cowlitz, Chehalis, Kalama Columbia etc. If you have so much hate for the odd years, you should probably save yourself a blood pressure pill prescription and just not go. But no one likes a grumpy gus, and there is never an excuse for hate. I am one of those anglers in the crowd that loves pinks, do you hate me?

fish is a fish is a fish.. i don't eat much fish.. i just like to catch them..

I always find the humpy haters to be of the Elite, more awesome than most, type characters..

I hate how the rivers get over packed with knuckleheads and trash leavers on odd yrs.. i could do with out that..

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I dunno, I don't like how anti-social angling has become. I think that the humpies are an amazing opportunity to get friends and family into fishing. For the very same reasons that you loathe them, I love them. The look on a 10 year old kids face when he's reeling in his 6th or 7th fish of the morning and his arms are burning but he won't hand off the rod to dad, that's why I love humpy season. I know that half of the guys that river fish now hooked their first salmon during pink season. Sharing the sport that I love with those that wouldn't other wise be interested, that's what it's about. And it builds, I give lessons to the folks who got hooked during humpy years, trying to catch their first steel, and all of those guys are good people. 99% of the anglers out there are going to be good people. And there are more than enough fish to go around.

Fishing can be an adventure into the wilderness, fog rolling up through the rainforest and nothing but the sound of your fly whizzing by your ear as the sun comes up. No one for miles and miles, just you versus fish.

But THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN WITHIN 100 MILES OF SEATTLE! We have a city of 6 million, and plenty of river bank to go around, but if you want solitude, hike to an alpine lake on the pass or drive the extra hour to get away from the crowds. Don't go online and complain about the odd years, because you can't have it all to yourself all the time. I know you and I know you're a good guy, but it's really kind of selfish. Yea, it gets annoying when a bunch of people try to launch at the same launch, or we have a bunch of buzz bombs on one pier, or we can't get to the coho because we can't drop our bait past the pinks, but it's part of what makes fishing so great, not what makes it something worth hating. If you don't like it, don't do it. Save up your gas money and your sick days for a trip to the peninsula, rather than take half days up to sultan or out to possession. Drift the Cowlitz. But don't hate on other fishermen, especially here. This is a site to share positive experiences with others, not demean them before they even get a line wet.

I'm not saying that you have to like pink salmon, or even other anglers, it's just not necessary to have a hate fest forum. Maybe bring up the threads from a few years ago on river etiquette, and boat launch protocol. That can help more than hurt. How about we change the name of this thread to "What not to do during humpy season" and list or most grievous examples of experiences we've had on the river.

I for one will be taking my wife out for her first salmon experience this year. I would rather teach her with a 5lb pink then a big king or feisty ho. My boys are also looking forward to a fish every other cast. For myself, well its all about the eggs.

Arizona, Utah, Nevada, Colorado, Texas, etc., etc., etc. don't have odd year pink runs. Or you can take up bass or muskie fishing in Tapps (close to you) both of which can be "challenging."

Eggs and the fish are crab bait.Combat fishing for pinks is a waste of temper and patience. JMO

I love odd years. Put on a back pack and hike down the river away from everyone. Ill show you some spots and change you mind!

I will agree that the boat launches and banks will be filled with everyone and there brother when the pinks are in thick... But I also know that although some of these people , it will be there first time casting, fishing, and controlling their gear around others, but it may just hook them on the great sport of fishing... Many kids are going to be with their dads , moms , grandpa , grandmas .... Enjoying learning what we learned long ago from the same ones who taught us..... I relish in the fact that I can teach my children and other small ones the value of fishing and sportsmanship along with getting them a few fish so they don't get bored.... I will not try to convince you to like pinks but maybe just respect what it does for family, communities, and businesses alike.... just my .02 cents

Alright, you make a few excellent points. Especially concerning the crowds, the once a year warriors, the boat launches, and the trash. All that makes perfect sense. However, I have to disagree with you on the matter of pinks being poor table fare. Unfortunately, by the time the pinks are in the river, the only way they are really going to taste good is if you smoke them. On the other hand, if you catch them when they are dime bright in the salt, bleed them, gut them, and get them on ice immediately, they really do taste just fine. In fact, I took my girlfriend out for pinks on sunday after I had my last area nine chinook in the boat for the year, and we ended up keeping two pinks, which we cooked on the bbq later that night. They were bled, dressed immediately, and kept on ice. They were very good, and the recipe required very few ingredients. This is coming from a guy who spent all spring eating kokanee, the entire month of june eating dime bright summer steelhead, and a good portion of july eating plenty of puget sound chinook. I get to eat a lot of quality fish, and I will tell you right now that a dime bright pink that is taken care of makes for a pretty good meal.

Furthermore, I wanted to point out my favorite thing about pink season: it is a great time to take friends, family, and coworkers who don't normally fish out to catch their first salmon. Ya, I've taken these people out trolling for coho and chinook before, and I usually end up doing all the work, they barely get to touch the rod before they have a fish on the end of their line, and they get to reel in a nice fish with a big heavy downrigger rod and trolling reel. They always have a good time, but it is no substitute for the non-stop and very hands on action that pink salmon fishing provides. It tends to give people the feeling that they are actually the ones doing the fishing, and the fish are biting their jig because they are doing something right, not because the captain of the boat who has done this a million times put the right gear at the right depth with the right speed and all they did was reel in a fish. In my experience, first timers tend to enjoy the pink salmon fishing a lot more, and it makes for a more memorable day usually.

Now having said all that, I am actually getting rather tired of the pink salmon craze myself, and it has barely even started.

Guess I'm simple minded, if you like pinks go fish them, if you don't then don't. Not sure why it's more complicated than that. I'll be trying here in a few weeks, never caught or ate one and only fished once or twice briefly in '11. I'll be out to form my own opinions this year about the experience and taste of these fish. If I like it I'll be back out, if I don't I won't. Pretty simple stuff.

I love to catch fish and the more fish I can catch in an outing gives me greater pleasure and satisfaction. There is no other opportunity to catch so many salmon like Humpy season. The atmosphere can be fun, at times like a big fair or carnival. There are however drawbacks to this season first and foremost is the vast amount of ever increasing hordes fisher people with no respect for the rules of the game (fish reg’s), the resource ( the salmon run), other fisher people or the environment. In 2009 I was amazed at the trails that were blazed along the Snohomish River by the humpy fishermen. In 2011 the same stretch of river had so many cars parked along the river road that there was nowhere to park to fish that area.
It is one thing to have all these people suddenly take interest in fishing in the good weather when I have been out all year in lots of crapy weather (I think there should be permits for the actual year round fisher man and restriction for the fair weather fishermen) fishing to see so many violations of the rules, so much trash strewn about and no respect for your fellow fisherman makes tell myself after each Humpy season that I won’t be back. I always come back because I love to catch fish and on certain occasions eat one. Now these things occur all year around regardless of odd or even years, but it becomes so much evident on humpy years. I dont mind sharing the river with others but when there is so many people that you have to muscle your way into a hole it’s just not fun anymore. That being said my biggest gripe is not being able to fish my favorite holes without being so close to people that it’s not comfortable. I won’t crowd my way into holes so I will move on to the next hole. And when I see people of certain ethnic backgrounds doing thing likes tying fishing line with a hook and bait to plastic pop bottle throwing it out into the river or catching salmon and stuffing them in a bag without marking the catch record card I feel they have no right to be out there.
Boat traffic is whole other mess, I have had pilots of other boats play chicken with me, these are people who are out for the atmosphere of the season or have been dragged out on a family outing and are not true fishermen
There is no better place for someone to catch their first salmon or five than humpy season and this is great especially for kids. It is clear that there is not enough room on the rivers for everyone comfortably during humpy season but what’s a fish junkie to do?

you sound like an angry jerk who needs to take a chill pill.


I think odd years are the best thing since slice bread. so many new opportunities for young an inexperienced anglers to get out there and enjoy one of the greatest blessings we have in the pnw. instead of being so pissy about odd years, why dont you instead just cherish your even years for their quiet simplicity, and smile when you see an angler get excited about his limit of pinks. it might be a day he remembers for a decade.

natetreat wrote: The look on a 10 year old kids face when he's reeling in his 6th or 7th fish of the morning and his arms are burning but he won't hand off the rod to dad, that's why I love humpy season. .

or how about a 45 year old guy who LOOKS like a 10 year old kid catching his first salmon?

I find it ironic that a guy with so much hate and bitterness in him can enjoy a pastime that is the very embodiment of peace and serenity.
Think about why you began fishing in the first place. Was it to gather food? Maybe step back from your boat and all your tech toys and put on some old sneakers and grab a noodle trout rod and go wade a nice stream hitting all the holes.

I'm not a big Pink fan either. I don't fish for them in the salt, not worth the trouble. I do take my boat up the tidewtr Sno and anchor up with spinning rods and jigs. That is fun for kids and adults too. They are not much to eat even out of the salt. In the lower Sno they are right of the salt, still with sea lice, make OK smokers. I grew up in Portland and Its kind of like fishing for Shad, crowded, fun to catch, lots of them but then what do you do with them.

I'm not huge on eating any salmon at all. I do but not my favorite fish. Steelhead though now that's a delicious fish. I do enjoy fishing for pinks. I like to take enexperianced friends. Makes there year lol. My brother in law likes to smoke them. So I bring them there.