It was August 18, 2003. I awoke at 3:00 AM. I could hear the alarm clock ticking. It had been set for 4:00 AM to insure that I was awake early enough to keep my rendezvous with son Don and neighbor Steve for our early morning fishing trip. Our plan was to launch at Kingston and cross the sound to "Humpie Hollow" to try for these feisty little pink salmon.
We arrived at the Kingston just at daylight. A faint orange glow highlighted the skyline to the east with the promise of another nice warm summer day. We launched Steve’s 21 ½ foot "Trophy," the "Jeannie Lee," and with Don at the helm, headed across the sound to Humpie Hollow. Several boats were already there with their gear out.
Don and Steve took the down riggers mounted on the port and starboard gunnels. I took the middle pole holder and tied on a "Pink Lady," also called a "Deep Six" and probably a few other names. We were all using a small plastic pink squid, sweetened up with a little piece of herring for our terminal gear. Don and Steve lowered their down- riggers to about 30 feet – The Pink Lady would probably run down to somewhere between 20 and 25 feet.
No sooner than Don and Steve’s gear were lowered, they both had fish on. Don’s fish got off but Steve’s landed in the net. Only minutes later, Don had another hookup. Steve manned the net and I got on my outfit to reel it in and out of the way of Don’s fish.
I was reeling as fast as I could and was within about 10 of the boat when a Humpie grabbed it on the surface.
Don’s fish was thrashing around like crazy and mine was absolutely going nuts on the short line. Steve managed to net Don’s fish and swung the net over and got mine. Two fish in the net at the same time – a feat that Don and I had accomplished once before about 4 years ago during the humpie run. Humpies are small salmon but are as feisty and have as much tenacity as any I have ever hooked. They have incredible stamina and never seem to tire. They go absolutely bananas at the boat and many are lost because of their "soft" mouth. With the soft mouths and the law requiring barbless hooks, probably 50 percent or more fish that are hooked never end up in the net.
The action was steady for the first couple of hours and we put 6 fish in the cooler. Steve had the "hot" pole on this day but Don and I had our share of hookups. As we brought each fish aboard, we bled it in a bucket of cool salt water and then placed it on ice in our large cooler.
After the full sun had hit the water, the action began to slack off. Many more boats had arrived in the area. We figured there must have been a hundred or more. Don theorized that most of the aggressive fish in Humpie Hollow had been caught or were tired of seeing white flashers and pink squid passing in front of their noses. He suggested trolling out into deeper water in search of "fresh fish."
His plan worked. As we trolled Westward toward the southern tip of Whidbey Island, we began to have hookups. We finished out our 4 fish limits in water that reached depths of over 400 feet -- hooking the fish at depths of only 25 to 35 feet. With 12 fish on ice we figured that probably at least that many of our hookups had escaped the net.
The weather was perfect with temperatures in the low seventies with a soft breeze blowing across Puget Sound. It was not yet noon – but we decided it was now "Miller time." We relaxed in the warm sun and enjoyed sandwiches, smoked fish (a humpie) and cold beverages before heading back to Kingston. Just another beautiful day in the great northwest.
These small feisty salmon are not rated at the top of the salmon list for table fare but when taken care of properly they will please the palates of most salmon anglers, whether it is smoked or barbecued. They are also about the most feisty and tireless fighters that swim the seas. A tip of the hat to these great little fighting fish!