2019, Pinks Reports

[Crunchy]

I hit the Nisqually this AM.  Nets out and some fish are in.  Caught and released 4 pinks.  A few decent kings were caught but fishing isnt red hot yet.

Good to hear atleast a few more fish are being caught,  dm me and we can meet up sometime out there. Nisqually is my home river.

Didn't know you fished it.  Always saw your posts on the Puyallup.  Heading back down there next week.  Either Monday, or Wed after they pull the nets. 

[Smossy]

I hit the Nisqually this AM.  Nets out and some fish are in.  Caught and released 4 pinks.  A few decent kings were caught but fishing isnt red hot yet.

Good to hear atleast a few more fish are being caught,  dm me and we can meet up sometime out there. Nisqually is my home river.

Didn't know you fished it.  Always saw your posts on the Puyallup.  Heading back down there next week.  Either Monday, or Wed after they pull the nets. 

Yeah just alittle early, I went and scoped it out a few time and only seen fish rollin but no hookups. I just usually wait till september.

[CP]

Anyone out in 8-2 or 9?

Who said we are having a depressed run this year?  Well they should take a boat trip in Possession Sound; there fish from one end to the other.  One school stretched at least half a mile long by 200 yards wide.  They are starting to slime up though.

[Stein]

WDFW.  They closed 8-1 and didn't give the bonus limit because of the low returns.

Anglers will also have limited opportunities to fish for pink salmon in Puget Sound due to projected low returns this year. There are no "bonus bag" limits for pink salmon in 2019.

This is one of those areas where they could be doing a much better in season job.  On both sides, they are reluctant, unwilling, or just not putting enough effort into looking at in season runs to adjust things up or down.

It's all anecdotal, but for me in 8-2 and 9, fishing this year was every bit as good as the monster run a while back.

[WSU]

Everyone bitches when the runs get over-fished (rightfully so).  The flip side of that coin is that you have to be willing to have some excess escapement (read less opportunity and less fish caught) when the runs come in better than predicted.  It's an imperfect science and they are unlikely to ever get it 100% right.

[7mmfan]

I'm fine with reduced limits to ensure that more than enough fish make it to the gravel. I agree that we need better in season monitoring and adjustments, but I think they should always err on the side of caution and making sure ample fish spawn than trying to maximize harvest.

[Stein]

All I am saying is that the limit of 2 total salmon was set on a preseason forecast of 608k pinks returning to Puget Sound (all rivers including hood canal).

Who knows what the actual run is, but nobody can argue with a straight face that it is anywhere near that.  2015 was 3.7M when fishing was this good.  2017 was forecast for 1.1M with an actual of 480k (and likely where WDFW's conservative tilt was born).

Not all that many people fish pinks compared to chinook or coho, so there is an opportunity for WDFW to throw us a bone with a bonus limit of an additional 2 pinks when we saw the return was gangbuster.  I'm all for being conservative, but sticking with the 608k forecast in the face of the wall of biomass is beyond conservative by any measure.

Anyway, getting late for that now, it will be interesting to see what the actual return number is.  I would put money on at least 2M.  Maybe we should place bets while we wait for coho to heat up.

[WSU]

I hope you're right that there turns out to be way more than predicted!

[7mmfan]

I hope you're right that there turns out to be way more than predicted!

I do as well. Banner years ahead if 2 million showed and tons make it to gravel with the river closures.

[WSU]

I was going to go last weekend and ended up not. Kinda bummed because I was looking forward to getting the kids out. Hopefully it’s great in the years to come.

[h20hunter]

Boats hooked up, early to bed, early to rise. Gonna hit em at sun up.

[Stein]

I hope you're right that there turns out to be way more than predicted!

I do as well. Banner years ahead if 2 million showed and tons make it to gravel with the river closures.

Yeah, it sounds like keeping the eggs from flooding out of the river is the big key.  Pinks only need 2 years, so we'll see pretty quickly.  Area 9 is wide open for commercials, I'm not sure if they will target them much or not.  I never did figure out why 8-2 was split, I didn't see any commercial openings up there.

I should have weighed a few, we got probably 3 or four real big toad bucks.  One stripped a bunch of line and I though I foul hooked it in the side.  They were not nearly as tasty as the smaller females, but they'll get eaten. 

Most of the stomachs were loaded with fish, those things must eat like crazy to get that size in such a short period of time.

[NRA4LIFE]

Stein,

I concur.  We had a couple last Friday and Saturday pushing 7 lbs. Maybe the biggest we ever got. But yes, the smaller hens are much tastier.

[h20hunter]

Pretty good am. Did some downriggering, did some sight casting. Got my fish and five fat crab. Back out tomorrow for a final humpy hurrah.

[Smossy]

Did alittle time at the nisqually, pretty slow still - about 1 king an hour between 20 people. September and some rain ill be there daily.