I thought the 2007 pink salmon run to Puget Sound rivers was huge -- more than 3.3 million fish poured into bays and rivers from August through September.
Pinks -- ranging from 3 to 6 pounds or so -- bumped into wading anglers on the Puyallup River near Tacoma.
Anglers fishing the Puget Sound saltwater -- Browns Point and Dash Point near Commencement Bay were red-hot for fly and lure anglers for a few weeks -- hooked pinks until their arms seized up.
But the summer of 2009 will be even better, with 5 million pinks expected to roll into Puget Sound, according to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Wowsa!
This is a pink salmon I hooked on a Corkie and Yarn rig on the Puyallup River in early September of 2007.
If the pinks show up, the fishing will be hot enough to make me forget my crumbling 401-K!
Pinks are the smallest Pacific salmon, and they only return to Washington waters during odd-numbered years.
But they make up for all this in three big ways:
- There are a lot of them. It is an amazing sight to see a big school of pinks wander around off a Puget Sound beach. Some of the fish leap from the water and others swirl at the surface. Just about all of them are willing to hit a slowly retrieved fly or light spoon. Pink is the best color - believe it or not.
- The saltwater fishing is lights-out fantastic. fly anglers cast small, pink-and-white Clouser Minnow streamers and slowly strip them in. Spin anglers throw small, light spoons -- in pink -- and slowly, slowly, slowly reel them in.
- Strikes are almost automatic.
Pinks are the best way to introduce kids or other fishing newbies to salmon fishing. Unlike other salmon -- with the exception of chum salmon -- pinks bite like crazy.
It's even a good idea to bring a spouse or romantic partner along, as they're likely to catch fish in a short time.
I always wonder why pinks and chum -- the most plentiful and snappy Puget Sound salmon -- don't get the respect that coho and chinook enjoy.
Maybe it's because chums and pinks are too easy. Maybe it's because they're not as elegant as a bumper-bright chinook or coho. Maybe it's because they're not as tasty as a bright hatchery chinook.
But I can live with hard-fighting salmon that charge my fly or lure, rip line off my reel and put a deep bend in my rod.
Besides, pinks are pretty good eating -- if anglers bleed, clean and ice them right after they're caught
Pink salmon change pretty rapidly once they charge up a river. The males develop giant humps on their backs -- which is how pinks got the nickname "Humpies."
One warning: pinks are great fun to hook in rivers -- especially on a fly rod -- but they aren't very good to eat unless they're still ocean-bright fish. If the pink has sea lice -- harmless little crustaceans on their sides that look like tiny slugs -- they're still good to eat.
All this said, few people can eat four pink salmon at a sitting, so why not just take one or two and release the rest?
After all, more spawning pinks may mean an even bigger run in 2011. And there's nothing wrong with that.
I get dizzy imagining 7 million pink in 2011, but I'll be delighted with 5 million pinks this summer.
