“Selective” Summer (So far…) Leave a reply
One of my favorite regional salmon fishing opportunities is our local summer chinook season.
The Marine Area 9 & 10 selective harvest opportunity dates back to 2007 when, after several years of closures, the north central Sound again got to fish for summer kings.
“I hope anglers remember how we got here” states Tony Floor, Director of Sportfishing affairs of the Northwest Marine Trade Association.
“This fishery would never have been a reality without the momentum provided by Congressman Norm Dicks, the advent of mass marking of hatchery fish and WDFW’s support of selective fishing” says Floor.
Saturday, July 16, 2011 rang in the opener of the 5th year of our selective chinook season and while the catch rates are not quite what we’ve seen the past few years the average size of the fish has been quite respectable.
I dashed out of the studio and headed straight to Possession Bar where we released two wild fish before Phil Michelsen put this mid-20’s king in the box!
Our largest of the season (so far) is my son Matthew’s 31 pound chromer which absolutely crushed a Silver Horde Ace Hi plug.
The second weekend of the season was marked by the inaugural Salmon Smackdown tournament which was won by Capt. John Keizer’s Team Lowrance. Here, boats jockey for position for the “shotgun” start near Jefferson Head.
Team Outdoor Line took third in the Smackdown behind Jim Fahey’s “Team Eight Balls”. Here, Tournament Sponsor Ken Pinnell on the right presents the “big fake check” to Tom Nelson and his son Matt on the left.
Midchannel Bank became the “go-to” location during the end of July and Tom was joined by his friend Walt Hylback for a good day on the water during a trip in which the largest fish of the day got away!
Nelly hoists a pair of kings aboard the Evinrude powered Stabicraft “ESPN Boat” also known as “Big Red”.
The key to chinook success this season has been to keep the information network active as the best fishing has rarely been in the same place for very long. On our Saturday morning radio show we do our best to keep our listeners in the loop!
While Silver Horde Coho Killer spoons have been the ticket out at Midchannel where candlefish are present, at Point No Point and Possession Bar herring are much more prevalent and larger spoons and plugs have been more productive. Larger terminal gear also have the benefit of keeping the dogfish sharks at bay.
We still have the remainder of August to target chinook but the “humpies” or pink salmon are hot on their heels so don’t miss out…Go limit out! Good luck and see you out on the water!
Tom Nelson
The Outdoor Line
710 ESPN Seattle
www.theoutdoorline.com