Divad
Whitefish
Their lungs thank them. Might help the deep south fish actually eat my fly
Strange, weird or odd or whatever beach finds thread….
- Thread starter Stonedfish
- Start date
This ripe hen must have pushed into the creek on the pre-dawn flood tide. The spawning process has started but she was still full of "eggs." @Stonedfish @Wadin' Boot - is this an early entry gourd? It's from a mixed stock MA so maybe it's just variable run timing? Seems a tad early for this species.
BriGuy
Life of the Party
It's been clipped. You can retain it!
Haha, the rules for this MA are funky. You can retain unclipped coho, but pumpkins must be clipped AND carved. Weird that this one was only clipped and not carved, but you hear rumors about the practices in certain hatcheries, and I didn't really want to pull it off its redd anyway.
BriGuy
Life of the Party
That was very noble of you. It hasn't even started to take on spawning colors, yet. It would have been a shame to carve it before it could spread it's seed -- so to speak.
wanderingrichard
Life of the Party
You sure it's not spawned out?? That area around the stem looks awfully dark...
People are always asking me and Stonefish some variant of this basic question "do Fall Pumpkins start arriving on the midnight tides of Friday the 13th?" And well the answer is complicated, the thing about it is, no one really knows if they float, fly or roll their way from the great pumpkin patch to the finest Pumpkin Runs of Puget Sound.
See Friday night's stroke of midnight tide wasn't exactly conducive to upriver migrations.....downriver, yep, absolutely, but not upriver
I put the question to Bing's AI bot, and here's the response, which I would go so far as describe as both technically correct and yet a hedge:
That’s an interesting question. I don’t think there is a definitive answer to that, but I can share some information that might help you.
First of all, Puget Sound is a complex system of interconnected waterways that experience tidal fluctuations influenced by the gravitational forces of the moon and the sun, as well as the shape and depth of the coastline1. The tides vary in height and timing depending on the location and the season. There are two high tides and two low tides every day, but they are not equal in height or duration1.
Secondly, pumpkins are fruits that grow on vines and have a thick rind and a hollow interior filled with seeds and pulp2. They are typically harvested in the fall and used for decoration or food. Pumpkins can float on water because they have a lower density than water, which means they displace more water than their own weight3.
Therefore, whether Puget Sound pumpkins always float in on high or low tide during Friday the thirteenth tides depends on several factors, such as:
- The size, shape, and weight of the pumpkins
- The location and direction of the pumpkin patch
- The wind speed and direction
- The water temperature and salinity
- The phase and position of the moon and the sun
- The date and time of the year
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Personally, I just want them to stop farming them. We’ve been farming them for decades to the point where most kids have never seen a wild one.
Pink Nighty
Legend
Those farmed pumpkins mess up the genetics after a few generations too. They're not tested by Nature like the wild gourds are.
That's the type of oral story tradition we have to keep off the internet before the bots take over the finest Pumpkin Holes there are. We got to hold the knowledge close and teach each other the old ways....
Back before Cliff Mass caused climate warming we had hard frost in late Octobers. The pumpkins were frozen to the seed cores. Then the pineapple express hit and pumped up the rivers, sweeping up all those frozen pumpkins. Icy orange comet gourds streamed into the salt at high speeds. Coho salt fishing was still going down in October in those years gone by now, and we found them still partially frozen on the beaches. That cold really brought out the sugars in the pumpkin meat, it cut real orange. Moms made the most delectable pies with those first of the year frosty pumpkins.
Just wait, some asshole will throw a coconut reference back here like they know the first goddamn thing about B-run PS Coconuts, in effect derailing this kind-hearted pumpkin karma with tropical bullshit.
Pink Nighty
Legend
Recent discoveries in shell middens of nootka sound and Haida Gwaii show that historically large, adult coconuts frequented the north Pacific, and in significant numbers. Here the tribes would stand on the cliffs and spot the coconuts, shouting out their location to people in boats to go and harvest them.
The coconut population just isnt what it used to be, and they arent migrating to the north Pacific in the same numbers they used to. However climate change models predict that by 2050 coconuts will once again be common sights along the washington coast, and some may slip into the salish sea now and again.
wanderingrichard
Life of the Party
Thankfully wild PS pumpkins haven't yet been discovered by the latte set and cross bred with the domesticated spice variant
BriGuy
Life of the Party
I remember the old timers saying that in the old days the spawning coconuts and pumpkins were so thick that you could walk across them. My, how things have changed.