Non-Fly Blackmouth 2025

Chucker said:
I suspect that the fish that we were targeting last week are the ones that usually make the first couple of days of the season in area 10 worth fishing. It might be really slow to start this year.

The one fish that I kept was in as good condition as I have ever seen for a puget sound fish. Eggs were only just starting to develop. Much better eating quality than a typical August fish. That’s a perfectly good reason to have the fishery in April rather than July. And it was a very popular fishery. At least as much as the summer season opener.
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Puget Sound mature Chinook eating quality is not the greatest. For a while I started to wonder if I had lost my taste for salmon, then came home with some WCVI fish and realized it's just the Puget Sound Kings
 
Paige said:
I dont get it, why use some of the impacts to catch juvenile Chinook, I'd rather wait for the summer fishing!

I know the BM is a popular fishery, but these days seems counter productive to getting a longer season.
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The way I look at it is if you have an interest in fishing chinook in Puget Sound, don’t waste any opportunity given, whether it be summer or winter. Especially if you want fish 9 or 10. I’d prefer more opportunity in summer but if it’s open in April, I’m going to try to get out. Open season for these fish is days the last few years, not months. Most of which fall on work days for me with the Wednesday or Thursday to Saturday regulations. That combined with life popping up and limitations due to conditions with my smallish boat (17 feet) and mediocre captaining abilities means I need to take advantage of any chance I get where everything aligns as needed. I get the sentiment though. I’d rather they keep 10 coho closed in June to give them another month to grow. I just think they are a lot more fun on a fly rod at 4+ pounds versus 2-3+. Plus, I imagine some of those fish make there way to 9 in July where there are better beaches to fish.
 
Chucker said:
It had a coded wire tag, so eventually I might find out.
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So, this was what the tag returned. Not at all what I expected for a puget sound blackmouth.
  • Species: Chinook
  • Mark Status: AD Fin Clp
  • Brood Year: 2022
  • Release Location: KENDALL CR 01.0406
  • Hatchery Name: KENDALL CR HATCHERY
  • Stock: NOOKSACK R 01.0120
  • Release Date: 4/15/2023 - 5/2/2023
  • Release Agency: WDFW
 
Chucker said:
So, this was what the tag returned. Not at all what I expected for a puget sound blackmouth.
  • Species: Chinook
  • Mark Status: AD Fin Clp
  • Brood Year: 2022
  • Release Location: KENDALL CR 01.0406
  • Hatchery Name: KENDALL CR HATCHERY
  • Stock: NOOKSACK R 01.0120
  • Release Date: 4/15/2023 - 5/2/2023
  • Release Agency: WDFW
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Kendall creek is by Bellingham, this fish got lost? 🤣
 
I know it seems odd, but I’ve seen some presentations lately where fish are encountered and you’d think no way that fish should be there. It’s quite surprising.
Here is an example of wild Hood Canal coho and what marine areas they are encountered in and when. Fascinating stuff to me.
SF

IMG_3185.jpeg
 
Aren’t there some coho and chinook from BC rivers that wander into the Sound on occasion to?

I thought I read a paper a few years ago saying that a small number of BC-origin fish get caught deep into the Puget Sound.
 
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