Don't worry. He'll be a resident of our newest state soon.
2025: A Fantastic Pink Year?
- Thread starter Jacob Watrous
- Start date
Present La Nina trending to ENSO-neutral conditions in the north Pacific bode well for 2025 salmon. Copepod, urochordate, chaetognaths, and pteropod populations will be robust. The pink salmon will be well fed by August. Sometimes a lower run size contributes to larger average salmon size.
Roger Stephens' AI translator summed this paragraph with:
North Pacific Fishing Action is HEATING UP
On seeing what Dime wrote I schooled myself on what he was talking about, what do these little things actually look like.... turns out they look pretty cool!
Pteropod...the gathering-
Chaetognath starter set:
Copepod action bundle:
Urochordata Salpas supplemental packet
Attachments
I was accidentally included on a secret group chat by @Stonedfish who shared his special pink salmon fishing spot.
If you are questioned about it all you have to do is say "I don't recall." And of course praise Stonefish.
@J Watrous failed to mention that I suggested wearing a flak jacket and motorcycle helmet while fishing this secret spot……
SF
SF
The last two runs (21 and 23) an absolute river of them has hugged the west shore of south Whidbey and the 20-50’ contour of east side MA9 and 10 as they head south—even midday—for days in late August. Very eager to bite anything pink or chartreuse in my experience.
To give you an idea of small boat feasibility, last time we kept 53 pinks, 50 from the salt, and all taken from the canoe (bigger boat died and got sold).
Edit: “last time” not “last year”.
Last edited:
If you are asking about MA 11 specifically, 2023 was screwed up for pinks and coho due to chinook encounters if I recall correctly. Provided things go as expected during NOF / PFMC meetings later this week, MA 11 should have a more normal season like years past this year.
SF
My go-to setup is a floating line with a 12 foot leader and a heavy fly. That usually works. They usually pick up the fly on the drop. If it doesn't work, I will switch to a sinking line or a sink tip line, and sometimes that'll work.
I got a 9 weight $30 SA Air Cel floating line to use on my eight weight rod for this and bass fishing and it works just fine for me.
Sink 3 or 7 depending on the depth they’re at and/or current. In 2023 they had their backs out a lot (hatchery fish seem to like it shallow) even in 40’ of water.
One fun things about pinks is that you can use trout gear for them. It works fine. A 6 weight will work fine if that's what you have. I like an 8 weight out in the Sound/estuary to get 'em in the net a little quicker when they're boatside.
6wt is just fine. Sometimes later in the season I will switch to an 8wt just because fighting 20-30 salmon in an afternoon on a 6wt can get old especially trying to net solo. If I had a 7wt I'd probably fish that all season. Pound for pound pinks pull harder than coho IMO, but without the shenanigans of a coho. They tend to bulldog straight down.
A 7wt. bamboo works great and is a blast on pinks.
A 6 is usually fine, but it depends a bit on the year and ocean rearing conditions. Some years they are all big, and you don’t really want to be playing a lot of 6-7 pound fish on a 6. Other times they average less than 3 pounds, and a 6 can be too much.
From the boat I prefer a 7 or an 8, partly because it gets them in faster, partly for casting distance and control in the wind.