Carkeek Chums

Stonedfish

Stonedfish

Known Pluviophile
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I stopped by earlier this week and there were a few fish in the creek. More should be coming.
If you’ve got cabin fever or just need to get the kids out of the house this might be a good weekend.
SF

parkways.seattle.gov

Visit with Carkeek Park Salmon Stewards Nov. 5-Dec. 6 - Parkways

Carkeek Park Salmon Stewards are a community of local volunteers trained to welcome, engage, educate, and inspire park visitors drawn by the annual Piper’s Creek salmon run in Carkeek Park. Salmon Stewards can be found along Piper’s Creek this year on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m...
parkways.seattle.gov parkways.seattle.gov
 
JACKspASS said:
@Stonedfish what would you recommend for line/flies for these fish in Carkeek? Would like to get the wife into some fish close to home, she has an 8wt
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You asked me this last year. I’ve changed my answer this year to make things more sporty.
Leave the 8 wt at home and up you and your wife’s game by catching them by hand AKA chum noodling.
Watch out though for the salmon lady with hairy legs wearing Birkenstocks, head scarf and a wool skirt. She may not take kindly to your presentation.
If you starting hearing something to the extent of “our chum”…..start running.
SF
 
JayB said:
Nice to see. Ran into a whole run full of chums on a lower stretch of a Puget Sound river that'd been netted to oblivion in the late 90s/early 00's. Here's to hoping flooding due later this afternoon spares a few of those new redds.
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Glad to hear you found some, those chum runs were unbelievable back then, what happened to them was just wasted butchery and such a shame.
Rant over, sorry.
 
I was fishing Fortson one winter day during the Chum run. There is a small creek that runs into the large pond. The one with the fish ladder on it. I spotted a Chum in the upper creek that had an arrow in it's back. I tried to catch it to probably get the arrow out but it was still full of life. It shot up stream. Catching it was out of the question.
 
SKYKO said:
Glad to hear you found some, those chum runs were unbelievable back then, what happened to them was just wasted butchery and such a shame.
Rant over, sorry.
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I can remember scoping out a system a bit further North and seeing pools literally carpeted with chum in the early/mid-90's. Like "Why is there all that long, green algae covering the bottom of that pool? Oh wait - that's thousands of salmon on the bottom of the pool...."

IIRC they allowed the commercials to net the runs into oblivion in the early 2000s based upon some absurd conjecture that it was "sustainable"? Is that more or less correct. Anyone remember that in more detail? I was living in Colorado and climbing my brains out at the time so I wasn't following what was going on back in WA all that closely.
 
If I remember correctly at least regarding one year. It was a low water fall so scooping them up out front while they waited for water was an easy score.
SF
 
My memory jives with both of yours pretty much. Throughout the 90's and until moving to Bend in 04 we lived in either Maltby or Index and I was on that system all the time from June till closing in Feb/March. The chum run was just a consistent spectacle of nature that was off the radar commercially until it wasn't and then it was decimated in just a few seasons. I dont recall if egg harvest was a factor or not but do remember pics of wasted carcasses etc but maybe I'm getting confused with a different fishery and/or system.

The CR chum fishery sure was fun and literally non stop action on just about any bar or run you wanted then right into hatchery winters and those amazing spring natives.

The odd year pink runs were just ridiculous as well with tailout after tailout parting like the Red Sea as you drifted through.

Maybe we'll see them bounce back, that would be pretty great.
 
I haven't been in the game over there since 2007, the last decent chum run I remember was 2001. It's good to know that there is a modest rebound, having a good chum run is good for the ecosystem and as much as I cussed them while fishing for early winters, they can brighten a fishless day on occasion.
 
JayB said:
I can remember scoping out a system a bit further North and seeing pools literally carpeted with chum in the early/mid-90's. Like "Why is there all that long, green algae covering the bottom of that pool? Oh wait - that's thousands of salmon on the bottom of the pool...."

IIRC they allowed the commercials to net the runs into oblivion in the early 2000s based upon some absurd conjecture that it was "sustainable"? Is that more or less correct. Anyone remember that in more detail? I was living in Colorado and climbing my brains out at the time so I wasn't following what was going on back in WA all that closely.
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When I talked to the BIO around 2005ish about the lack of chums in the Skykomish, she said "record harvest" by the commercial fleet.
 
JayB said:
I can remember scoping out a system a bit further North and seeing pools literally carpeted with chum in the early/mid-90's. Like "Why is there all that long, green algae covering the bottom of that pool? Oh wait - that's thousands of salmon on the bottom of the pool...."
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Unfortunately nowadays there is a bunch more filamentous algae than there used to be due to low water and poor water quality. But, on the bright side, this year does seem to be a higher chum return to PS than in recent years too. Love that.
 
Too bad that Coho didnt get a chance to spawn before dying!
 
There was Coho that was fire truck red and doing fine. The other two were silver and dying.
 
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