Most rare or odd fish you encountered in Puget Sound or its Tributaries

[speedbird]

"Rare/odd" means species, time of year, location, or run. I will start. I am 100% sure I saw a male even year pink roll close to the mouth of the Stillaguamish back in late September 2024. I can't find a single piece of documentation of such a run being ever known in that river and it still honestly bewilders me. I love to think about all the tiny remanent runs no one knows about still hiding away in some presumed fishless tiny creeks, or descendants of recent stray's that escaped documentation and may some day establish themselves. I cannot pretend that I don't gaze at my local salmon bearing Puget Sound creek in the winter wondering if there is a pair of spawning Steelhead that eluded gazing eyes, slipping into the tiny stream and hiding in some deep pool, far from the suburban trail, houses, and road traffic.

It's oddities like true wild Puget Sound resident salmon, and the sudden appearence and disappearence of Puget Sound even-year pinks that made me want to study Marine Biology.

I would put "Skagit river sturgeon" up as a contender, but the problem is the "sturgeon" my buddies hooked in front of me fought suspiciously like an underwater logjam with river current giving the illusion of upriver movement. My buddies are adamant though, and it's not out of the realm of possibility to find a sturgeon in the Skagit and catch it with plunked sand shrimp...

 

[VMP]

Atlantic Salmon!
No, really! Although I missed on the catching of any the 250,000 to 300,000 escapees from Cooke's aquaculture disaster in 2017 (they first reported only a few thousands "may have escaped" due to a solar eclipse, yeah right!) near Anacortes, technically in the Salish Sea, not Puget Sound proper. Fortunately Atlantic salmon farming is now banned in Washington State. Good riddance!

Cypress Island Atlantic salmon pen break - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Washington State’s Great Salmon Spill and the Environmental Perils of Fish Farming

Last month, thousands of non-native Atlantic salmon escaped their pen and disappeared into the Pacific. What could the repercussions be?

www.newyorker.com

How a salmon farm disaster changed Northwest aquaculture forever - High Country News

Thousands of salmon escaped into the Puget Sound. Then the controversy began.

www.hcn.org

 

[Matt B]

"Rare/odd" means species, time of year, location, or run. I will start. I am 100% sure I saw a male even year pink roll close to the mouth of the Stillaguamish back in late September 2024. I can't find a single piece of documentation of such a run being ever known in that river and it still honestly bewilders me. I love to think about all the tiny remanent runs no one knows about still hiding away in some presumed fishless tiny creeks, or descendants of recent stray's that escaped documentation and may some day establish themselves. I cannot pretend that I don't gaze at my local salmon bearing Puget Sound creek in the winter wondering if there is a pair of spawning Steelhead that eluded gazing eyes, slipping into the tiny stream and hiding in some deep pool, far from the suburban trail, houses, and road traffic.

It's oddities like true wild Puget Sound resident salmon, and the sudden appearence and disappearence of Puget Sound even-year pinks that made me want to study Marine Biology.

I would put "Skagit river sturgeon" up as a contender, but the problem is the "sturgeon" my buddies hooked in front of me fought suspiciously like an underwater logjam with river current giving the illusion of upriver movement. My buddies are adamant though, and it's not out of the realm of possibility to find a sturgeon in the Skagit and catch it with plunked sand shrimp...

The even year pinks of the NF Stilly were easy to spot as they staged to spawn back when we used to have late summer trout seasons there. There were always a few, it seems. Kinda random you saw one out in the salt though.

 

[Stonedfish]

We discussed this one on the old board. The consensus was it is an American shad if I recall correctly. I never saw one in the sound before or since then.


Not a fish species, but the Kraken that @DimeBrite and I found on a beach in MA 10.

SF

 

[Pink Nighty]

"Rare/odd" means species, time of year, location, or run. I will start. I am 100% sure I saw a male even year pink roll close to the mouth of the Stillaguamish back in late September 2024. I can't find a single piece of documentation of such a run being ever known in that river and it still honestly bewilders me. I love to think about all the tiny remanent runs no one knows about still hiding away in some presumed fishless tiny creeks, or descendants of recent stray's that escaped documentation and may some day establish themselves. I cannot pretend that I don't gaze at my local salmon bearing Puget Sound creek in the winter wondering if there is a pair of spawning Steelhead that eluded gazing eyes, slipping into the tiny stream and hiding in some deep pool, far from the suburban trail, houses, and road traffic.

It's oddities like true wild Puget Sound resident salmon, and the sudden appearence and disappearence of Puget Sound even-year pinks that made me want to study Marine Biology.

I would put "Skagit river sturgeon" up as a contender, but the problem is the "sturgeon" my buddies hooked in front of me fought suspiciously like an underwater logjam with river current giving the illusion of upriver movement. My buddies are adamant though, and it's not out of the realm of possibility to find a sturgeon in the Skagit and catch it with plunked sand shrimp...

Sturgeon on the skagit are pretty common. I saw one jump down at the soccer fields in Burlington. Scared the hell out of me

 

[speedbird]

The even year pinks of the NF Stilly were easy to spot as they staged to spawn back when we used to have late summer trout seasons there. There were always a few, it seems. Kinda random you saw one out in the salt though.

Ah so they do exist! By mouth of the stilly I meant the tidal section of the river by the baseball field. To my knowledge as of the last NOF meeting the NF Stilly is still scheduled to open at the end of August, and assuming emergency regs don't close it I hope to be out there. Maybe I'll see them!

We discussed this one on the old board. The consensus was it is an American shad if I recall correctly. I never saw one in the sound before or since then.
View attachment 183723

Not a fish species, but the Kraken that @DimeBrite and I found on a beach in MA 10.
View attachment 183724
SF

I remember that squid - crazy

 

[Buzzy]

I seem to be one who starts threads a driftin', so, Hood Canal rather than Puget Sound..... many years ago I was fishing the estuary of a Hood Canal stream, the tide was flooding with brackish water. I was casting a streamer into the water hoping to entice a SRC. I noticed two wakes moving up the gentle flow in the estuary. Low and behold: two sturgeon*. Welcome to Belfair!

* I have no idea if these were "Green sturgeon" or what's more common on the Columbia River here in the Basin.

 

[Smalma]

The local "S" rivers' sturgeon are visitors from the Fraser and Columbia systems; two of the west coast rivers (Sacramento being the other) where the white sturgeon reproduces. As the young sturgeon approach 30 inches they become salt water tolerate and some leave freshwater to take advantage of the feeding opportunities. Those fish can spend up to a decade or so before reaching maturity and return to freshwater to spawn. Tagged fish from both the Columbia and Fraser are found in Puget Sound to take advantage of the region's sand shrimp, clams, bait fish, etc. The Fraser sturgeon tend to be stockier and darker than the Columbia fish.

While speaking of the sturgeon a much rarer fish is the green sturgeon. In north Puget Sound I have seen what I think were 3 different greens.

While not near as numerous as the odd year pinks the even pinks have been seen in most of the north Sound rivers. In the early 2000s on a couple years in September saw several hundred pinks spawning on the Stillaguamish. The Snohomish typically have more even years pinks than the other system where I think in 2004 it was estimated that there about 140,000 spawning pinks. It is interesting that the even pinks behavior differently than the odd year pinks. They tend returns and spawn a month or so earlier than the odd year fish (thus typically smaller fish). They also tend to spawn lower down in the system. Interestedly genetically the two groups are very different with little similarity between the two.

The Pacific giant salamander and the tail frog tadpoles are two rarely seen species that always bring a smile to my face. The longnose dace is common species in our rivers that most never see or are aware of their presence.

Curt

 

[Mossback]

Erf

I seem to be one who starts threads a driftin', so, Hood Canal rather than Puget Sound..... many years ago I was fishing the estuary of a Hood Canal stream, the tide was flooding with brackish water. I was casting a streamer into the water hoping to entice a SRC. I noticed two wakes moving up the gentle flow in the estuary. Low and behold: two sturgeon*. Welcome to Belfair!

* I have no idea if these were "Green sturgeon" or what's more common on the Columbia River here in the Basin.

See them at the other end of the canal also

 

[CRO]

Shortly after Washington started keeping state records on basically anything that swims i caught a rat fish off Scatchet head while ling cod fishing. One of young sons took a picture of me holding the fish and as i went to release it i told them that i was probably releasing a state record.

 

[RCF]

I have caught a number of ratfish off Point Pully. UGLY!!!

Once I caught a ratfish, I never had another bite. So I just cut my leader and put new hooks on. Continued to catch fish thereafter. Superstitious? Maybe...