I don't know if they are members. They were close to the beach I was on.
No fish for me. Four total for the beach by the time I left. All buzzbombs.
Puget Sound
- Thread starter Stonedfish
- Start date
No fish for me. Four total for the beach by the time I left. All buzzbombs.
@Kfish and I got some pinks on the fly today as well as one coho. We also started the day trolling divers and jigging for kings in 10. Lost a couple decent sized fish (coho or pinks) as well as what I suspect was a king. It was ripping drag with nice head shakes before I lost it.
Shit conditions made for a beautiful sunrise though. Ran a ton today for the fish we caught. Glad it’s a pink year because the coho, including rezzies are for most part MIA!
Stinky pinky
An MA9 2025 unicorn rezzie is
Shit conditions made for a beautiful sunrise though. Ran a ton today for the fish we caught. Glad it’s a pink year because the coho, including rezzies are for most part MIA!
Stinky pinky
An MA9 2025 unicorn rezzie is
1162 retained pinks in MA9 today. They're out there.
Fished again today on @jasmillo boat, a gorgeous sunrise gives way to a much calmer day today.
We caught a couple of pinks on the run out with quick buzzbomb casts, an appetizer if you will. Continued to run to the main course and found a lot of pinks and a few surprise coho in the mix. Pinks got really snobby as the sun came in and lit up everything. The pods would just shoot by, no interest or follows to the boat. There were a few pinks that was dumb enough to get fooled however, just very few and far in between.
We got out of there to relocate and ran into some really bitey pods on the way. Landed several there including a double that turn into a line wrapping shit show
Ended the day slow, found a few more on the way back to launch but they mostly had that “screw you” look to them.
Saw a sub on the way back to dock, a first for me. That thing was impressive.
Also nice to see @ffb and @nrc, fished near them for a while.
We caught a couple of pinks on the run out with quick buzzbomb casts, an appetizer if you will. Continued to run to the main course and found a lot of pinks and a few surprise coho in the mix. Pinks got really snobby as the sun came in and lit up everything. The pods would just shoot by, no interest or follows to the boat. There were a few pinks that was dumb enough to get fooled however, just very few and far in between.
We got out of there to relocate and ran into some really bitey pods on the way. Landed several there including a double that turn into a line wrapping shit show
Ended the day slow, found a few more on the way back to launch but they mostly had that “screw you” look to them.
Saw a sub on the way back to dock, a first for me. That thing was impressive.
Also nice to see @ffb and @nrc, fished near them for a while.
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speedbird
Life of the Party
Not too convinced this years humpy run was a record. Already seems to be thinning out and I saw more fish last season. Also not too impressed with pinks as a fly rod species. I feel like if I could get anything in front of a coho they’d take it. I managed to snag two trout out of a hole that couldn’t have held more than two. Meanwhile he made several casts straight into schools of pinks with no luck
Fun day on the water with @Burt Dagger . Started off with some decent pink action until we hit a lull in the schools moving through. Not long after some bigger schools started pouring through but the current was ripping and the fish were moving at Mach 10. I was also marking the schools at 20-30ft which apparently didn't help things. It was an interesting scenario in a spot where I've not had trouble hooking boatloads of pinks in the past even in bright mid day sun, so it may have just been the perfect storm of conditions. I also managed a nice hatchery coho (bonk) in that mayhem of stubborn pinks.
Like @jasmillo and @Kfish , we roamed around elsewhere and found pinks that acted more like pinks, chasing schools that were apparently closer to the surface and eager to hitch a ride on our flies.
Always nice to run into local forum celebrities on the water. Here you can even see a pink flipping the guys the bird in the background
Like @jasmillo and @Kfish , we roamed around elsewhere and found pinks that acted more like pinks, chasing schools that were apparently closer to the surface and eager to hitch a ride on our flies.
Always nice to run into local forum celebrities on the water. Here you can even see a pink flipping the guys the bird in the background
speedbird
Life of the Party
Despite my fly humpy disappointment, I had a great day on the water. Gf hooked into a little train holding my fly rod. We relaxed in the sound, dipped our feet in the water, and enjoyed some music all while escaping blistering heat.
Pink years are less exciting for me from a fishing perspective because for whatever reason, gear or fly, I don’t have the greatest luck with them. Don’t get me wrong, the fishing is good when I do gear, and this year is the first time I’ve exclusively targeted them with buzz bombs when not fly casting, but I’ve found when trolling that I’m pretty decent at finding coho schools, and when I do the fishing is just as lights out if not more than it is with pinks.
What really makes me love pink years is the nature watching perspective. A memory burned into my mind is leaving possession bar with my family and seeing a massive school of pinks crossing the bar headed north, nearly all leaping clear out of the surface every 100 feet or so that they’d swim. They offer some of the best salmon spawn watching opportunities in our region. Today, my pink salmon memory of the season was formed- And it was watching a massive school pass directly underneath my boat as I fumbled to untangle my sinking line.
Attachments
Pink Nighty
Legend
That is what I love about pinks, the bio mass show. I have the opportunity to introduce a decent amount of young people to fishing. Being able to show them fish "thick enough to walk across" is both an addicting hook and a useful segue into restoration talks.
The pinks were just being snotty today for whatever reasons, full sun, fast current (aka their freeway), all the boats/anglers pressure, who knows how many they’ve passed through by the time they got to us.
When we found them in an open area without any boats nearby they preferred flies over buzz bombs, again who knows why.
I appreciate the pinks for the actions they provide for my son and nephew. My son was never into fishing but really got into it when we were chasing them around full throttle, I would slide the boat in besides/ahead of them so he can make casts and hook up. I can’t replicate that with any other kind of fishing around here.
When we found them in an open area without any boats nearby they preferred flies over buzz bombs, again who knows why.
I appreciate the pinks for the actions they provide for my son and nephew. My son was never into fishing but really got into it when we were chasing them around full throttle, I would slide the boat in besides/ahead of them so he can make casts and hook up. I can’t replicate that with any other kind of fishing around here.
Run n gun is fun any way you slice it in my book!
I hooked a really nice migratory coho from an MA9 beach this evening. Smashed the fly and ripped out line well into the backing. Two big jumps, it looked >7 lbs. It kept steadily pulling out backing, then I finally turned it. Tragically the coho straightened out the hook and got off. I was using a humpy fly. Don't use humpy flies for migratory coho!
speedbird
Life of the Party
I think I might be too lazy when fly fishing for them, and just waiting for them to come to me instead of chasing them and casting
Nice seeing you out there @ffb and @Burt Dagger. Strange humpies in that one spot indeed. On our boat @Kfish had a little more success enticing strikes once they became a bit more lock jawed. It should the have been way better day for both of us though, considering the number of fish we were getting our flies into. At least there were a few of these mixed in with the pink pods.
Nice easy morning to run around the sound. Flat and quite the sunrise.
Nice easy morning to run around the sound. Flat and quite the sunrise.
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Hell, I’ve been fishing from the beaches so as far as I’m concerned today was lights out! Thanks again for the boat ride @ffb . And nice seeing you @Kfish and @jasmilloFun day on the water with @Burt Dagger . Started off with some decent pink action until we hit a lull in the schools moving through. Not long after some bigger schools started pouring through but the current was ripping and the fish were moving at Mach 10. I was also marking the schools at 20-30ft which apparently didn't help things. It was an interesting scenario in a spot where I've not had trouble hooking boatloads of pinks in the past even in bright mid day sun, so it may have just been the perfect storm of conditions. I also managed a nice hatchery coho (bonk) in that mayhem of stubborn pinks.
Like @jasmillo and @Kfish , we roamed around elsewhere and found pinks that acted more like pinks, chasing schools that were apparently closer to the surface and eager to hitch a ride on our flies.
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Always nice to run into local forum celebrities on the water. Here you can even see a pink flipping the guys the bird in the background
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@ffb is underselling the coho part of that story, by the way. We were poking along casting at reluctant schools of pinks, and then all of a sudden his reel blew up and that fish went on a 40+ foot run. A real shock to the system.
True to my new handle I retained and consumed humpy. And I had my most reliable short stretch of fishing casting a buzz bomb upcurrent and jigging it when it sunk to about 20’. The most memorable and enjoyable fishing was on a fly rod way out in the shipping lane, though. Others have said it, but it’s absurd catching salmon on a 3’ deep fly in 200-400 FOW.
No pics from me because I promised my loved ones I’d quit getting slime on my phone.
I suppose folks can debate about their own personal interest level in targeting pinks, but there is really no debate that they are a fantastic fly rod target. I've caught a lot of coho on the fly in my life, but I can say with absolute authority that I've never had a 50 fish day fly fishing for coho in the sound. I've had more 50+ pink days than I could count.
Guiding fly anglers for summer sound coho was some of the longest, most stressful days of my life. On the flip side, guiding fly anglers for pinks during the same season was the easiest, most stress free work I've ever done.
They aren't going to bite every second of every day, but all else aside they are a very reliable fly rod fish.
Guiding fly anglers for summer sound coho was some of the longest, most stressful days of my life. On the flip side, guiding fly anglers for pinks during the same season was the easiest, most stress free work I've ever done.
They aren't going to bite every second of every day, but all else aside they are a very reliable fly rod fish.
I think they are a better fly rod fish than coho in the sound, which might be because I really like sight fishing and pinks are nice enough to show themselves most of the time.
For those of you who can’t catch them, this is what I do. I do a minimal amount of blind casting, because that jumper is always going to come up right after you have cast in the wrong direction, and the time it takes to get the line in is all the time it takes for that school to be gone. I like to find the lane they are moving in, post up there and wait for a jumper, lead it by 10 feet, and keep stripping short fast strips until I can see that there are no followers or the line comes tight. If I see followers I stop stripping for a moment, then make a long strip. That’s usually enough to hook up (though honestly, at least half the time I strip faster to see if I can get them all the way to the boat!).
Key thing is that the single jumper you see is almost always part of a school, and very seldom the lead fish. I have seen a fish jump from a school a few times, and they often are one of the last fish, so if you cast at the rings, they never see your fly.
speedbird
Life of the Party
Okay, I think we can confirm my lack of luck with pinks boils down to skill issue haha. This is all really really good advice, I've mostly been doing my coho style constant two handed strips