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Pink Recon

30K views 169 replies 68 participants last post by  wetline dave 
#1 ·
went to the south tacoma and did recon for pinks. results negative, no pinks south yet. i did catch a bunch of 10-12 inch kings and 8-12 inch cutts. ALL RELEASED FINE. sadly no pinks yet.

talked to a guy that had just returned from the striaght up north and said they r in thick. made it difficult to fish for kings kept getting pinks. said they are larger this year average 6-7 lbs.
 
#99 ·
You guys need to cool it. If you catch and release, that's very cool. I usully keep to three and then catch and release and maybe keep a fourth but salmon are basically the only fish I keep. I like the taste, the texture, and the availability. If I choose to keep a pink salmon, I hope nobody holds it against me. I caught my first this morning - about 5 lbs. It will be on the BBQ this evening. I hope it will be the first of many this summer but one will do for right now. I also like smoked fish so they are readily available for that too. So let's get on with the fishing and not call names. It's unbecoming and besides that, the name "retard" or the conotation of said word is shameful.

Nice to meet you this morning, Dustin. I hope to see you again. I'll be there.
 
#101 ·
I'm borrowing someone's hat. Congrats Steve. I like your success and style. Name calling and taking hostile stands against others with differing recreational angling perferences is very unbecoming. Personally, I like nymphing for mine under an indicator and letting it bounce in the chop. Thinkd of it like chironomid fishing from the shore, only on salt water.
 
#106 ·
I did no such bitching, I was merely calling him out for insulting the angling choices of a majority of the board members here. I catch and release in some fisheries, I bonk the hell out of them in others. But I think that calling the choice to catch and release "retarded" is downright ignorant, and insulting to the world of conservation-minded anglers.
 
#109 ·
Steve- likewise great meeting you out there. Was fun to finally get out and cast a fly rod (oops I mean cast a fly LOL) for a change after so many years not doing much of it at all. Flyfishing was a big deal to me when I was younger. Hope I can get out more often.

I'm kind of with the mindset of the guys C&R being the people I respect the most with flyfishing ('they' also seem to often be the group leaders spurring important projects like stream restoration, conservation practices, and protecting fisheries etc) but I bonk keepers if I get them these days so it ups the chances of getting more fishing time.

Suppose if I had all the time in the world, a chunk of money, no commitments to anyone, and wanted to fish in the northwest that I'd be concentrating on small stream dry fly fishing (C&R trout) and trying to mix in an occassional summer steelhead flyfishing excursion off the beaten path. Maybe something different like sea bass/black rockfish fly fishing out on the N coast or something. And I'd have a nice cigar or a pipe with good tobacco and a flask with some 20 year old Macallan topping it off to celebrate in between casts to let a pool or riffle (or me LOL) rest. Maybe have a once in awhile bigtime trip like Alaska rivers or Christamas Island bonefish flats fishing.
But that's not gonna happen personally, don't have any cigars, none of The Macallan, no toibacco pipe, and very little flyfishing gear left LOL. Doesn't fit where I'm at right now. It is fun to live vicariously thru others getting some of that done though so have really enjoyed going thru the posts and boards here on Waflyfishing.com.

All this said, I get it if some guys don't want to fish for pinks on a fly to eat or even catch.
Just like I get a guy spending the time to organize and go down to fish, see a crowd, then turn back and leave simply because fishing and crowd don't fit that person's mindset (even a crowd of one or two). Been there myself at a much younger age. Hope to get there again in older age LOL.

Good luck to everyone out there and Steve, let us know how that pink tastes. You took good care of it to keep that thing fresh! It should make for a great meal!
 
#113 ·
I couldn't agree with you more jcalderon!!!! i Thought this was a PINK RECON posting not a "lets bitch about everyone and everything." posting. All I want to know is where the pinks are. I was at Posession Point all weekend and I didn't see any pinks up there. Where did anyone else go and see. Shut up with the bitching like women and get to spilling the beans about where the pinks are.
 
#124 ·
Excellent! I know some find pinks near the bottom of the salmon taste scale (they aren't quite as good as many fresh salmon species but even near the bottom are still way ahead of many other fish species in my book) and everyone's entitled to their opinion. But personally I love them when they are basically what you caught- fresh from the salt, on ice and BBQd in less than 24 hours! Not fresh coho or chinook but still not bad. The bright ones smoke up well too IMO.

Maybe some of the bad rap/disdain for pinks is more tied to pinks bringing out hordes of people with very little clue about fishing or some with very little moral standard in the fishing sense (intentionally illegal snag and keep, exceed limit, etc). I know my 8 year old has little clue but am hoping for her to get her first pink this year.
 
#115 ·
It doesn't take much bait to troll
this thread.

I still like canned pinks.

I just hate the mobs of yahoos that litter
the beaches with their treble hooks,
doritos and fat children.

They hook a fish and let it set on the
beach for two hours before marking their punch card
(if they have one) and wonder why it tastes like
pinks....

I still enjoy fishing the salt without the
crowds of dadaists in thongs.

Jeeze.... lighten up. Its just pinks
 
#117 ·
Put in a long day out in the fractal-chop at DP from the low to the high tide. Didn't catch anything, didn't see anything caught from the pier, boats, etc - but heard reports of one fish caught from a fellow fly guy fishing from his kayak. Still feeling the waves lying on the couch. Probably still a handful of days away from the big ramp up....
 
#118 ·
Saw a few gear rods bending deep tonight at the Point. Along the beach there were two guys into pinks as I walked up, both on buzzbombs. Four fly fishermen chatted it up while we cast. Orangeradish got into a little resident coho and a sea run cutthroat. Constructeur got into a bullhead. Mumbles got into a little resident coho, bullhead and sea run cutthroat. The fourth guy? I think Evan got skunked.
 
#122 ·
Four fly fishermen chatted it up while we cast. Orangeradish got into a little resident coho and a sea run cutthroat. Constructeur got into a bullhead. Mumbles got into a little resident coho, bullhead and sea run cutthroat. The fourth guy? I think Evan got skunked.
Hey, and we saw some puffins too. That's pretty damn cool in my book.
 
#121 ·
8/1 Dash Point 5:30 - 8:00 AM - Tide was UP

Dock was 1/2 full

About 15 gear guys wading

Really slow - 5 fish taken by gear guys over the duration of time I was there.

No jumpers

Might be a few more days before they arrive.

NOTE - If you plan to release a fish please be kind to the fish. This morning a gear guy released a 12-15 inch pink that he didn't want to keep, but he was not too careful about it. It was really sad to see this fish flopping around for the last 10 minutes of it's life about 30 feet off the beach in front of all of us. It probably made a good snack for a sea lion.....

A good, visual reminder for me ... thought I would pass it along.

I keep some, and release some: For those that I release, I will be extra careful about it after seeing that.
 
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