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Pink salmon limit for smoker

3K views 18 replies 12 participants last post by  Steve Saville 
#1 ·
For the last couple of weeks in Marine Area 11 the pink salmon fishing has been slow for me. On Friday it was finally "game on." I fished the big morning flood tide and limited out in about 45 minutes while releasing a few more fish. The pink salmon ranged between 4 and 6 lbs.

I fished two locations in my boat. At the first one there were 7 or 8 boats already there so I found an open spot and dropped the anchor in about 7 to 8 feet of water. On the first cast I hooked into a nice sized pink salmon that got wrapped around the motor prop. It was a bit of a "fire drill" to get the fish unwrapped and landed. For the next 25 to 30 minutes I was hooking up fish every couple of casts. I would see pink salmon occasionally swirl on the surface but saw no jumpers. The fish seemed to be "staying put" in a small localized area. The little tidal current that was there stopped and the fish left the area.

At the second location no boats were there which is normally the case during the week. The pink salmon were again in about 8 feet of water. The fish were "staying put" along along the outside edge of a nice current seam and would occasionally show themselves by surface swirls. Again I was hooking fish every couple of casts for 20 to 25 minutes. The current seam disappeared and the pink salmon moved somewhere else. After that fish schools could sometimes be seen finning/moving on the water surface further out in 12 feet of water as they "rode" the flood tide current.

I was using an Airflo +40 type III line which was probably getting the fly pattern down to 2 to 3 foot depths. I was using a pink variation of Bruce Ferguson's Green and Silver pattern(photo below). I used it with a 10 mm pearl sequin angled at 45 degrees which gave it side to side movement. Also, I used the pattern with a brass conehead to give it jigging action. I might try using tungsten or lead coneheads to give it more jigging motion. I probably only LDR a couple of fish with this pattern. The pink salmon seemed to really "smack" this pattern and were well hooked.

It was an outstanding day of fishing except at the end. As I was backing the boat trailer into our driveway, I bent the trailer tongue. So I am "dead in the water" until next weekend when the trailer should be hopefully repaired before taking my son and grandson to catch some pink salmon. The timing sucks as the pink salmon run seems to finally have arrived.

Roger
 

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#3 ·
Good job, Roger! I was out with my brother for three days. We have 17 fish in the freezer between the two of us and we quit rather early two days. I've been stopping at three fish each day as I find that to be more than adequate and will be taking a couple of days off for good measure. Next day out will be Wednesday. You know where I was fishing as we have talked about it on a couple of occasions. Most of the fish I've caught were in less than ten feet of water, some showing, some not. But it appears that the fish have finally arrived in numbers and some pretty good sized males. Females are running a bit smaller but are just as fiesty. It seems like we are in for a reasonable run of fish this time around.
 
#5 ·
Most of the fish I've caught were in less than ten feet of water, some showing, some not. But it appears that the fish have finally arrived in numbers and some pretty good sized males. Females are running a bit smaller but are just as fiesty. It seems like we are in for a reasonable run of fish this time around.
I observed the same thing fishing off a boat in your neck of the woods. Most fish caught in <15 ft of water and bigger fish than last week when we were catching < 3lb pinks. Not many jumpers in MA11 yesterday, but the fish were definitely moving through as we could see schools running along the shoreline every 30 min or so.
 
#4 ·
I took the boat out to my favorite spot yesterday (Steve knows where:)) and saw 4 caught off the beach, but none for us. Very few risers/jumpers. I'm hoping another wave comes in tomorrow. I'll be out there in front of it again.
 
#6 ·
Great report, Roger. BTW, is that an old Lamson LP 3.5 or 4 reel in that first photo? I still fish my 3.5 and it's still helping bring many a fish to hand.

Jim B.
 
#8 ·
For the last couple of weeks in Marine Area 11 the pink salmon fishing has been slow for me. On Friday it was finally "game on." I fished the big morning flood tide and limited out in about 45 minutes while releasing a few more fish. The pink salmon ranged between 4 and 6 lbs.

I fished two locations in my boat. At the first one there were 7 or 8 boats already there so I found an open spot and dropped the anchor in about 7 to 8 feet of water. On the first cast I hooked into a nice sized pink salmon that got wrapped around the motor prop. It was a bit of a "fire drill" to get the fish unwrapped and landed. For the next 25 to 30 minutes I was hooking up fish every couple of casts. I would see pink salmon occasionally swirl on the surface but saw no jumpers. The fish seemed to be "staying put" in a small localized area. The little tidal current that was there stopped and the fish left the area.

At the second location no boats were there which is normally the case during the week. The pink salmon were again in about 8 feet of water. The fish were "staying put" along along the outside edge of a nice current seam and would occasionally show themselves by surface swirls. Again I was hooking fish every couple of casts for 20 to 25 minutes. The current seam disappeared and the pink salmon moved somewhere else. After that fish schools could sometimes be seen finning/moving on the water surface further out in 12 feet of water as they "rode" the flood tide current.

I was using an Airflo +40 type III line which was probably getting the fly pattern down to 2 to 3 foot depths. I was using a pink variation of Bruce Ferguson's Green and Silver pattern(photo below). I used it with a 10 mm pearl sequin angled at 45 degrees which gave it side to side movement. Also, I used the pattern with a brass conehead to give it jigging action. I might try using tungsten or lead coneheads to give it more jigging motion. I probably only LDR a couple of fish with this pattern. The pink salmon seemed to really "smack" this pattern and were well hooked.

It was an outstanding day of fishing except at the end. As I was backing the boat trailer into our driveway, I bent the trailer tongue. So I am "dead in the water" until next weekend when the trailer should be hopefully repaired before taking my son and grandson to catch some pink salmon. The timing sucks as the pink salmon run seems to finally have arrived.

Roger
Get that tongue fixed Roger so I can read some more of those excellent reports. I too went out a few times last week chasing them with no success, and after reading this post, I realized I have not been "getting the fly down" deep enough after them. Next time out I won't make that mistake.
 
#12 ·
Good eyes! Yes it is a Lamson LP 3.5 which I bought in 1992 and is still my "go to" reel for steelhead/salmon. It has been bomb proof but a bit heavy.

I think I got my LP 3.5 in 1989 or 1990, from Gary Blackburn at the old Green River Fly Shop in Auburn. Yes, it's abit heavy, but it balances well with my old Sage 10' 8wt RPL and Powell 9.5' 8 wt IM6. I must have a half dozen spools for it, with everything from a pike floater to a Teeny 200 on them. Maybe I'll inventory that shelf in the basement someday....naaahhhh, forget it.
 
#14 ·
fished a north sound river today. lots of folks out. fished the lower river today.
finally landed my 1st pink of the year. good size fish of about 10 lbs. gave a good fight.
the bright green over pink clouser with trailer did the trick. none of my all pink fly's got a hit today.
 
#17 ·
I've found they keys are to move around and be persistent.

Yesterday I was out in MA 11 in my kayak from 7:30 until a little before 1:00. Up until 10:00, I had no hits, saw no fish on the surface, nobody else with a fish on, and no big concentration of boats. At 10:00, the tide started moving and several groups of fish moved through. The action was pretty good for me until noon, when it went dead again. The fish are usually close to shore in the area I was fishing, but yesterday they were about 100 yards out.

Persistence is a lot more fun when the weather is nice and the water calm!

Tom
 
#18 ·
Took a run down in front of the Puyallup based on a recommendation. I was already beat from starting at dawn, but I figured I'd look. Only got I bump, but saw a lot of fish. So did the sea lions! It was cool to see ghostly dark patches cruising through that milky water and realize they were fish! Had one start jumping just behind me going the same direction that, on the third jump, almost landed in the boat! Spooked some that were just under the milky layer that caused boils of dark water on the surface.

It won't be my go to place to fish. Dirty water and the industrial surroundings don't appeal to me. It was neat to see it once, though.
 
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