Tukwila, Washington

I’ll admit I was getting a little jealous of all the salmon catches I’ve been seeing posted from the coasts. As it happens, my newly married daughter’s husband’s parents just threw them a second wedding reception in their hometown Seattle. On the afternoon of our arrival, my wife hit up Pike Place market, so I found the nearby “fishing bridge”. Not my jam. Shoulder to shoulder with about 50 guys who were trying to illegally snag coho (mostly with legal single hook rigs) while keeping an eye out for the game warden. I saw about a dozen fish landed. I was told it was the “only way” since they weren’t biting. I’m pretty sure I was the only one on the bridge who was even attempting to illicit a strike. I did in fact have a coho bite the tail off a super fluke, so I think I was on the right track. The warden did eventually show up and confiscated a few fish (including one hidden in the bushes), but the party continued as soon as his back was turned. I booked us a hotel along the river, so I could get out for a session in the morning. Getting to the water basically required army-crawling through blackberry bushes and scrambling along the steep and muddy shoreline. I tried throwing several options, and finally agitated some pink bucks into striking a spoon! There are coho and chinooks in the river too right now, but I was just really happy to get a couple salmon of any species into the net. My first pinks! Upon re-reading the regs, I noticed that Washington state mandates ALL salmon, Dolly Varden, and bull trout be kept in the water if they are intended to be released! Based on the mere existence of the fishing bridge 10-feet overwater, they obviously aren’t enforcing this, but next time I’ll keep them in the water. As much as I love good fish selfies, I’m willing to get behind this strong stand for good C&R fish handling. Hopefully I can find a Kokanee bite in my home region soon so I can “salvage” some post-spawners for the smoker.

Bottom bouncing eggs

Caught 4 in about 20 minutes when the school came through the Duwamish/Green. Pink maribou and hootchie jigs.

First salmon!

Slabs