Salmon hot spots emerge

Washington saltwater salmon anglers have some bright prospects on the coast this summer as well as in Puget Sound, including one stellar season near Seattle that’s just around the corner.

Last year’s hatchery-marked chinook fishery in North and Central Sound (Areas 9 and 10) were remarkable, and both open July 16 and close when 7,000 fish are caught.

“The No. 1 pick for the summer will be Areas 9 and 10 in mid-July, and it’ll be the premier mid-Sound fishery,” said Gary Krein, owner of All-Star Charters in Everett. “Since it is a quota-driven fishery, I don’t expect it to stay open for more than two weeks.”

Anglers should see some bigger kings in the mid-Sound fisheries. “It was pretty clear looking at data that we had a lot of 3-year-old fish come back last year, and a number of hatchery facilities, including Issaquah saw at or near a record run,” Thiesfeld said. “If the 4-year-olds had equally good survival, then we should expect not only the same number of fish, but larger ones like 15 to 20 pounds, instead of 8 to 12.”

Thiesfeld pointed out that there is a lot of hope again this summer, “but I caution, too, that there was a lot of optimism for Columbia River spring chinook and the run didn’t come back like we thought.”

The south central Sound (Area 11) hatchery king fishery is another one to mark on the summer calendar.

In the Strait of Juan de Fuca, unlike last year, there will be no chinook catch quota from Sekiu (Area 5) to Port Angeles (western part of Area 6), and anglers are guaranteed a nonstop king fishery that started July 1 and will run to Aug. 9. Both areas will then switch to hatchery-marked coho fishing, starting Aug. 10.

“We’re tickled pink,” said Chris Mohr, owner of Van Riper’s Resort at Sekiu, of not having a catch quota. “It means someone can book a trip without fear of us closing down.”

As for coho fishing, it is hard to grasp what to expect because inner-Puget Sound hasn’t seen a consistent fishery since 2001.

“By looking at the coho forecast, I don’t think it is too exciting to talk about, but I’ve got my potential hot spot and that is Sekiu in September,” Thiesfeld said. “Sekiu was also fairly solid for early hatchery coho last year in July and August.”