Oncorhyncus Gorbuscha: Thy name is “Humpy” Leave a reply

Every two years we are invaded. These pink invaders are unappreciated, looked down upon, insulted and even reviled in some quarters… And yet, they still come. "They", are the "Humpy Horde"…  

There are various salmon supremacist groups (the Anti-Pinkites, Humpy Haters) and even tee-shirts expressing disdain for the species!

Even through all the negativity, the sportfishing community will come out in crowds to catch the odd-year oddity: the pink salmon!

Lately however, there has been a bit of a change in attitude and even an alehouse featuring it’s namesake brand of ale in appreciation of the pink pesca.

Locally, the most anticipated salmon season is the king or chinook openers. This season however, we seem to have a bit of an underperforming run. Elliott Bay is far from effervescent, the Skagit is slow, the Snohomish was stinky and Tulalip Bay has been terrible. Could it be that the lowly humpy could provide a bright spot in an otherwise tough year?
In Puget Sound, if July is chinook month, odd-year Augusts are certainly the months of the humpy.
We debate the humpy on the table: They are great! No, they are nasty!
We debate their run timing: Late July! No, Early August!
Say what you want on those two topics but you cannot argue their willingness to bite nor their tenacity during the fight.

Sometimes, they even bite with their humps!!!

The Puget Sound Total run according to WDFW is an astounding 5,156,390
OVER FIVE MILLION PINKS…
Will they show? Stay tuned….