South Puget Sound Salmon

[Sauceykid]

On the outdoor line the week before last, Rob made mention to the poor salmon fishing in south sound. I have noticed a huge drop off in salmon returning to Hammersley Inlet and Oakland Bay in the last few years. I have been fishing there since the 90's. At one time there was a decent run of chinook, coho and chum starting in October and running through to December. Now we are lucky if we get one decent weekend. I find this curious since runs everywhere else seem to be very good and increasing. Anyone have any intel as to why?

[Nelly]

I know it's been tough in the South Sound and now that the bait has dispersed down there even the shakers have split.
I don't have any answers right away for you but I'm going to look into this as the North of Falcon meetings get cranked up next month.
During the NOF meetings, run forecasts and historical return information is made readily available by WDFW and all I can offer to do at this moment is to look into this.
You're absolutely right in that chinook numbers to the north have been solid and the South Sound should be seeing more in anglers fish boxes.

[olympic]

HI Nellie, I appreciate you saying that you will look into this. If memory serves me correctly, didn't the legislature a couple of years ago fund a few million $$ to fishing projects which included revamping the deschutes hatchery in the Tumwater area? If they do a good job, that should help this situation in a few years. Back in the early 80's, there was a good resident blackmouth program in the south sound (areas 11 and 13), and now the success rate has been quite dismal for the last several years. I know things are better up north (areas 7, 9, 10); are there better resident blackmouth programs up there? One suggestion that I heard from a fish checker in our (Tacoma) area is to set up a resident blackmouth rearing facility in Quartermaster Harbor. The inner harbor is pretty protected and I would bet some of the area fishermen would be happy to volunteer to help make this a success. Now to only entice some transient orcas to visit the central and south sound and take care of the over abundant seal and sea lion populations! It would be great to have a quality south sound fishery again in the near future; I know it can happen if we can keep pestering the powers to be in Olympia. Thanks for looking into this! Olympic

[Rock]

I agree!

I was talking to my dad on Saturday after we left the Sportsman show about the blackmouth fishery when he was a kid and in his 20's. He had told me before and told me again that winter blackmouth was the time to fish. You would always get a limit down south. Fishing in the summer was good but nowhere near what it was like for him in the winter. But that was his story ya know. Sure wish that was the case.

Anyways I would love to see a change back to that and would love to help in anyway possible as it is just depressing out there in area 11.

[Stonefish]

I grew up in Tacoma and have fished the south sound since the 60's.
I can remember have great days mooching for blackmouth in the winter. There used to be some great fall days for coho as well.
Where I've really notice a difference is the resident coho. This year has been dismal. It seems to have been on a downward trend since the late 90's. That used to be a great fishery with no boat needed throughout the winter and spring.
I'm not sure if they are releasing less fish, releasing them to early for them to residualize or they just head north due to a lack of food sources.
I'm really looking forward to this years Puget Sound forecasts. MA's 9 & 10 have been very good the past few years.
SF

[Smalma]

Interesting question (s).

Without a doubt things have changed; in the 1950s and 60s the south Sound was noted for its fishing for resident salmon. Those resident fish included blackmouth, coho and pinks/humpies. Yes that is right every summer on odd years there was a fishery for resident humpies (12 to 16 inches) during the early summer before the "ocean" fish returned.

One thing we do know is that resident type fish have to be feeding fish. While it would be nice if their behaviors were driven to suit our desires to catch them the reality is that they must find food and if it is not available they have to move. How many times have we heard when it comes to blackmouth or resident coho find the food/bait and you will find the fish. Have to wonder whether the environmental conditions in the Sound and south Sound in particular have and continue to undergo dramatic changes that potentially are affecting the year round bait supply.


Something else to consider is whether those historical fisheries may themselves altered the behavior of the fish. Those fisheries I referred to above were supported by both wild and hatchery fish and those fish that exhibited the tendency to stay "home" experienced some pretty high exploitation rates; by their very nature we fished on them year-round. Did our fishing select against that tendency to stay home.? That certainly could be the case.

As we know the state found that by delaying the timing of the release of the "smolts" they could encourage the fish to remain in the sound to do their feeding. It seems that over the years that strategy is becoming less successful. Again is that because the lack of food or is the brood stock used to produce those smolts coming from stocks that are dominated by ocean going fish (again selecting against the behavior to remain in the sound). I don't know of any "blackmouth" releases that rely on brood stock from "blackmouth". I believe it still is the case that the coho from the south sound net pens are from the Skykomish stock (an ocean fish).

Finally something else to consider is that during the blackmouth fisheries decades ago the size limit was significantly lower than today. Many of the blackmouth caught in the "old days" would be considered shakers today.

As always the case in the world of fish answers tend to be pretty complex and I suspect that this is the case here. It is likely that all the above issues are in play in the question of "what happen to the south Sound fishery". I'm not familiar enough with the area and its fishing history to focus on which is the most important. But clearly there is much to consider.

Curt

[olympic]

Hi guys, I saw this on another forum. The information was from a flier that was picked up @ Sportco: Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife

Presenter Ryan Lothrop, Recreational Salmon Fisheries Manager

Informational Meeting on Sports Fisheries in Puget Sound

Date: Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Time: From 6 - 8 PM

Location: Tacoma Outboard Association Club House
646 North Wilton Road, Tacoma, WA. 98465
Located at Rocky Point off Titlow Park

For more information call: (253) 591-5325

I hope that a lot of the guys who fish south sound will make a point to be @ this meeting to show the WDFW that a lot of guys really care about fishing in the south sound! Nellie, could you please mention this on tomorrows show- that would be great! I am looking forward to this meeting and hopefully we can see some improvement down here in the future.