Puyallup River Pinks |
With an enormous run of Pink Salmon returning to Puget Sound this year, people with little to no fishing experience are able to go out and get their limits of salmon. The Skagit River, Snohomish River, and the Puyallup River, are three of the major hot spots where people are filling their coolers. Any pullout where you can find a couple feet of casting room is as good a spot as any.
Snohomish Pinks & Pink Marabou Jigs |
The next morning we decided to go explore down south on the Carbon and Puyallup Rivers. I have fished crowds before, but not like this. I am not sure what I was thinking when I packed two fly rods in the car, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Both rivers looked like a tasty cup of Nesquick with no more than 1" or 2” of visibility. The banks were lined with large men that were jerking and twitching so much trying to floss fish it looked like some sort of redneck line dance. I’d rather swing flies in the Sauk River in the woods in a down poor by myself and not get a bite than fish like this. Unfortunately, guys were flossing and catching fish in the mouth making this legal. Hoards of people with stringers full of pink salmon and the occasional silver or king were walking down the streets along Puyallup River. Corkies, pink yard, two to three feet of leader and a chunk of lead was the only setup I saw being used on the Puyallup River. If meat is your sole purpose of fishing, then buy a whole bunch of gear since you will lose half of it to trees, snags, and other people's fishing line, and head to the Puyallup river. If solitude, nature, and actual enjoyment is what you seek, stay far away.
If you have the ability to look past the crowds, humpies are very fun to catch and a great way to learn to catch fish. Break out the smoker and look up that secret brine recipe and head out to one of these spots. After all, the more people that stick to the lower rivers chasing humpies, the less people that will be standing in my nice steelhead runs further up river.
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