YHE WEST SIDE OF AREA 10 WAS PRETTY GOOD FOR KINGS UNTIL LATE LAST WEEK. HOWEVER, LAST THREE TRIPS (PT. MUNROE, SKIFF AND YEOMALT POINTS) SAW NO FISH TO THE BOAT. FIRST TRIP FOUND A BANANA ON BOARD, SO NO SURPRISES, BUT LAST TWO TRIPS SAW GOOD CONDITIONS, TONS OF BAIT, BUT NO FISH! THERE ALSO SEEMS TO BE VERY FEW SILVERS THIS YEAR (LAST YEAR WAS GOOD IN JULY), AND THE FEW THAT ARE ARE SMALL AND SKINNY. ANYBODY HAVE THE SAME EXPERIENCE, OR KNOW WHERE THE KINGS WENT?

Just checked the WDFW site creel reports for last week. Not exactly dead, not exactly sizzlin' either. Looks like a few here one day and a few there the next. You know the drill...put in your time, show 'em your stuff and WAIT!

I WAS ALWAYS TOLD BY MY FATHER THAT FISH CAN SENSE SOUNDWAVES IN WATER REALLY WELL, SO IF YOU ARE YELLING ALL THE TIME IT WILL LIKELY SPOOK THE FISH.

JUST AN IDEA.

I thought area 10 was closed for kings , only open for silvers.As for the coho, it should be an outstanding year judging by the numbers of fish we saw at Neah Bay.

C&R for Kings in Area 10. That's what Chip is up to.

Heywood, yellin - no, but maybe a little sobbing over my poor luck! I was hoping those kings would feel sorry for me!

Can't wait for all them silvers in the straights - hope there not all headed to Canada.

The fish are back! President Point and Jefferson both produced fish yesterday afternoon and evening. Kings and some decent sized silvers to be had. Go have fun.

Technically it is illegal to be even fishing for the kings. If a certain salmon species season is closed, it is not legal to target them.

Anyways many of us do it, including a well-known local charter business.

But PLEASE practice proper catch and release. Do not net the fish but if you must use a soft cotton mesh net and DO NOT bring the fish into the boat. Pull the fish to the side of the boat, lean over, grab its tail, unhook him and hold him until he has power to swim away on his own.

I stress this for two reasons. We do not want to inadvertanly kill the last of the Puget Sound's wild chinook because of poor C&R practices. Plus, if many fisherman are observed abusing the kings and not practicing proper C&R, we will lose our summer resident coho fishery.

Okey dokey, off my soapbox.

[ 07-26-2001: Message edited by: RPetzold ]

R - I agree with your issue re/ releasing kings. My practice is this - No nets, ever! I attempt to beat the fish quickly, with one hand I grab the leader and swing the fish along site the boat and tail it with the other hand. Once tailed, they seem to always lay quietly. With a xtra long pair of needle nose I quickly remomve the hooks. Any deep or gill hooks are left in the fish to rot out. Once de-hooked, I tilt the fish with a push towords the bottom. The fish never leaves the water. If you need to revive this fish significantly, you are taking too long to land it.

Netting them I belive does the most damage. I also witnessed several time last year a charter boat net a king, pass it around for pictures, then release it.

There was a thread a while back about a hook removing device made from wooden dowel and a large cup hook. In my opinion, this works much better than trying to tail a thrashing fish next to the boat. I have been using this device for releasing salmon in salt water for a few years now. To make it, I use a 3' length of 1" dowel, and a large screw in cup hook that can be purchased at any Home Depot or Lowes etc... All you do is grab the leader, slide the cup hook down the line to the hook, and give a gentle tug. 99.9% of the time, the barbless hook comes right out with no need to touch the fish at all. For the other .1% just cut the leader as close to the hook as you can. The fish always swim off strong, and they're never netted, touched, or taken out of the water.