Why can we fish for blackmouth, yet very limited opportunities for kings come summer time in areas 5,6? I was told that the Hood Canal Fishery for blackmouth takes a lot of threatened fish, and those same fish are why we cant go after the big boys come summer? I dont know enough to have an opinion yet, but trying to form one.

Here's what I know.
Blackmouth are residents of Puget Sound. Planted by WDFW. They live here. They don't migrate in from the ocean. They don't spawn in the rivers. That is why they don't get very big (8lb average) and they can be shaped like footballs.

Its all about impacts to ESA listed fish. We are allowed to catch a certain amount of ESA listed fish over an entire year. They have to do the best allow fisheries and still stay withing their allowable impacts. I can not speak to if hood canal blackmouth openings take a large number of listed fish, but I can say that we are paying for those blackmouth with our licence money so we want to have opportunity to catch them. I do know that hood canal is the area that they are most concerned about chinook populations and that is a large part of why very few summer chinook fisheries alowed North of area 11.

Just to enlighten or be enlightend if Im wrong but I believe Blackies are kept for a year and are sexually non working. They wont go for a river and just keep feeding. There have been Blackmouth recorderd in SE AK buy bio's that reach nearly 60 pounds!!!! There not natives just roaming and there caught in late winter months. Ive heard of 2 BIG fish that were Wash decent. Ive also heard that many high teens fish have been reported in the area! I think in time there will be some big fish caught in the sound. Since Blackmouth seasons have be curtailed over the last couple years the numbers seem to be rising for bigger fish! They just wont let us into areas with endangered fish mixed with Blackies. i.e. the straits and some areas of the islands. If Im not right and someone knows more please enlighten me or us. Im sure I dident have to say that!LOL

Bob D

I do not claim to know all about Blackmouth, but some of what is here is True and Flase.
As I understand Blackmouth are held in thier fresh water hatcheries for an extra year. This way they grow to be as large as 5 fish/pound, This throws off there timing as far as going to the ocean and returning in time to spawn. Blackmouth generally stay in the Sound for 3 years and return as four year olds to the hatchery they were raised in. They ARE sexually mature and when they return are not much different then normal Fall Chinook that spent there time in the ocean. The reason that we catch them as 5-10 pounders more often is still not completly understood, they just bite alot better as 3 year olds then they do as fours. My personal thought on this is similar to Fall Kings they tend to feed more when they are in the ocean growing and not as well once they are returning in the sound.
I still am not totally sure what is going on in the Canal. I think that some test showed that alot of the Chinook fry were staying in the area instead of going to Sea like the rest of Puget Sound Chinook. Could HC Chinook be a different race or is it because the last few years have had less then 1000 returning WILD Chinook in HC. The largest factor though regarding less time in the HC for Blackmouth is that the agency is allowed to give out so much time fishing for Blackmouth, and number of fish caught. Area 10 got an extra 2 weeks of Blackmouth fishing and 2 weeks of CnR season, therefore the HC got closed down.
In regards to 60 pounders in Alaska it is possible because a Blackmouth is just a immature Chinook, if a 7 year old 100 pound Kenai King is caught when he is 60 pounds and only 5 years old he is a Blackmouth.I hope this sheds some light on the subject. One thing I know for sure is the one I got on Sunday was oh so good.

NEN

Guys, the big ones aren't caught very often cause they aren't hanging out in the usual places that everyone typically fishes for blackmouth. The hogs are out there but you got to put your bait/lure in front of 'em. Go deep! Yup, me again singing the same tune . . . pull that flasher/hootchie (or whatever) across the bottom at 220'-260'. Got half a dozen fish over 10 pounds last year, one went 18 (got the scale receipt to prove it). Haven't been out yet cause area 10 is still closed but I know the fish are there. Big ones have beat-up snouts from rooting in the mud & rocks for shrimp & worms . . . . go deeeeep!