Just looked at the count for this year thru the locks and they counted over 100,000 sockeye in the last 6 days. keeps this up we may get to fish for them yet. If not it will sure make the chances for 4 years from now go up.

I can understand your excitement, but don't hold your breath. Compare the recent numbers with the numbers from two years ago when a season was allowed.

First time I ever fished for those the guys at Outdoor Emporium recommended 20 lb test with 15 lb test leader. Trolling a flasher with 18 inches of leader and a red hook.

They got the flasher and the red hook right, we all limited. But these fish fight like a bunch of weeds on the end of your line.

Next time I will take my trout rod and troll for them with around 10 lb main line and 6 lb test leader.

At least that way they maybe they will fight a little.

Wow. 27,000 fish were counted yesterday. Yeah, I'd say the run was a little late, as it usually peaks around the 4th.

Another 4 days of 27,000 fish per day and I can guarantee a fishery by Saturday! Don't think that's realistic though.

I can see another 100,000 fish by the time the run ends, though. Escapement might be met, but I doubt we'll get the many thousands surplus needed for a 1 or 2 day fishery.

In either case, are you ready to go fish on a whim's notice, Cigar?

I went down to the fish Locks last night to go view the fish through the window...just hordes and hordes of sockeye coming through! They were just jumping everywhere between the railroad bridge downstream on up to the fish ladder. Saw lots of fish with seal bite scars or fresh wounds, at least 30% of them were marked up. One other observation that I made is that the fish seemed to be smaller than they usually are with the average weight about 3-4 pounds. A few 6-7 pounders thrown into the mix though, that got my heart pumpin.

I noticed that the guys who work down there have a couple of salmon sport nets laying around...hmmm Maybe at late night sockeye bbq is one of the perks :p .

With the total of 245,000 fish so far the escapement mark of 350K should easily be met. Unless there are anymore "ceremonial fisheries" by certain individuals .

BD

Could be a late-peaking-run this year. The bulk of the run seems to be coming in now when it should be right around the beginning of July. Hmmmmm......

If there is a fishery, it will be a one or two day fiasco.

Lead thrower,
I'm gonna call B.S. on the trout set up for next time.Last time it was open in 2000 my buddies kept losing fish on 20lb ultra green as I was useing 30lb ultra green and only broke off 1 out of the 74 landed.These fish can fight hard,the old timers used to use 30-40lb steel leaders on there u-20 flat fish.I won't be caught with out 20lb main and 30-40lb leader while fishing Lk.Washington sockeye.That's my $.02 worth.
Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

I'll disagree on the fight of sockeye. We caught fish that fought as hard as any salmon I've fished for. WE used 15 lb leaders and had very few break-off. More common was the hook falling out as all our fish would race to the surface from 75-90 feet deep. The yell was "reel reel reel!"I have no complaints except that they all seemed to run the same size - like a bunch of clones. And talk about great on the BBQ! yum yum.

All I can say is I am going crazy. I look out my window from my office and all I see is Sockeye jumping left and right. I have seen some huge ones.

I can beleive the counts you are all reporting. We took out at Shilshole on Saturday afternoon, and the Sockeye were swarming around the mouth of the breakwater on the north end by the launch. While we were pulling into the guest moorage area I hopped on the bow to look down and see dozens of fish zipping all over.

I does seem as if the Salmon are returning a little on the late side this year. Anyone know of any science or have any assumptions on what may cause a late return for a migratory fish like Salmon?? Cold it be weather related or due to foodfish availability?

Strike Zone

I only did the Lake Washington sockeye thing once. It was back in either 94 or 96 can’t quite remember. There were 8 of us on a boat and we got our limit of 16 fish. All were between 3-5 pounds. Do not know the average size of these fish but those are what we caught. All were caught in around 60 feet of water and after a while we got tired of bringing in the down riggers so we just kept on trolling at a reduced speed as we played the fish into the boat. This also helped give the impression of a little more fight because the ones we hooked up on were slugs.

Maybe we just hooked up on some wimpy fish that day but I was not impressed. Sure wish I would have gotten some of those ones you did that were breaking off your line and setups.

Any fish that can break off 20-30 lb ultra green is a worthy opponent. I will have to go give it another try on the next opener and see if I can get one of those line rippers.

Lead thrower,
I'm not so sure if it was the great fight they put up or if it was more of the teeth raking over the leader that made it break.The typical 3-6lber's don't fight like the 7-12lber's.Most fish that I boated in 2000 ran 7-10 pounds with the biggest being 12lb's.Some of these fish fight hard and some roll over.Like I said before nothing less then 30lb leader.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

STRIKEZONE,

I've never caught a sockeye that had teeth large or sharp enough to cut a 30lb. leader. (including hudreds of large AK reds) They are plankton feeders, and have soft mouths. I'm not disputing your experience, just relating mine. As far as the fight, in my experience, when the surface water on the lake is in the 70 degree range, the fish do just roll over once they near the surface. The initial fight down in the colder water (I usually fish the 70ft. depth) is usually pretty good. I use 12# mainline, light action steelhead rod, small 00 chrome dodger, and 8 to 10" of 25# leader to a 1/0 red hook. The heavier leader is more to impart a good motion on the hook than to withstand the teeth.

4Salt,
I hear ya on the 70 degres factor.I run 20lb ultra green main line,0 size dodger to a 3/0 red gammi on 30lb ultra green leader,I'm also running the 65 to 80 foot depth with down riggers.The bottom line is 20lb leader was not gettin the job done so I switched to 30lb and never had a problem since.I let one of my buddies use a dodger
which was a half and half he was useing 12 or 15 pound main,he ended up losing that dodger.Have you ever tried to find a Half chrome / half brass "0" size dodger during a sockeye season.Believe me they are hard to find.I'll stick to what I know will put blood in the boat during a rare and awesome Lake Washington sockeye season.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

I have been fishing the sokeye in the lake starting in the early 70's. Just like any fish some are fighters some are not. My experience is that these fish tend to roll over and over. The line gets wraped up around the fish then the dodger cuts the line is my experience. If this happens and you loose the fish just sit their and look for a few minutes. I have netted a couple of these sockeye after loosing them they just keep rolling trying to get rid of the hardware you just lost and sometimes come back up to the surface. I fought one that was around 12 pounds lots of fight.

You can check here for the latest Sockeye counts. It does not look good so far.