My son (11 years old) loves to river fish although he has yet to river catch. I'm thinking that Humpies might work well for him. Having never targeted them, what rivers in the South Sound (Green River to points south) would you guys recommend for Humpies this year? Any idea of timing would be wonderful as well.

Thanks

I thought they returned in odd-numbered years??

Hey H2O, what year are you living in?

What year is this??? 2003, sounds kinda odd to me?
But I think that its still too early myself.

Eddie,

The southern rivers (Green, Puyallup etc...) don't get anywhere near the return that the northern one's (Snohomish, Skykomish, Stillaguamish, Skagit) do. I'm not even sure if it's legal to target them down there?

My advice would be to fish either the Snohomish river anywhere off of the Lowell River road between Everett and the town of Snohomish, or the Lower Skagit in the Mt. Vernon/Sedro Woolley area.

By the first week of September both rivers should have plenty of fish, and there's ample bank access. Break out the trout rods with small pink or chrome with a chartreuse tip Dick Nite spoons, look for rolling fish, and you and your 11 year old will be in business.

Maybe you could get Grandpa to take you guys out to Shipwreck/Humpy Hollow in mid-August for some salt-water action too!

FishNg- I agree that its way too early to find fish in the rivers, but not too early to begin planning. I do need to get whatever H2O is smoking though

do not forget the sky....sultan down to monroe can be great.lots of bank acess also.

I am living in my own personal even year...I'm 34.

Then for only you h2o the humpies return in an even year. But in reality, humpies return every year but the odd[for the rest of us] year run is way bigger.

I agree with bigone....last of access in that area. You can also stop at the breakfast place in Sultan for bite before or after all the fishing action.

Puyallup River. As with most of their fish, they're a little on the small side but there's a ton of them to be had...

If you have ANY intention of keeping them, I'd recommend the Snohomish, as has been said, as close to Everett as possible. Off of Springhetti road is good (lots of bank access along the dike) and also at Thomas eddy.

You'll reduce your chances of catching a bright fish to just about zero by going anywhere upstream of the 522 bridge.

eddie.....what is it with you and pink? I have a highly guarded secret for catching lots of Pinks..can't tell you here though....the pinkos might get some ideas.

Grandpa, I'll give you a call. Keep it on the QT.

You can catch fresh ones off the beach of whidbey island starting 16 aug. pink buzzbombs, There is a great run in the Skagit try pink jigs....

Thanks for everyone's help. Sounds like the big Puy is going to be my best bet. Cut - Steel - are the pinks headed up to the hatchery outside of Orting or are they natural spawners?

Once again thanks for the input. Grandpa, it's a good thing I didn't ask about sockeye (reds, you know)

Eddie,

The pink salmon in that system are all wild and lot's of them get snagged by "fishermen" looking for the kings and silvers. There is also the issue of the crappy visibility in both of those rivers at that time, which can make getting them to legitimately bite difficult.

In the relatively clear water of the Snohomish and Skagit, the pinks bite readily and IMO, it would be easier for your son to catch one.

4Salt - Thanks for the research into the regs. That was going to be my next step. I'm not into the idea of fishing on stocks that can not handle the pressure and I do not want to teach my kids that tactic either.

My parents were in town this week. Took them to the Ballard Locks. To my suprise there were quite a few Sockeyes coming through. Is this odd this early?

Muckleshoot tribe was already netting them as well right off the salmon ladder.

The Sockeye return this year is about the same as it was at this time last year according to the WDFW published daily counts. The tribes will be netting outside the locks on the saltwater side prior to the fish making it to the ladder area to be counted. Most years we don't know how many really are migrating through the lake as so many get netted in the salt by the state's "co-managers"...

Negative. They were netting on the Lake side. I have pics but don't want to open a can of worms here.

That would be opening a can of feathers I think/ The Suquamish tribe nets out in the salt near the old Ballard Bait dock.....The all net when they want where they want. The Muckleshoots are the ones who count at the locks you know so they can justify the harvest.

Eddie, to echo 4salts reply, yes, the pinks there are wild. And yes, many of them end up being snagged. If the water clears up a little they are fairly easy to catch in that river system legally. It all depends on when the freezing level drops in the mountains. I've seen the puyallup clear up in early september. On the contrary, I've also seen it dirty all the way into november. No matter what though, I'll be there every day free drifting eggs whether it's milky or not. GOOD LUCK
Cuttie