Has anybody else noticed the huge increase in the number of chinook shakers in area 11 now? I hadnt caught any shakers up untill two weeks ago and now its hard to get your line out at times without catching one. Is this due to a hatchery release or what?

Had the exact same experience fishing out of Eglon on Sunday the 14th. Fishing for coho but kept nailing blackmouth. Most were real small and I thought the same thing. Was there a hatchery release or what?

Same here D-15 all were 18" to 6" coho& kings

Yea I quit fishing early saturday because I was starting to feel guilty about hooking all them shakers (and I ran out of bait)

Those are the winter feeders that show up in September every year. My guess is that WDFW has increased the number of delayed fish released.

Ditto over at area 10, back on the 13th. Went through bait to quick on them little fighters . But thats a good sign for some winter fishing and the year's to come .

Juveniles are released in April...

I don't know about an increase in numbers? Since Percival and McCallister shut down, I would think the numbers would be dropping. These two spots pumped out 25 percent of the total release numbers!

Of course trying to get any info from WDFW on the BM program is like squeezing blood from an apple.

DR,
I thought this was pretty strange as far as the numbers of shakers go. I have fished in Redondo, PT. Robinson and Des Moines areas for over 30 years. And yes caught alot of shakers but nothing like the numbers im seeing now. And it seems to be a mix of clipped and unclipped fish. And size wise Id say most are between 8" to 12".

Duro,

If I remember correctly, WDFW releases roughly 7 fish per pound. This would be about the sizes you mentioned. However, most of this year's fish should already be in the 13-17 inch range by now. So the sizes seem a little weird to me.

Generally May and September is shaker heaven!

DR,
The majority of them that I have caught are the 8" one only afew in the 12" range. I did see one thing that was pretty cool thought. That was a bait ball on the surface that was under attack by a bunch of the shakers it was a real feeding frenzie the water was just boiling.The water was real clear and you could really see the little guys in attack mode.

Duro,

Were the small 8 inchers clipped? If so, wondering if they somehow escaped?

DR,
I would say 4 in 10 were clipped but I didnt check them all. I try to let the one that can flip off on there own do so.