Pinks

[scott080379]

they all change at diffrent points, some will still be chrome with sea lice and others will start to change and slim.

[reigndawgs]

When is the time of year to hit Dash Point pier and how crowded is it?

[spokey9]

When is the time of year to hit Dash Point pier and how crowded is it?

middle of july is when they usually start to show in numbers, usually peaking in the middle of august. it's not as crowded as spokane st. but like anyplace with good access to pinks it gets a lot of people. the plus side is dash pt has a small parking lot that keeps it from being a nightmare.

[Matt]

You will catch chromers all the way up into the sky, scott is right about the coloration timing. Some fish shoot straight upriver in a matter of hours some will linger around in the estuary for several weeks, also you will catch some in the salt that have already started to change as well. Just pick and chose if you plan to keep, I usually keep enough hens to get me eggs for the year.

[kcc]

Dash Point Pier is a zoo during pink season. It is wall to wall people, fish are flying over head, and the seals are hungry! I like fishing at browns point better.

[Matt]

There is good and plentiful beach access all through the central sound, if you like less company go to the beach!

[Gringo Pescador]

There is good and plentiful beach access all through the central sound, if you like less company go to the beach!

No! Actually the Puget Sound beaches are TERRIBLE places to fish from. Everybody to the Piers!:cheers:

[BARCHASER10]

I did real well on Pinks in 2009, out of my boat on the lower Snohomish tidewater. Just anchor up and jig pink jigs. If you dont have a boat, there were lots of folks fishing off the shore, particularly off of those fishing piers near Langus Park.

I grew up in Portland. Pinks are kind of like Shad, fun and easy to catch but what do you do with the things? I've tried lots of ways to cook Pinks and all were lousy. Even smoking the things is not great. With all the Chinooks and Silvers around, Pinks are C&R for me.

[Whidbeyfisherman]

Bush Point on Whidbey Island is great when you catch the pinks first being funneled into the sound. Beach hop and you can follow them all the way down!

[Matt]

No! Actually the Puget Sound beaches are TERRIBLE places to fish from. Everybody to the Piers!:cheers:

Oh, uh yah, right... that's what I meant.

[Fish_Bait111397]

Les Davis Pier is pretty good for salmon at certain times of the year.My grandfathe caught a 17 pound king off a buzzbomb there, and we have caught many pinks.Doesnt get that crowded either.

[Mike Carey]

I started out using buzz bombs but switched to a 1/4 oz jig I made which worked really well for me. I am not going back to buzz bombs.
I watched up to 5 pinks go after my jig, had it in their mouth, and I didn't get them. So I have changed my design.

I am going to use 1/2 oz for these reasons 1) sometimes I couldn't get it out to the fish or it didn't drop fast enough.
2) I am using a larger hook with a trailer.

Pink jigs

I am having a hard time waiting for the pink season!


I want to know which color pink do they like best?

Tony sent me a few of these pink jigs and they are excellent. I'm looking forward to trying them out this year - and who knows, we may just be giving some way come August to some lucky readers. :dj:

[Toni]

My view of Dash Point Pier: On the side that the pinks come in on it is shoulder to shoulder people. Fish do fly through the air and land on the dock. People cast without looking behind them and you may get snagged. I saw a lady snagged in the neck with a hook. There isn't much parking either.

Then there are the drunks who cast over everyone and threaten others with knives so the police are called. Also the WDFW sting operation working. Better watch your barbs and catch cards.

Great fun.

There was this one older guy who was always helping out a kid with baitcasting birds-nest. Patiently unwinding all the knots. There was this one guy who bounced around all over the place hooking salmon. Once he caught one on a mini rig. You know, a small ice fishing rod and reel. He had to walk that fish all the way to shore. He and his girl friend showed me how to catch pinks from the Dash Point Dock. The people we were with were nice and we had a pot luck toward the end of the season. I remember it fondly.

[wolverine]

I enjoy fishing for pinks. Ya they aren't big like kings or silvers, but on light gear they are an absolute terror. 2009 was a stellar year and the pinks funneled past Whidby for 2 months. The farther away from the river that you catch them the better quality they are. They are messy bleeders anywhere you catch them but they really don't turn into bloody slimers until they get a good sniff of their home waters. Humpy Hollow, Elliott & Commencement Bays, Skagit Bay. I stop keeping them when they get that light greenish cast to them. From my years of experience that transformation point is around Bush Point on Whidby. From Bush on both bucks & hens start to get softer bodies. The hens really start turning into egg wagons and the bucks into sperm tankers. All of these changes in their bodies reduce their eating quality. Non terminal area and river caught pinks are as good or better eating than winter steelhead. Nowhere near as good as summer steelhead, springers, or salt caught coho or kings. Your taste may vary especially if you only river fish! I also cure the pinks eggs. 1 skein = 1 nice bait for fishing kings under a float.

[spokey9]

My view of Dash Point Pier: On the side that the pinks come in on it is shoulder to shoulder people. Fish do fly through the air and land on the dock. People cast without looking behind them and you may get snagged. I saw a lady snagged in the neck with a hook. There isn't much parking either.

Then there are the drunks who cast over everyone and threaten others with knives so the police are called. Also the WDFW sting operation working. Better watch your barbs and catch cards.

Great fun.

There was this one older guy who was always helping out a kid with baitcasting birds-nest. Patiently unwinding all the knots. There was this one guy who bounced around all over the place hooking salmon. Once he caught one on a mini rig. You know, a small ice fishing rod and reel. He had to walk that fish all the way to shore. He and his girl friend showed me how to catch pinks from the Dash Point Dock. The people we were with were nice and we had a pot luck toward the end of the season. I remember it fondly.

i got an even smaller pole for this year:cheers: .

[Gringo Pescador]

Funny some of the things you see during humpy runs (and some not so funny).

Saw a guy on the riverbank last pink season, came down with his little girl about 5 years old. Had a cheapo kids rod/reel combo and a pink vibrex all still in the wrapper. Next thing you know he's bringing this pink in but doesn't know how to land it (and wearing jeans & tennis shoes doesn't want to get wet). I was walking by, so I tailed it for him and put it up on the bank and kept walking. A little later I look back and apparently the guy didn't have a knife because he had ripped the gills out of the fish and had his hand completely inside the fish reaching in and pulling guts out. The little girl was watching him with this look like "You think I'M going to eat THAT?!" Then he dipped the fish in the water, filled the carcass like a pitcher, shoved his hand in and out a few times (apparently washing it) and they left.

[scott080379]

the little kiddie poles are the best to catch them on. A lot of fun

[Matt]

I am thinkin im going to buy a really long crappie pole to use. 10 ft ultralight action with an ultralight real.

[Toni]

I am thinkin im going to buy a really long crappie pole to use. 10 ft ultralight action with an ultralight real.

I have a Kokanee rod, maybe? I don't get to go in the boat out on the sound often. For the pier they wouldn't work that great.

[Matt]

I have a 7.5ft okuma kokanee rod I was planning to try out too, its a casting setup, I kinda want to get a spinning setup for easy of casting though. Out in the saltwater I use light downrigger rods, but I am planning to use the ultralights for catch and release up in the rivers.