Great humpy fishing again today on the Skagit. I don't know why some people don't want to eat them - grilled our catch yesterday, and they were delicious!

My son and I caught and landed 4 pinks - 3 males and a female. We also caught 3 more, but didn't land them - should have used a net, because these fish often get off the hook about 2 feet from shore. They are fast and strong.

I think we have it down to a science now. To catch fish, show up early - the park opens at 5:30AM, and the bite is on until about 11:00AM. Use lively shrimp, red sharp hooks, a winged bobber, preferably dark green with dark pink, and heavy weights. We used 2.5 oz, but the folks next too us did better with 5 oz weights.

The weird thing is that the humpies don't bite hard. In fact, I caught 2 trout and 1 dolly vardon (about 5 inches each, and yes, released without coming out of the water) and they struck harder than my 8 pound humpy. So, when you feel a tiny bite, time to set the hook. Then stand back and get ready for a huge fight. My son's fish danced on his tail, went left and right 10 times in a 30 yard race.

Having grilled pinks tonight, and hope to see some of you out on the river tomorrow. This is an odd year and 5 million pinks are migrating. You can't miss.