Hard to stay optimistic considering the trajectory of some of our favorite river fisheries. Is this what Pugetropolis stream fishing will look like in another 25 years?
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"Let every angler who loves to fish think what it would mean to him to find the fish were gone." (Zane Grey)
"If you don't kill them, they will spawn." (Carcassman)
Registered: 01/26/00
Posts: 6424
Loc: Vancouver, WA
You know, one of my favorite kid time fishery memories was catching grass carp out of salmon creek here in Clark County. We used to fish the side channels with dough balls and worms and them suckers can fight! We had many of 10-20 fish evenings after school down below my grandmas place.
Although not table fare, they're a blast!
Keith
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It's time to put the red rubber nose away, clown seasons over.
Registered: 12/11/02
Posts: 5207
Loc: Carkeek Park
Stalking Golden boners on flats is a lot of fun. It is the closest thing we have to bonefishing and they aren’t pushovers by any means. They can be downright finicky at times. A big one will smoke your reel quickly into your backing. One man’s trash, another man’s treasure. SF
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Go Dawgs! Founding Member - 2023 Pink Plague Opposition Party #coholivesmatter
Stalking Golden boners on flats is a lot of fun. It is the closest thing we have to bonefishing and they aren’t pushovers by any means. They can be downright finicky at times. A big one will smoke your reel quickly into your backing. One man’s trash, another man’s treasure. SF
Back in the day, the Shuffleton power plant was located on Lake Washington, adjacent to Renton Boeing. They used to discharge warm water into the lake. As teenagers, we frequently caught largemouth bass and crappie in their discharge canal. This involved trespass and stealth, as crawling through an opening in a heavily posted fence was required. The off the charts fishing for pie plate sized crappie and 2-4 pound bass seemed worth the risk of being caught. We were never bothered by security. One evening, my dad and I were boat fishing for bass along the Shuffleton shoreline. He was casting a plug, and I was tossing a spoon into the shallows. I hooked a huge fish, and my first thought was, this is a really big BASS! My second thought was, how am I ever going to land this on my 6 foot spinning combo and 4 pound test line. For 25-30 minutes, we rowed, or were towed all over the south end of Lake Washington. It was "The Old Man and the C", and the "C" was a seventeen pound tail hooked carp.
A seventeen pound carp was the largest fish I had ever landed at that point in my life, but what does one do with such a trophy? I took it to Seattle Sporting Goods, in Renton, and asked them if they wanted to put it in their outdoor display case. A deal was struck; they got to display the fish for a day, and I would receive $1.50 worth of fishing tackle. When I went to pick up the carp, they said they had more people stop into the store to inquire about this fish, than any steelhead or salmon they had ever displayed. Most wanted to know what kind of spoon I was using...
The carp ended up buried at "C". Composted in our garden.
Very sad to see the trajectory of PS salmon and steelhead fisheries. There is potential for some productive fisheries if everyone was united to make if happen, but I'm afraid excessive development and marine predators will thwart those attempts along with politics.....Without getting too wordy, my best guess is we are circling the drain with an end to all salmon and steelheading coming soon.
Back in the day, the Shuffleton power plant was located on Lake Washington, adjacent to Renton Boeing. They used to discharge warm water into the lake. As teenagers, we frequently caught largemouth bass and crappie in their discharge canal. This involved trespass and stealth, as crawling through an opening in a heavily posted fence was required. The off the charts fishing for pie plate sized crappie and 2-4 pound bass seemed worth the risk of being caught. We were never bothered by security. One evening, my dad and I were boat fishing for bass along the Shuffleton shoreline. He was casting a plug, and I was tossing a spoon into the shallows. I hooked a huge fish, and my first thought was, this is a really big BASS! My second thought was, how am I ever going to land this on my 6 foot spinning combo and 4 pound test line. For 25-30 minutes, we rowed, or were towed all over the south end of Lake Washington. It was "The Old Man and the C", and the "C" was a seventeen pound tail hooked carp.
A seventeen pound carp was the largest fish I had ever landed at that point in my life, but what does one do with such a trophy? I took it to Seattle Sporting Goods, in Renton, and asked them if they wanted to put it in their outdoor display case. A deal was struck; they got to display the fish for a day, and I would receive $1.50 worth of fishing tackle. When I went to pick up the carp, they said they had more people stop into the store to inquire about this fish, than any steelhead or salmon they had ever displayed. Most wanted to know what kind of spoon I was using...
The carp ended up buried at "C". Composted in our garden.
No Way! I worked at Shuffleton, Puget Power then, as a summer helper while in college back in early 80's. We used to go out there at lunch and sight snag the big ones. I mean huge, 20+#ers. They always busted us off the pilings. We then made rebar spears w/ rope attached and finally got em. Fun times. Also got into the Sockeye w/ the full time employees w/ the boat in the water ready to go out of there. Limits before work! and no wait time at Coulon Park launch. That's all been sold and developed.
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"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” – Ferris Bueller. Don't let the old man in!
Registered: 04/25/00
Posts: 5078
Loc: East of Aberdeen, West of Mont...
01/14/2021
Bow and arrow, 1964-68 while going to college in South Dakota. We'd leave then on the bank.....next morning there was no carp left, on the bank, just lots of foot prints from bobcats, fox, and coyote.
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"Worse day sport fishing, still better than the best day working"
While in HS in Sacramento one of my Biology classmates whet out and bow fished enough smallish carp that the class got an extra treat of dissecting a fish. He must have gotten them out of a nearby creek.
I have hooked them in upwards of 15 to 20 pounds. The red and white ones fight the best ,had one run 75 feet across the lake on 4 pound test and a noodle rod. That was back when I had lower self esteem