So, do smaller king salmon usually jump more than larger kings as a rule vs. the other Puget Sound river’s kings, or just the Green River /Soos and Keta Cr. hatchery king salmon ? I assume they do this to acclimate from salt to fresh water living ?

I’m not an Elliot Bay Salmon Fisher, spending most of my time around the Puyallup Terminal areas, and Commencement Bay, where one can find three differing fall salmon in the C bay at the same time. Pinks, Coho, and Kings in late August -1st of September, and they all would show- jump, but looking back in time, Pinks would be all over the bay rolling and jumping, the Coho and Kings closer to the River mouth, and a lot more Coho than Kings jumping ? We just thot it was a numbers driven game ?

Now back to the Chehalis, my tiny brain hurts ....

The easy answer, and I have absolutely no data to support it, is that it is numbers driven. Say 1% of the fish jump. You have a million pinks, 50,000 coho, and 10,000 chinook.

I do remember that some bios in the 60s and 70s used "jumpers" as a way to evaluate run size. So that gives credence to the idea.

Ok then, we kinda agree, it’s likely a numbers game, and not a condition of size that had the smaller sized Green River kings jumping.

Whew, definitely better now...

Weather change a comin.

Been since the seventies that I remember the misty morning burn off nice days weather. Sure beats heat and rain pays to be lucky!

Talking to Lyle he explained the lack of adult Coho retention during Jack seasons is about the number of fishers and simple math. The Chehalis had only 495 harvestable Chinook for QIN and NT fisheries. 247 Chinook for NT fisheries bay inland is not much of a number to work with. So it is creating a season for Coho using the catch and release mortality. NT commercials are modeled at 89 impacts Chehalis Tribal is 155 which comes out of the NT share. The bay is modeled at 137 Chinook C&R impacts with fresh water at 129 Chinook C&R impacts. Not much wiggle room with those numbers!

So not to beat a dead horse but Chinook intercepts for all Grays Haror streams is BC 3139 and SE Alaska 5076 so that is where our Chinook go. We get nothing into the bay but escapement and a few fish. And so it goes!

Site went dead before I could add this, I have been told that WDFW is trying to get the intercept number on GH Chinook reduced. I am not holding my breath not with the current make up of our state government.

What do we have to trade with Canada or Alaska. As I recall, WDFW opposed the suit to close down the SE AK troll that hammered WA Chinook. Perhaps because they were using feeding SRKWs as a reason, WA did not want to elevate that issue.

09/06/2026

How about something SIMPLE, release all wild salmon that are having a problem making escapement?????

From Alaska, Canadian waters, thru Washington waters, down the coast, wherever there is a problem. Once the problem is eliminated, then open that area to once again, to taking of Wild salmon.

That might even get more fish back to are current "problem child" Orca/Killer whales . Don't tell me that wouldn't increase the wild numbers more Adult Chinook to feed on.

Don't tell me that increasing hatchery numbers would be difficult, just run hatcheries at increased capacity.

At one time WA offered to increase hatchery coho production if the Canadians would fish selectively. They said no. Also, and earlier during the Fish Wars, WDF at least proposed, if not actually implemented, cuts to coho production to crash the Canadian fisheries.

Since nobody else catches Alaskan salmon they see no reason too conserve our fish. Or Canada's.

International sharing among AK, Canada, and the US is a very touchy subject; conservation takes mast place behind releasing the Epstein Files.

Following off of 28G's post as we navigate PP's every other day crashes I thought I would say that there are Coho around the Chehalis. Watched a coule of guys get a couple of Jacks on the incoming then move down to another spot which was a good move. Not much for a bit then they tangled with a couple of Chinook ( released ) and Coho adults. Good start I think for the year.

Just back from a Vancouver Island Barkley Sound BC trip. Our guide works at the Robinson Creek hatchery out of Port Alberni when not guiding. He said they are mass marking Chinook now. Sounds like it's taken Canada a long time to get to this point. Plans are to expand. He thinks BC will eventually move marked select fisheries when they get enough marking participation. On another note. I remember hearing BC''s hatchery practices never transfered stocks out of watersheds, keeping genetics intact. That practice lead to a better quality hatchery product. To bad WA and the US did just the opposite.

https://www.canada.ca/en/fisheries-ocean...management.html

The mass marking thing is good I think but BC AK CA OR just must do and release unclipped marine and fresh water. I cannot remember the % but AK marine harvest for Chinook is almost all originate south of AK. An example is Grays Harbor Chinook and AK and BC are projected to take 8155 with 4314 wild leaving 376 NT wild impacts and 640 hatchery. This is GH all so all this BS restoring salmon like the millions on the freeway from Monte to McCleary is not going to a thing for fish. Nothing changes until the marine impacts are brought under control.

Until there is a conscious effort too put more spawners on the grounds these habitat expenditures aren't accomplishing anything.

I was wondering how long it would take for this to happen!

Satsop River temporarily closes to fishing through Sept. 30

Action: Temporary closure on the Satsop River.
Effective date: Sept. 16–30, 2026.
Species affected: Game fish.

Locations: Satsop River (Grays Harbor County) from the mouth to the Bingham Creek Hatchery dam.
Rules: Closed to fishing.

Reason for action: Disorderly fishing behavior has been observed on the Satsop River during enforcement patrols, with anglers observed targeting salmon before the planned Oct. 1 salmon season opener. Low river flows in the basin are also affecting salmon migration, making fish more vulnerable than normal to angling activity.

While pre-season planning accounted for some incidental mortality of Chinook during the September gamefish season, it did not account for the levels of incidental mortality experienced when anglers are targeting salmon or current low river flows. Because of these conditions, natural origin Chinook require additional conservation measures.

The closure is intended to prevent further impacts to Chinook in September while preserving impacts for the coho-directed fishery scheduled to begin in October.
Additional Information: This closure includes the section from 400 feet below Bingham Creek Hatchery dam to the dam Catch Record Code (CRC) 329A.

Fishery managers encourage anglers to sign up for Fishing Rule Change email notifications and to check for emergency rules on the WDFW website before fishing. Refer to the Washington Sport Fishing Rules pamphlet for current regulations. Download the Fish Washington® mobile app to stay up to date on the go.

Information contact: Coastal Region, 360-249-4628

A good move-let's take it further to protect Chinook-extend selective gear rule until 15 Nov or when escapement is reached! Eggs should not be allowed on any river where Chinook retention is not allowed .

Odd that you think protecting Satsop Chinook by shuting it down helps. I have posted the numbers before and it is BC and AK and that do the vast majority of harvest impacts. Kinda like arresting the bank teller when the armed robber gets away.

As for Enforcement they are not the Game Wardens and Fish Cops of days gone by. Now it is whiny ass collection of WSP wanna be's. Rather than do their job they they use words like rowdy fisheries ect and staff follows right along. It is paifull to watch similiar to watching Dumb and Dumber 24-7.

RG-For the record -IMO you are one of the more relevant posters on this board. Shutting down the Satsop is certainly not the answer to saving Chinook,but likewise it cannot hurt the cause. I've fished the river for over 30 years and like you have seen many changes-to both the river and the caliber of people who fish it. I was confronted by a Game warden last year who accused me of salmon fishing-I always walk the river in Sept to see the channel ,snags, etc changes from last year-I quoted him the regs, showed my 5 wgt rod with 10# line and assured him I was legal. Told him I didn't write the rules but I follow them. If he doesn't like them,change them-they did and I concur. That same day an individual was on the river with a 10 foot rod and bobber/eggs-I doubt he he was able to convince the warden he was fishing for cutthroat! I will walk the river Friday like always-I just won't have a rod!

FNB I always step back to look at things. How is the Satsop Sept fishing different than salmon fishing the bays South channel odds are you are C&R Chinook as Coho mostly do the North channel. Jack fishing in non jack water with good eggs ? Some jacks yes but mostly adults hooked and jack fishing is an artform that takes skill to be really good. Everyone is a rabid conservationist as long as the other guy takes the hit.

Years back many of the local community worked with the agency on the Satsop thing. At that time the mouth of Decker Ck was the problem and our thoughts? Satsop nursery bridge down open Sept 15 which gets rid of the problem mostly and the rest of the river by flows. Rain early flows up open early no rain wait until the vast majority of the Chinook pass then game on. WDFW has never liked freshwater salmon fisheries because they are difficult. Old game Bob Paulsen and others were avid fisherman and managed things differently hatchery and wild. With the joining of WDF & WDG everything changed and not for the best. Our managers now are not the same. Take thier laptop computers away they are lost, mostly.

Does not make them bad managers but simply number crunchers. Tom Pentt told me years ago WDFW could not set a solid flexible receation freshwater fishery. Now that has not changed! The other thing is people and the freshwater fishers are a very diverse group and very cutthroat about alocation! Bay will screw over upper basin , mainstem fishers will put it to trib fishers and let us not forget the banky vs boat or jet boats vs drift boats. Freshwater fishers are the most dog eat dog bunch as to allocation. I think WDFW just gave up some years back as older staff left the newer staff just lacked the ability to sort through it all.

If you look at opening dates and when the water is fishable and fish are available in numbers on average the from the bay up but at different times the different basin areas have about a 6 week fall salmon season. Simple easy to design and manage keeps enforcement from running around with thier hair on fire makes staffs life much easier.