I was out farting around the Sky early yesterday and I swear I saw some kings rolling down low on the river. Am I nuts? It was enough to keep me on a spot I normally pass up after a couple casts. No, I never hooked one. They very well could have been kelts or something but they sure looked like Kings...

Bruce

your not nuts, they were kings, the river is full of them...

Bruce,

From what I understand, the Wallace river summer chinook run starts cranking up in June. The peak is about mid to late July. I have hooked many of these kings incidentally while fishing summerruns. They take plugs well, although I wouldn't get caught pulling a K-14. I know that the return is substantial, though there hasn't been a sport season on kings in the sky in years. I'm sure that what you saw were some of the early fish, so rest assured it wasn't a figment of you imagination (or whatever was chilling in the cooler)

Hey Bruce, you thought those rockcod we caught up out of Tofino were steelhead kelts too. You gotta thing for kelts or what? And I can attest to the accuracy of his statement about farting around by the river! Jk'ing around bud. ... Why don't they open up a short sportfish season on all those Kings if they come on stronger - or do you have to have Native American heritage to get in on extra fish? Are the Wallace Hat springers fin clipped?

---------

RT
Border Customs Agent - U.S.
Kokanee Pro Staff

From what I've been told is that the Wallace hatchery is supposed to be getting a huge surplus of Kings.Somewhere between 4000 to 6000.The reason I was told that we can't fish for them is that only something like 38% of the returning run are fin clipped.This number is not high enough for the fisherman to distinguish hatchery fish verses wild,and consequently would consist of too high of a hooking mortality rate on wild fish.

What are these fish for? We do not get to intercept them in the salt,we dont get to fish for them in the river! Why is this hatchery even running if these fish are returning for nothing better than to be used as cat food!

The money spent on these fish could be used for raising steelhead.My .02

I agree with reiter rat. Look at all the extra hatchery steelhead we could get if they would stop planting Kings! If the Wallace doesnt get a Native run of Kings why not just open it up, that would spread pressure out from the steelhead crowd. Of course, there would be a snagging issue with some of the mobile home folk.

All that money spent to fatten somebodys dog. hmmmmm

-BW

A number of sport fishers and guides lobbied hard for a recreational fishery on these fish during the North of Falcon Process. Unfortunately the end result was, as far as I understand it, that all the sports Chinook allocation was used up in other fisheries like the Straits so that no fish were left for a terminal fishery in the Skykomish. The river guys have to make more noise. These are beautiful fish and I hope to have a crack at them some day.

Was up at the Wallace Hatchery last weekend. Saw about 100 nice chrome Kings in the holding pool. I was not able to spot an adipose fin on a single fish! I'm not too sure I buy the %38 number. Looked better than that to me!

I'm with ReiterRat. Why not just raise steelhead???? Seems like a real waste of fish.

Parker

Thanks for all the replies. I had stopped to talk to a couple guys on my way out Sunday and mentioned the Kings to them and they looked at me like I was nuts. Said it might have been a school of whitefish. I may not be the brightest bulb in the box but I can tell a whitefish from a King.

Beezer, I remember you mentioning this run before and how we almost got a short season on them. Really, what's the point of the Wallace hatchery if they're not clipping the smolts? Seems like every budget session in Olympia we hear doom and gloom about not enough money to keep Reiter open yet they're obviously spending a good chunk at Wallace for fish we're not supposed to be targeting? Duh?

Bruce

And RT, anyone who has fished with me knows of my prowess when it comes to breaking the wind. It's a point of honor.

Okay, let's see......The North of Falcon Process allocates a said # of returning kings to be harvested in the straits and coastal waters, etc., but there are no sport fisheries in the straits or ocean waters until sometime in July, right? Soooooo....when do you think the majority of the hatchery kings come back to the Sky and then into the Wallace hatchery? I'd have to say that in the past the hatchery gets it's big push of kings in June and early July. So why not open the damn thing for the month of June when there are not many wild kings in the river or open the Wallace itself? Sure it would be a zoo and a redneck snagfest, but at least we'd get a sportfishery, eh? I just can't understand the WDFW's reasoning behind this, can you?

The fish that Parker and I saw in the Wallace hatchery last week were chrome kings from about 10 to 15 pounds with slim bodies like that of spring chinook. All of them, that we were able to see (approx. 100) were clipped.

Man Reiter Rat--cats need love too. Especially when they are used for crab bait,eh. Bad kitty bad kitty-Mom kitty's eating my pot pie

It is a shame. Many rivers I fish (when open) allow retention of only clipped fish --its something that all us fishheads are going to have to get used to at some point-(Steelhead definitely and potentially salmon). That’s fine-at least I am able to fish and be legal. I can see the mortality issue, but only 38% of fish being clipped would be the cause. I believe Beezer had a volunteer gathering last year(?) I had all intentions of making-but did not-my fault.

meow

[ 06-12-2001: Message edited by: Coho ]

[ 06-12-2001: Message edited by: Coho ]

I seem to recall a post on here a few months back thats asked if you would like to see the Kings open and most said NO because of the pressure on the river. Oh well guess another missed opurtunity aye?? Know that they had a meeting on it a few months ago too but didn't hear what the results were. Guess they weren't that good.

Tight lines

Kevin

SRBC

I can certainly understand wanting the pressure lower.

Not having a king fishery sure kept a lot of folks home on June 1, especially from Sultan down!!!

Just kidding. With all the people steelhead fishing, it seems that there can't be much more incidental catch of ESA kings than is already taking place. The marked fish are just going into the hatchery and off to a cat food plant, or something along those lines.

I wouldn't mind fishing for them, as long as WDFW would pop the snagfest at the mouth of the Wallace.

Fish on...

Todd.

BK they are Kings the last three years we have hit them wile fishing for summer run
:

Please help me!!! Why keep the Wallace hatchery open? Sport anglers can't take advantage of this fishery. But WDFW wants to shut down Reiter Ponds, which draws more $$$ Wallace or Reiter? Can anyone make sense of this?

[ 06-13-2001: Message edited by: salmontackler ]

Exactly Salmonhackler.

Look at all the people out chasing summer runs already. You know a lot of money is probalby coming into the area because of the opportunities from Reiter. Why not keep boosting Reiter with money from closing Wallace, which is essentially nothing more than a makework program?

The Wallace hatchery also raises the Coho that we usually get to fish for. My understanding is that all of the Snohomish system chinook are managed under the same blanket plan. Because the wild fall fish are endangered, they keep the river closed to the taking of any kings. Beezer (gary), knows more of the details of the management plan than I, so maybe he can chime in with some details. Also, rumor has it that many of the Sky summerruns are reared at the Wallace hatchery. It seem that somewhere along the line, politics of some sort are involved in the management decisions. If we could get all of the fish clipped, and have a season that coincides with the June 1st opening, and maybe running to the end of July, we should be able to have a shot at these fish. Of course the tribes would want their share, and the whole issue might just be too complicated for the state to want to deal with.

I’m probably the last person you’d want to explain why WDFW does the things that they do. I feel that Hatfield and crew has done a good job of establishing a hatchery run of summer chinook. We need to have all those fish marked so that there can be a selective fishery for them. Just haven’t figured out a way to accomplish that. I don’t think that closing the hatchery out of spite is the answer. They raise a lot of coho, which I am under the impression are all marked. Wallace Hatchery also raises a lot of fall chinook that become delayed release fish for our “limited” blackmouth fishery although I have doubts about the future of that program. I also think a lot of Reiter’s steelhead spend some time at the Wallace Hatchery either for incubation, disease control or marking. Ever wonder why so many marked steelhead are caught on the Wallace? I can’t explain WDFW’s management practices but I feel we need to get all hatchery fish (except chum & pinks) marked and keep striving for selective fisheries.

Last year I saw Indians loading up on the kings. They helped collect eggs and the rest was loaded to be sold to parts unknown.

Just an FYI, I checked the WDFW website and as of June 20th, there were 1,000 Summer Kings at the Wallace hatchery.