I finally have figured out why the large schools of fish off my beach (Lagoon PT) have not been hitting anything. It is because they are Atlantic Salmon! I thought these fish were acting a little different then the typical schools of sivers that come through (lazy jumping, jumping wrong direction, finning on the surface). Mystery solved.

Hopefully these pictures post.

They jump tail first?

The pictures aren't showing up.

I would have guessed that Atlantic Salmon would be more eager to bite (assuming that they recently escaped from the cosy well-fed confines of a net pen)

I will be interested in seeing the pictures.

I have to agree with Cheapskate - they usually are fairly agressive fish; at lest following various lures and are pretty catchable in the rivers. If they are escapees the normal behavior is for them to make bee lines to a number of rivers where there usually is a spate of reports of them being caught. Anyone hear anything of a major break-out from any of the net pens?

Tight lines
Curt

I would be very surprised and extremely disappointed if Atlantics were present in large schools in Area 9.

I will withhold my final thoughts until I can see the pictures.

All I can say is I hope they aren't.

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/pp100/alpglass/Atlantic%20Salmon/AtlanticSalmon004.jpg

The only Atlantic I have caught was the most aggresive fish I have ever landed. I saw one sitting in a river, threw a tube jig about 30 feet upstream and this fish took off after it the second it hit the water. He swam 20 feet upstream from where he had been sitting the whole time (I saw him, and tied on the only lure I had) and totally hammered it. It was in the middle of the day at full sun...

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/pp100/alpglass/Atlantic%20Salmon/AtlanticSalmon005.jpg

Yep, you got that post in right before me. Your right thats an Atlantic...

Wasn't there a escape announced earlier in B.C.?

You need to contact WDFW. That is serious stuff if there is a large school of those running around. They have the potential to go to the same river and mess with the natural fish.

Already notified them, they mentioned the escape in Canada as the only one they know of. I really don't think they understand that there are very large numbers of these fish milling around Admirilaty Inlet. I can't confirm that all the fish that I thought were silvers that just weren't biting are indeed Atlantic, but I would assume they are by there odd behavior. If so there are large amount of them.

I am sure Addicted and Todd have encountered the same fish as they posted a week or so ago about the fish that were locked up.

here's a link I found re a recent escape

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/369697_salmon05.html

throw pebbles or catfood in the water. The Atlantics love em..... They will swarm them like they do food in the pens. We have had several large escapes off the south end of BI in my lifetime that made for some interesting fishing..... I remember another year where the canadians had a large pen excape. We were catching hog atlantic salmon in the elwha for the next year....

Neal

Spots on the gill plates.

tmr360 - so what gear did you catch it on? I've not heard any local (Whidbey) reports of other Atlantic salmon being landed - I hope this one was a fluke!

With regards to fish jumping the "Wrong" way? Don't put too much thought into these fish... they will drive you crazy

Jeff D., my neighbor caught it and it was foul hooked. These fish that are jumping are not biting, they are definitely Atlantics. I have been fishing the shallows and can clearly see them swimming under the boat.

As far as these fish jumping the "wrong way", they are jumping the wrong direction because they are not silvers. In the area I fish and off my beach silvers ALWAYS travel north to south, this has been the case for the 33 years I have been fishing here. The only exception are chum.

BTW, nice push of ocean fish arrived today in deeper water, caught 5 all wild on this mornings incoming tide, 120' on the downrigger. This new rule of releasing wild coho sucks, two of the fish I released were bleeders.

How about sticking a hook in one of the pieces of catfood?

Or sticking a hook in a chunk of bait, and letting it flutter down the water column like a piece of fish food tossed into a pen.