Lake Washington salmon return updates mixed with good and bad news


Here are the latest Lake Washington chinook, sockeye and coho counts taken at the Ballard Locks.

The chinook continue to straggle in, and the return this year of 4,909 through Sept. 29 is quite a bit below the historical averages.

The sockeye migration through the Locks is finished except for the very occasional late arriving fish. Through Sept. 29, 43,724 have returned to the Locks compared to the preseason forecast of 34,683.

The coho return is also rapidly declining, however the good news is the wild coho are increasing in number.

Through Sept. 29, 8,560 coho have been counted at the Locks. The preseason forecast is 28,606 (23,708 are of hatchery origin).

"Take the time to go out to the Cedar River (sockeye, chinook, coho and the occasional pink), Swamp Creek, North Creek and the Bear Creek system (sockeye, chinoook and coho), and view these great icons of the Pacific Northwest," said Bill Robinson, member of the Cedar River Oversight Committee. "The kids will find it really interesting and a unique learning .... http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/re...syndication=rss

Made a small trip out in the lake yesterday. Saw very few fish rolling around out there. Fishing was slow.

Hard to believe another 20,000 coho are expected in the lake now. I thought the coho were a done deal in the lake by the 1st. Always seemed that way in the past.