Catch and Release Chinook Salmon Time!
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Looks like Thomas and I will be heading out to do some Summer run Chinook (King) Salmon fishing in Puget Sound this next week, so I thought it might be appropriate to remind everyone to use the strict CnR rules for wild Chinook Salmon. Native Chinook are actually listed as ‘Threatened’ on the Endangered Species List so we need to take care to treat them nice while looking for their hatchery bred kin to bonk.
Some things to keep in mind are:
- Never bring an unmarked (adipose fin clipped) Chinook Salmon over the gunwale of your boat. They will be watching!
- Use a catch and release friendly net made of rubber or knotless nylon.
- Of course you have to use barbless hooks.
- Avoid messing with the fish any more than you have to, and stay away from the eyes and gills.
- Use a dehooker if to remove hooks.
- Cut the leader if the hook has been swallowed too far to safely remove.
On the subject of hooks, if you are mooching consider using circle hooks. Fished correctly, circle hooks will almost always wind up in the corner of the fishes mouth. The thing to remember when fishing circle hooks is that you need to not set the hook immediately. They hook up best if you let the fish turn to run. That pulls the hook to the corner of the mouth and WHAMO! For other rigs, try using one hook instead of the traditional two hook setups on your Hoochies and trolling flies (like our favorites Grand Slam Bucktails). The trick here is to get the hook back at the end of the lure. I will show you a trick to do that in an upcoming post.
If you haven’t tried using a dehooker, go find yourself one. We are testing out the ARC Dehooker this year. We really like this one because it comes in a variety of sizes and lengths and can be used to release deeply hooked fish, as well as those that are only lip hooked.
Simply using a tool like this will greatly increase your fish survivability as well as make releasing them easier on you. No more hanging over the side of a pitching boat with a pair of pliers! We will be using this baby when we go out Salmon fishing this year. Not only will it make releasing Salmon easier, but no more dodging Dogfish tail barbs! Thanks again to Christy Clow for setting us up with one to try out. To get one of your own, you can order them directly from their website at http://dehooker4arc.com/index.html
So there you have it. Be nice to your native fish so we can have a sustained Chinook Fishery!
