Northwest Fishing Magazine September 2025 Volume 5 Issue 1 - Flipbook - Page 24
coho mark
As we head into September,
the color of salmon
switches from pink to silver
around Puget Sound.
The front end of the
migratory coho run – also
known as silvers for their
shiny silvery-colored body
– began to filter into the
western Strait of Juan de
Fuca and Puget Sound in
August, and are expected
to peak throughout
September and early
October.
Coho aren’t large – usually
averaging 4 to 15 pounds,
with some exceeding the
20-plus pounds – but they
often put up a good tussle.
Young coho spend a year
in rivers and estuaries and
then migrate out to the
Pacific Ocean to feed and
grow. They spend about
1½ years in the ocean, then
return to spawn as three
and four-year-old fish,
generally in fall or early
winter.
Puget Sound coho
returns have gradually
made a comeback from
a downtrend that began
in 2015 and 2016. This
was due to negative
environmental factors like
drought, flooding, and
warm water temperatures
in their freshwater habitat
as juveniles and then in the
Ocean from a condition
known as El Niño, when
surface water becomes
warmer than average.
The combined 2025 Puget
Sound hatchery and wild
coho forecast is 727,490
compared to 722,134 in
2024; 760,029 in 2023;
666,317 in 2022; 614,948
in 2021; and 504,604 in
2020. Coho fill the air
with enthusiasm for their
leaping abilities when
hooked, and unpredictable
movements across the
water’s surface. A positive
signal of 2025 expectations
began with the good
fishing for resident coho,
who mainly spend their
entire life feeding and
growing in local waters –
caught in Marine Area 10
(Seattle and Bremerton
Area) from June to early
August. Many of these coho
have grown since then
and will join their larger
migratory coho relatives
during the late summer
and fall marine fisheries.
Knowing when it is “go
fishing time” for migrating
coho in Puget Sound is to
monitor catch rates in the
Strait of Juan de Fuca at
Marine Area 5 (Sekiu and
Pillar Point) and Marine
Area 6 (East Strait of Juan
de Fuca). The Marine Area 5
salmon fishery is open daily
through Sept. 26 with a
two salmon daily limit, plus
two additional pink may
be retained, and release
Chinook, chum, sockeye,
and wild coho. The area is
then open daily for coho
from Sept. 27 to Oct. 9 with
a two salmon daily limit,
release Chinook, chum, and
sockeye.
