Northwest Fishing Magazine July 2025 Volume 4 Issue 10 - Flipbook - Page 13
to keep red, chartreuse,
and orange-colored
presentations in your tackle
box as well.
Smaller-size presentations
seem to work best like
a pink mini plastic squid
(aka a hoochie) or spoons
tied behind a 13- to 16-inch
leader to a 1/0 white colored
or silver dodger.You can
also toss a pink colored
jig and let it sink about a
foot per second from the
surface down to about 80
feet. Once you feel the jig
go slack, reel up and don’t
set the jig hard because a
pink has a soft jawline. You
can also cast and retrieve a
pink mini hoochie jig with
a single or tandem 1/0 pinkor red-colored hooks.
Other lures include a pink
Rotator trailed behind a
small pink plastic “hoochie”
squid with a single or
tandem 1/0 pink- or redcolored hooks. Let it flutter
down to the desired depth
and then slowly retrieve
from shore or a boat.
Fly anglers can also get in
on the pink fishing action
by casting a pink clouser fly
with a 7 or 8-weight fly rod
and a sinking line.
When fishing from a boat,
it is absolutely necessary to
troll really slow, anywhere
from 1.3 to 1.8 mph at most,
depending on current, tide,
and wind. Many prefer to
troll with the tide or current
instead of battling against
it. Look for pink schools on
your depth finder and also
watch the surface for fish
rolling and jumping.
Around an hour before
and right after a flood tide
or a slack tide is the peak
time to catch a pink. The
bite can be fairly good
throughout the day, but
early morning, just before
and right after first light is
best. The evening bite just
before sunset can also be
productive.
By the time you read this
magazine, the front end of
the pink run should have
arrived in the Strait of Juan
de Fuca at Neah Bay, and
from Sekiu to Port Angeles.
In Puget Sound, their
peak arrival is August off
Midchannel Bank at Port
Townsend, Possession Bar,
the west side of Whidbey
Island, Pilot Point, and
Point No Point, Jefferson
Head, Richmond Beach,
the east side of Bainbridge
Island, West Point south
of Shilshole Bay, Alki
Point to Lincoln Park in
West Seattle. By mid- to
late-August, look for pink
salmon in southern Puget
Sound south of the Narrows
Bridge. The San Juan
Islands will also be pink
central as the expected
huge return to the Fraser
River in southern B.C., and
fish turning south into
Puget Sound should all
contribute to the island
chain fishery.
Prime shoreline locations
are Deception Pass; Fort
Casey, Keystone, Bush
Point and Lagoon Point off
the west side of Whidbey
Island; Point Wilson and
Fort Casey State Park near
Port Townsend; Point No
Point; Edmonds Pier; Alki
Point and Lincoln Park in
West Seattle; Richmond
Beach; Redondo Beach;
Dash Point State Park;
Seacrest Pier in West
Seattle;
