Salmon fishing goes all around the year. In winter fishing we are watching the next batch of chinooks grow. The mature chinooks of last season spawned in the rivers in autumn, died, and fertilized the river with their dead bodies for their eggs buried in the gravel. In the ocean , winter chinooks are in the middle of their lives, usually growing to 3, 4 or 5 years old. At this time of year, the most numerous bites are the young ones just about the minimum legal size, 24 1/2 inches, growing fast, and faster by spring. A decent number go up to 11 pounds or so. There will also be some lucky bigger ones, in the teens, and bigger, and we all hope to get lucky. It sounds like an oxymoron, but we call these fish "winter springs".
I haven't been out , for a number or reasons. It doesn't help that we are having the longest cold weather stretch in thirty years. I can report , however, that the boats that have been out have had good success.
A good showing of immature chinooks in local waters is a great sign for spring and summer fishing for these homesteaders that have found good food supplies, like abundant herring, inside Georgia Strait.
Photo from recent trip by Jeremy with friends Scott and John.
Photo at top, and bottom, from my boat in previous Januarys.
In the meantime, I have been tweaking lures, pulling them along the dock. I enjoy this, and I can do it in short breaks. I've blogged about this in the past, and will do again, no doubt.
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