Earlier this year, I took my kids up to Seattle to visit their grandparents. While we were there, we took time to fish Whidbey Island and visit the Ballard Locks. The Whidbey Island trip was successful, as my son Jake scored a nice pink salmon off the beach. The visit to the locks was enjoyable as well. The counts of sockeye salmon were above expectations. The counts still weren’t high enough to open up a sockeye salmon season in Lake Washington, but it gave me hope that I’d see one in my lifetime.
Recently, Mark Yuasa of The Seattle Times shared that expectations for the 2014 salmon season are equally rosy.
More Columbia River salmon forecasts have come to light and if the numbers pan out, anglers could see improved ocean and in-river fisheries this coming summer.
“It should be as good in 2014 as it was this past year, which saw a bumper crop of fall chinook,” said Joe Hymer, a state Fish and Wildlife biologist. “Coho and sockeye numbers are also up in 2014, summer chinook is on par, and spring chinook is double of what we saw last season.”
Photos: SoCal Salty (top), The Seattle Times (above)
