Northwest Fishing Reports

I thought about putting this question on racfish's thread but didn't want to take that post off topic.
Heres my dilemma,if I can actually call it that. I've lived in the Pacific Northwest my entire life but other than a few trips on the Elwha and Dungeness rivers on the Olympic Peninsula,salmon fishing is pretty foreign to me. I've wanted to give it a go for many years but for reasons unknown,it always goes on the back burner.
My wife enjoys salmon and is encouraging me to hit the Puyallup and bring something home for the dinner table. However,I often hear chatter about how they are not great eating and typically very greasy. I have no idea if this is true and I'm "guessing" it would depend on how long the fish has been out of the salt. I figure my location on the river might play a factor,since I'm pretty green at the river thing,I'm intending to fish a bit further up river and less of a crowd.I don't want to be the jerk that tangles up everyone's line.

As long as pinks are bled, gutted, and put on ice right away, the flesh will remain firm. Pinks are not greasy at all and make good table fair if cared for right away. You are right, that is, if in the river for awhile, they can get soft and off color. But if they've only been in fresh water for a day or 2 they should be fine. good luck to you. . .

fetchitup7 wrote:As long as pinks are bled, gutted, and put on ice right away, the flesh will remain firm. Pinks are not greasy at all and make good table fair if cared for right away. You are right, that is, if in the river for awhile, they can get soft and off color. But if they've only been in fresh water for a day or 2 they should be fine. good luck to you. . .

Ask and you shall receive. Thank you for the info,much appreciated. Now I just need a day off and get out there:-({|= I may try some spots not as far up river,I have a few buddies that have offered up there time and knowledge but we'll see how good of friends they are when I show them my river skills

Hey Kevin, Ive caught a few of these and I can tell ya they bbq up gr8. Ive smoked alot of them and they take smoke just like other fish. Ive even baked them and remarkably they are quite delicious. In other words heck yeah they are worth it. Id rather have pinks over chum any day of the week. They are no silver, sockeye or king but they do have a special place in my freezer. By the way kings are actually the ones with the highest fat content of the salmon. Pinks are second least followed only by chum.

They're so worth it. They taste good when they're fresh, smoke up great, and put up quite a good fight. They're spunky and fun and there are MILLIONS OF THEM!!!!! Bring your cooler, your drinks and a good attitude and you'll have a blast. These aren't trout, they're big and tasty slimy meat rockets.

I may not love to eat the nice mushy meat but I stip them up and make salmon jerky out of them. I know Im spoiled on Chinook. I grew up with my dads family all being in the fish business. My great grandfather and his brothers owned Grand Trunk Fish company which later became Pacific Fish Co. We hardly ever ate anything but king.Im fishing for pinks this weekend from Lincoln Park and some private property just north of there.Fishing is fishing. I go for the enjoyment of the sport, I rarely eat what I catch unless its a nookie or a steelie.Im not bashing pinks or chums I was merely giving my opinion on how and what I eat.

Hey Kevin,
There seems to be 2 sides to this question, and not many in the middle of the road types. There are those who have their 'must do' list...and they love them. Then you have the other type who despise the taste of them no matter how you care for, or fancy ways of preparing them. I happen to fall in line with Rac and others who are repulsed by them and just won't touch them. To me there is nothing wrong with either choice...it's simply a personal one that you have to be the judge for yourself. Give it a go and have fun!!

Definitely worth trying and fun to catch. Now if you get a bunch of hens, let me know if you want to get rid of the eggs. :bounce: :bounce: .

Think native rainbow vs a stocker trout.
Die/deteriorate faster, milder taste - and the meat is softer/less flakey. They soak up marinades and brines like a sponge.

jens I ended up with 3 hens after seeming to only be able to catch bucks. Man I forgot how SMALL those skeins are LOL.

I think pinks smoke up just fine but I am picky in the delivery (like skinning them to make SURE no/very little slime ends up in the brine). And I pretty much only eat them smoked.

knotabassturd wrote:jens I ended up with 3 hens after seeming to only be able to catch bucks. Man I forgot how SMALL those skeins are LOL.

I think pinks smoke up just fine but I am picky in the delivery (like skinning them to make SURE no/very little slime ends up in the brine). And I pretty much only eat them smoked.

LOL that is exactly what I said to myself when I took out the skeins, geez these skeins are small.

However jens is used to playing with small things so he feels right at home, almost giddy while handling them. Oh and pinks his favorite color. And Steven Perry says its an obsession. Sorry just had the urge.

flinginpooh wrote:However jens is used to playing with small things so he feels right at home, almost giddy while handling them. Oh and pinks his favorite color. And Steven Perry says its an obsession. Sorry just had the urge.

Interesting. Do you like to swim? Actually, my color isn't pink, it's called salmon. And to quote your favorite song flinginpooh by Justin Beiber:

*You know you love me, I know you care. Just shout whenever, I'll be there. You are my love, you are my heart. And we will never, ever be apart*

Well im not a fish eater but my grandpas favorite way to cook any type of salmon is to put the fillet in aluminum foil, with pico de gallo and throw it on the bbq.

fetchitup7 wrote:As long as pinks are bled, gutted, and put on ice right away, the flesh will remain firm. Pinks are not greasy at all and make good table fair if cared for right away. You are right, that is, if in the river for awhile, they can get soft and off color. But if they've only been in fresh water for a day or 2 they should be fine. good luck to you. . .

Couldn't have said it better myself! If you've experienced a soft or mushy pink salmon then it's likely it was not handled correctly after harvesting OR it's been in the river a while and ready to spawn and was harvested anyway. I've never had a bad tasting or mushy pink salmon in my life and I get a kick out of people who refer to pinks as carb bait, garbage fish, or only good for smoking. I get that everyone has and is entitled to their own opinion but I think some who talk smack about pink salmon are simply repeating what they've heard someone else say OR they incorrectly handled the fish after harvesting.

Well I'm a terrific chef, and when I cook salmon it's bomb, whether it's pink, coho, sockeye or king or steelhead. It's how you handle it and what suits it. I cook trout that is scrumptious and can make stalker triploids taste like they came from a five star restaurant. It's a science. You have to treat them different. Catfish is great, so is lobsters shrimp and crawfish. I'll eat 'em all. WE eat fish like 5 days a week, unless we get some eggrolls from Knot, then we eat those until they're gone, but pinks are absolutely fine. They're not as flavorful, and they are a PIA to take care of, but all the fish you catch can benefit from gentle treatment. Heckuvalot better than store bought fish.

Thank you all for putting in the time to help me out,I really appreciate it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed to have the chance to get down there within the next couple of days.My plate is filling fast between my son starting kindergarten and a pike tourney this up coming weekend but I will hopefully be able to report back with positive results shortly.
Again,thank you all very much for your time and knowledge

I've never had a problem with eating pinks...but I pretty much stick them to the BBQ or Smokers.
They definitely do NOT eat like a 'nook, but they are no garbage fish either.

I'm a firm believer that ANY fish needs to be bled, cleaned, and put on ice as soon as possible.
When it comes to pinks, if they have any sort of hump or if the belly is starting to look yellowish and blotchy they get thrown back. I tend to fish the lower stretch of the Skagit, and have a tendency to toss back any fish that isnt very bright and shiny.

You can DEFINITELY taste the difference when the fish is fresh...I'll admit I am a little disturbed by some of the fish I see caught and eaten on the upper stretches of the river. Perhaps these are the fish that give pinks the bad rep they have?

Well I am Very New to fishing in the PAc NW and Salmon fishing.

So far I cought 3 of the 5 Species to this day. Pinks are good table fare fish if bled. I have smoked them and Q'd them I like them both ways. And I didn't know what to expect, with people on here saying they are tastless and garbage fish!Now Coho well compairing to a king or Coho well then I guess Pink would be a Garbage fish, but that only in compairing to the others.

These are light Salmon flavor and can easily be drowned out by seasoning IMO.

IMHO it is worth fishing for them one easy to catch and also fun and the chances of hooking a Silver or a King are good also. so far I am 4 coho deep in the Puke. and loving it. missed today as my pole Broke so I went to get a new one. tomorrow I will be out and having a blast catch and releasing. searching for females or Silvers(coho)... I will Bake some this week also to see how they Bake up. Good fish!!

Just follow the above Bleed out and De-slime and Clean good and you will be golden!