There are signs to watch for. Some show up on our sounders – big schools of baitfish, layers of krill, and marks that are clearly salmon. Some are quite visible without electronics – whales, birds, and well-defined rip lines in the water.
After an unusually challenging week in early June, all the signs came together at Cape Edgecumbe. We saw lots of bait on the sounder and there were some spectacular shows of whales bubble feeding. It all translated into lots of kings on the end of the line and a scattering of the other salmon species. We caught chums, pinks, silvers and even a few sockeye. Within a day of the silvers showing in small numbers they arrived in force. The second week of June is extremely early for a major arrival of silvers. Captain James, fishing with the Perry Haught party, brought what I believe is the earliest silver limit in our history on June 11.
Captains Ryan with the Shoe party and Captain Chuck with Bullock party “batted for the cycle” on June 12, meaning all five species of salmon on our side of the Pacific were landed in a single day – kings, silvers, sockeye, chums, and pinks.
The silvers tend to come and go a bit early in the run in any year. We’re not certain if this was an early teaser or not. I’m betting, 50 bucks in this case, that they’re here to stay. Captain Chuck, with whom I have the bet, thinks it was an early shot to be followed by a pause. We’ve got two more days for a boat to bring in a limit of silvers for me to win the money. Yesterday, June 19, was blustery which made fishing a bit tougher, but signs of another wave of silvers were strong. I’m not spending the money yet, but I’m optimistic.
