‘Unbelievable’ fishing
September 12, 2009 - 09:52 AM
by Marta Murvosh
Fishermen stand nearly shoulder to shoulder in the shallow Samish River as they fish for salmon Friday morning in Edison.
EDISON — Roughly 300 fishermen, by one property owner’s estimate, lined the Samish River on Friday morning to take part in the biggest salmon fishery seen here in a long time.
And that was just Friday morning. It’s been going on like this for a while. And it isn’t over yet.
“It was unbelievable fishing,” said Tony Breckenridge, who allows fishermen access through his riverfront property. “It was the most I had seen come out of that river.”
He estimated that three-quarters of the fishermen Friday left the river carrying two hatchery chinook, the legal limit.
“Where else in the United States can you catch two king salmon from the bank?” Breckenridge asked. “This is the hottest fishery there is.”
Last year, 9,500 chinook returned to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Samish Hatchery. This year, that number could be higher, hatchery workers say.
But for fishermen to get their hooks in the Samish, they have to fish on private property. And that means they’d better mind their manners.
Already one landowner closed property to fishermen because of problems with trash and vehicles blocking access to fields.
“People are picking up their garage and doing the right thing,” Breckinridge said.
Johnny Bledsaw, who organizes an annual riverbank clean up, said that several respected fishermen work with their fellows to avert problems.
“All the new people that come in, we teach them what’s appropriate,” Bledsaw said.
Peer pressure is applied to keep tempers even, to encourage fishermen to pick up after themselves and to follow fishing laws, he said.
The hatchery chinook run usually slows down by the end of September but sometimes can last into October, fishermen say. This year, the returning chinook could exceed last year’s high number of 9,500, said Steve Harris, a specialist at the Samish Hatchery.
Harris has seen the fishermen packed along riverbanks in Skagit County.
“Everyone seems happy, so I guess we’re doing our job right,” Harris said.
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