Pink Humpers.? (Full Version)

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seejib -> Pink Humpers.? (9/30/2008 11:47:18 AM)

I have heard that every couple of years we(Erie) get a run of pink salmon and that they only make 1 run and then its over again for a couple more years. Is this true? I have heard that they will run this year. I guess time will tell.



D-MAC -> RE: Pink Humpers.? (9/30/2008 12:14:28 PM)

Must be a west side fish i've been on the east side tribs for a lot of years and never seen one......



mikeg -> RE: Pink Humpers.? (9/30/2008 12:16:47 PM)

If we get a "run" of Pinks I must be color blind. I've never seen one, and definetly never caught one. I know there is a couple caught every year, but you have as good as a chance of catching a coho in PA. It does happen, but not enough to target them!



griffon -> RE: Pink Humpers.? (9/30/2008 12:21:31 PM)

A buddy and I caught 3 in one day a couple years back on lower Elk.  All were caught on buggers



pghmarty -> RE: Pink Humpers.? (9/30/2008 12:29:26 PM)

Caught 3 or 1 fish 3 times???????  [8|]



griffon -> RE: Pink Humpers.? (9/30/2008 12:38:23 PM)

There were several in the pool, along with a couple of hundred steelheads.  One of them is on my buddy's wall, the other two were released.  I have also caught two of them on L. Ontario tribs.  There is no mistaking them as we have no other salmonoid that is even close to them in the great lakes system. 



pxatim -> RE: Pink Humpers.? (9/30/2008 12:40:26 PM)

I have heard of only a few being caught and it's very rare but I'd imagine it'd be a special moment to run into a few and actually catch one.



griffon -> RE: Pink Humpers.? (9/30/2008 12:45:37 PM)

Really not as big a deal as you might think.  They are small 2-8 lbs (8 would be a giant...), they don't fight that hard and they are quite an ugly little critter.  The day we ran into them, there were several other people fishing the same pool.  Everyone was targeting steelheads (including Ironhed) and the pinks just happen to be a bycatch as they were laying right in front of the two of us. 

Now that I think about it, I saw two last year in a hole above the Elk Railroad trestle.  those two did not want to cooperate.



bclev -> RE: Pink Humpers.? (9/30/2008 1:26:02 PM)

I believe they only run every other year.  What we see in the PA tribs are from NY stockings I believe.



seejib -> RE: Pink Humpers.? (9/30/2008 1:30:24 PM)

Do they eat any better than steel, cause steel needs some help when its not smoked.



egg sac -> RE: Pink Humpers.? (9/30/2008 5:33:16 PM)

We tend to get a few pinks mostly on even numbered years. The best run( can not even realy call it that) was in 1996 when a god number were found in most creeks in pa with 20 mile having a decent number of them. That year I landed my fist pink ever a decent 23in 3lb 15oz just below the chutes in Walnut creek. State record is 21in 4lb 8oz as of present with ny state recond 4lb 12oz.They are very rare in almost 30 years fishing the Erie tribs I have landed a whooping 3( 2 in Walnut 1 in chataqua creek ny) of them and only seen a handfull more in the streams. The pinks we get are not from any stocks they are basicaly very adventurus fish that made thier way down from lake huron by way of lake st clair. Lake huron and Lake michigan has a very big number of them all wild from a single stock in the mid 50's that have some how taken hold. The st marys and garden rivers in Canada have a massive run of them every year. On even numbered years you get more but smaller ones on odd years you still get a good run but they average a bit larger. I have personal fished the st mary and garden river on even and odd years for them and see it first hand. If we had nice pea gravel streams all we would need would be one good run to astablish a yearly run. Unlike kings, coho, steelhead the pinks do not need to smoltify. As soon as they hatch form thier egg they will start thier journey to the big water be it ocean or lake.
I do belive we have been missing the boat on this one. I personaly feel if we were able to stocked ready to be hatched eggs in all the streams expecialy crooked , racoon and trout run( best chance to acualy spawn successfull) we could get a return year after year. they do not grown real big and should not upset any balance in the eco system because of it. And they sure would be a nice extra bonus fish in the fall. All it would take is one good stock in trout run and the fish commision could just keep collecting eggs each year from trout run fertilize them then place them in the streams so when hatched they would remmmeber the same stream they hatched in and hopefull all come back. It my just be a pipe dream on my part but variety is the spice of life , so yes I feel we should experimenet some with them in the erie tribs.


here is a pic of the one I got in 1996.

[img]http://forums.fishusa.com/albumtn.aspx/mid_12187-A16C91601743490482432298195F36F6.jpeg[/img]



pxatim -> RE: Pink Humpers.? (9/30/2008 5:41:22 PM)

Excellent post Egg Sac! Thanks for the info.

I agree with you on the stocking issue but heck as good as it is now... it's only going to get better once we start seeing these browns return in a few years.



Kokanee Killer -> RE: Pink Humpers.? (9/30/2008 6:13:54 PM)

lets go for it i say we get the pafbc to stock chums/dogs lol chums look cool and i hear they fight like hell.



smallhook -> RE: Pink Humpers.? (9/30/2008 7:55:02 PM)

I've only seen a couple of pinkies over the the many years I've been fishin the tribs and only caught one. It was fairly small and I caught it at the mouth of Trout Run.  Couldn't tell you what year but it was sometime when my youngest son was very small.  It was probably the year Egg Sac mentioned cause I remember quite a few people caught them that year.  The last one I seen was just a couple of years ago while fishing 16 Mile with a good friend.  It stood out like a sore thumb in the skinny section of that stream right up from the concrete wall.  My buddy and I spent about 2 hours harrassing that fish to no avail.  It sure would be nice to see more of them.



deetz4352 -> RE: Pink Humpers.? (9/30/2008 8:11:05 PM)

I got this one 3 years ago in the shutes at walnut just above the manchester hole, this is the year they should come back.



Kokanee Killer -> RE: Pink Humpers.? (9/30/2008 9:06:54 PM)

chum salmon also do not need to smoltify either,they book right on down, also they spawn mostly in lower reaches of streams,some even in brackish water,out of all the pacific salmon i wonder why no one ever messed with the possibility of chums in the great lakes, they have landlocked populations on the kola penninsula in russia,



Noplacelikehome -> RE: Pink Humpers.? (9/30/2008 9:11:33 PM)

I caught one (about 20 inches) in 20 mile creek back in Oct. of 1994. Was cool looking but I could care less to catch anymore. Didn't fight much compared to a Steelhead. The guy that was fishing with me ate it and said it was very good eating. Once the Brownies start coming we will be in fishing heaven, if there is one.



Screamin Steel -> RE: Pink Humpers.? (9/30/2008 9:40:38 PM)

Amen that. Bring on the brownies. I've never caught a brown over six lbs, and can't wait to see some coming in over ten lbs. Wonder what size they will be on average in 2010 when they are expected to start running?



indsguiz -> RE: Pink Humpers.? (9/30/2008 11:41:21 PM)

I have caught 2 pinks and again I believe it was 96 or 98 caught them in the lake at the mouth of Elk.  IMHO they are way better eating than kings, steelhead or even browns.  Caught my first trib brown last year, after over twenty years of fishing for them.



JEB -> RE: Pink Humpers.? (10/1/2008 7:10:09 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: bclev

I believe they only run every other year.  What we see in the PA tribs are from NY stockings I believe.


They are from lake Huron stock I beleive.



JEB -> RE: Pink Humpers.? (10/1/2008 7:14:17 AM)

The NY tribs also get a few Pinooks, Pink/Chinook(King) hybrids, Egg Sac got a monster a few years back. Eggie wheres that pic ?



Rocky2008 -> RE: Pink Humpers.? (10/1/2008 8:03:45 AM)

my buddy got a nice brown out of stop sign hole last year



dano -> RE: Pink Humpers.? (10/1/2008 4:35:33 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: egg sac

We tend to get a few pinks mostly on even numbered years. The best run( can not even realy call it that) was in 1996 when a god number were found in most creeks in pa with 20 mile having a decent number of them.


Thanks Tom, I couldn't remember exactly when. I knew it was mid 90's.
I happened to be on 20-Mile near the mouth when a decent run came through in early October or late September. Quite a few were caught that day. I think I got 3 or 4.
I had assumed the state stocked them a few years earlier. 
I've never seen a run of Pinks like that in Erie since then.



smallhook -> RE: Pink Humpers.? (10/1/2008 9:05:26 PM)

Hey Egg, is that a mullet your sportin back in 96?  Nice fish though.  Is there meat in those humps?



JEB -> RE: Pink Humpers.? (10/2/2008 7:45:31 AM)

[image]http://www.silverliningseafoods.com/pinkcan.jpg[/image]

Smallhook, YUMMY !!!!!!!



JEB -> RE: Pink Humpers.? (10/2/2008 7:49:10 AM)

[/link][link=http://www.mondragonphoto.com/stock/detail.php?imagenumber=F_1044][image]http://www.mondragonphoto.com/thumbnails/F_1044.jpg[/image]

Nice pic !!!!!!!!!



seejib -> RE: Pink Humpers.? (10/2/2008 11:32:49 AM)

Last year about this time maybe closer to the end of Oct. I was able to land a 5 Lb Brownie. I was fishing the shore at 20 mile right after dusk. They seemed to be more interested in large shiners that evening. I gave it to a friend, his Phillapino wife was jumping for joy when she saw it on the kitchen stove top.



scaremypsu -> RE: Pink Humpers.? (10/2/2008 1:50:24 PM)

somewhere between 96-98 there was a decent run of them in 20 mile.  My buddy and I caught probably 20 or so between the two of us.  Havn't really seen any since



seejib -> RE: Pink Humpers.? (10/2/2008 3:27:31 PM)

I've been told that when they run its a 1 day event, so if you miss it your s.o.l.



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