Before sunrise on Thursday, Rich Olson will position his boat at the north end of Puget Sound for the start of an event that anglers have been eagerly anticipating for weeks.

July 16 marked the opening of the Marine Areas 9 and 10 Chinook salmon selective fishery, a 45-day fishing bonanza that gives anglers the most access to the coveted species they’ve had in years. The selective fishery runs through Aug. 31 and unlike its previous two years, does not limit the number of fish that can be caught.

“I can hardly sleep, I’m so excited,” Olson said. “This is such a big thing.”

His enthusiasm is shared by anglers around Puget Sound, including Tony Floor, the Northwest Marine Trade Association’s director of fishing affairs. “Some anglers consider this day more important than Christmas,” Floor said recently. “I am in that camp.”

Anglers are particularly excited about catching Chinook, also called king salmon, Floor said. “Grilled, barbecued, smoked, whatever—it’s the prima donna of all the salmon species. It really represents who we are in the Northwest. It is our Mount Rainier of all fish species.”

This year's season promises a bountiful number of king salmon, an icon of the Northwest.

Under the selective fishery, anglers are only allowed to catch salmon missing an adipose fin, which indicates that they come from hatcheries and are among the 20 million hatchery Chinook released into Puget Sound annually by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Mike Chamberlain, owner of Ted’s Sports Center in Lynwood, said reports from anglers over the past week suggest a bountiful fishery through the end of August. Almost a dozen king salmon weighing up to 27 pounds were hooked Tuesday from the Edmonds pier—the only Area 9 location king salmon could be caught before Thursday—and anglers were reporting high catch-and-release numbers from Shilshole Bay to Edmonds this week, he said.

“The amount of fish we’ve been seeing move through the area is pretty good,” Chamberlain said. “We’re looking forward to some pretty decent fishing in the next 45 days.”

Anglers have been reading and listening to fishing experts, consulting with buddies and turning to tried-and-true strategies in preparation for the Chinook fishery. Olson will be in his Bayliner 24, Amanda Ann, at Point No Point near the entrance to Admiralty Inlet around 4:15 a.m. Thursday. He hopes to lure king salmon as they start biting at first light and before they head south.

Rich Olson and his daughter display a prized catch.

“Most local fishermen know that the South Sound king salmon come in before the North Sound king salmon,” Olson said. “Most of the bite goes by Point No Point to get to the South Sound.

“You’re pretty much heading them off at the pass.”

The expanded selective fishery comes at a time when economy-driven “staycations” are prompting many anglers to stick closer to home and numerous sports stores around the region have closed. Chamberlain said those factors have been a boon for his business.

“We’re just swamped,” he said. “This year, we have a greater opportunity to fish, and a lot of people have decided they’re staying home to fish.”

The fishery incorporates an area stretching from Admiralty Inlet to the northern end of Vashon Island. Unprecedented restrictions were imposed on coastal fisheries in the mid-1990s, when the federal government declared four stocks of Puget Sound wild Chinook salmon threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

For several years following, anglers were unable to identify a wild Chinook from a hatchery Chinook, making it virtually impossible to determine whether caught Chinook could legally be kept. But landmark legislation passed in 1995 mandated that the state mark its hatchery-produced Chinook and coho salmon by removing the adipose fin—a fatty fin between the dorsal and the tail—before the juvenile salmon are released.

After challenges by Puget Sound tribes and the scientific community, selective salmon fisheries were introduced in almost every saltwater area from Ilwaco to Puget Sound. In 2007, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife reopened summer king salmon fishing in Areas 9 and 10, marking the first time in more than a decade that anglers were allowed to catch and keep adult Chinook salmon caught in those areas.

Tony Floor's wife, Karyl, with salmon in hand.

Anglers descended in droves for the 7,000-fish quota and the fishery was closed in two weeks. Last year’s fishery, which had the same quota, lasted from July 16 to Aug. 15.

“It was really short,” Olson said. “There were very few days when the tides were just right and the weather was just right and you could go out there and just hit it.”

Floor credits U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks’ dedication to the issue for establishing this year’s no-limit selective fishery. A strong proponent of mass marking and a strong hatchery system, Dicks met repeatedly with tribes and the state in an effort to expand the selective fishery.

Dicks will join anglers on Saturday for the Elliott Bay Salmon Derby, held at Elliott Bay Marina in Seattle. The event is part of the Northwest Salmon Derby series, which includes 13 derbies held between February and September around the region.

The Elliott Bay derby runs from dawn to 2 p.m., with an awards ceremony from 2:30 to 3 p.m. First prize is $5,000 for the largest fish, and anglers can enter a raffle to win a 20-foot Stabi-Craft outfitted fishing boat worth $45,000. The winner will be announced Sept. 12 at the last derby, in Edmonds.

Dicks will be speaking at Saturday’s derby about the importance of selective fishing, which Floor said is critical to ensure fishing remains sustainable in Washington in the years ahead.

“This is the future of salmon fishing in our state—fishing for hatchery fish, releasing wish fish,” he said. “It’s very, very exciting for the sport fishing world. We think it’ll be good for tourism and good for fishing.”

* Editor’s note: the fish shown in these photos both have the adipose fin intact and would not be legal under the current fishery; the photos were taken before all hatchery-raised fish in Washington state were marked.

About Deborah Bach

Deborah Bach is the editor and co-founder of Three Sheets Northwest. She is an avid sailor and long-time professional journalist. You can find Deborah aboard Three Sheets, an Island Packet 38, with her husband Marty and their cat Lily.

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