Sunny weather, non-stop smiles, and non-stop action are what pink salmon fishing in and around Puget Sound is all about, and this blog post is going to get you primed! You will want to bookmark it as the hordes of Pink Salmon make their into Puget Sound, the graphs on this page will let you know where exactly the run is at. I can hardly contain my excitement!
Pink Salmon almost always evoke strong emotions—whether excitement, disdain, or even both! They arrive in massive hordes, offering endless saltwater and freshwater fishing opportunities while also making it difficult to target Chinook and Coho Salmon effectively.
The goal of this blog post is to show you daily updated data on where pink salmon are being caught, what time of year they usually get caught in which marine area, and give you helpful links to more how-to information and helpful gear you might make use of to target these pinks.
When and where to catch hordes of Pink Salmon in 2025?
I’m so glad you asked! Now, of course, when depends on where, but I’ve prepared some extra special content for you to get dialed in to the best places to target pink salmon.
This is a creel graph of Marine Area 5, around Sekiu on the western end of the Strait of Juan De Fuca. As you can see catches of pink salmon start in early July as the season begins, but the run really moves in around late July and into early August.
Here’s Marine Area 9 / Admiralty Inlet, the bridge waterway connecting the Strait to the Puget Sound. You can see the first pink salmon start to get caught as the season opens in mid-July, but again the run really moves in about the 1st to 2nd week of August.
Here’s Marine Area 10, around Seattle and the heart of Puget Sound, and the run of pink salmon is here in force starting the 2nd-3rd week of August all the way into the last week of August, extending into September when they really start to move up the rivers in good numbers.
Lastly, here’s Marine Area 11 around Tacoma/Vashon Island. By the 3rd week of August, the numbers of pinks are really strong.
I would expect all of these numbers/timings to be earlier and later than the peak that’s showing up here due to the run size expected in 2025.
Where the current catching is happening for Puget Sound and Strait
All of the below creel graphs update automatically when reports are published by WDFW. I wouldn’t expect to see much here until July through September time period.
Marine Area 5
Marine Area 6
Marine Area 8-2
Marine Area 9
Marine Area 10
Where are the Pink Salmon numbers going to be the most bonkers?!?
There are a few marine areas and rivers that are going to be absolutely stuffed with pink salmon that you will definitely want to key in on in your 2025 pink salmon quest!
2025 is expected to be one of the biggest runs of the last 10 years and the 3rd largest in the past 16 years.
We are supposed to get nearly 8 million pinks in 2025, which is just stupidly good. But where are all these pinks headed? Will all the marine areas benefit? Who might be primed to get a bonus limit of pinks?
Okay, for starters, the North Sound is the one area going down in Pink Salmon forecasts in 2025, which is a bummer for sure.
The Mid Sound is expected to produce some huge numbers with both the Green and Puyallup Rivers expected to get many more pinks.
The Sound Sound is also supposed to do extremely well, largely on the strength of the Nisqually River expected to get an extra 1 million pink salmon!
Lastly, Hood Canal is expecting an almost 5x increase in Pink Salmon! That’s going to be insane!
What Rivers will be the best to fish for Pinks (humpies) in 2025?
Okay, so there’s going to be almost 8 million pinks, I get it…But, where do we fish for these? You can fish freshwater or saltwater with great success, but let’s get into more details:
There are two rivers that are going to get absolutely slammed with pinks above rational levels: The Nisqually River and the Green River. The Nisqually had a lot of pinks 2 years ago when it had about 400k pinks, now it’s going to get 1.4 million Pinks!
The Green had a crap ton of pinks 2 years ago when it had 800k; now it’s supposed to get 1.8 million! We are approaching pinksurd levels of Pinks!
If you can’t catch a pink salmon on the Green or Nisqually in 2025, just sell all your fishing gear, it’s over, you weren’t meant to be a salmon angler! Perhaps bluegill is more your thing?
I’ve written an extensive how-to guide on Pink Salmon Fishing that’s really geared toward the freshwater you should take a look at to get you ready for the season with the right gear and the right techniques.
Check out my post about fishing in Puget Sound for more information about targeting Pinks in marine waters.
You are going to be able to catch pinks in all the marine areas the run of pink salmon has to traverse to their natal streams, but Marine Areas 10 and 11, in particular, should be quite good.
Typically, fishing the deep south sound hasn’t been a place to target humpies, but that could change due to the huge number expected back at the Nisqually River this year.
My own personal creel check of catches on the Puyallup River shows the biggest numbers in that last week of August, the first week of September, and likewise for places like the Nisqually and Green.
Did you buy enough pink squid jigs yet?
Here’s a link to some squid jig heads and the pink squid skirts to match it up with. You can use these in the saltwater or freshwater to drop the hammer on these pinks!
