Monterrey Bay Salmon

[BumpBailey]

Hi All,

Like all of you I am doing the right thing and only dreaming of fishing these days. I really want to get out and self-isolate on a river but, I know it isn't the right thing to do. So, with all of extra time on my hands to ponder all things fishing. And, with the Salmon season about to open(maybe), I got to wondering about the salmon in the Monterrey Bay.

Question for the salmonid experts out there. Where do these salmon of the Monterrey Bay originate? They can't all be of San Lorenzo, Salinas, Carmel, Big Sur originations, can they? Are they Central Valley Fish? Are they from our northern coastal rivers? Or, is it all of the above and they are all just migratory fish chasing bait down the coast in the spring and early summer?

Be well all. We'll get through this.

J.K.

[Bob Smith]

Most Monterey Bay chinook originate from Central Valley stocks, however there are many stocks that mix together and may be present including Klamath, Northern California Coast and Southern Oregon Coast.

[Fishtopher]

Bob is correct. Various Chinook stocks intermingle with one another along the entire West Coast. Generally, the fish off Monterey are CV origin, but they could be from anywhere from CA to AK.

If you're really interested, there should be some CDFW reports that describe the coded wire tag (CWT) results at each major port. CWT's are small tags with unique IDs that are implanted in 25% of the hatchery-origin Chinook in CA and in 100% in the other states and BC. They do this to find out the exact question you are asking about.

[John Sv]

What’s the skinny on the silver salmon? Every once in a while they seem to be incidentally caught in some numbers there

[Fishtopher]

What’s the skinny on the silver salmon? Every once in a while they seem to be incidentally caught in some numbers there

Coho generally stay closer to home compared to Chinook. Incidental catches are more common the further north you get. I'd wager that Coho caught in Monterey are most likely Scott Creek origin, since there is a hatchery.

[John Sv]

Thanks for that

[avidangler]

" They can't all be of San Lorenzo, Salinas, Carmel, Big Sur originations, can they?" Nope. Klamath basin/Sac system fish,mostly Sac. There are resident silver populations in the San Lorenzo,and Scott Creek systems ,with hatchery supplementation.

[tcorfey]

This is just my opinion but based on my experience the early salmon are in Monterey bay because of the canyon or deep water being so close to the shore. As the fish move up on to the shelf and out of the deep water people start getting them in Ano Nuevo and then Half Moon Bay and then the submarine area off SF and around the Farallons, when the area was open Fanny Shoals would get a good early bite sometimes and off Bodega bay and Pt Reyes would get some early fish. As the months went on and fish moved closer to shore the hot spot will usually be off the Marin Coastline the radio towers, double point, and still later off Bolinas and Rocky Point (picked up some big Salmon at Rocky late in the year sometimes). It seems for many migratory species including Salmon and Tuna the Canyons and deep water are the highways of the Pacific. Then the Salmon move to the shelf and ultimately the river mouths as the spawning urge hits.

Remember that is just my experience I am not a fisheries biologist but it is what I go on.

Regards,

Tim C.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Someone just told me that because of the dam removals on the Rogue river their salmon runs have been excellent.

[BumpBailey]

Cool stuff! Thank you all.

[Carl Blackledge]

Bill,

I have found that for the last two years on the Rogue river the Salmon fishing just sucks 100% same as the Smith and Checto We need to start harvesting the fur bags.

Carl

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Here is an email response I just got from Chris Pasley who manage a big federal fish hatchery in Washington State:

Hi Bill

My friend Barry lives in Los Altos and fishes out of Monterey Bay a lot. Last year was one of the best years, maybe the best, he has ever seen. I thought I read a forecast for another good season this coming summer. Ocean conditions have been more favorable down in that area in comparison to the North Pacific. We are looking at another down year for both salmon and steelhead on the Columbia River system.

Chris

[OceanSunfish]

Bill,

I have found that for the last two years on the Rogue river the Salmon fishing just sucks 100% same as the Smith and Checto We need to start harvesting the fur bags.

Carl

This is already happening on the Columbia/Willamette systems. I understand the thinning slowed a bit due to over burdening the processor.

[Bkane]

They started shooting them in Washington.