Pink Years?

[btree]

I'm trying to figure out how "pink years" work...I understand that every second year tends to be a run of pinks...but I also assume that the off years still have a run, just not as strong. I also assume that different rivers have runs that may run strong while others will not in a given year - example: River "A" has strong runs on odd years, while River "B" has strong runs on even years.

Is this the case? Or do I have it all messed up in my head.

Or, more importantly, is this going to be a good year for Pinks on the rivers around the north shore. I'm thinking the Seymour here It used to have decent numbers of pinks when I was a kid...any others I should be aware of?

I'll be spending a few weeks in North Van at the end of July and start of August, but don't want to have more than an hour drive / boat to get to my fish and am after coho, pinks and what ever else is in the water

[11th Warrior]

If I can say so....get your @ss over here to the Campbell in August!! It's going to be fantastic!

[btree]

Well, while my parents are down, we'll be a bit early, and based in North Van, so C.River is not on. We'll be fishing the mouth of the Capilano River for Coho (hoping we can time the run a bit better than the last few years).

I'll have to run up to Campbell on my own which sounds like a hoot!

Any steel in the water say around the 18th - 25th of August? I'd love to get a cooler full of pinks for the smoker and then get serious after a bigger battle. I imagine there are possibly chums, coho and the odd spring around too?

I think I'm gonna love living on the island :yeah:

[tbar24]

most rivers strong pink runs are odd years like this year fo example. the even years still have runs but not as strong, but some rivers on the island have the rivers stocked to be every year runs. i think the campbell may be one but i can't remember

[professori]

"On the southern coast, the consequences of breeding true have been evident for 70 years. In the early 1920s, a major landslide at Hell's Gate , a treacherous obstacle on the Fraser River, prevented virtually all pink salmon from migrating to their short spawning streams. Since then, pink salmon have returned in catchable numbers only in odd-numbered years, swinging south around Vancouver Island on their approach from the open Pacific. In mid-island waters, pink return in both even- and odd-numbered years, while on the northern coast of British Columbia, pink return to short coastal streams in even-numbered years."

http://www.bcadventures.com/adventur...nksalmon.phtml

[btree]

Thanks guys, now I know

[flyfishforfun]

They (scientists) think that the even/odd thing evolved during the last ice age. There were two areas that were not covered in ice- one was the Olympic peninsula area and part of Washington and the other was up north, in Alaska. The rest of the continent was covered in a massive sheet of ice= no fish living there. They say that, although it was by far cold enough for ice in Alaska, there was very little snowfall, so it stayed mostly ice free, which meant that fish survived.

This situation created two isolated Pink populations. Once the glaciers retreated, the populations spread. Nowadays, they overlap. The southern (odd years) population moved up, into the Fraser and Van Island, while the northern (even years) population moved down. So you get fish both years in the overlapping part of their range.

Pinks are two year returners. Thats why they are relatively small. There are very very few that return after three years, so the two populations stay almost completely genetically isolated (until someone in a hatchery thinks up a smart idea).

Because of their specialized, two year life cycle, many scientists consider them the most highly evolved of the pacific salmon.

One more fact- they LOVE pink clousers!

[Islander]

Btree - the pinks return to the Campbell/Quinsam every year due to the hatchery on the Quinsam. However the beach fishing on the inside passage all along the area is only this good every odd year (being 2009 this is that odd year).
As for asking if there will be any steelhead around near the end of August, that's a mighty fine question.
A couple years ago they released a couple hundred 6" steelhead in the Campbell and this will potentially be the first year for their return. But we have no idea how many will have survived nor exactly when they will return.
So there is always the chance that there will be one or two in the system when you get here, you'll just have to fish around the pinks which will still be pretty darn thick in the river.
Bring beach gear for pinks too, cause you will literally see them jumping in the evenings from one end of town to the other just a few feet off the shore.

[ed604]

hopefully the pinks will return soon!

[jonebay]

I hope it will return.In the early 1920s, a major landslide at Hell's Gate , a treacherous obstacle on the Fraser River,prevented virtually all pink salmon from migrating to their short spawning streams.Since then,pink salmon have returned in catchable numbers only in odd-numbered years,swinging south around Vancouver Island on their approach from the open Pacific.Thanks.