With salmon returns—namely chum—swimming in at rate almost
doubling a day, Earl Steele, Fisheries instructor at Bellingham Technical
College meant it when he said “it’s a good run this year” with regards to
fishing.
Avid fishermen are lining the rails overlooking Whatcom Creek
in Maritime Heritage Park trying to snag some of the thousands of salmon
returning to spawn this fall—more than 8,500 just as of Oct. 27, in fact.
“We are over our
goal,” said Steele, referring to the 10,000 to 12,000 chum expected to pass
through the Whatcom Creek fish hatchery this season, which is double from last
year’s return.
Steele attributes this to many factors.
“There has been a steady increase of returns since we started
the program,” said Steele. “It was a dead stream before I started working here
in 1979."
Steele also mentioned that Chums are usually stronger on even
years, like 2014, because another species, the pinks, run on odd years and
“cause competition for resources.”
The Whatcom Creek Hatchery releases between 1.2 million and 2
million eggs each year. The returning salmon in the creek consists of about
two-thirds hatchery fish and one-third “wild,” according to Steele.
Bryce Washburn, a Bellingham Technical college student and fishing
enthusiast, enjoys fishing at Whatcom Creek because of it’s close to home—both
physically and personally.
“Lots of guys that fish here go to school with me,” he said.
“A lot of them aren’t here today because it’s raining, but rain brings the fish
in!”
For more information about fishing in Whatcom County:
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