Ship Creek jumps to six salmon a day as coho pour in

Anglers on Ship Creek can keep six salmon a day starting 12:01 a.m. Friday, Aug. 7, after state surveys counted more than 1,100 coho moving past the sport fishery toward the hatchery. The higher limit, six a day and six in possession, runs through Dec. 31 and covers coho, chum, sockeye and pink 16 inches or longer, in any combination. Kings don't count, and can't be kept.

Fish are still entering the creek daily, and the department expects the return to cover the hatchery's coho broodstock needs while leaving fish to spawn and for viewing. "There are adequate numbers of hatchery-produced coho salmon in the creek to meet broodstock goals and more harvest opportunity can be provided," area biologist Brittany Blain-Roth said.

The limit swings with the run. The department raised Ship Creek to six fish last July after a nearly identical count of about 1,100 coho, and it cut the limit to a single fish back in August 2024 when the run came in low.

Kings are a separate story. Under an order from July 1, no kings can be kept for the rest of the year, and any hooked have to be released. That followed an 11-day closure in early July over a king shortfall at the hatchery, before the creek reopened with kings off-limits.

One rule worth remembering at the bank: a coho 16 inches or longer that you lift from the water has to be kept, and it counts against the bag of whoever hooked it.