Looking for Good Pink Fishing for Kids

[CaptP]

I am looking for a place to Fish for Pink Salmon with my kids. Why Pinks? My children are two and four years old so I want to get them into some fish that are abundant enough to keep up their interests and these Salmon are still a manageable size for them to haul in.

This is my attempt to introduce them to the world of sport fishing to pique their interests.

I've heard Hope and Montana Creek are the places to go. I figure it should not be hard to find a large amount of Pink Salmon presence with not many fisherman around (since they are not table food for most anyway).

Anyone have any good suggestions of a place no more than 2 - 3 hours drive from Anchorage I could take the Kids?

[skydiver]

Yep

Hope, Hope, and Hope.

[jmg]

Pinks are thick

I agree with skydiver - Hope is the place to be. I went there last Thursday and took some company from Michigan who had never really done any fly fishing. They caught several pinks and had a great time.

BUT, more importantly, I also took my wife and 2 year old daughter. Wife caught a few and had a great time. I hooked several fish and passed the rod on to my daughter. I tightened the drag down on the reel so that the fish could not run out far. She had an absolute blast trying to reel these things in. Word of caution however. Although she had so much fun fishing for them, once I got the fish landed and it was picture time, it was a constant "no touch fish daddy." The fish scared her to death. We got some good pictures though of her with her first salmon. Good luck.

[chrisg]

I am looking for a place to Fish for Pink Salmon with my kids. Why Pinks? My children are two and four years old so I want to get them into some fish that are abundant enough to keep up their interests and these Salmon are still a manageable size for them to haul in.

This is my attempt to introduce them to the world of sport fishing to pique their interests.

Or you could teach them that a fish isn't meant to be played with. That they could try to catch one, kill it, clean it & eat it.

I'm not trying to be a jerk, just saying you have the opportunity to teach them respect for living creatures at an impressionable age.

[jmg]

Chrisg,

I would have to disagree that fish are not meant to be played with. If they are not, then many anglers are completely wrong in practicing catch-and-release fishing. Maybe you disagree with that method of fishing, I don't know. When I fished with my two year old this past week, once I pulled the fish out of the water for the picture, I then put it back in, facing upstream, and explained to her the proper method of releasing a fish so that it could on its way to either be caught another day, or to spawn and make more fish (I also explained this to the company that was fishing with me as they had never released fish before). To me, this is a respectful way of fishing. My daughter also knows that we eat salmon, pretty much every week, and she has seen me kill, clean, and fillet several of them. But fishing for sockeyes or halibut (fish we prefer to eat) is a bit beyond the attention span of a 2 year old, so we hit the pinks as well, and grayling and dollies, just for fun.

[Alaska Gray]

Head to Hope and you will find your PINKS!!!!!!!

[fishermann222]

always for the kids

I think it is funny that any time someone says they are looking for pinks they say it is for the kids or guests or what not. Are some of us up here turning into fish snobs? What is wrong with going out and catching and releasing a pile of humpies. I did it a few weeks ago and it was a blast. I think it is just as much fun if not more fun than catching reds. Is it because they don't taste real well that people are afraid to say they like to fish for them or what?

[jmg]

That is pretty funny fisherman222. I actually love to catch a pile of pinks now and then. But if I had the choice, I would rather chase sockeyes that I will put in the freezer for the winter. But pinks are definitely a hoot to get into. I think the kids/guests discussions always come up though because it seems like when the pinks are in, you are pretty much guaranteed to catch fish - something generally required to hold the attention span of kids/out-of-state guests. My 2 year olds' patience probably would not last long if I took her for, say, a day of king fishing on the Kenai where the average fish caught takes about 8 hours of fishing time.

[Marcus]

Agree. . .

Or you could teach them that a fish isn't meant to be played with. That they could try to catch one, kill it, clean it & eat it.

I'm not trying to be a jerk, just saying you have the opportunity to teach them respect for living creatures at an impressionable age.

Couldn't agree more!

[fishermann222]

chrisg and marcus

Is fishing at all fun for you guys??? Or do you do it just for the meat? Because I hate to break it to you but you can buy the meat for a heck of alot cheaper at the store than fishing for them. So it MUST be fun, so why the rude remark? What is wrong with sportfishing? If people kept everything they caught all the time the fishing would go downhill quite rapidly.

[Marcus]

Personal opinion. . .

Is fishing at all fun for you guys??? Or do you do it just for the meat? Because I hate to break it to you but you can buy the meat for a heck of alot cheaper at the store than fishing for them. So it MUST be fun, so why the rude remark? What is wrong with sportfishing? If people kept everything they caught all the time the fishing would go downhill quite rapidly.

My apologies if my remarks came across as rude. I thought I was just expressing a personal opinion.

[SockeyOrange]

One more opinion..

I fish for food and fun, it will come as no surprise to Marcus that I disagree with him on the issue of ethics when it comes to catching a fish with a rod versus a net, or catch and release. I for one cant wait until my boys are old enough to catch salmon and I can bet they will start with pinks. I'm all ears if anyone has a good pink recipe?


P.S - I do feel if you are going to catch and release use a barbless hook, and learn the proper technique for returning a fish to the water. Size up your gear, this will give you an advantage and allow you to land the fish quickly.

[skydiver]

pinks

1) File down barb
2) Cast into water for pinks
3) Hook pink
4) Quickly land pink
5) Carefully release (don't rip the hook out and then kick the fish back into the stream) pink
5) Smile
6) Repeat

[Marcus]

Say what?

I fish for food and fun, it will come as no surprise to Marcus that I disagree with him on the issue of ethics when it comes to catching a fish with a rod versus a net, or catch and release. I for one cant wait until my boys are old enough to catch salmon and I can bet they will start with pinks. I'm all ears if anyone has a good pink recipe?


P.S - I do feel if you are going to catch and release use a barbless hook, and learn the proper technique for returning a fish to the water. Size up your gear, this will give you an advantage and allow you to land the fish quickly.

I fish for food and for fun too, at the same time of course, SockeyOrange, but what that has to do with the ethics of fishing with a rod versus a net totally escapes me. Heck, "fishing" for reds isn't even fishing — it's flossing.

Let's just say that when you acknowledge that there's a "proper" technique for returning a fish to the water and when you advocate barbless hooks, you are essentially admitting you're using the fish, putting its life at risk, just for the sake of fun. I can't do that.

As for a good pink recipe, here's my take: reds and king are very "robust" meat, very flavorful and will accomodate a variety of treatments without stifling or covering up the fish's flavor. Pinks are much milder. Try using any recipe you'd use for halibut.

[SockeyOrange]

Take a breath Marcus..

Marcus
I was reffering to our earlier discusion when you stated to me that catch a fish in a net is more ethical than with rod. Someone with that opinion obviouly would not agree with the concept of catch and release, don't you ever fish for rainbows? Taking the moral high ground on catch and release just won't fly and will not be all that popular around here. In response to red fishing flossing, I completely disagree. Sure with some folks snag reds and hope for a head shot, but ask most fly fishers and they will say (Read Anthony Routes sp? book) reds do bite. If you can show me a study that catch and release has a negative effect on pinks I will stop doing it but is has to be "Nerka" style science, not agenda junk science.

PS- maybe you should change you font/size. It comes off like your yelling.