[CQ-Contest] The elusive Washington State HamSockeye

[Michael Dinkelman]

The salmon are starting to bunch up at the mouths of the rivers of
Washington State waiting for the
fall rains to head up stream and spawn. There is the Chinook, the Coho, and
the nastiest but
rarest of them all...  the Washington State HamSockeye.

HamSockeye are only available during the Salmon Run Contest, September 19th
and 20th.
Amazingly, they can be caught in every county of the state - even those
with no ocean
access! That might be why these fish are not particularly good for eating
and when smoked,
smell like a sneaker worn on your feet all day in 90 degree heat. The flesh
is as tough as that
old climbing harness you have in the shed and darn near the same color.
Though most
are pretty fat, they have a lot of small bones too.

That's why we encourage you to catch as many as you want, to leave room for
the more
desirable species coming up the river's just a few weeks later. What to do
with them after you
catch 'em? Well, it's best to rototill them into the garden this Fall and
you'll have an amazing
garden by next Spring.

There is one HamSockeye that is catch and release only - W7DX. That old
boar is worth 500
points if you can hook it but you gotta cut him loose. If you do manage to
pull in enough
HamSockeye, you could be rewarded with smoked salmon from a more tastier
species.

Want to pull in some HamSockeye this year? Everything you need to know
should be at
www.wwdxc.org/salmonrun2020

If the answer isn't there, send me some email and I'll get you an answer.

Don't forget to check out the County activation page  at
http://salmonrun.wwdxc.org/
as we get closer to the Fall rains. In particular, to locate those
HamSockeye that wander
among the counties (fishfinders don't well work on these guys).

cheers
dink, n7wa at arrl.net