Big salmon run at Seattle’s Ballard Locks is wowing visitors

Big salmon run at Seattle’s Ballard Locks is wowing visitors

Source: seattletimes

8/18/2023

Credit: Karen Ducey / The Seattle Times

Salmon are swaggering through Ballard and it’s a show not to be missed.

The windows at the fish ladder at the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks are shimmering with fish. Not just any fish, but the toast of Seattle, big silvery Chinook thick as a thigh.

The run right now is hitting better than 400 Chinook a day. But don’t put off your visit, August is peak viewing season as these fish make their epic journey from the sea to their spawning grounds. Mouths agape, their snaggle teeth showing, they are still silver-bright from the sea. Big too, with many that look to be 30 pounds or more.