Sketched Oct. 11, 2016
Every fall, you can count on finding people staring down from a little pedestrian bridge just a block away from downtown Issaquah. They are watching migrating salmon enter the Issaquah State Salmon Hatchery, a government facility built in 1936 where the fish are artificially raised.
The hatchery’s outdoor complex couldn’t be any more welcoming. At any time of the day you can wander around and peek over the fish ladder or sit by viewing areas for an eyeball-to-eyeball look at the resilient fish. That’s where I drew a big angry chinook that kept biting all the other nearby salmon.
The site also includes many nicely illustrated displays where you can brush up on your salmon terminology. And this time of the year volunteer members of FISH (Friends of the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery) are often on site giving tours and ready to answer questions.
If you go: Chinook salmon runs usually end by mid-October but thousands of coho are expected through November. For more information, visit http://www.issaquahfish.org.