Hope your sitting down

Catch and release fishing for salmon should be off limits forever.  Salmon species just don't respond favorably physiologically to this type of fishing.

Eriks not the kind of guy to be fishing on the redds.

Thanks, Mike.   

Abdiver - I see the point you're making, and I largely agree, but I tried to be very descriptive of the behavior I saw that tells me salmon are not always just striking out of aggression in the river.  I wish I had a video of it!  We're talking crystal clear water with the sun on it, 10' deep or more, I'm pulling in my Little Cleo and it's on top - I'm thinking, "there's NO WAY I'll catch one with my lure up on top of clear, sunny water like that..."  and just then a 25 pounder comes up from the bottom and nails it!  I've never seen anything like it since, so I'd definitely say it's rare.  I just don't buy that salmon are only sitting there, not engaging anything while in the river.  I also know that they have no reason to eat, so it is somewhat of a paradox.

I think Joe said it best:

Catch and release fishing for salmon should be off limits forever.

I totally agree with that, but as long as it's open I'll still entertain the idea of fishing.

When December comes I'm just a spectator though.  Here's a 30-50 pounder with a "school" of 10-20 pound suitors hanging out.   

Abking,
Awesome photo and keep them coming.  Maybe we need a new forum "Nature pics/experiences and you could moderate!  I will also be posting a lot of spawning/adult and juvenile photos (from the Russian River) this coming fall/winter and then spring.

Maybe we need a new forum "Nature pics/experiences" and you could moderate

Thanks, Joe.  I'd be totally into that.   

I will also be posting a lot of spawning/adult and juvenile photos (from the Russian River) this coming fall/winter and then spring.

Coho I hope

Abdiver - I see the point you're making, and I largely agree, but I tried to be very descriptive of the behavior I saw that tells me salmon are not always just striking out of aggression in the river.  I wish I had a video of it!  We're talking crystal clear water with the sun on it, 10' deep or more, I'm pulling in my Little Cleo and it's on top - I'm thinking, "there's NO WAY I'll catch one with my lure up on top of clear, sunny water like that..."  and just then a 25 pounder comes up from the bottom and nails it!  I've never seen anything like it since, so I'd definitely say it's rare.  I just don't buy that salmon are only sitting there, not engaging anything while in the river.  I also know that they have no reason to eat, so it is somewhat of a paradox.

Hey Eric
I pulled this out of an older biological report done by individuals from credible agency's (California Cooperative Fishery Research Unit, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)  which I have attached but this might give a little explanation of your event.

Here's a couple of excerpts from the report

“Depth is important in spawning site selection because it affects the hydraulic "head" and intragravel flow. Chinook salmon are reported to spawn at depths up to 10 m in large rivers (Chapman 1943), generally favor depths less than 3 m"...

"Salmon do not usually feed after entering freshwater and severe atrophy of the digestive system sets in before spawning begins"..

“Those in the winter and spring runs may remain in deep pools near their spawning grounds for as long as 5 months before their eggs ripen and spawning begins (Hallock and Fry 1967).”

Maybe we need a new forum "Nature pics/experiences

I would love to get my hands on an underwater camera and take some pictures while diving of the different runs up the American....schools of a hundred or more shad, the striper's.. occasional sighting of the bid daddy that lives below Ancil Hoffman, and the Salmon.