Wash. Chinook Salmon hunt 7/28/07

Woke up early to get out and fish for the hot Chinook bite that was supposed to be on.

About 10 min after I put my rig in the water I had my first hookup. It felt decent and after only 30 seconds of hooking up he went airborne about 100 yards away from me. I thought it was really strange for a salmon to go straight for the surface. It jumped a few more times and the line went slack..   I had a strange feeling the local harbor seal just got his breakfast. Something about the fish surfacing so quickly. Put the rig down again and continued to troll. BAM! Fish on! Another decent fish that I played for about 2 minutes before the line went slack again. This one stayed down so not really sure if it was the seal or just not hooked well. I pretty much thought my mojo was done since I usually only get a few hookups per day, but this was no ordinary day. 20 min later KA-BOOOOOM!! My line got a major tug and the line went peeling out. I grabbed the rod and every time I gained a little bit of line it went peeling out again. I fought for 15 min and had at least half my line off the spool and in the water. I hadn't seen that line since I first spooled that reel!. I started to finally gain some line but the fish wasn't done and made run after run still. Another 15 min later the fish finally made the water boil about 100 feet from the yak when the line went slack..    I hooked up another decent size fish after that also got off and then, finally hooked up and landed a 3lb. Pink.

I'm not sure why my mojo for landing fish was so bad yesterday. I had two brand new Gamakatsu (size 3 and 4) hooks on a hoochie rig and somehow they kept coming off. Anyone have any theories as to why I kept losing them? I hope there's some kind of explanation since I need to get over this!

Z

Picked some blackberries afterward and made milkshakes... gooooood

Hey Z,

With my experience with salmon up in the north and them schooling in numbers, its possible you could of easily fowled hooked them causing them to go airborn or your line just going thru there mouth (i call it flossing) and the lure(hoochie) just getting stuck temporally on the out side of there jaws without the hook actually sticking.

Whats the current regulations on what type of hooks are you allowed to use up there?

the #3 and #4 Gamakatsu are standard but I would use the 3/0 or 4/0 salmon-siwash hooks with the hoochie rig.

good luck! sound like you'r having a great time up there.

Nice looking blackberries would make a good sauce for some fresh salmon

Whats the current regulations on what type of hooks are you allowed to use up there?

Regs are all over the place every few weeks and from place to place.

the #3 and #4 Gamakatsu are standard but I would use the 3/0 or 4/0 salmon-siwash hooks with the hoochie rig.

Haven't looked too much time to into hooks. What makes the siwash better?

Z

Z,
I lived in Fremont for 3 years and had a blast fishing there.  You definitely should try Hood Canal.  I'll e-mail my buddy up there and get some of the names of exact spots for you.  You definitely should try the west side of hood canal for kings very soon, I think September is prime time for kings up to 35lbs.  Pay attention to when the Skokomish gets there run of fish.  Coho can be amazing is Dewatto bay also, but later in the year.

Haven't looked too much time to into hooks. What makes the siwash better?

Z
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I don't know if it makes it better.  It's more of a preference to me because the siwash has a longer shank than the regular octopus hook (I'm assuming thats what your using) compaired to the shorter shank and have to use two hooks. Here's a picture for compairson. I also feel it travels better through the water and have a more solid stick when a fish hits the bait. Try it and tell me what you think

Alex

I don't know if it makes it better.  It's more of a preference to me because the siwash has a longer shank than the regular octopus hook (I'm assuming thats what your using) compaired to the shorter shank and have to use two hooks. Here's a picture for compairson. I also feel it travels better through the water and have a more solid stick when a fish hits the bait. Try it and tell me what you think
Alex

Thanks for the advice Alien, I'll give it a shot!

I'll e-mail my buddy up there and get some of the names of exact spots for you.

Thanks bluefin, that would be awesome! I will be checking the Skokomish.

Z

Bryce:

Keep it up!  Hood sure looks like a nice place to kayak fish, we go there every once in a while and love it.

That first fish you lost sounds like a coho. They jump alot more than kings. Z- I grew up on Capitol Hill. Have you considered the Tulalip bay bubble? That's an easy put in and short paddle to the fish. The downside is that it's crowded. I spent my summers there.

DUDE!!...you are SO all over them!    That's alot of action and adrenaline pumpin....when is the on-the-water-shot gonna be taken?  Keep up the hunt&ports bra' !

Have you considered the Tulalip bay bubble?

Don't know exactly where that is. Kind of a conundrum having a spot that is good but crowded. NWKA member got bumped the other day while trolling Elliot Bay by a guy sitting in the back of the boat not paying attention where he was going.. Thank goodness for slow trolling!

when is the on-the-water-shot gonna be taken?

Will do FH . I'm just so focused all the time when I'm on the water. I'm staring down at the water like I know you bigguns are down there... 

Z

Tulalip Bay is in the indian reservation by Marysville. It's also known as Boom City because they can sell firecrackers etc. If you ever feel like a short road trip it's a good one. You're already at the north end anyway.
   Hermosa Point is at the west end of the bay. A block before it is a dead resort and the ramp is still there. A long time ago the state started giving the tribe a million or so salmon eggs to grow and release. There is no place to spawn so they just harvest them all. They fill the bay with gill nets. We did a lot of water skiing there, now there's too many nets.
  Anyway, it's a nice drive. There's a couple nice golf courses, one of them is Kayak Point, which is also a waterfront park that's an easy put in. You could go up I-5 and take the Marysville exit and go through the reservation and keep going to Stanwood, which is the way to Camano Island. You're pretty close to Anacortes by then too. You could just go back to I-5 from there for a shortcut back.
   Anyway they call the fishery a "bubble".  Should'nt be hard to look up.

Nice Z, its good to see your gettin into some salmon up there, man, I wouldn't change your lures or colors but get advise from some ole timers about hooks, then upgrade your rod and reel so you can horse them a little harder.  keep those reports comin!

Z, What kind of rod and line are you using? We've been getting into some smaller salmon here lately and it's been key to have light salmon rods and nice stretchy line. I've been putting about 60' of 20lbs Yozuri hybrid topshot on top of my spectra and using an 8'6"  8-15 lbs Seeker rod, and would go lighter, but there are still some bigger fish around. Been using kinked Mustad hooks too. Don't have a picture with me, but they're working great.   Good job on those fish and stick with it. Sounds like you're in a good zone up there. I have some friends in Seattle and I'm thinking about taking a road trip up in Sept. Keep the reports going, it's good motivation to get me to take a vacation.