Northwest Fishing Reports

The title says it all. Went to the upper skagit for some mature hen pink limits for eggs. Hooked over 150 pinks today, every cast for 10 hours, twitching pink jigs. Well we get to a nice pocket and something a LITTLE bigger than a pink SLAMS the twitching jig. 45 minute fight, downriver at least a mile or more and we finally get a look at a behemoth 44.5 inch length by 28 girth Native Fall Chinook. You do the calculations on that one!!! Snapped a quick pick and i held him for a while to get his energy back. With a light pink rod and 10lb test we couldnt put any pressure on him and he really got exhausted, but after a good revive he bolted back. Biggest chinook ive caught in my life. We also got a 30 pound chinook on a vibrax, about 20 minutes before, also an amazing thing, but this fish makes me not even think about the 30. lol! Heres the quick picture i took before sending him on his way, he never left the water, not like i could pick him up anyway

Picture below of the fish and the jig that he devoured

Pics or it didn't happen

natetreat wrote:Pics or it didn't happen

just posted them from my computer, refresh it!

Man, that's dangerous on the quiddy store bought hooks. I've bent them out on a five pound pink! That's luck right there. Those bigguns are the fun ones!

natetreat wrote:Man, that's dangerous on the quiddy store bought hooks. I've bent them out on a five pound pink! That's luck right there. Those bigguns are the fun ones!

dude, whole fight i had that exact thought, the hooks are terrible, pull too hard on a pink and they bend, it was insane, i just went really easy on him, and took about half my day to get him tired

Need to get some of my jigs with the owners. Humpy jig/ stump pullers!

Awesome fish though! Probably never see one that big again in the river

Great catch! I am jealous ;)

He took a picture of him with my fish lol jk lol

Holy cow, Danny! What an amazing fish! I really had no idea they got over 40 in that system still! Nice work as always, but really exceptional job getting that in on humpy gear and a cruddy jig!

last year we saw some behemoth kings last year while fishing for the coho, some carcasses I swear were 5ft long no joke and when they jump they make the loudest splash ever. crazy you actually got one to bite, hopefully that bad boy passes on his genes, maybe one day they will open up that fishery. bcustom1, they have on record a 98lber caught from the bacon creek area, of course it was gaffed but it completely dwarfed the guy in the photo, I think it is at the hatchery?

Thanks Hunter, good info. You've been slaying the silvers! We should fish the Squally soon! They are in and ive got 45lbs of eggs lol.

Holy Jeez!! Nice fish. Few years ago fishing silvers in marblemount i saw one washed up i swear was pushin 60. thing was massive

countryboy87 wrote:Holy Jeez!! Nice fish. Few years ago fishing silvers in marblemount i saw one washed up i swear was pushin 60. thing was massive

Yes sir! Like bratbonker said the skagit is known for its monster fall chinook (or whats left of them)

bcustom1 wrote:Holy cow, Danny! What an amazing fish! I really had no idea they got over 40 in that system still! Nice work as always, but really exceptional job getting that in on humpy gear and a cruddy jig!

Yea the skagit has always had monster chinook. My dad saw them pushing 70 lbs back in the 1970s. But the chinook are protected now, their numbers are not what they use to be

bcustom1 wrote:Thanks Hunter, good info. You've been slaying the silvers! We should fish the Squally soon! They are in and ive got 45lbs of eggs lol.

sounds like a plan, message me details.
idk why they are protected, last october floating down from marblemount we saw literally hundreds in there spawning beds just below the bridge not too mention all the ones downstream.

Nicely done! I like the bend in the jig!!!!! I've had that happen with the big ones and I know you were just holding your breath hoping it wouldn't let go. I used to fish the Nooksack delta when I lived in Marietta, Cutts and Kings.

what pound test do you like twitchin jigs with?

Nice as usual, Danny. Would have been nice to see a video on this one.
Oh, and I love the word 'behemoth' in a report.

I feel bad for the fish. Just minding its business and like always Danny has to come along and show it who's boss.
Nice work man! I bet that was an awesome fight!

You may want to get your mug in a mag with this fish, Danny.
That being said, WTF! You go way up the Skagit for humpy eggs and hook this beast.
Neighbor has been catching/releasing large(20#-35#) native and hatchery kings in MA 7 for about a month.