Fishing 2014

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  • #157
I usually take underprivileged kids in the local saltwater youth tournament since my kids are grown but it slipped up on me this year and I missed it. And I really missed it. It's really rewarding to see the grin on a kid's face as he fights his first shark or redfish or even a croaker for that matter and then when they step up on the platform at the weigh-in and win a new rod and reel and tackle box full of goodies, awesome. Then when you clean the fish and deliver them to their house and they tell Mom or Brother and Sister they caught these fish they're eating, it makes it even more special for them, knowing they helped feed the family. It makes you feel GOOD! It is better to give than to receive.
 
Orrin strikes again, her loves the fight!

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Put a nice hatchery King Salmon in the boat this past Friday out of North Puget Sound. Largest hatchery King I've ever landed. Needless to say I was pretty stoked. ;)

First fish for the new boat as well.

Gary
 

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Nice fish, Gary, what is the limit up there per day? How are yo going to eat it? Not sure how it applies to King, but Salmon raw is mighty fine, or litely grilled on the outside and still raw inside is a way that sushi places also serve it, a drop of good mayo on it. Did you drop your lead trolling weight and knock some other fish on the head?
 
Jay... I filleted it and got 2 huge slabs of meat. I also thinly sliced some raw meat off the tail section and ate it while I was doing the fillet job. I love raw salmon.

But we'll grill this puppy up this weekend with family and friends.

Limit this time of year is 1 hatchery Chinook (King) per person per day. Then by November its 2 Kings per day.

Gary
 
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  • #168
Very nice Gary! How do you tell the difference between hatchery and wild fish? I noticed the anal fin area on that one is red and the fin is split, is there a particular reason for that or is it normal?
 
Check out this link Ray: http://wdfw.wa.gov/hatcheries/mass_marking.html

The adipose fin is clipped on almost all hatchery fish. There are some hatchery broodstock programs where the adipose fins are not clipped. But it is mostly for Steelhead restoration.

So if there is an intact adipose fin on a Chinook (King) Salmon in WA State... you can almost asuredly bet it is a 100% wild fish. If there in no adipose fin, and there is a HEALED SCAR in the area, then it is a hatchery reared fish, and is legal to keep in areas where wild fish must be released. The hatchery Chinook and Coho stocks in Puget Sound are still very good as far as sport catchable numbers go. So it is almost a year around fishery. :)

The red near its anal area is caused by where Sea Lice attach themselves. Sea Lice are an external parasite that hang on near the anal area of saltwater fish. They are no harm to humans, and are not really a louse of any kind. Just the term given to them. When a salmon or steelhead hits fresh water the Sea Lice will die within a couple of days. So if you are river fishing for salmon and steelhead and they still have Sea Lice on them, they are damn near "ocean fresh".

Gary
 
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  • #170
That's very interesting info Gary, thanks. Your fish looks to be 8 or 10 lbs, hard to tell for sure, I know you're a big dude. Is that about an average sized fish? I see your downrigger too, do you troll for them? Some of our bay fish here, redfish in particular get the sea lice too.
 
I first thought it was around 16, till we got it home and weighed it. 19.5 pound Chinook. Any hatchery fish this time of year over 15 pounds is out of the norm. Most range from 7 to 12 pounds. There are wild fish being caught over 30 pounds, but they have to be turned back in most areas.

I got him off the downrigger in 120 feet of water. I was literally bouncing the 10 pound downrigger balls on the bottom. Used an 11" flasher trailing a Coho Killer spoon that mimics a candlefish (Sand Lance). There are a lot of candlefish in Puget Sound. When I opened up his belly my suspicion was confirmed as his gut was packed full of candlefish. You can't see it in my crappy pic, but his gill plates were all scratched up as well. Which means they are feeding on the candlefish on the bottom and rooting through the sand, gravel, and mud for them. :)

Gary
 
MB, you can troll for salmon without a downrigger, but with the weight directly on your line with no downrigger, after the fish strikes, a release clip drops your weight to the bottom, so you lose it. You don't want to fight a fish with all the weight still attached. There are a lot of lead balls on the ocean floor at salmon trolling grounds. A downrigger makes the one weight reusable, and all the weight isn't directly on your pole. Capiche?

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Well now, you boys have your Bill Dance and ya have your KVD and your Roland Whatshisname but here on the lower Potomac we have the man that sets the standard by which all other pros gauge themselves by....

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