British angler Michael is pleased with his 29-pound Sapsuk River king salmon .
equipped with Winston Boron III Spey rods ( including a 15 ’ 9-weight and a 13.5 ’ 8-weight ) and high-quality disc drag reels ( Loop Evotec and Orvis Hydros ; I left my classic Hardys at home , knowing full well that these click-pawl reels would be inadequate for handling the powerful kings ). Skagit shooting heads attached to floating running lines , along with an array of sink tips , stout leaders , and an assortment of large attractor flies rounded out my tackle arsenal .
The first day of angling began with the alarm sounding off at 0300 , followed by breakfast thirty minutes later , and departure at the onset of first light . Besides Mark , Michael , and I , our camp was fully occupied and included three French anglers , who had booked two consecutive weeks ; each trio rotated between the two guides , allowing us to change fishing beats every day .
We drew the upper water and stopped first at the Cabin Corner , a deep pool formed via current scour against a hard clay bank . Casting in the gathering light , I was rewarded with a grab on a chartreuse Bjorn Stinger Prawn during my third swing . I waited for what seemed like excruciatingly long moments as the gentle tugs morphed into steady pulls , culminating in a deep rod arc before I finally jabbed the hook home with a simultaneous sharp yank on glenn chen photo the line and swift lifting of the tip . A series of violent headshakes , followed by the hair-raising sensation of being attached to an unstoppable moon rocket , ensued as the big buck powered across the hole and sought safety amidst the boulders lying in the tailout . I barely managed to turn him using maximum reel drag and pressure from the stout 9-weight ; he eventually returned to the depths of the main pool , seesawing back and forth in the current as I constantly changed rod angles in an effort to confuse him and shorten the fight . Following a 10- plus minute tussle , Joe arrived with the net , and we successfully landed , then gently released , the 25-pound , mint-chrome male chinook .
After concerted efforts from all three anglers yielded no additional takes , we motored up to the Weir Pool , named for the sockeye salmon counting structure placed at its head by State fisheries managers ( used to collect data for monitoring returns of this commercial important species ). Hundreds of chinook can be found here during the peak of the run , rolling on the surface and causing startling disturbances akin to catapulting giant stones into the flows . A reluctance to negotiate the sockeye weir , however , also slows their upstream passage ; thus , kings tend hold here for lengthy periods after arriving , becoming darker and disinclined to strike ; we therefore hoped that there would newer fish available to bend our rods .
Switching to my 8-weight Spey outfit , I began to work the top of the hole with a series of concentric swings . After casting the heavy 9-weight for hours each day during the prior week , using the lighter rod was a welcome change , and provided some relief to my sore wrist and overly strained forearm … until that berserk henfish grabbed my blue and black Prawn and sprinted off downriver , as if all of the seals in the Bering Sea were chasing her .
I did manage to land my next hookup — an 18-pound , super bright buck — and all of us continued to have grabs by chinook in the Weir Pool
26 SALMON THE TAILOUT & STEELHEAD JOURNAL
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