I fished Westport for the last weekend of salmon fishing in area #2. We caught some big hatchery Coho to 17# and then I got the fish I have been looking for all summer, a Chinook of 48#. The big brute came on a Hot Spot flasher and squid at 130ft. I came down to the boat Sunday morning alone while the rest of the guys slept at 4am to tie up what turned out to be the successful combo. I was testing out some new Owner hooks in 6/0 size. I wasn't all that impressed but the hooks buried in the big fish and held well.

The fish off of our coast are gorging on huge sardines to about 12" long. The protein content of sardines is higher than herring and the fish seem to love them. We were doing real well earlier in the season with very large spoons to imitate the bait. This time the smaller hootchie did the job. The fish was much deeper than the Kings were cruising earlier in the season. Watching the sonar closely I could see a thermocline at 130ft. That is where I put the bait and it worked well.

Using the official salmon length/girth weight calculator I got 53.7#. It is all relative to me. The fish was so satisfying and especially in the last hour of fishing the coast for the year.

Thats what it is all about! Good job.

Which sonar are you using ?

Way to go, Grandpa2! What a great way to close the season!

This is the first year I fished out at Westport, but it won't be the last. I didn't get a huge king, but came away with three 28 lbers.

I can't imagine how big a 48 lber must be...

Way to go Granpa, we went to Westport also on Sunday, and picked up coho in the teens and , 22 and 20 pound kings. I thought that all the larger fish had left the area, but as we can see, they are still a few left!
It has been a great year out there this year, eh? Did you like the water yesterday, started out like a lake , then the wind started to blow and pretty soon, 8 foot seas started to build.

Take it easy, see you at the next show,

Ng

We actually looked for you Steve but didn't see your truck anywhere. We were parked at dock 21 Saturday night and again when we got back in at about 2pm. The water did build pretty good so by the time I had the big one on I had some stiff wind , waves and current to help the bruiser out making the fight tough. The crew was complaining all day about my big Frabill net with the 7' handle but when it came to hauling in the big Chinook it came in handy. I'm glad I had a good net man.

Grandpa, I was not in my boat, so I did not drive my truck. I was with Mark Abetz of Puget Sound Charters, he had fished Saturday and we came back on Sunday to fish on his vessel the "Relentless.

Ng