Fished one of the Big C tribs recently with Stlhdr1. It was an OK day on the river.

There were plenty of shiny cohos splashing about, and we even managed to get a few to bite.



We were not out for yoyo's, but for nooks. Fortunately, we found a few of those, too!

I'm not too sure this photo does this fish any justice, but I am pretty sure this was THE CHROMEST river nook that I've ever seen landed. This beauty probably came over the bar no more than 2 days ago, as you can still see some sea lice on it.



Although not as large, still a nice CHROMER nook for any river. I like to consider this a "good BBQ'ing sized fish".



And it just wouldn't be "fishing" without the Babes and some Nooky, especially when the Nooky is dang near as large as the Babe!

Ooohhhh, nice chromes! parker.

Yet another Owner advocate. Ya gotta love those hooks.

nice lookin chromies

Now that I have no affiliation with Vision (whatsoever), and I no longer get any free hooks out of them, A-MEN to that, brotha!

Owner Cutting and Needle Points all the way! Just wish I could get those for free.....

Actually, I was split between using Visions and Owners on this trip. I didn't miss any fish on either, none of them bent out, or broke, so I really can't and don't complain about Visions. I still like the #1's to 4/0's. Good range of hooks for steelhead and salmon. I will gladly continue to use up my existing stocks of Visions. I've got enough to last me a while....

Man Parker.....BLING-BLING!!!!!!

Wow, that chick is hot!

Nice fish too

oww!! ok, got the shades on now, that's better...

Parker- I don't mean to take exception with you but that second fish sure looks like a coho. Smaller spots, white gum line are you sure it's just not an exceptional hoho!!
CM

My sentiments exactly, Canyon Man.

Look at the light gumline on the upper jaw extending right into the bulbous kype.... this yoyo votes coho!

Always risky to make a call just on a photo however here is my stab/guess -

While the reflected light makes the coho/chinook call tough on the head/jaw the defined wrist in front of the tail and the size and shape of the anal fin as well as the body shape all say a hen chinook.

Tight lines
S malma

Nice fish Parker, I was thinking the same thing as FNP and Canyon, but I had to say to myself, "Parker has caught enough fish in his life to know the difference. Must be the lighting of the picture is all I can say.

Regardless, Nice fish, time for me to turn to the fresh water myself.

Now I really miss my sled.
Steve

Did the little gal take her lucky cat with her? What was in the pet carrier?

I'm thinkin that Parker, was right. It is hard to judge from just a photo.

Dandy Chrome! (I wouldn't even consider questioning Parker's statements on the fish he boats.....if he says King, you can bet it's a King.)
I noticed the "flip-flops" on the gal...pretty brave shoeware considering the potential for a toe hook-up. That would hurt!

That is one big hooknosed coho. It makes the catch even more remarkable. My bet is that it was so big Parker didn't even consider it to be a coho. C'mon Parker tell us it's so.

Ya know, if half of you actually just went out fishing and *actually* caught something, you too might know the difference between a coho and a king.

A coho. You guys sleigh me!

Actually, I think it was a chum. That makes just about as much sense. :rolleyes:

Stlhdr1 has a new chocolate lab pub - Allie. She was in the dog carrier.

PS. I'll bet ya my degree in fisheries that fish #2 was *NOT* a coho.

Thank goodness there is at least one smart person on this board!

Close, Smalma. It was a buck nook. THE brightest nook I've seen come out of a river (Columbia excluded). That fish even did some tail walking / jumping. Put up a heck of a good fight. The only thing that could have made that fish better was if *I* had caught it. Was still neat to witness, though.

Actually Parker, I think that one is still a tough call. From the dorsal forward, it sure looks like a coho... especially the cardinal sign of having a light gumline. Kings should have black lips/gums. The spots are also uncharacteristically small for a king.

I will agree with smalma that the wrist looks a little skinny for a silver that size. The anal fin margin also looks too broad for a silver, and it lacks the coho's characteristic "point" from the leading edge of the anal fin. So from the dorsal back, I'll concede it looks more like a chinook.

(Damn, with all that double-speak, I'm starting to sound like John Kerry.... quick, somebody shoot me!)

There's probably a good reason that you have never seen a tributary "king" that was so chrome in all your years of fishing. It could well be a hybrid co-nook (or is that chilver?)... these crosses have been well documented. You might recall a huge 30-plus "coho" caught in SW WA last fall (may have actually been the Lewis) that's still sitting in a WDFW freezer waiting for a definitive DNA analysis on whether it is really a king or a silver.

Parker-
I wasn't trying to say that you don't know a king from a silver...I just thought when you posted maybe you got the pictures reversed or something! If you say it's a nook I believe it is a nook. FNP does bring up an interesting point about the hybrid possibility. Does the lewis have any documentation of having these hybrids? Nomatter what it is a beautiful fish!
CM