I hear ya Jtard. have landed several bronze fish on both the Wilson and Trask that were in the 35-40 range. Once those fallies turn bronze it is best to cut them loose. seen a few bonked and they turn a fu.ked up yellow.

none for me. I've killed a 29 lber before. One pound away from the 30 club. I swear it lost a pound or two of water and blood before it hit the scale.... : ) There are a couple 50's in my family. My grams got some awesome old pics from back in the day. My grandpa (RIP) caught his biggest king on the day of a derby in AK, but never bought a ticket. It was the biggest fish the dock had seen that he weighed it at. It broke the 50 mark, I don't recal the exact weight. I got to poke and prod a 45 lber when I was kid that my uncle brought home from a derby he won. It was as long as I was when I sprawled out next to it.

wana talk about toad kings caught... think ELWAH

No 50's for me.

Had 2 legit 40-class fish......one right at 40lbs from Buoy 10 in the early 90's and a low 40's fish this past Fall from a WA coastal river. The odd 30+ here and there over the years but nothing that's teased me in the 50lb range.

Not too revved up over a 50 to tell the truth.....I'd rather chase giant hooknose silvers!

Caught this one plunking in the CR last june opener....I say he was at least 50lbs....The guy behind me tryed measuring him before he swam off and only got the length....He said it was around 51-52ish in length....girth...round like a tuna.......Orygun 50..

None of the biggies I've ever caught were weighed because I turned them loose. This one here from Sekiu went 47" and is the largest I've come across in the salt. I was 15 at the time and knew then that it was a rarity. The pic doesn't really due it justice as part of the fish is under the boat and facing away from the camera; the only thing that shows the kings size is the pectoral fin.

I've laid eyes on some absolute beasts in the Elwha and my dad caught ones back in the day that went 50+.
My buddie's dad has a 58lber mounted on his wall from back in the 70's I believe that he caught out of PA. Whenever I'm over there my jaw always drops.

A genuine 51-52" defintiely puts you in the 50+ club.

There's a saying in the steelhead world... if it ain't 40, it probably ain't 20. In my brain, I have a ballpark reference of 4 ft = 50+. One of these days on my black barge, I'm hoping that locus of my visual cortex is finally gonna light up. Just hope I don't suffer a seizure or blow a head gasket when it does! And you can bet it's going back to make more of its kind.

FYI from personal observations of Kenai fish with typical 3 x 5-ish proportions, it's gotta be over

47" fork length to break 50....
50" fork length to break 60....
52" fork length to break 70....
54" fork length to break 80....

Seems there are lots of strains of OR/WA salmon with fat stumpy physiques that would skew those minimum lengths downward by an inch or two. Whites and tules come quickly to mind.

OK enough time daydreaming.... time to go pluck a piece of metal out of some little kid's eye.

My biggest Steelie came out of the Elwha in 08'.

The good old days, Tillimock bay in Early October 60's were around seen three in my boat only 1 hooked by me but always remember bringing in an ocassional 50 plus only to be shot down by a few 60's laying around old mill waitng to be weighed! I also have seen a bunch of 60 plus class fish in the Boggy and Solduc back in the late 70's and early 80's, but I really dought I will ever see one again in the lower 48, Satsop use to have a few also, I remember getting schooled by the biggest king I have ever seen in the Satsop 20 years ago at least, dang I miss the old days!!!PEACE

ive seen a king that was close to the 55"-60" range in the elwah october 1st 2009
i was standing on a log jam looking down at a pile of them and it came to the surface right in front of me, coulda touched it with a rod tip

This kid's not even close! I might just have to lift my pick up and throw some big tires on it to make up for the fact...

Alaska 2003. 60 lb king from the bank of a small river.

ClearCreek

Gweedo,

That is an exceptionally beautiful fish. Has just enough kype to maybe convince me it's a buck. But unlike so many MEGA-bucks, there's no "empty" length on that beast.... just pure platinum pork! Good to know his seed is still in the gene pool.

Caught 1 (50.3) netted 10-12 over 50, all on the salt in S.E. Alaska. Biggest south of AK that I've kept was 32 from Ucluelet.

avatar...

haha yup....an orygun 50 for certain

99.9% of [censored] I read on the fishing forums I understand... Never been in this world.....

Keith

1 over 50 based on measurements. 2 in the mid forties comparing it to the 50+. Just happened to come together in the past few years so they are burned in my memory. but....... didn't keep any because they were dark. Have seen a few recently that dwarfed the 50.

In the late 80's early 90's I caught at least 5 in high 30's to low 40's on OP rivers. I missed 1 in a hole that I had limited out the day before in, that I couldn't turn . It would stop, shake it's head and keep going. It was BIG.

I know 1 guy who got 2 over 50 lbs in 1 weekend. Back in those days I figured I didn't need to go to Alaska for big fish. They were a few hours away. Now before you say, yeah the guy kept 2 big fish that could have spawned. WRONG. The tribe had that area cleaned out by Tuesday. Low water , stacked fish and nets is not a good combo.

Sad thing is that those days have been gone for a while. I know some people are going to say that I'm wrong but I've talked to guides and people who have fished it for years. They feel the same way. I know some are caught. The #'s aren't what they were. I haven't seen a 50 lb King in years over there. Hell I haven't seen anyone with a legit 40lber in years. I know I only make 2 or 3 fall trips a year but I cover a lot of ground and talk to a lot of people. Standing in the river I talk to a lot of boats.

Big fish are there but not like the late 80's & 90's.

I know I've gone to Catch & Release on Kings over there. I hope others are as well.

One last thing. It's nice to see someone define a Hawg etc. I'm tired of seeing a thread (other sites) that tells about someone catching a Hawg, I go into the thread and it is a 20lb hatchery fish and everyone is commenting on it being a nice Hawg. Nice fish yes, Hawg no.

Until I get a 50, if I ever do, I think any fish will struggle to match the feeling I got from my first 20lb king. It was in the salt, I was 14 and my bro drove my friends and I down to the fishing peir by my house. It was on Fox Island (horrible fishing, but we couldn't tell the difference). The sun was beating down on us. I think it was like the middle of july. The smell of rotting herring was in the air, and our arms were tired from hausing in dog fish all morning. When the tides start to move, you can just huck your bait out, let it sit and the current will work it. I was using a trusty old pink and white buzzbomb and was leaning over the side of the dock with my little browning rod in my hand, which was loaded with 15lb mono, watching the little sun fish peck at the pilings. All of a sudden my line got heavy, nothing special. I pulled the fish to the surface, I don't even think it knew it was hooked, and it turned and took off into the depths. I spent a half hour working that thing on my trout rod and every time it got close to the pilings it would take off again. My bro stripped down to his skibbies and waded out and man handled the fish. We were a couple of young pimply faced kids who just landed a KING salmon!!!!! I think we all felt like we caught it. Coolest moment in my life. I knew when I held that thing in my hands, I'd be doing this for the rest of my life. I think the experience is just as important as the size. Sorry if that sounded corny. I'm not a born and raised OP local or nothing (did get out on my uncles db a few times growing up), but I think that helps me appreciate the fish a little more. The same kids I'd fish with growing up, now drool at my fish pics. Sorry if I jacked the thread, it just got me thinking.