Here's How To Catch Chinook Salmon

Oncorhynchus tshawytscha

They don’t come any bigger than the mighty chinook. The biggest of the Pacific salmon, chinooks, or kings, average 20 to 40 pounds apiece and have been known to top 100. Fish over 30 pounds are known as tyee. The IGFA world record is a magnificent 97-pound monster from Alaska’s Kenai River.

Big chinook rank second to none when it comes to pure brute strength and stamina. Trying to pry one off the bottom in 140 feet of water is no game for the timid. They do jump, but are far better known for their fast, powerful runs, in which they can easily strip all the line from a medium-sized reel. Fighting a big chinook is a bit like trying to reel in a truck.

Chinook salmon generally live a four-year life cycle, though individuals up to seven years old have been recorded. Chinook wander in loose packs, shadowing schools of baitfish. They’re more light sensitive than coho or chum salmon, and are thus more bottom-oriented. They feed most actively in periods of low light, such as early morning or evening, and night fishing can be superb.

Chinook gather off their spawning rivers in mid- to late summer, where they feed heavily before making their incredible upstream voyage. Anglers frequently see salmon rolling on the surface then — nobody knows why they do it, but it’s generally a sign they’re about ready to move upstream.

By that time, chinook darken, their blue/purple backs and silvery sides fading away to an overall olive-brown coloration. Some males turn dull red all over, looking at first glance somewhat like a sockeye.

In a handful of spots, such as Alaska’s Kenai River or British Columbia’s Skeena River, anglers target chinook up to 70 pounds or more. Chinook make repeated, powerful runs of up to 150 yards, and there’s nothing you can do but hold on. Trying to make one stop is a sure way to break the line – all you can do is wait for the fish to stop on its own. Typically, the first and last runs are the wildest.

Chinook have a reputation for suddenly coming to life when you finally get them boatside, exploding away in a final desperate dash for freedom. Unprepared anglers lose many chinooks at this point.

How to Catch Chinook Salmon

Trolling with dodger-spoon combinations or cut plugs like the J-Plug, Tomic, Lucky Louie or Lyman is probably the number one technique for bagging trophy kings in big water. The key is to keep the lure well back of the boat and go slow. The original way to catch tyee in British Columbia is to troll behind a rowed skiff. It’s hard to go too slow.

Once chinook enter their natal rivers, anglers fish from shore or drift boats, using either clumps of salmon roe or crankbaits. The object when fishing with lures is to hold your crankbait in the current near bottom as the boat slowly drifts downstream (or a shore angler slowly walks along with the current).

Fly fishing is also popular, and landing a trophy chinook on a fly rod is a real accomplishment. This is no place for light tackle – you’ll need rods from nine to 12 weight, rigged with weight-forward sink tip lines and leaders in the 12 to 30 pound test range. Large, weighted egg patterns, or oversized steelhead flies like the Skykomish Sunrise in sizes six to 1/0 work best. Big traditional Atlantic salmon patterns also work well.

Essential Fishing Tackle For Chinook Salmon

• Fly gear, 9 to 12 weight
• Sinking and sink-tip lines
• Selection of wet flies and nymphs from size 4 to 8
• Heavy spinning outfit, 8 to 9 feet, spooled with 10 to 20 pound monofilament
• Downrigger-style trolling rod, with level-wind reel capable of handling 300 yards of 20 pound monofilament
• Crankbaits such as the Hot Shot or Flatfish, spoons like the Pixie or Little Cleo, large spinners like the Mepps or Blue Fox, trolling plugs like the J-Plug or Lucky Louie
• Polarized sunglasses
• Hat
• Waders
• Vest