This year has been very difficult in many fronts, health, friends, family, work. Fishing has been one of the few things that has anchored me over the years, particularly the current one. There were several memorable days and fish.
One of my favorite ones was an early morning solo outing on my boat when I found birds on surface herring in relatively shallow water. Decided to use a sabiki to get some herring for later in the season, only sabiki I had was too heavy, leftover from using it in San Diego for mackerel, I tied it on my jig rod anyways. I could not get a herring on it, I hoped maybe maybe I could snag some, heard some splashing around the boat, maybe a seal? I felt a small twitch in the line, surely I must have snagged a herring, as I am about to lift it out of the water it gets slammed by a salmon. Now I am thanking my sturdier than usual sabiki. To my surprise it was not a rezzie coho but a decent king salmon, released after removing a few hooks from it.
The sabiki is toasted and there are more splashes around, they look like salmon! I put on a jig, bam! A larger king, released after a nice battle. Wait, I have my 8wt on the boat already rigged! Why I did not start with that! It is late rezzie season but it has been a slow one for me on the fly, often encountering surface bait but no salmon on it in most previous outings. A few casts and I connect with something solid, line flies out and into the backing we go. Rod bent to the cork trying to stop the fish as it goes to deeper water. After several runs later, back and forth on the reel and stripping it when reel was not enough the fish get close. It is the largest chinook salmon I have ever caught on the fly, gorgeous, hatchery fish and a full week before they open for retention in this area...so after some quick pictures and revival for both of us it swims away. I was using my standard 5 inch cone fly (thanks
@Chucker for showing me this pattern!), a quick calculation results on 39-inch fish, probably not but conservatibe a 36+ inch fish. Pretty one too!
Favorite fish dirtbagging was another chinook salmon on the last day with retention of 2025 with
@Chucker and another friend in my boat on a pretty windy day. The three of us kept a chinook, mine had to be chased with the boat after refusing to turn with all 400 ft of braid out and into my mono reel filler line. Thanks to my kid for making the lucky hat, it worked! Thanks to
@Chucker for the net job! This one was measured as a 36-inch and 19 lbs and a few ounces bled and at home.
Pink season saw my favorite 8wt (same one I landed the early season chinook) snap on a non-remarkable pink salmon trout set. The rod is nothing fancy, a 2-piece Cabelas LSi, not sure who made the blanks but I love it. Not sure how it happened, maybe it chipped it while releasing the chinook? A fly strike? Just with other things that went wrong in 2025, who knows why, but just like with that other stuff, it was time to pick up the pieces (literally) and start again. Wish other things in life were as fixable and workable again with some sanding, epoxy and thread...guess not, but as long as we are still around we get to get out and do what we like best, searching for us while searching for fish. That's probably my favorite "fish" or part of this year, the chance to keep on chasing fish, whatever happens in life.
