Bragging Rights Photo Op

I value you opinion and feelings but I would recommend starting another thread about your conservation feelings in another different post. Would be happy to discuss my views. This thread was to post up pictures. Just don’t need this thread getting derailed.

By the way a 50# fish’s meat quality is the same as a #20 fish. :D
No need to start a new thread or get into a big debate about it, I was merely suggesting that people consider releasing them. Seemed like the right topic to make such a suggestion.

Anyhoo, back to posting big slabs! :rolleyes:
 
My first chinook, a 15 pounder that fought unbelievably hard. Took a run on the surface 100 feet out and passed the boat as we were trolling. Screaming along the surface, you could hear the line ripping though the water and his tail bashing the surface.
 

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My biggest Salmon is only 28 but I plan to spend the rest of my Days in search of the elusive 50 maybe I need to go with Rollie. Here is my favorite fishing trip pic from Winter Harbour a couple years ago. I'm the cute fellow in the middle with the Guiness Hat.
 

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My first chinook, a 15 pounder that fought unbelievably hard. Took a run on the surface 100 feet out and passed the boat as we were trolling. Screaming along the surface, you could hear the line ripping though the water and his tail bashing the surface.
No wonder it ran on the surface. Look at that tail!
That’s a cool flasher. Have you had much luck with it?
 
My biggest Salmon is only 28 but I plan to spend the rest of my Days in search of the elusive 50 maybe I need to go with Rollie. Here is my favorite fishing trip pic from Winter Harbour a couple years ago. I'm the cute fellow in the middle with the Guiness Hat.
Sorry, you must have posted the wrong pic... there are no cute fellows in that photo!
 
I don't like posting on public forums but I like this thread (and want to brag lol). Pictures are from my first time ever fishing solo. I had practiced dropping gear by myself a little then decided to hit the high tide off the North Arm of the Fraser. First fish I caught was 14 lbs on my rusty scale. I made basically every mistake possible! I didn't bring up the second down rigger and the fish nearly got tangled in the line, I accidentally turned on the free spool on my reel and ended up slicing my thumb and bleeding all over my deck, I left the downrigger boom out and had to net the fish around it...but I got him in the boat. I put on new bait and dropped the line (but just the one) back down before I even bandaged my hand. I didn't expect much running only one line, but a few minutes later the second fish hit like a tank! 25 lbs on my scale. She fought like crazy doing mad runs, diving under the boat, and never coming up beyond about 10 feet so I had no idea how big she even was. By the time I got her up to the boat it had been almost 40 minutes and other boats had stopped to watch me. People cheered when I got her in the net. A buddy from my marina gave me a beer and took a picture of me with the fish.
 

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I don't like posting on public forums but I like this thread (and want to brag lol). Pictures are from my first time ever fishing solo. I had practiced dropping gear by myself a little then decided to hit the high tide off the North Arm of the Fraser. First fish I caught was 14 lbs on my rusty scale. I made basically every mistake possible! I didn't bring up the second down rigger and the fish nearly got tangled in the line, I accidentally turned on the free spool on my reel and ended up slicing my thumb and bleeding all over my deck, I left the downrigger boom out and had to net the fish around it...but I got him in the boat. I put on new bait and dropped the line (but just the one) back down before I even bandaged my hand. I didn't expect much running only one line, but a few minutes later the second fish hit like a tank! 25 lbs on my scale. She fought like crazy doing mad runs, diving under the boat, and never coming up beyond about 10 feet so I had no idea how big she even was. By the time I got her up to the boat it had been almost 40 minutes and other boats had stopped to watch me. People cheered when I got her in the net. A buddy from my marina gave me a beer and took a picture of me with the fish.
Wow, great story! I think most of us can relate to that. My first big one didn’t have the happy ending :’(
Still waiting for my second.
 
Here's a 25# and a 20# chinook caught within a minute or two of each other this past August off the WA coast a little N of the entrance to the Columbia River (Long Beach). A bunch of pelicans were diving on bait in about 20' of water. I pulled in and got the guys to deploy as quick as possible (divers and flashers with anchovies). The first one bit w/i a minute of getting the gear out. I got that one netted and had them get gear out again. Before we could get the first fish out of the net, the second one was on. As it was being reeled in a humpback breached about 50' behind the boat with anchovies spilling out of it's mouth. We got the first fish out of the net and as I was landing the second one, the guys got gear out again and a 10# coho bit while the second fish was in the net. I landed that fish with a different (smaller) net. It was all over in <5 min but it was the best 5 minutes I've had on the water.
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I was fishing with my Dad and 13 year old son this year in Sooke. My son really wanted to hook into a big fish as his largest was 15-18lbs. I wasn’t too sure about handing him the rod with a big tank on it but... Anyways rod goes off and my dad grabs it. Fish takes a huge run and it’s looking like a decent fish. I go to grab the second rod an reel it in after a few minutes and as I reach for it it goes off too. I grab the rod and it starts screaming line just as my dad says get the net ready. I don’t even think he knows I’m hooked up at this point. Now I have the choice of passing my son the net or the rod. I give him the rod and say hang on as I manage the boat and net. My dads fish comes to the boat first and I get Ready to net it not even really paying attention to my kid. It takes off again so I check on my son and his fish is right by the boat. The last time I saw it it was about 150 yards back on the surface. We mess around a bit and I’m not sure how he even got it there but the thing is laying on its side between the swim grid and leg and it’s a slab! I can’t net it there so make a split second decision, reach over and grabbed it by the tail and dragged it in the boat. The fish didn’t even flinch! Grabbed the net and netted my dads. Son gets a 26 and Dad a 22!!!
Also hooked a teener in a pod of killer whales this year. Thought we snagged one at first. One even breach about 50 yards behind the boat as we played it. Didn’t really notice until it was in the net but 5 whale watching boats were right beside us and cheered when we netted it. My buddies son was filming the whales when it hit and has us yelling I think we hooked a f...ing whale followed by a bunch more f bombs and chaos. It’s a classic pic is of me holding the double.
 

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Some very impressive catches in this thread!

At the risk of sounding preachy, I would encourage anyone who finds themselves with a fish the size of some of the ones posted here to consider releasing it, so it can have a chance to spawn and propagate future generations of fish of similar size. Keep the big ones in the gene pool! With that said, you are of course well within your rights to bonk any legal-sized fish you land legally, and I understand that releasing a fish doesnt guarantee it makes it to the spawning grounds, but it does at least give it a chance.

In my experience, a 15-25 lber yields better quality meat than most larger fish anyways, though to be fair Ive never eaten a 50 lb salmon.


Surprised this took a week to be raised. Thats why most of us won't post pics anymore. A guy fishes his whole life for the opportunity of getting one big one and gets told he gotta throw it back. Not on my boat.
 
I was fishing with my Dad and 13 year old son this year in Sooke. My son really wanted to hook into a big fish as his largest was 15-18lbs. I wasn’t too sure about handing him the rod with a big tank on it but... Anyways rod goes off and my dad grabs it. Fish takes a huge run and it’s looking like a decent fish. I go to grab the second rod an reel it in after a few minutes and as I reach for it it goes off too. I grab the rod and it starts screaming line just as my dad says get the net ready. I don’t even think he knows I’m hooked up at this point. Now I have the choice of passing my son the net or the rod. I give him the rod and say hang on as I manage the boat and net. My dads fish comes to the boat first and I get Ready to net it not even really paying attention to my kid. It takes off again so I check on my son and his fish is right by the boat. The last time I saw it it was about 150 yards back on the surface. We mess around a bit and I’m not sure how he even got it there but the thing is laying on its side between the swim grid and leg and it’s a slab! I can’t net it there so make a split second decision, reach over and grabbed it by the tail and dragged it in the boat. The fish didn’t even flinch! Grabbed the net and netted my dads. Son gets a 26 and Dad a 22!!!
Also hooked a teener in a pod of killer whales this year. Thought we snagged one at first. One even breach about 50 yards behind the boat as we played it. Didn’t really notice until it was in the net but 5 whale watching boats were right beside us and cheered when we netted it. My buddies son was filming the whales when it hit and has us yelling I think we hooked a f...ing whale followed by a bunch more f bombs and chaos. It’s a classic pic is of me holding the double.
Awesome Jama.. when it rains it pours! How old was your son when he caught the 26#er?
 
Surprised this took a week to be raised. Thats why most of us won't post pics anymore. A guy fishes his whole life for the opportunity of getting one big one and gets told he gotta throw it back.
Thats not what I said at all. I said anglers should CONSIDER letting them swim. I bolded it so somebody wouldnt misinterpret my words. I went even further, saying that theyre well within their rights to keep said fish provided it was caught legally. I guess theres no room for common sense in this thread, just pics of big fish!

Not on my boat.
Hadnt planned on fishing with you anyways.
 
Surprised this took a week to be raised. Thats why most of us won't post pics anymore. A guy fishes his whole life for the opportunity of getting one big one and gets told he gotta throw it back. Not on my boat.

Maybe start at new thread on this if you have an opinion on releasing big fish or not !!
 
I love this thread! Keep them coming boys, I love the story's and pic's!
 
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Awesome thread. Not the biggest of my life or anything but one of the most memorable days in my life happened august this year. My brothers my dad and myself all decided to meet at the boat after work on a weekday in august. Met at the boat at maybe 5 or 6pm. Cracked some beers and went off to our own little nook at sandheads and the rods just started exploding. We were netting fish, bonking fish, trying to re set the lines all at once, there was blood all over the deck of the boat, my brother who is about 250ibs ran across the deck to grab a bouncing rod. Slipped right on his butt was rolling around on the bloody deck with salmon flopping beside him I had to reach over him to fight the fish myself while the other side of the boat went off... all fish in about 2 hours of fishing. They were all about 18-25 pound RED springs, and like I mentioned in my original post. The ones we lost were by far the biggest. One spat the hook right at the swim grid and it was easily 30-40#. Music cranking, sun shinning. It'll be the goal this year to top that day.
 
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Awesome thread. Not the biggest of my life or anything but one of the most memorable days in my life happened august this year. My brothers my dad and myself all decided to meet at the boat after work on a weekday in august. Met at the boat at maybe 5 or 6pm. Cracked some beers and went off to our own little nook at sandheads and the rods just started exploding. We were netting fish, bonking fish, trying to re set the lines all at once, there was blood all over the deck of the boat, my brother who is about 250ibs ran across the deck to grab a bouncing rod. Slipped right on his butt was rolling around on the bloody deck with salmon flopping beside him I had to reach over him to fight the fish myself while the other side of the boat went off... all fish in about 2 hours of fishing. They were all about 18-25 pound RED springs, and like I mentioned in my original post. The ones we lost were by far the biggest. One spat the hook right at the swim grid and it was easily 30-40#. Music cranking, sun shinning. It'll be the goal this year to top that day.
My buddy and I had a day like that at Sandheads this year. All by ourselves way outside of the pack and limited out in under two hours. Just total mayhem. As much as I enjoy fishing it's nice to head home early sometimes with a full cooler and go back to bed :p
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Last April, my friend and I went fishing out of van. Only having ocean fishing for 1 year at the time, we didn't know how to fish all the areas well. Specifically the hump. So out we went, looking for the contours out in the middle of the georgia straight. We blindly pick a spot, no boats around, and start fishing in 15 knots of wind with a decent chop. Not ideal.. After a few hours of no action, we became VERY unconfident. No signs of fish around, and trolling in uncomfortable seas.. Well, then we hooked into one. reel started screaming and we were both excited, but not until i stuggled to fit it into the net did it click how big this was. After getting over our excitement, we dropped the rods again, but not a sniff for the rest of the day.
Ended up being 29.6 white. Not huge compared to some of the hogs posted here, but easily the biggest we've caught locally, and by following this forum, it seems like fish this size don't come around too often off of van/howe sound.
 

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Last April, my friend and I went fishing out of van. Only having ocean fishing for 1 year at the time, we didn't know how to fish all the areas well. Specifically the hump. So out we went, looking for the contours out in the middle of the georgia straight. We blindly pick a spot, no boats around, and start fishing in 15 knots of wind with a decent chop. Not ideal.. After a few hours of no action, we became VERY unconfident. No signs of fish around, and trolling in uncomfortable seas.. Well, then we hooked into one. reel started screaming and we were both excited, but not until i stuggled to fit it into the net did it click how big this was. After getting over our excitement, we dropped the rods again, but not a sniff for the rest of the day.
Ended up being 29.6 white. Not huge compared to some of the hogs posted here, but easily the biggest we've caught locally, and by following this forum, it seems like fish this size don't come around too often off of van/howe sound.

Nice unicorn, wonder where it was heading to. Was it a feeder or was it a spring Fraser chinook.
 
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