where abouts in area 8-2 where you at? if it happens to be the tulalip bubble, then you could have kept it. If anywhere else, even if the fin was removed(hatchery) you still have to release. See regs. As for the 30 pounder I heard the indians have had several this year in that range, 4 years ago they started a new strain (not sure what else to call it) and this is the first year for them to return and the fish biologist said the return was looking good. This is just what I was told by a neighbor, my house over looks the bubble. Again though, as for tulalip bubble, the only thing the regs state for chinook is that it must be 22 inches. other parts of 8-2 say to release chinook. Area 9 for example, says to release WILD chinook. Although the one you caught had it's adipose it still could have been one from that new strain that just did not get clipped. It would be fun to catch one of those 30 pounders even if I had to return it(if caught outside the bubble). By the way the bubble is only open fri.-mon. @ noon.

We caught him right in front of the old oil docks. He was a nice lookin fish, he did have his fin, so i new we couldn't keep him any way we looked at it. I wonder if WDFW would ever open 8-2 for retention of fin clipped chinook during the summer runs?

Seems like it should be, considering area 9 is, so why not 8-2. just read another report of a 30 pounder c/r'd in area 9 it had a fin.

There is concern over the wild chinook going to the Snohomish, and even more so to the Stillaguamish, so a chinook directed fishery in 8-2 hasn't been in the cards and probably won't be for a while...

Always nice to tussle with a nice big chinook, though... Hope you got some goot pictures!