One more day fishing with Don Talbot. Today we had myself, Aaron, and Gringo Pescador in the boat. Having established an effective morning bite pattern on the river, Don took us back to his fast becoming “favorite slot” to see if we could nail some of the bigger kings that are working up the river.

We started a half hour earlier and drove up to our spot in the dark. Gear over the side as dawn was just breaking, and it only took a few minutes to get into our first fish. I was up and grabbing the rod I had a solid chinook on the other end of the rod. After a nice battle we slid the fish into the net and just like that, skunk out of the boat. The sun had barely risen.

Don had done some modifications to try to reduce the number of fish that had come unbuttoned for us previously, and it definitely helped today. We ran the Moneymaker scent bomb followed by an 11” green flasher, and then a long, 48” leader to a Brad’s cut plug. Don switched in larger 4/0 siwish hooks and these really drove home well today. Inside the scent bomb and cut plug were generous portions of tuna and garlic.

Fish number two came in quickly, a just barely adult 25” chinook that Aaron caught.

The next two fish reminded us just how amazing this fishery is and will continue to become over the next month.

Mark was up, and his rod bounced with a bite, innocently enough. When he popped the releases (Don uses two releases on his downrigger rods) Mark immediately felt the weight and pull of a big fish. He battled through several hard runs as this fish bull-dogged him, but eventually tired and after a bit of a tussle being willingly netted, into the boat was a beautiful 42” long Hanford Fall Chinook. At 42” inches we would estimate the weight to be around 28-30 pounds. Mark had a huge grin and shaking wrist for the next 15 minutes, stating “I’m done guys that made my day!” It also made his personal best river king.

I didn’t have long to wait for my turn. We had by this time moved down to a second hole and seeing fish being caught on the opposite side of the river Don instructed Aaron to work the boat over to that side. As we got 2/3rds over and mid channel the starboard rod started dancing. I grabbed the rod and immediately line started peeling off at an incredible rate. This fish was headed back to the boat launch and a fully tightened drag wasn’t going to stop him. Neither was my thumb which I foolishly thought would add additional drag to the reel – wrong! The only thing it did was burn the pad of my thumb! The first run on this fish had to be at least 75 to a hundred yards. This becomes a problem on a couple levels. First, the fish is way back so other boats may not be aware you have one on.
Fortunately, we were clear of boats behind us. The second issue is as the fish comes to the top the flasher can catch the surface and cause slack line between flasher and fish, allowing the hook to slide out. I did my best keeping the rod up and had Aaron slow the boat down to catch up to the fish. After a second lesser run, I was able to work the fish back to the boat and Don slide the net under the fish. Chromer! While my fish was smaller than Mark’s at 38”, it was a brighter fish, which we decided accounted for the incredible energy she put into those runs. After landing my fish I announced "I'm tapped out!".

We tried for another hour hoping to get Aaron into a pig but that was it for the day. Wanting to beat the holiday traffic home, we called it a morning and headed back to the launch.

As I noted in my previous report, Don told us this is just the start of a great month of fishing at the Hanford Reach. He has some openings, so give him a call and get your trip booked if you’d like to experience this outstanding fishery. The scenery is breathtaking and the summer heat is a thing of the past. Don Talbot can be reached at Don Talbot’s Fishing, 509-679-8641.

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