Got up before 4 am for a planned departure at 5 am. Left the house at 5:30. Forgot the breakfast sandwiches I made so back home we go. Now on the road at 6 am, an hour late. The original plan for the morning turned sideways. A little perturbed, I thought to myself, I’m going chinook fishing. Turned that frown upside down!

Launched out of Everett without any issues and the run to my original spot was covered in eel grass. Tried anyways and after a good effort it was time to move on. A few hours in and only a flounder to show for it, optimism began to dip. New spot didn’t have as many boats. Gear deployed and selected a line to follow. While checking one side for jelly fish goo, I notice the clip on the other rod has come undone. Giant seaweed ball I thought to my self. Wrong. With a few drag pulls I thought it would be king on. Turned out to be a good pink. After thanking the fish for a good fight, we flipped it back to let it fight another day.

Several seaweed and jelly fish slime fixes later. The pole does a few curious taps. I pick it up and release the clip manually. Reeled down to feel a fish on the other end. Whatever it was, it did not like being hooked one bit. Multiple runs made for an epic battle. The first half of the fight was even. Wasn’t gaining any line on the counter. Had to slow the kicker down a bit which helped. Gaining ground on the fish, I felt victory at hand. Told my partner there was 50ft off line out and I catch a glimpse of tail. Silver or king? Seemed like forever with the last 50ft ready with the net. We finally get it to the side of the boat and see it’s a KING! A quick double take and note the correct fin count to put him on ice. Once at the boat he did not come quietly. Several short runs and a mix of misses with the net called for extra celebration when my partner said it’s too heavy to lift it up! Not having caught many kings and new to the sport, the excitement was through the roof.

With time running out it was one more pass through the same spot. No one else wanted to play there unfortunately. Rounded out the day with another pink further up which also put on a good show. After a quick pause to look at how neat salmon are it was released. Good way to end the day. Didn’t catch a lot of fish but I didn’t lose any gear, nothing broke, no one got hurt, and have something to show for sticking it out despite all the bumps along the way.

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