“Hawg Questing” the San Juan Islands! 4

It's been said by wiser men that I that "Luck is when preparation meets opportunity".

Well, the Marine Area 7/ San Juan Island opener is surely an opportunity and all the fishing we've been doing up north definitely counts as preparation.

Bolstered by our experience in southeast Alaska and the reports coming from Nootka and points south, the chinook are coming. Large in both size and numbers, this year's chinook fisheries are expected to be epic and in my mind, the Area 7 opener couldn't come fast enough!

The summer chinook fisheries around Puget Sound are easily my favorite time of the year and on the various openers, I will usually be found somewhere on the water.  This time however, my on-air pard Robbie Tobeck was not about to be left behind. Despite his  tough "Tuna Tyrant" exterior, Robbie Tobeck is really a "salmon softie" and was as fired up for this trip as I was!

Fortunately our "Anacortes connection" Jay Field had offered up a slip at Skyline Marina and we were set! Jay treated us to dinner and drinks at his restaurant Village Pizza which ajoins the Wheelhouse Bar and it was off to bed, bracing for that 0300 alarm…Brutal!

Running up Rosario Strait we quickly checked out Thatcher Pass and Tide Point but the chinook were stacked in and on the snap at Obstruction Pass.

Jay Field aboard his 26' Osprey "Dash One" drew first blood with this fine 22 pounder and the San Juan chinook season was quickly in full swing!

We came right back with this 21 pound chromer that grabbed a Silver Horde Kingfisher Lite 3.5 "Yellowtail" fished 44" behind a Q-Cove Jim's Breakaway "Green Dragon" flasher.

Tobeck, ever the competitor,  filled our limit with this dandy 25 pounder that inhaled a cut plug!

 News of the scorching action in the Islands quickly spread and soon, my phone rang.
 "Nelly, Glenn Hall here. I'm going to be up your way and I heard that there might be a fish or two in your neighborhood."
"Well, you've got that right Glenn," I'm sure he could hear me grinning through the phone. "Can I assume that this will be an official visit with cameras rolling?"
"Yes Nelly, you assume correctly…"

With the Northwest Salmon Derby Series in town in the form of the Bellingham Salmon Derby, The San Juan Islands were being worked over! Now, I have to show up on Sunday, behind a full two days of Derby anglers and produce a "Quest-worthy" fishing trip.

Fortunately, there were enough chinook to go around, Here, Glenn Hall hoists the first fish of the day while Rob Hyatt mans the HD camera.  

Rob got out from behind the camera long enough to grab a rod! Here's a dandy white king that has a date with the smoker!

Ray Gombisky broke his San Juan cherry with this fine chinook and ended up with a boat limit!

Day two of the shoot resulted in five hookups and these three chinook in the box. Left to right, Bill Boyce of Fetha Styx, Glenn Hall and Wade Peterson who runs a little place called "Cowgirls Inc." in Seattle.

Our local chinook fisheries are off to a great start and it's shaping up to be a season for the books. Don't miss out… Go limit out!

Tom Nelson
The Outdoor Line
710 ESPN Seattle
www.theoutdoorline.com