April 30, 2012
Klein wins final Bluewater Derby with 16 lb. King.
The third Bluewater Derby out of Friday Harbor saw some pretty good competition from local anglers, and teams from the mainland. The weather was beautiful, and the tides looked good for a certain honey hole not too far from port. I set out very early Saturday by myself, leaving my more attractive fishing partner to get some sleep and get ready before I picked her up at a more sane hour mid-morning. I ran to my planned spot, got the gear down and dialed in. I always remember one old timer telling me: "Them big Kings is lazy kid!". Translation: Larger Chinook will hold out of the tide, expending as little energy as possible, and wait for the current to wash bait past them. I had this in mind as I came over a reef, raising the gear to 90 ft., before dropping down the backside of this structure to 120 ft., and right into the maw of a nice fish arch I had marked on the electronics. Sure enough, this King hit like a freight train, shaking the downrigger like it was hung up, before popping off and running hard. I like to set the line as deep as possible in the release clip, as I feel this will impale the hook deeper into the salmons mouth when they hit. I also like to reel down, wind up, and give 'em a big hookset, just to drive that sharpened barbless all the way home. It paid off in this case as this fish was not coming unbottoned any time soon. After a good fight, I netted the nice King one handed, with surprisingly little comic shenanigans. No circus music playing in the background on this one. I knew I had a long wait before the five O' clock weigh in, so I used my Silver Horde Katch Kooler to pack the Chinook on ice and salt water to hold weight through out the day. As I picked my fishing partner up a few hours later, I told her: "We've got a nice one on board already, it's gonna be close." Luckily my fish barely beat out Karen Rhinehart's to hold on to the $1000 first prize. What a fun way to end up the 2012 Winter chinook Season, and get together with some great anglers. Next up is the Halibut opener May 3rd., with Ling and selective dates for Prawning open too. Summer Salmon opens July first. Hopefully we'll have some big flatties to show next week. Be safe, have fun, and get a kid out fishing for these tasty bottom fish. You'll be richer for it.
This was a pretty darn good grade of King in the top four fish.
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A 3" Kingfisher spoon in Irish Cream behind a Q- cove flasher has just been money, literally, for the chinook this year. The flasher mimics a salmon that is slashing through feed, and the little spoon looks like a wounded baitfish that is fluttering behind it. This King was fooled for the last time.
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Report submitted by Kevin Klein
