Skykomish Chinook

[ragibby]

This will be my first time fishing chinook. Just wondering if you guys had some tips. Bait, any specific colors, lures, areas of water they like ect.

I'm pretty clueless when I come to fishing for different species beside pinks. This was my first year typing for other species. Had a good time c'n'r chums last November and actually managed to land my first steelhead ever. So I got a lot of different teqniques down.

Just any helpful info on chinook would be extremely helpful.

Thank you all in advance

[Steelheadin360]

PLunking with eggs or Sandshrimp in a travel lane is pretty much my go to

[ragibby]

What kind of water do these fish like?? Frog water, quicker moving seams???

Anymore info would be really helpful in getting myself my first chinook.

Does anyone drift fish or float fish? If so what do you use?? Eggs, shrimp, jigs (colors please), worms, beads.

Thanks for the info ahead of time.

[mizm05]

All of the info is posted via a Google search.

They are caught on everything you would throw out there. Big ole gobs of eggs either drifted, floated or plunked. Could be paired with a spin and glow on a plunking setup. Could also plunk a plug wrapped in herring, or just a plug.

You could drift corkies and yarn (scented preferably), throw spinners/spoons...pretty much every "normal" technique for salmon will work.

They seem to like the bottom of slower moving water. There is a hole at the Hump where they sit at the bottom of what's probably a 15 ft deep pool...it may even be deeper. If the water is fast moving, the travel lane will be closer in to shore...and that seems to be the main thing to learn...where they like to travel or hold and in what types of water those two activities occur.

Tons of publicly shared "how to" info out there on the net. You'll have no problem finding more info than you can probably even process. LOL

[mizm05]

I had a fatty break me off on the Hump last year and I was just drifting a single orange bead.

Oh...and most popular colors seem to be chartreuse, blue, red, orange, green and I've seen pink too. Don't forget about metallic finishes either.

[Brat Bonker]

A bead for chinook huh? Sounds like a dentist show to me. Not a tactic that I would utilize for chinook.
Chinook like something that stinks or tries to intimidate them. Bait or plugs are the way to go!

one trip on the hump I killed them fall nooks on a single orange bead and purple yarn with scent, short 3ft leader. Normally I use hardware for springers since they are so picky when it comes to bait and the cure you use.

[mizm05]

I had a fatty break me off on the Hump last year and I was just drifting a single orange bead.

Oh...and most popular colors seem to be chartreuse, blue, red, orange, green and I've seen pink too. Don't forget about metallic finishes either.

A bead for chinook huh? Sounds like a dentist show to me. Not a tactic that I would utilize for chinook.
Chinook like something that stinks or tries to intimidate them. Bait or plugs are the way to go!

You can call me a flosser all you want. I've seen beasts of all salmon/trout species that run in that river nail beads. It's a proven technique that catches fish, especially on that river. Now if I was running a crazy long leader and yanking every 2 seconds of the drift, then I think you'd have a valid point.

[schu7498]

I too have incidently caught kings while drifting a very small rocket red corkie scented with shrimp oil. Not flossed as i have had to carefully unhook them from down in the throat. Ive also hooked them on pink worms when fishing for coho.

[Norm]

Is there any good plunking access on the sky where one might throw out some eggs and a plug?

[schu7498]

Take a drive along the ben howard road. There are many spots to explore!

[jd39]

I too have incidently caught kings while drifting a very small rocket red corkie scented with shrimp oil. Not flossed as i have had to carefully unhook them from down in the throat. Ive also hooked them on pink worms when fishing for coho.

A pink worm for coho? Didn't know that could be effective, drift or float, if you don't mind me asking?

[schu7498]

I too have incidently caught kings while drifting a very small rocket red corkie scented with shrimp oil. Not flossed as i have had to carefully unhook them from down in the throat. Ive also hooked them on pink worms when fishing for coho.

A pink worm for coho? Didn't know that could be effective, drift or float, if you don't mind me asking?

Both ways!

[Sthao92]

EGGGGSSS and lots and lots of eggs. Maybe even a shrimp cocktail. (sandshrimp and eggs combo) Explore the river too. I understand this is a website to come to for advise but also you have to understand the information you are asking for is likely to be something someone has worked hard to find out and they aren't very found to telling. so most likely you'll get general info or people who don't even read the title and talk about something else. Back to your question though, like i said eggs and that would be your best bet to catching a king. Other methods do work but in my opinion eggs is the best bait. For other methods definately you want something with a big profile like big maribou jigs. The skykomish is also a big river in my opinion so exploring would help you instead of fishing 1 area all day. Skykomish kings are not very easy to catch in my opinion too if your on the bank. I think steelhead are actually easier to catch there than the kings. Also for the exploring preparation google earth. I hope the information i gave helps and good luck your going to need it.

[jd39]

I too have incidently caught kings while drifting a very small rocket red corkie scented with shrimp oil. Not flossed as i have had to carefully unhook them from down in the throat. Ive also hooked them on pink worms when fishing for coho.

A pink worm for coho? Didn't know that could be effective, drift or float, if you don't mind me asking?

Both ways!

Thanks schu!

[natetreat]

The farm or ranch hole downstream from the mouth of the Sultan River is a great place to fish from the bank. Spring chinook are on a mission to get to the hatchery. The flows average around 7k cfs, the snow is melting and the water is colder. they smell the Wallace hatchery and shoot up quick. So that means you're targeting travel lanes, little back waters that they may sneak into to take a breather. You're going to fish for them downstream of the Wallace, as you're fishing for hatchery fish.

From the bank, eggs and good bait can be plunked in the travel lanes. Putting them on a bobber in the slower stretches will target the holding fish. Try to find the cinch points, the one sided tail outs where the fish are going to be funneled into a smaller area.

Many of the best techniques at getting to these fish are employed from the boat. Plugs and divers and side drifting are the best techniques. It's more of a patience game when you're fishing from the bank. Plunking bait is going to be your go to, followed by casting hardware like big Vibrax spinners or spoons.

AS for the comment about beads and drifting, they will eat them under certain circumstances. When they are stacking up and not sprinting, they will bite a more subtle presentation over a bigger stinkier one. But you're not going to find many of these fish when fishing spring/summer kings. Fall chinook are a different story, but in different rivers and different techniques. Don't listen to the people that yell at you about fishing the bead. Summer steelhead will gobble it right up, and you will find that when the kings are in with them, they will too. But it's not an effective technique for most of what we're given during the summer run.

If you would like to get out and have me show you the rope, send me an email and we can get you set up with a trip. It's going to be a good year!

[mizm05]

I too have incidently caught kings while drifting a very small rocket red corkie scented with shrimp oil. Not flossed as i have had to carefully unhook them from down in the throat. Ive also hooked them on pink worms when fishing for coho.

A pink worm for coho? Didn't know that could be effective, drift or float, if you don't mind me asking?

I can back her up. A buddy of mine was steel fishing with pink worms, again on the hump, last December and the Coho loved it.

[FishingThePacNW]

So say i want to fish the ranch hole on the sky, as previously mentioned someone said they like to hug the bottome, how would i get a spinner or spoon down to the bottom? just cast up and let it sink?

[Brat Bonker]

So say i want to fish the ranch hole on the sky, as previously mentioned someone said they like to hug the bottome, how would i get a spinner or spoon down to the bottom? just cast up and let it sink?

I add a leader like I would to drift fish except for a corky I use a blue fox and let it sink a little then start to real in. spoons are simple, just fish them how you would to swing them, not cast and retrieve.

[FishingThePacNW]

Yea thats what i was thinkin, do you guys think a 8'6 M action rod with 20lb braid with a 15lb leader would do the trick?

[spoonman]

Yea thats what i was thinkin,euny you guys think a 8'6 M action rod with 20lb braid with a 15lb leader would do the trick?

Thats plenty stout. I just run my steelhead gear. Seems if I beef up for them I get skunked, but I always seem to land them with 12#izor with a 10# leader.