I went to several locations on the Wallace hoping to find some Coho, with no luck there I proceeded the Sky near the mouth of the Wallace as I had read Nate’s report for last week indicating Chum were in and the bite was good. On my second cast drifting with an orange corky and purple yarn with shrimp scent ~KA-BOOM~ FISH ON, my rod bent over like a drifting log had snagged it, this was no log as my rod was bouncing and I saw the fish break the surface. This monster ran into the current and downstream he went. The line peeled from my reel and there was no stopping this beast! I was fishing just above the mouth of the Wallace and there is a gravel bar that crosses the river at an angle; after the fish I went down the gravel bar in water that was anywhere from 8” to 12” deep. After about 5 minutes the fish seemed to tire and I actually took some line back in, then he shot off again, buy this time he was on the downstream side the bar and I thought I would lose him. I traveled further down the gravel bar to better position myself with the fish. After 10 minutes I was able to gain some ground on the fish, I then realized I was nowhere near any shoreline. After a few more runs this beast was ready to submit, my dilemma now was that I was there was nowhere to land the fish. I found an area where the water was about 6” deep and after a few attempts I was to pull into the shallow and grab him buy the tail and release the hook. I held him by the tail while he recuperated and swam off.
This was a first corky and yarn fish for me and I have never had to chase fish down river like this. It was a blast! I caught another Buck chum a few minutes after I retied my line and was able to land him on the bank where I was fishing. The second fish must have been close to 13 LBS while the first was about 10 LBS.

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