Trophy Salmon

[Fish_Bait111397]

Hey guys, one of my goals is to get a trophy salmon before im 18. That gives me a little over 4 years.
Whats a trophy king/silver/pink/chum/sockeye? And what rivers would you think give me the best possibility of getting a trophy salmon? Or is that to hard to determine?
Thanks Guys !

[returnofthefish]

All of my trophy king,coho,pink are under 15 pounds. I am always going to remember the battle with my king and my silver till I catch a bigger one. I dont get to go out as much as others, so my skills are limited to what ever I am lucky enough to catch. My girl caught a 7 pound buck pink last week and its a trophy to her. So it really depends on the person. I would be ecstatic to catch the kings that you caught.

Other members here have posted pics and reports with the trophies that your talking about. Hopefully they can chime in and give you a concensus mark for each species. Looking forward to pics with those trophies FB. I guess mines is breaking the 15 pound mark for now. Come on chums

[MarkFromSea]

Just bust the 30 lbs mark on a KING! If you've done that, shoot for 35. My "verified" 30+lbs kings were Columbia River(buoy 10), Westport and Nootka Sound, always from a boat so can't help on a river suggestion.

Returnofthefish is correct also.

Getting a trophy wife is more likely to occur than getting a 50 lbs KING! LOL

[natetreat]

The hump puts out some beastly kings. I'd wager you could get into some behemoth steelhead on the quiliyoot system, the bogey is fun upstream for nates. Don't bonk 'em unless there a record though if you can help it. My dad caught a 50+ fish in the Cow, but that was 20 years ago.

I've caught 30 pounders on several occasions in the nisqually. It's really luck, and when those six year fish are coming back to each system. People wait a lifetime to get 'em, and then they fly to alaska and book a charter lodge for a week. And catch 200 fish a day and still don't get the big one.

[natetreat]

Just bust the 30 lbs mark on a KING! If you've done that, shoot for 35. My "verified" 30+lbs kings were Columbia River(buoy 10), Westport and Nootka Sound, always from a boat so can't help on a river suggestion.

Returnofthefish is correct also.

Getting a trophy wife is more likely to occur than getting a 50 lbs KING! LOL

Too true! I've got both, so I'm count myself truly blessed :-"

[returnofthefish]

I caught a 15 pound 2 oz king today. Its a personal best for all species. Its a brand new trophy in my book

[kingfisher101]

where at

[returnofthefish]

At the Puyallup River. Report will be posted soon once its approved

[fishenfreak]

Sockeye, Pinks, Chums. Forget them, none are trohpy's... LOL.

For chinook, u gotta break 30 pounds. In canada at ALL the lodges you get a pin on your hat for breaking 30 pounds, their called TYEE salmon when they get over 30. That should be your goal. For me, since i chinook fish A LOT, my goal every year is to break 40 pounds. If you start breaking 30 a lot, go for 40. This year my biggest was only 35 3/4 pounds, but last year i got a 46 pound chinook and a 41 pounder.

For Coho, u gotta break 20. Anything under 20 is caught regularly and cannot be called a true trophy. i caught 10 fish between 15-20 last year on the skagit, but did not break 20. There hard to find.

As far as Places, ALL my big salmon, silver, and king have all been caught in saltwater, especially off vancouver island. Places around here dont have a lot of monster kings. Some rivers on the peninsula like the humptulips have some big chinook, but breaking 30, which is in my opinion the most important goal to break as a salmon fishermen, can be done in rivers like the skok and samish. Youve gotten close already. keep fishing and you will get a hawg 30+ king. trust me. good luck:cheers:

[curado]

sockeye i would say anything over 5. i got one that was 6lbs

[EAmon___hoffman123]

we break over 30lb"s down at westport. my dad<s biggest fish was 37lber 2 years ago

[fishenfreak]

i caught a baker lake sockeye buck that was 8.5 lbs this year.

[knotabassturd]

fishenfreak- actually to be a true recognized tyee you have to follow the clearly defined guidelines. But yes, the weight threshold alone has to be 30 pounds, on top of the other gear and even vessel-related 'rules' (remember rowing LOL?). But 30+ is certainly big and 40+ very big! Even for West Vancouver so excellent job on those monsters.

Personally only, I consider a trophy relative to body of water AND species, all species angled for. So an Alaska 30 pounder ('nook) aint the same as a Puke 30 pounder. As mentioned, this last part is just personal taste:)

[Fish_Bait111397]

Thank You All !

Returnofthefish, you are right-any fish can be a trophy, it depends on the person !

[fishenfreak]

Yea i kinda wanna try one year to join the cambell river tyee club. LOL no bait, rowing ONLY and land a 30+ pound chinook. THAT would be insane!!!!