I'll second Silver Hilton's motion to heed the Dawg's wisdom!

Ain't nothin' delicate about this fishery.... especially if you are after a big slab. If you are so fortunate to land a big one, I urge you to think real hard before deciding to heft it over the gunnel. Come armed with a good camera... the memory of a good pic will last a lot longer than the taste of BBQ'd salmon. Besides, the river will be loaded with LOTS of smaller kings, as well as tens of thousands of prime sockeye for table fare.

Personally, I have a bunch of old plugs rigged with the barrel swivel and 6/0 Gami siwash that have caught lots of kings. As these hooks become un-sharpenable, they get replaced with a 5/0 Gami siwash... a little finer wire to get a more efficient hook-set, a little less"bite" to avoid hooking smaller fish thru the eye ( important if you will be doing some C&R), and finally, the hook can be straightened (using lots of effort) with 60# test leader and 80# superbraid when you get your prize-winning plug hung on a bad snag... a hook can be replaced... an all-star K-16 can't!

My experiment for the upcoming season will be the new Gami 510... report to follow.