Good thread - it got this lurker to post...

About three years ago, I had developed my salmon fishing problem. I had got a boat, set it up for fishing, and figured out Puget Sound coho. Chinook kicked my butt though, and I had only caught a few little ones.

One August morning, I set out from West Seattle to fish Elliott Bay with my fishin buddy Tom. After an hour or so of trolling, my rod buries and I felt that unmistakable power of a BIG fish. I told Tom to get all the gear and downriggers out of the water because I didn't want to lose this fish. I was so incredibly excited that a relatively short fight seemed like hours. My heart was beating overtime, my knees were weak, and I couldn't stop saying, "this is a BIG fish!!"

Tom is ready with the net as I ease the fish closer to the boat. Finally I can see the beast, and it is even bigger than I thought. The fish was easily thirty pounds, and I can still picture the beautiful green back and black markings as this magnificent creature slid along side the boat.

I had coached Tom on netting the fish, so he scooped the net under the fish's head and started to lift. The fish didn't fit all the way in the net, but it was nose in, and about two thirds of it was in... I still remember Tom saying, "your net isn't big enough." I watched in slow motion as Tom lowered the net to get a better angle or something, and before I could stop him, the fish thrashed exactly twice. The first thrash got the fish out of the net, and the second thrash brought the leader against the downrigger cable. The fish lingered for a moment with my green/glow Coyote spoon perfectly hooked in the corner of his mouth, then he flicked his tail and glided out of sight into the depths.

I am sure everybody in Seattle heard my curse echo off the skyscrapers.

We had much discussion on what it meant to get the downriggers out of the water, and how to lock the fish in the net by raising the handle, but we never had another chance to use those techniques.

Until the following summer. When again I got a huge fish on. This time, the downriggers came all the way out of the water. Tom wouldn't touch the net, though - too much pressure. Our friend Pedro grabbed the net, and proceeded to try to net the fish tail first. After some emphatic coaching, he slipped the net under the fish and hoisted a 25 pound king into the boat. This still is my biggest salmon to date.