Hey guys,

I was hoping that you guys would be willing to share your thoughts on locations for large fish.

I am after a 20lb steelhead, 20lb coho, and a 50lb chinook.

I have came close to all of them, but cant hit that trophy mark.

I was wandering if you guys would give your suggestions for rivers in Washington, and Oregon with the best shot at these trophy fish.

Steelhead
Coho
Chinook

Thank you. Jeff

I'm sure people are just sitting there crafting their replies to you. They don't want to get it wrong.
I'm going to look through my log and when I find where I've caught each of the lunkers you speak of I'll post it.

Thanks Seastrike, that would be awesome.

Quinault
HUMPS
Quinault

There are a ton of possibilities. I have the 23# Coho and 52# king from the humps. I’ve yet to break 17 for the Steelhead...yet

Nisqually, on the Ft Lewis side. Oh, maybe that was supposed to be secret.
Or below that little hatchery 10 miles below Mayfield dam on the Cowlitz. Oh, wait that was another secret spot.
Then there's always the half blue, half rusted pickup truck out on the Quinault. If its got a net in the back you can ask the driver where you can find a 20 pound steelhead.


Honestly Jeff, any number of OP rivers could produce 20 pound coho. For a 20 pound steelie you better book a seat with Bob, the website owner.
And for a 50 pound king in frshwater spend 2 months on the Hoh, or the same on the Hump. Just don't let anybody catch you bonking it.

everyone wants those numbers.fish hard.try the pilchuck last week in feb for a twenty pound steelhead.just don't bonk it please.

I am not looking to kill them. I just want a photo.

I would hit the hump the the king.

Sauk
Skagit
Columbia Fall Kings

'Nuff said..

For steelhead - Thompson Quinalt Kalum

Catch all three on the Hoh.

Oops...is that a zipperlip? Someone forgot to tell the 68 drift boats every damn weekend that!

Fish on...

Todd

Washington:
Try the north coastal rivers
Oregon:
Try the north coastal rvers but don't forget about the Port orford area rivers.
Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

Quinault, Queets, Hoh or Sauk for a 20+ steelhead.

Sol Duc or Hoh for a 20+ coho.

Hoh for a 50+ Nook.

Done the first two. Getting a nook over 50 in this state is tough.

Well I would have to say that you might want to explore the serenity of the, god should I say it, all the crap I am going to get from my buddies who have showed the me this prime time spot, screw it I am goig for it, ok brother you want numbers and you want pounds go to the Puyallup on a muddy day in December and you will find the elusive 20 pound steelhead, the 52 pound king, and the 25 pound silver all looking for your one of a kind offering. Fish directly across from the taxidermy place with the moose and throw a pink hoochie out with no weight and let it float the surface and wham fish on. Good luck and enjoy the litter free bank.

I've found that those pink hootchies float better if you blow a little air in behind those little pink legs.

Sol, Sol, Sol.

Skagit, Skagit, and more Skagit. 20lb Steel very real possibility, 30lb lotto fish are there. 20+ coho are there, dont let the 3 lb Cascade fish fool you. 50+ Kings are there too, but need to be released like the Steelhead.

Ive been lucky enough to hit all three, and trust me when it comes to the big ones its all about luck. I dont care how good you are.
I say the Skagit but you could get any one of those lunkers in about any river.

If you want the best chance,,hire a guide and go fish the Skeena system durring the peak seasons for each type of salmonoid

Stealhead - OP - never done it myself, maybe I need to book a trip this next spring

Coho - Snohomish - caught 5 over 20 last year, and dozens between 15 and 20

Chinook - Columbia. I've caught kings of 63" and 69" there. A second great chance outside of BC/AK would be tillamook

63" and 69" ????????????????????????

The world-record fish was under 60".

I want pix

Maybe 63" and 69" was meant to be the weight??????

Typo there - 63" and 2nd best of 59" (not 69) The big boy stretched from by adams apple to the ground. Both the same year ('88) beneath Bonneville dam. Both bucks. Layers of meat at least 1/4" thick between layers of fat. Had no concept of conservation back then and grilled up platter-sized steaks.

Those were some serious gene-pool boys from way back. Caught in October beneath Bonneville but they didn't match up with anything I know about lower-river tules. And, if they were still under bonneville in Oct doesn't seem they would be upriver fish. We were mostly fishing for silvers. Anybody know of a lower-river fish strain of that size? I've got several prints of the big one along with others in the 40-50 lb range we caught that same day. I'll have to dig 'em out of my picture box in storage on a rained-out weekend and post em. Had a little color to it towards the tail - not unlike Kenai fish. Meat cut bright red with plenty of fat still layered in there like an upriver fish not like a tule. Caught a lot of big fish in the big river since but never any others significantly above the 45# range.

PS I guestimated the weight of the fish at that time to be 60 lbs - never weighed it but did put the tape to it. Once I get the pic posted maybe someone in the know can estimate it's weight and tell me what I caught.

Big kings gain their weight in girth, not length. Heck, my Dad's 59 pound king was only 50 inches.

As Bob stated, Less's 98 pound Kenai king is under 60".

50# Chinook - Kenai with Doc
20# Coho - Hoh, Satsop, or Duc
20# Steelie - Quinault, Hoh, Sauk, Duc

As Strike Zone says...Good Luck!

Ike

Quinault, Raft, Quinault.