Now on the water the jet boat carved through the swirling currents of the mighty Skeena River. We were in search of likely holding places of wayward schools of sockeye salmon. Speeding over the blue green water towards the tip of a mid river island we saw breeching salmon, a good indication of holding fish. The engine was cut and we drifted to shore. Rigged with a 8 weight 10 foot fly rod, Islander fly reel with running line and 25 foot lead core sink tip we began covering the water. Swinging our wool bundles through the swift currents then take a few steps downstream and repeat. On my tenth cast I felt a solid weight and set the hook and all hell broke loose! My reel screamed and rod tip bucked. I was into a hot fish and I was sure I had foul hooked a Chinook by the way the line screamed off my reel. Now, fifty yards downstream the large male sockeye tail-walked across the surface with the line whistling through the water. I gained some line and now the salmon charged for mid river and began cart wheeling and rolling. Determined to win this battle I leaned into the rod and began to gain some ground. As the silver slab neared the shoreline his belly hit the rocks and he went berserk. My hand got in the way of my reel and I busted my knuckle and thumb. Now instantly into my backing the fish headed for the salt. I ran a few steps and began winding madly to gain slack as the salmon reversed directions. I was beginning to tire and the fish had some more left in him, 10 minutes later I had him beached for a picture. Now I have never had a fish on river battle like that. I have landed some huge Chinook, Steelhead and Atlantics they have being challenging. But the raw natural power of a tail-walking sockeye can not be surpassed. I would have to say that sockeye are the hardest fighting wild beast I have ever plied with a fly rod and I challenge anyone to find a hotter fish in a river.
clouserminnow,
i have been to northwest canada many times for work, but never got a solid opportunity to fly fish .. i was in calgary for the calgary stampede, lake lousie for mens and womens world cup skiing, vancouver for forumla 1 races … …. i have such great memories of the time i spent in these places … the people of northwest canada were great people .. i remember allot of laughs and down to earth conversation …
anyway .. i would love to get a chance to make it back someday just for the purpose of fly fishing … clearly, from the fish-tales i have read from you, it sounds like there are many experiences of a lifetime ..
great fish-tale here .. a beautiful fish …. silver, silver, silver … just perfect …
question: how far is it from where you were fishing to the open ocean?
ok thanks. take care.
Couserminnow,
I agree that sockeyes are insane fighters. In AK we could get them to take flies and they were the hardest fighting fish up there. On the other hand I have had fresh fall steelhead fight with more power and in an insane manner than any sockeye I have caught. I would describe a few steelhead as hooking onto a lightning bolt. One could argue that since steelhead are often larger that pound for pound the sockeyes or reds as we called them are the strongest fighting fresh water fish. It may also be that I like whichever fish is on my line at a given time. I look forward to more fish tales from the NW
Great picture of fish and another on demonstrated by bent rod in background. Picture tells the story on great action.
I have been dying to fish the Canadian NW for years.It’s no suprise that fish tore you up. So healthy looking, must have really ripped. There is no sound on earth like fly fline slicing through the water. Congrats on an awesome fish. This confirms my suspicion, I have to go there.
When I was in Alaska we had 1.3 mil sockeyes head up the river in 3 days. for 3 weeks they may be the hottest fish going. Great tale. Took me back a bit.
Sweet!
I have lived in Alaska for 10 years and could say without hesitation that i have caught around 10,000 sokeye on the fly and it never gets old, pound for pound they are great fighters, they would kick the pants off any other salmon of similar size. I would say though that the rainbows up here in the rivers fight harder. A 8 pound rainbow up here will jump twice as much, run twice as long and take twice as long as a 8 pound sockeye even when i’m fishing the big rivers with a 9 wieght.
I have also fished sockeye near Haines Alaska when I was a kid with spinning gear we caught them over 10 lbs and they fought hard in the fast glacial currents. That is where I first realized the prize fight in these bullets. But after taking them on the fly in big water I will be back every year for this run in the starts in the beginning of August.