Eben Dowd (left) & Vernon Dowd (right) with two good-sized Pacific King Salmon Most of the fish caught were in the region of 35lbs with some well over 40lbs

The Pacific King Salmon or Chinook Salmon ( Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha) is the largest Salmon species in the world. The world record for this species was caught in the Kenai river in 1985 and weighed 97 pounds (44 kg.). These fish spend most of their lives in the ocean but ultimately return to the river of their birth to spawn and then die.

While in the sea, these fish are bright silver with a blue or green back. They have spots along their back which extend to the dorsal fin. Once they start to migrate up the rivers, they slowly start to take on their spawning colours and they turn pink, eventually becoming quite red.

Alaskan Kings are found from Southeast Alaska to as far north as Point Hope. The most famous area for these fish is around the Cook Inlet and specifically the Kenai River.

Other famous rivers in this area are the Kasilof, Anchor and Gulkana. Kings are also caught in the Deshka River, Alexander creek and Lake creek. Rivers that also have good runs of Kings are the Nushagak, Yukon, Naknek and Talachulitna.
 

King Salmon start life in fresh water where they remain for about two years. During this period they feed mainly on insects and are known as Parr. When they start their migration to the sea they start becoming silver and are then known as Smolt. Once in the ocean, they grow quickly, feeding on Herring, Squid and Shrimp. These fish start returning to the rivers of their birth during late winter at which time they are from three to seven years old. They are therefore the first Salmon to arrive in the rivers during spring. After moving up river and holding in some deeper sections, they move into the shallow spawning areas where the female digs a redd (nest) with her tail. The eggs are now deposited in this redd and fertilized by the male. The eggs are then covered with gravel and loose eggs are picked up.

The author proudly displaying his catch

After spawning, the fish rapidly weaken and die. These decomposing fish stimulate the whole ecosystem and the new fry that hatch will benefit from the numerous organisms produced by the death of their parents.

Once the Kings start their migration up river, they stop feeding. This means that to catch them, we have to stimulate some instinct or form of aggression in them to make them grab the fly. On our recent trip to the Talachulitna river, we found bright colours essential in inducing strikes. The most favoured colours were purple, bright pink and chartreuse. Egg sucking leeches in purple with a bright pink egg were very successful as were bunny clousers in pink and chartreuse. The addition of flash added to the effectiveness of these patterns.

Most of the fish were taken on the drift and it seemed that the fish would only grab the fly if it passed very close to it. It is essential to work the fly at the right depth as the Kings seem to hug the bottom. Changing flies seemed to be effective and one would often get a strike within two or three casts of changing the fly. The sink rate of the line being used is critical and will depend on the rate of flow. It is essential to get a controlled drift at the depth the fish are holding. The technique is to cast across the stream and watch the line as the fly drifts. The fly is generally taken on the drift or as it starts to swing and although some takes are vicious, the fish often just seem to mouth the fly and this can only be seen as a subtle movement in the line. Sink tip lines are preferred for this type of fishing but two Austrians fishing floating lines and heavily weighted flies were also very successful.

Kings are spectacular, robust fighters, so much so that most of the big ones take more than an hour to land. Rods of 9 or 10 weight are suitable and a reel with a good drag and 250 meters of backing is required.
 

These Salmon are truly the kings of freshwater gamefish. Long live the King!