WILD BLOG: Chetco River tops the list of best big-Chinook rivers in the West
POSTED Nov. 4, 2010 / 9:47 a.m.

BROOKINGS, Ore. - When people think big salmon, places like the Kenai, River's Inlet, Skeena and Kodiak Island usually come to mind. Few people realize some of the biggest Chinook on the planet are caught far from Alaska, in places like the Smith River, Sacramento River and Southern Oregon's Chetco River.

The Chetco, a gem of a stream that flows from the Siskiyou Mountains into the Pacific Ocean at Brookings, has relatively quietly moved onto the list of the very best salmon rivers in the world. It has big fish, lots of them, and some of the best-looking salmon water anywhere.

Right now, the Chetco is yielding the kind of results that local guides can claim it as the best salmon fishing in the world.

2010 begins with a bang
I've been on the Chetco everyday for the past week, since it opened Oct. 30, and the fishing has been phenomenal. We've boated three kings over 40 pounds, hooked limits almost daily, and are catching fish with an average size of 30-plus-pounds.

Big-fish genetics
There's a reason the Chetco's kings are so big: The majority of the run is made up of 4-year-old fish. That's a year more in the ocean than most West Coast salmon runs.

Anywhere from 15 to 20 percent of the run are 5-year-old fish. Those are salmon in the 40- to 50-pound range.

And around 5 percent are 6-year-olds, those massive 50-plus-pound kings like the one at left (landed last year during the fall season).

Oregon's Department of Fish and Wildlife is expecting a run of 180 percent of normal this year. It's still early in the run, and we're seeing peak-season type results.

Trophy-king techniques
Pulling plugs, back-bouncing roe, drifting sand shrimp with bobbers, casting eggs and Spin-N-Glos from the bank - you name it, it probably will work on the Chetco. I mainly pull plugs and bounce eggs.

Trophy time: N-O-W!
The Chetco's run peaks near Thanksgiving, and fish run well into December.

Andy Martin is an Oregon and Alaska fishing guide. This winter he'll be running daily trips on his home waters of the Chetco River. Web site is www.wildriversfishing.com

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