Reformed salmon angler Tony Koregelos of Sacramento, CA shows off a chrome 20-pound Chinook salmon that ate a swimbait intended for striped bass in the California Delta.
In light of the crappy salmon situation in the Valley, Tony recently off-loaded his jet sled and bought a bass boat so he could spend more time catching…um…stripers. Oh well, it was a nice thought, anyway.
On a year when salmon are so few in number, Tony’s fish is significant because he caught it on the San Joaquin River, which has far fewer fish than does the Sacramento River side of the Delta. Furthermore, you can see that the king is missing his adipose fin, which means it had to have come from a hatchery. Judging by the photo, I’m not totally sure, but it looks like the fish was taken above the mouth of the Mokelumne, which means it was likely a Merced River Hatchery fish — which has been seeing under 50 fish a season in recent years. A rare catch, indeed!
For more “Salmon out of Nowhere” action, check out the video of the king trusty sidekick Reilly and I nabbed a few weeks back HERE or the photo the big king one of my clients caught last season while striper jigging on the San Joaquin HERE
JD says
Yea, I knew you released it but should have made that more clear. Thanks for mentioning that. In the cold water we’ve had lately, I’m sure the fish was fine…
Tony Koregelos says
JD,
Just make sure everyone knows that the salmon was safely released and revived. And yes it was a hatchery fish, good eye. I ran the trolling motor for about ten minutes holding him into the current with the boga to get him rolling again. Funny story.
Tony