fishing planet trophy chinook salmon california

PROPER GEAR/TACKLE: Mooching gear for kings begins with top of the line G.Loomis rods ranging from 8’6” to 10’6” in length – your pick. Unlike with bass, you don’t catch schoolies when fishing the ocean for kings. Because king salmon are caught almost exclusively as they are maturing, the average size is larger. Stripers seem to have far less obvious genetic specificity – big stripers simply take a lot of years to get that way – something that’s hard to do in a heavily fished world. There are a few river systems that produce huge kings, like the Kenai. Trophy size on salt water for both species is nearly the same: 40 pounds gives you bragging rights, 50 pounds is fish of a lifetime territory, 60 pounds is rare air, and very few, like a handful of people, will ever see anything over 70. Such monsters no longer exist for a variety of reasons. SIZE OF FISH: Both stripers and kings have a historical maximum size of roughly 125 pounds. Kings can be found in the Great Lakes and stripers are caught in large lakes and reservoirs across the country.

Both fish have been transplanted into freshwater environments. Stripers were transplanted into the Pacific from New Jersey bass via train car in the late 1800’s. The Bay Area of California as well as the Coos Bay Area and Umpqua River system in central Oregon are the only places you’ll find kings and stripers overlapping.

King salmon are caught in salt water from central California to the Bering Sea. LOCATION: Striped bass are highly prized from North Carolina to Maine. Buzzards Bay and adjacent waters includes the famed haunts of Cuttyhunk Island and the Elizabeth Islands, along with countless productive estuaries and rocky points. TheSitka area has one of the highest salt water catch rates for kings anywhere on the planet. My home waters – for both species – are the crème de la crème. Striped bass and king salmon are the premier inshore sport fish in their region. I arrive back in Massachusetts in September for two months of fishing the fall run of stripers. Then I relocate to Sitka, Alaska to guide for king salmon (Chinook), coho salmon (coho), and halibut all summer.

I fish for bass for about from late April to mid-May each year in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. My fishing year is divided between striped bass and salmon.

Fishing planet trophy chinook salmon california