Originally Posted by
Tubbytuba
little late to the party but yeah, looks like a coho (silver salmon). they can look deceptively like a metal head, and they will stray into shallow water unlike kings and steelies. i have no idea why but my Oregon friends will catch them ofs the beach up there in in spring and late winter, a full 5 months before they stage to run up river. Catch of a life time anywhere especially down here. you're blessed my friend.
next time you hook something like that out there try your best to release it in the water and keep em off the sand, all pacific salmon are pretty lame in terms of durability and toughness.
PS, unless something changed in the past 6 months (emergency drought closure?)the harvest of king salmon was legal so long as you had your report card and you followed the regs (meaning not fishing rivers that were closed to salmon fishing). the entire fishery was closed in 2008 but has since reopened. In fact there have been reports from the Klamath in the past few years on this site and i know people who have caught, kept, and sent in their report cards from 2013. final note, i don't think it is illegal to accidentally catch anything so long as you cant be shown to be increasing your odds by using particular baits/lures (IE targeting). pretty sure you were in the right, and as a fisherman i cant blame you for stay put haha, id have fished that till my arm fell off. that only happens once in a lifetime.
Good Hunting
