Chinook salmon (king salmon)

Largest Pacific salmon: blue-green back with black spots on the back and on BOTH lobes of the tail, and a black gum line in the lower jaw.

10–30 lb.

About 5 ft and over 100 lb.

Herring, anchovies, sardines, krill and squid in the ocean; they stop eating once they enter fresh water to spawn.

Born in rivers, grows up in the ocean, then returns to its home river to spawn and die.

Found from Central & Northern California and Oregon & Washington. Ocean from Central California to Alaska; runs up the Sacramento, Klamath, Rogue, Columbia and many other rivers.

Ocean from Central California to Alaska; runs up the Sacramento, Klamath, Rogue, Columbia and many other rivers.

20–150 ft in the ocean.

20–150 ft trolling offshore, following the bait; shallower in bays and river mouths.

Ocean fishing in summer; river mouths and rivers from late summer through fall. Seasons are short and set every year.

First light is best.

In river mouths and estuaries, the incoming tide brings fresh fish in.

Calm seas offshore; cool, overcast days inshore.

Whole or cut-plug herring and anchovies.

Hoochies and spoons behind a flasher, spinners and plugs in the rivers.

8½–10½ ft salmon (mooching) rod with a level-wind or mooching reel; downriggers or divers to get deep.

Barbless 2/0–5/0 hooks where required; herring rigs, hoochies and spinners.

20–30 lb mono.

20–30 lb fluorocarbon, 4–6 ft behind a flasher.

Troll a flasher and hoochie or a rolling herring at the depth where you see bait on the sonar; in the rivers, back-troll plugs or drift eggs where legal.

Chinook hug the bottom more than coho — if you're marking fish deep, get your gear down to them.

Catch and release: wet your hands, keep the fish in the water when you can, and release it quickly. Use circle hooks and a dehooker.

Excellent eating — one of the best-tasting fish in its range.

Bleed and ice it right away. Fillet, then remove the skin and any dark bloodline.

Rich, fatty, orange-red meat: grilled on cedar, smoked, baked or raw as sashimi (frozen first).

River bars can be deadly — check the bar report and Coast Guard restrictions before crossing.

Seasons are short and set every year; California's ocean salmon season has been closed in recent years to protect weak runs. Barbless hooks are required in many areas. Check CDFW, ODFW or WDFW before you go. Licenses, size and bag limits and seasons are set by each state — the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (wildlife.ca.gov), Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (myodfw.com) and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (wdfw.wa.gov) — together with NOAA Fisheries and the Pacific Fishery Management Council. Rules change often, and many areas are no-take marine reserves: check before you go.

Keep only what you'll eat, release the rest quickly, and follow size and bag limits.