Published Summer 2004, BC Outdoors Sport Fishing and Outdoor Adventure Magazine
The Sooke Chinook
There was no way I was letting this mammoth-sized salmon get away.
By Doug Ferrier
 It was August 29, 2003, just before 6 am when my good friend and fishing buddy Lorenzo Fardella and I left Sooke Harbour on a mission to troll for big chinook. A thick fog loomed over the water, shrouding visibility and dissuading most boats from heading west to Otter Point. But we were not to be put off - and less than an hour later we were situated off Otter Point with our lines down and our hopes up.
A few hours passed, and Lorenzo had just brought his line up to check for damaged bait or snagged seaweed. As he dropped his gear back over, I finally saw my rod dip. "You've got a hit!" Lorenzo yelled as I jumped to the rod and pulled it out of the holder. The fish had already popped the line off the downrigger clip. I gave the rod a tug to set the hook and get a feel for what kind of fish fight I was in for.
Photo Caption: Doug Ferrier gathered a crowd around as he weighed in with this 62-1/2-pound chinook caught off otter Point near Sooke.
Off it Goes!
Well, the fish took off and ran out 150 yards behind the boat. Then it stopped and just sat there. "It must be a big one; it’s anchored itself," I called out. The fish wasn’t moving and my 30-pound-test wasn’t about to winch it in. "We’d better start a big turn and get some ground on this fish.”
 Lorenzo turned the boat and I started reeling, always keeping the line taut. We had reeled in about 30 metres of line when the fish got its second wind, ran back down to the bottom and once again held tight. Lorenzo inched the boat closer, and I picked up more line.Another 20 minutes passed.
My arms started to feel the weight of this fish we had yet to even get a glimpse of. Suddenly, the fish started swimming towards us and I began reeling like a maniac.
The fish came closer, heading right for the boat and we realized, at this rate, the fish would soon go right under the boat, so Lorenzo made another turn and I kept my line tight. As the fish got nearer, Lorenzo put the motor in neutral, grabbed the net and got ready. With such a long leader I had to move to the opposite side of the boat.
Photo caption: Lorenzo Fardella (right) knew he had only one chance with which to bring his fishing buddy's prize salmon aboard.
Lorenzo yelled
“Don’t look! Don’t look! It’s a big one and if I miss it I don’t want you to kill me!” Lorenzo dipped the net in the water and cried, “I got it!”
I dropped my arms to get a rest. Lorenzo asked me to pass him the bonker and I exclaimed, “Forget the bonker! Just get it in the boat!” Lorenzo hauled the net up and over the side of the boat, spilling my catch onto the boat deck.
What a Prize!
We both sat down in stunned silence for about 10 minutes, looking at the biggest salmon we’d ever seen. Lorenzo grabbed my 50-pound scale and hooked it onto the fish. He started raising it but before the fish could clear the deck, the scale exploded under the strain.
At 11:00 am we headed into Sooke, following the wake of one of the local charter boats, who, as we would later find out, landed a 51-1/2-pound chinook that morning. As we tied up at the dock, I saw my friend Al Kennedy, of Reel Excitement Fishing Charters, and called him over. “You must have a good-sized one,” he laughed. “Yeah, high 30’s,” I joked back. When I opened the hatch, Al took one glance and said, “That’s no 30 pounder! It’s 50-pounds plus!”
We headed off to the weigh-in station at Eagle Eye Wilderness and Gord, the owner, set up his digital scale. I heard the murmurs of amazement as I pulled the fish out of the cooler, put it on the scale and let go. The numbers flashed by like they were on a slot machine, finally paying off with a weight of 62-1/2 pounds. Everyone let out a good yell and Gord went for his camera. Within five minutes a crowd of locals had gathered as people got on their cell phones calling their buddies to come down and get a look at this mammoth fish. The official size statistics were for this 62-pounder were 120 centimetres (47 inches) from tip to tail with a stocky girth of 89 centimetres (35 inches).
Tackle Talk
Doug caught this lunker on a Rhys-Davis Glow White Teaser-Head on a "perfectly brined" six-inch Rhys-Davis Anchovy. For a flasher, he attached an O'ki red and gold flasher on a nine-foot leader, and dropped the whole rige down to 18 metres (56 feet).
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