There is a fish that goes by many names that has had Tony Orton’s interest for many years. Chinook, spring and quinnat salmon are other names for the king salmon but there is one name that interests him the most…

The king salmon is the biggest out of all the salmon species. Records show that they have been caught over 70lbs (32kgs) but once it gets over the trophy size of 30lb (13.6kgs), it’s then called a “tyee” – many anglers dream fish.

Each year I take anglers to Northern Canada in search of salmon and halibut. It’s a trip I look forward to very much as, being a Kiwi, we do not get many opportunities to target and catch a lot of these hard fighting and delicious fish. For the three years I have been going to Haida Gwaii in British Columbia on the west coast of Canada, I have never caught the magical 30lb salmon myself. So, this year I booked a trip to fish this destination myself and got a chance at ticking this fishing goal off my bucket list. My fishing partner for the week was Murray Stewart from Te Awamutu. We were both very excited about the week ahead – it was finally time to start mooching around in search of Mr Tyee.

All the other times I had fished for king salmon in Canada and Alaska I only used downriggers with either baits or lures, but this trip was going to be different as I requested a skipper that used the “mooching” technique. We were going to be mooching, and not the kind where you laze around after a big night out.

Mooching is a very basic technique and very similar to how we slow troll live baits for kingfish back home. Rigs are dropped down with an 8-10-ounce ball sinker above the swivel to get the bait down and trolled around at about one knot. The rods are long at around three-metres in length. They are very similar to fly rods but a little heavier duty. The reels are like heavy-duty fly reels but with two-handle knobs. They are spooled with 30lb mono and the leader is either 30 or 40lb with two barbless “J” hooks Snell tied about 120mm apart.

The bait is a cut herring – the head is cut off on an angle and the tail slightly bent up. The hooks are accurately placed with a tow point – the idea is the bait will roll while being towed at 1 knot. The shiny skin of the herring reflects the light when rolling though the water, enticing the bite of a hungry salmon. The skippers use a small trolling motor that can easily move the boat around at half a knot to one-and-a-half knots. The general consensus is that the weed edges with good current flow are great places to work in search of the bigger fish and some days we would go round and round along a very short stretch of coast knowing that it was only a matter of time before the “big one” would hit.

Typical herring bait ("cut plug") used for mooching.

Days one and two started off well with a bunch of good-sized fish in the 15-22lb range for Murray and I, but these were still not the trophy we had come for. I did get rather excited at one stage as I got a massive hit and a blistering run that certainly got my hopes up. Given we were in an area where fish over 50lb had been caught, the skipper called it for a monster salmon, but my dreams were soon shattered after 20 minutes when a 40lb halibut appeared on the surface. Needless to say, I was very happy about catching a stunning halibut, but at the same time I was starting to think I was never going see my “tyee”.

Tony's fishing partner for the week, Murray Stewart and Tony with a great haul on their first day.

For the last couple of days I had a new skipper – Cody was a purist salmon fisherman and very good at his trade. He was obsessed with mooching. The way he rigged his baits, presented the gear, positioned his boat and kept it in the zone made me believe I was in with a chance. Cody fished with confidence and very similarly to the way I would approach live baiting for big kingfish. If you keep fishing in an area where big fish feed, be patient and stick to your plan as eventually it’s going to pay off.

We worked the side of a large rock commonly called “Snake Rock” – it has a nasty corner that comes up quite steeply, which is the graveyard for many downrigger balls and mooching setups, then it’s a 100m long straight rock with a great kelp edge and deep water off to the side. We worked this area hard for two days. Around and around we went and after many hours of mooching in what seemed like endless circles, we finally got the hit we wanted. The line peeled off at an alarming rate and I knew this time I was on to a fish that could possibly be my tyee. We got a good look at the fish early on and knew we had a chance – it seems these big king salmon come to the boat quickly but take off on more blistering runs once they see the boat. It took over 15 minutes of boat maneuvering, careful angling and some great team work to get the fish close. I’ve never been so worried as when the fish was approaching the boat – barbless hooks have a tendency of falling out in the final stages of the fight and I knew this may be my only chance at my dream fish. Cody did a fantastic job netting the fish. We quickly got it on board, measured its length and girth, took a quick photo and released this magnificent fish with the hope it would get to its spawning grounds and breed.

We radioed the head fishing guide the measurements and anxiously stood by for the weight to come back.

“Boat 7, Boat 7, Cody we have a size for Tony’s fish… 31lbs, over”.

The cheers coming from Murray, Cody and I echoed out, the sense of relief and excitement overwhelming us – you could not wipe grins off our faces. Finally, after three years of trying, my dream had come true!

That night, the team at Peregrine Lodge presented me with my tyee badge and it’s a little gift I will treasure for the rest of my life.

From the giant bluefin tuna on the East Coast to the massive prehistoric sturgeon in the Fraser River to the tyee salmon that swim the West Coast, I have so many fond memories of fishing in this truly amazing country!

Thank you Canada, we will surely be coming back!