Tom Tate and his 40 lb King
Tom Tate has witnessed many great days and great catches over the many years that he has fished with his family in Sitka with Angling Unlimited. Tom’s father-in-law Roy Tuschhoff landed a 50# king about 10 years ago. Tom’s son Hunter Tate landed a 40# King near Sinitsin about 6 years ago. Brother-in-law Mark Tuschhoff landed a halibut weighing in at 205# 4 years ago, and a 20 pound Silver just last August! This year it was Tom’s turn to bring home the bragging rights. After a busy morning landing several King salmon, the bite was shut off rather suddenly as a pod of five or six Orcas cruised near the boat. I was confident that if we hung in there long enough, the bite would turn back on. After nearly 80 minutes of absolutely nothing happening, I was begining to wonder why I hadn’t pulled achor and moved on 80 minutes earlier! Then Tom quietly gets a bite while reeling up, hooks the fish, and the fight is on. It became obvious from the start that we were in for a heavy weight battle. Tom fought the King perfectly, deckhand Matt did a great job with the net, and when the fish hit the deck, all doubts about leaving earlier went out the window. It was a beautiful 40# King Salmon. Great job Tom! As always, another great trip.
Captain Chuck
Great Catch Tom…Thanks Capt Chuck for the great time.
This was our third day of fishing and I suggested we do something different, than what we’ve done in the past years, the day before. I was thinking North, and Chuck said we should try going North. The next morning we were off to Kaz. As we pulled up we found a great place to anchor and as soon as we let our baits out we had a King on. Just prior to the Killer Whales we had a triple header of Kings, and by that time we had two in the boat and had released several other Kings. Soon after we released the three Kings in our triple header, and the Killer Whales spooked the Salmon away, we were wondering if we should have got our limit and high tailed it out to catch some Halibut. Chucks hopes to get the Big King Salmon paid off. I can’t say enough about Tom, my brother in law, for working his bait unlike the rest of us and producing his personal best and the biggest fish of the season for Chuck and Crew.
I’ve never seen King Salmon like that before…and I’ve been a charter boat skipper in Ketchikan some years ago. Chuck I can’t wait for the Silvers in August.
Captain Mark