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10 of the World’s Biggest King Salmon

March 12, 2015 By JD 38 Comments

King Salmon are awesome…and the truly giant ones are unbelievably special creatures. Here’s a list of 10 massive kings that will make you weak in the knees…

Close to 80 Pounds!

Kenai River King
The Kenai River in Alaska has pumped out more monster Chinook than anywhere. This massive 53.5″ x 34″ buck weighed somewhere in the neighborhood of 75 to 80 pounds!


Potential Record…Released!

Reel Adventures Salmon
On July 15, 2009, angler Joel Atchison caught this massive Chinook on the Kenai River in Alaska. Guide John Whitlatch of Reel Adventures says he’s not sure if the fish was a world record or not…because he and Aitchison decided to forgo their own glory and instead let the big beast go and make babies. Very, very cool!


The Biggest of All!

Biggest salmon in the world
The biggest king salmon ever caught was this 126-pound monster that was caught in a fish trap near Petersburg, Alaska in 1949. My friend and fellow Alaska guide, Chris Sessions, sent me this pic and said that a friend of his has one of the three replica mounts of the behemoth on his wall.

All I can say is OMG!!!


The King of Kings

Anchorage Daily News Photo

Anchorage Daily News Photo

No list of massive king salmon would be complete without the current All-Tackle IGFA All-Tackle World Record 97-pound, 4-ounce king caught by Les Anderson in the Kenai River back in May of 1985. The record fish measured a mind blowing 58.5″ x 37″ and was probably a 100 pounder considering it wasn’t weighed for several hours after it was caught.

You can read the whole story HERE


Sacramento Monster

Giant Sac Salmon
Imagine the surprise of California Department of Fish & game biologists when they found this Godzilla-sized Chinook carcass in Battle Creek, a tributary of the Sacramento River, nearly 300 miles upstream, from the ocean!  The fish was almost 51 inches long and estimated to weigh 88 pounds… dead! In his prime, out in the salt, the fish could have been pushing 100 pounds!

See more photos HERE


83-Pound BC Beast (Released!)

83 Pound BC King
Deborah Whitman-Perry of Newmarket, Ont., caught & released this huge king that weighed 83 pounds, three ounces in August 2012 at River’s Inlet, BC while fishing with guide Tyler Mills of Good Hope Cannery. Again, I’m loving the fact that people are letting these hogs go! Read the whole story HERE


The Good Ol’ Days: Columbia River June Hogs

Astoria Giant, 100 pound kings
Before all the dams royally messed the Columbia River up for good, it had some monster Chinook! Bound for the upper end of the watershed, “June Hogs” sometimes topped 100 pounds. The construction of Grand Coulee Dam, which has no fish passage, ultimately did these massive beasts in for good. :(


Saltwater Slab

Photo: John L. Beath

Photo: John L. Beath

So, considering I’ve never caught a king remotely as big as this 80-pounder from River’s Inlet, BC… I can only imagine how ridiculously massive the fillets off a fish like this are! Kudos to the netter too… I’m thinking I’d have a sudden case of the shakes when this bad dude came to the surface!


85-Pound June Hog

Photo: Columbia River Maritime Museum.

Photo: Columbia River Maritime Museum.

Here’s another one from the “wish I had a time machine jet sled” files… An 85-pound Columbia River June Hog caught in 1925 at Astoria by Tony Canessa. Man, those fish were soon awesome!


 99 Pounder…Released!

www.ifish.net

www.ifish.net

Wolfgang Voelker,  owner/operator of Kermode Bear Fishing Lodge in Terrace, BC writes:

Mrs. Ingrid Oeder, her husband Bernhard and their daughter arrived at Terrace Airport on August 6, 2001.

We went out fishing by boat the very next day. Fortunately, John Wright, the Kermode Bear Lodge Assistant Guide, joined us that day. We cast anchor right across the mouth of the Lakelse River. Suddenly, around 11 a.m., there was action on Ingrid’s rod. Bernhard hooked the fish and handed the rod back to her. Initially, there was no reaction on the other end of the line for about 10-15 seconds. All of a sudden, like an explosion, the fish headed toward the main current of the Skeena River.

At this point, I realized that this must be a really big one. We were lucky having John with us since we have been well-coordinated team for years. John released the anchor chain and started the boat engine. Now we’re prepared for the fight. I advised Ingrid to hold the rod up and to keep the line tight. In spite of her excitement she did everything right. We drifted downstream while Bernhard was operating the video camera. I would guess that we were fighting about 30 to 40 minutes with the fish, of course, Ingrid had to do most part of it. At last, the fish showed the first signs of tiredness and therefore the escape attempts lessened. Then it was my turn. After Ingrid finally managed to get the fish alongside the boat, I was able to net it. John and I lifted the salmon into the boat. Ingrid, meanwhile completely exhausted could not believe her luck. We drove back at full speed, since we did not want to set the fish back in the torrential current. I explained to Ingrid that we usually release all “the really big ones” to preserve the gene pool. She and her husband agreed to it without hesitation.

At this point, I want to thank them again for their understanding.

We took the measurements (136 cm x 98 cm) of the Salmon two times because could not believe it the first time. John and I put the giant back into the river approximately 10 minutes later, it swam into the deep water under its own steam.

There was a devout silence on the boat for a few seconds.

In the afternoon Bernhard caught his own smaller Chinook. This one, however, we took with us. Certainly, we will never forget this fishing day on the Skeena River.

The monster fish with a length of 53.5 inches and a girth of 38.5 using a formula (endorsed by FOC) of Length x Girth squared divided by 800 would weigh 99.125-pounds… clearly the largest Chinook (Kings as the Americans refer to them) ever landed. Along with witnesses a video was taken and a photograph made from the video.

Salmon Fishing Techniques

Are you a steelhead junkie?
10 Mind Blowing Giant Steelhead

Filed Under: Angling Records, Best of FishwithJD, Trophy Room Tagged With: british columbia, chinook, columbia river, kenai river, king salmon, sacramento river, world record

Walleye: West Coast Style!

May 15, 2012 By JD 2 Comments

Now, if they only would pull a little string...


Though he spends most of his time chasing chrome winter steelhead and big wild Chinook along the coast of Northern California and has made many forays into exotic destinations for all sorts of big game, guide Tony Sepulveda is quite the “Midwest” species aficionado. Crappie, yellow perch, pickerel…you name it…and he’s into it.

And that’s especially true when it comes to ol’ marble eyes! Tony’s such a walleye junkie that, even on a busman’s holiday to the Columbia River recently, he took time out from chasing spring Chinook to try his hand at the river’s prolific ‘eye fishery.

“I’ve never been so excited in my life to catch something that fought so little,” he says of this gorgeous 12-pound walleye he hooked on a crawler harness with a chartreuse Mack’s Blade from just below John Day Dam. “It fought like a big, wet sock…I’m not sure what my fascination is with those things is, but I dig ’em!”

Wet sock or not, that’s one heck of a West Coast walleye! That should put a little more spin in any Midwestern angler’s Lindy Rig!

Filed Under: Trophy Room Tagged With: columbia river, john day dam, walleye

Columbia River sea lions: Time to pay the Piper!

March 20, 2012 By JD 15 Comments

State and federal biologists estimate that California sea lions have eaten between 1.5 and 4 percent of all returning adult Columbia River salmon at Bonneville Dam each year during the past eight years. But as of March 16, NOAA Fisheries has authorized the use of Lethal Force to curb predation.

I’m sure PETA and others will raise hell, but in my mind, those folks don’t have a leg to stand on until the start actually doing something that helps the animals…like restore habitat, etc. When was the last time you saw a member of PETA buying raffle tickets or auction items at a Ducks Unlimited, Rocky MOuntain Elk Foundation, Costal Conservation Association or Trout Unlimited dinner? Those cats are all the real animal advocates, not kooks who spray paint fur coats. But, alas, I digress…

Read more about the removal of Columbia sea lions at Underwater Times.com

Filed Under: uncategorized Tagged With: bonneville dam, columbia river, Salmon, sea lions

The Greatest Fishing Trip of All Time!

April 13, 2011 By JD 2 Comments


I‘ve read several books about Lewis & Clark over the years, including a version of their Journals that was as thick as a Manhattan phone book. Not only was their journey one of history’s most epic road trips, but man, oh man, did they see some spectacular fishing! The numbers of salmon and steelhead they encountered on the Columbia-Clearwater-Snake river system were beyond imagination. When I finally get my jet boat time machine built, my first trip is going to be along much of the Lewis & Clark Trail!

Apparently, I am not alone in my fascination with the fishing that the dynamic duo and the Corps. of Discovery encountered…The Federation of Fly Fishers has created a virtual and physical exhibit on this very subject! Check this out: Undaunted Anglers: Fishing with Lewis & Clark

Filed Under: uncategorized Tagged With: columbia river, lewis & clark, Salmon, Steelhead, trout

Chum Salmon reintroduced into the Columbia River

April 12, 2011 By JD 1 Comment

Chum salmon, long considered to be almost extinct on the Oregon side of the lower Columbia River, might again return to its tributaries if a cooperative effort of the Oregon and Washington departments of fish and wildlife proves successful.

The first week of April, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) released 106,000 juvenile chum salmon into lower Big Creek in the first phase of project attempting to re-establish the species, which began to disappear from the Oregon side of the river more than 50 years ago. While the reason for their decline is not completely clear, biologists believe that severe habitat degradation, among other factors, played a key role. Click here to read more…

Filed Under: uncategorized Tagged With: chum salmon, columbia river, oregon

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