FishwithJD

The web's best fishing magazine

  • Start Here
  • Guided Trips With JD
  • Catch Steelhead
  • Store
  • JD’s Gear
    • Steelhead
    • Kokanee
    • River Salmon Trolling
    • Plug Fishing for Salmon
    • Light Tackle Surf Perch
  • Techniques
    • Bass
    • Boats & Boating
    • Cooking
    • Fly Fishing
    • Salmon
    • Saltwater
    • Shad
    • Steelhead
    • Stripers
    • Sturgeon
    • Trout & Kokanee

10 of the World’s Biggest King Salmon (2024 UPDATE!)

March 12, 2015 By JD 40 Comments

King Salmon are awesome…and the truly giant ones are unbelievably special creatures. Here’s a list of 10 (15 actually) massive kings that will make you weak in the knees…

Over 100 Pounds! 

In August of 2021, Gayle Gordon caught just may be the largest sport-caught king salmon (present day) ever. The monster bit a trolled herring in the saltwater of British Columbia’s fabled River’s Inlet. After a couple quick measurements, she amazingly released the brute go so he could spawn. 

Because she let the fish go, Gordon don’t get an official weight on the salmon but when put it into the ol’ tried and true 750 weight formula (Weight = Length x Girth x Girth /750) and it came out to 105.9 pounds!

Watch the VIDEO


South American Beasts

South America seems to be the place for giant kings these days, specifically Patagonia. In 2018, Rogerio Audbert from Brazil caught and released this 90-pound class leviathan on a fly in Argentina. In the photo below, Jasper Pääkkönen from Finland (you know him from the hit TV show Vikings) caught one in the upper 80’s in the same area. And would you look at the size of that adipose fin! Sadly, a soon to be built dam will block off the spawning habitat in this system so this new fishery may already be headed towards a thing of the past :(

Read more at https://www.solidadventures.com/glacier-king/


108 Pounds!!!

(San Juan Island Historical Museum photo)


Chrome Kenai Monster

Steve Huckey of Arizona caught and released this beastly king on the Kenai River with Greg Brush of EZ Limit Guide Service. It was 55.5″ x 34″ and estimated to weigh in the mid to high 80’s.


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 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!


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, chinook salmon, columbia river, kenai river, king salmon, sacramento river, world record, world record king salmon

OMG!

February 23, 2009 By JD 1 Comment

monster-kenai-king
This one’s from the Holy Crap files! Check out this very bright (still had sea lice!) and oh so giant king salmon from the Kenai River! The fish was taken June 30th, 2004 by a client of guide Greg Brush of EZ Limit Guide Service in Soldotna.

Take a really, really close look at that fish…the wrist of the tail is as big as your thigh and you could fit your head inside its mouth! And then there’s the adipose fin that’s the size of a salad plate…

Although not a world record…not even close, if you can believe that…Greg (right) says the fish was in the mid 80’s (duh!) and is his personal best during his tenure as a guide on the Kenai.

The best part of the whole deal is the client released the fish! Super manly man stud props for that!

Though the Kenai’s slowing down as a giant factory, there are still monsters lurking in its emerald depths and Les Anderson’s all-tackle world record of 97 pounds, 4 ounces is never safe here. Check out the story of the World Record King HERE

Filed Under: Trophy Room Tagged With: alaska, greg brush, kenai river, king salmon, les anderson, soldotna, world record king salmon

The Story of the World Record King Salmon

August 1, 2008 By JD 15 Comments

Les Anderson's World record king salmon

On May 17, 1985, Les Anderson of Soldotna, AK landed the all-tackle world record king salmon…this 97-pound, 4-ounce beast from the Kenai River. The mammoth Chinook was nearly 5 feet long and had an amazing 37.5-inch girth!

The improbable catch took place during the Kenai’s early run of kings, which typically features smaller salmon than the July run.

What’s even more crazy is the fish probably weighed considerably more at the time Andersen caught it…

Click here to read more…

Filed Under: Best of FishwithJD, Fishing Stories, Trophy Room Tagged With: alaska, chinook salmon, kenai river, skeena river, world record king salmon

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

JD’s Top Gear Picks

  • Steelhead
  • Kokanee
  • River Salmon Trolling
  • Plug Fishing for Salmon
  • Light Tackle Surf Perch

Legal

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Copyright © 2025 Richey Sportfishing