It finally happened! Day after day, week after week of charter fishing and more charter fishing, I finally had a day off! And guess what I did? What any die-hard Prince Rupert charter operator would do……I went fishing of course!

There were four of us on the boat that day. My wife and I and another couple set out at the first light. And what a beautiful morning it was. The water was like glass and the sun was just rising over the mountains. Talk about excitement.

We finally got to my secret spot. We were going to catch "the big one". I could just feel it! We set the lines just so and started our tack. Settling in to enjoy the morning, we sat back with our special coffee, put our feet up and were just starting to tell each other some lies when "ssszzzzzzziiinnnngggg" – that familiar, awe-inspiring sound of the reel smoking, peeling line faster than a speeding salmon. The best thing about it was that it was my rod and my reel that was singing!

I hopped out of the captain’s helm, made a mad dash through the galley yelling, "Fish On! Everyone get your gear up. We’ve got a hog on!" As fast as four people could move on a boat at one time, my crew was in perfect unison. Down riggers were coming up, all the gear was being hauled in and the boat stayed in a straight line. There was no way this one was getting away. As I grabbed my rod out of the holder, I could feel the awesome power of this king salmon. As I tightened my drag to a maximum safety level, there was still no stopping him. With 330 yards of 40-pound test on my reel, it was soon down to the last 10 yards. As my partner was about to slam my boat in reverse, the fish decided to run right at me. It came at me faster than I could reel and when he got about fifteen feet from the boat he fired straight up into the air giving us the first glimpse of his mass. What a fish he was! It was the biggest salmon that I have ever seen in the ocean and I have seen some big salmon in my charter career. The excitement was contagious. My crew was high on adrenaline and cheering me on in my fight that lasted 25 minutes before the fish tired enough and finally came to the boat.

My buddy went to net the fish and the monster wouldn’t fit in the net! It just wasn't meant to be caught....yet. As the fish caught its second wind, it peeled line again. This round lasted another ten minutes. Finally, he’s on his way to the net again. His head goes in, then his body. At this point, his massive tail grabbed water and like a paddle wheeler thrashed water violently. He gained thrust and momentum as he parted the web of the fish net, broke the hoop, bent the handle and snapped the line all in about 2 seconds. This fish was free and had won the battle. As the crew was slumping into depression, I quickly explained how even though it was disappointing not to bring him aboard, this fish deserved to live. He was a true fighter and had gained my respect.

All was not lost however as one of the crew had managed to take some pictures of the fish in the net. I estimate this fish was eighty to ninety pounds. He was a granddaddy! Later that morning, my wife ended up with what I believe to be his smaller brother. He weighed in at 53 pounds and was the biggest of all we caught that day.

From: coast@citytel.net
http://www.citytel.net/coast

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