Kings of the Kenai Part Three: Salmon Record Perspetives

This record seems certain to be broken. Alaska Fish and Game has a 104 pound king mounted on their headquarters wall that somebody netted. Several other salmon over 100 pounds have been netted or trolled up by commercial fishermen too. The all-time monster came from a fish trap at Point Colpoys, Prince of Wales Island, Alaska in 1949. This fish weighted 126 pounds and measured 53 1/2 inches in length and 38 1/2 inches in girth, with a tail spread of 17 1/2 inches.

Rod and reel line class records reflect this. Bob Carter took an 85 1/2-pound salmon out of Hakai Pass. Howard C.Rider's 30-pound line class NFWFHF record weighted in at 93 pounds, and Heinz Wichman's unlimited line class record hit 92 pounds. Several of the Chinook Salmon fly rod records seem within reach, and with some planning, and more luck you can insure record results. For exammple, Rick Sanchez set NFWFHF records in 2-, 4-, 6-, 8-, 10-, 12-, 14-, 16-pound line class and unlimited chinook fly fishing records on Alaska's Talkeetna Mountain River between June 30, 1989 and July 4, 1989. Most of these have since been broken, but possibilities obtain.

The IGFA records for 2- and 4-pound tippets, both under 30 pounds, seem within reach. Such might be the case in clear water streams not clouded by silt or in tidewater during slack tides.

However, your best shot at record fish on conventional tackle might be the second run fish on the Kenai River. Christopher Batin's excellent book, HOW TO CATCH ALASKA'S TROPHY SPORTFISH,suggests fishing in the Deep Creek-Anchor Point fishery on the east shore of Cook Inlet if you don't mind crowds at peak season.

Batin notes, "Deep Creek has been called Alaska's fifth largest city on Memorial Day Weekend. And for good reason. Hundreds of resident and non-resident anglers come here to catch big kings."

He continues, "the late-June, early July run is made up of second run of 40- to 90-pound Kenai River." Kenai Kings, particularly the "second run" fish may offer something else special besides size. To start, they spawn in the main river that, unlike the clear tributary streams favored by the first run fish, stays high all summer and early fall.

Then too, according the Alaskan biologists, "Some Kenai Kings apparently do not spawn and die on their return to their natal streams. Instead, they turn around and go back to sea." Locals call these fish "leatherbacks" because their skin texture looks like brown leather. These Kings of the Kenai might not fit the sleek, sliver salmon image , but one will, someday, pull the scales down past the magic century mark for some lucky fisherman.

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