# First King of the Year....



## DocEsox (May 12, 2008)

Yesterday morning my work schedule fell completely apart so I decided to head up to one of the local rivers to assuage my pain and perhaps catch a rainbow or two as consellation for missing a fun packed day doing root canals (you guys know you want one). Coincidentally my fishing gear "just" happened to be in the car so I was ready to go&#8230;.imagine that&#8230;.gives deep meaning to the boy scout motto, "Be Prepared". While driving north on the Parks Hwy the weather was fabulous&#8230;..was nearly 60 degrees&#8230;.like a tropical heat wave here in Alaska this time of year. My car windows were rolled down to celebrate the beautiful morning. As I pulled into the parking space, and with great taste, accessorized myself for the river..... a guide whom I know, was just coming back from the fishing the mouth of this river and when asked, told me he hadn't had much action. This was not to deter me&#8230;.after all I really had nothing else to do.

So armed with my trusty Loomis 5wt fly rod I headed down to the confluence of the two rivers I was by. No one around at all&#8230;.looking directly north, hanging over the Big Susitna River, was a beautiful, and rare due to weather, view of Mt. McKinley. As I made the first few casts with my weighted sculpin visions of 25" rainbows danced in my head (which, according to my wife, contains a tiny, four-lobed brain just like the fish). But rainbows were not to be. As a matter-of-fact, my fishing day lasted exactly 6 casts. When the 6th was cast I let the fly quarter downstream and as I did some very minor, but sharp, stripping the fly locked solidly onto something. Of course, there is lots of wood in this stretch of water but this thing bolted like a racehorse downstream. My initial reaction was "YEAH"&#8230;.big bow&#8230;..but about halfway into my backing I realized this was much larger. A few seconds later, a mighty jump and my suspicions were confirmed&#8230;.my first king salmon of the year! Having fished hard over more than the last 4 decades I assessed the situation rapidly&#8230;&#8230;..and knew I didn't have a hope in heck of landing this fish on the gear I was using&#8230;.5wt with 10 lbs tippet (which, because I'm an idiot, I had not even retied from my previous trip.

After 20 minutes, a few more spectacular jumps, I had actually gained half of my line back and had managed to keep this fish out the submerged logs hidden everywhere. But about this time my recently reconstructed rod holding shoulder was burning, getting numb and quickly becoming useless (which the wife says about me frequently). I kept switching hands just to give it a break. Finally at the 30 minute mark I allowed myself to actually believe this behemoth might be mine as I had worked her into shallow water. She made a couple of massive wallows in the skinny water and I was finally able to beach her&#8230;.I dropped the rod, rushed down and carried her onto the bank&#8230;..yeah baby!!

She measured in at 42 inches and nearly 40 lbs. Of course I may have to cancel the next few days of work due to an inoperable shoulder BUT it was worth it. Thanks for indulging an old man.



















Brian


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## deadicatedweim (Dec 18, 2007)

Congrats on the nice fish, maybe next time I need a root canal I'll make the trip up there and accidently make 2 apts and cancel the first one last minute so we just have to go fish the first part of the morning.


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## scott_rn (Sep 11, 2007)

Holy crap Brian! 42" king on a 5 wt. :shock: Nice. Go team viagra.

Shoulder injuries suck. Nothing like casting a heavy 8 wt. for hours then trying to land a big fish with a bum shoulder. Like you said - worth it.

I'm headed to Anchorage in 3 weeks and hoping to get into a king or two - but it will be on the 8 wt. just because it's the only 4 piece I've got, right? :wink: I guess I'll tie some sculpins and elbow in for some casting space.


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## iceicebaby (Dec 17, 2007)

Wow! What a way to start my day at work. Come in and read a story like this. That was awesome. Thanks for sharing.
I can't wait for the day that I get to finally go to Alaska and catch something over 5 pounds.
Nice work.


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## rapalahunter (Oct 13, 2007)

HOLY CRAP!!! What a great story and an even better fish. I'm am incredibly jealous.


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

Bravo.

Great looking fish. Good post. Enjoy the ice packs on the shoulder.


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## FROGGER (Oct 1, 2007)

Nice, i would love to have this kind of experience someday... Thanks for sharing..


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## Greenguy88 (Sep 7, 2007)

Great post doc, thats a mighty fine lookin king, especially to land it in the conditions you had. Im jealous, hope to make it out there one day as well.


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## Nibble Nuts (Sep 12, 2007)

Nice fish, and a heck of a story to go with it! Thanks.


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## hunterfisher (Sep 14, 2007)

The only thing i can say is........... :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:


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## UintaMan (Sep 16, 2007)

Absolutely awesome man. Being that my family is from there it's a travesty that I havn't been able to indulge in such an awesome fishing experience. That will soon come to an end and I will be slinging flies up there with the rest of you good oll boys. Love the reports and keep them coming.


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## BUBBA (May 1, 2008)

It does my heart good to see a post from a fellow sourdough. I live in Utah now but grew up in Alaska. Haven't been up north too much but I spent many a days as a kid catching Kings in Ninilchik, Reds on the OLD Russian, (I do the Kenai now) and late running Silvers on the Kenai. My good friend has property, cabins, and planes on Daller Road, 2 miles this side of Soldotna and when I go up now we fly over for the Silvers on the Tuskatan. I do remember catching alot of Humpies in Alexander Creek, good float trips down Talkeetna, good outings at Kashwitna, and because of too many bear encounters at Cottonwood Creek I don't go there much anymore. Where did you land that big King? I know the Big Su and the Little Su. Would love to hear from you again.


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## BUBBA (May 1, 2008)

By the way Uintah Man if you read this I want to tell you something. When you told me you went and got your car today and told me what you are going back to do, my already good opinion of you went way up. I don't know what it must take for you to go back to what you did before but you are doing it for your family and I respect you so much for that. What a great example you are to that "hunter and fisher to be", the one you just told me had big lungs. On a different note, all of those aholes that shot me down about the Book Cliffs should read my last post and know that I am one of the last surviving mountain men, worked hard for everthing I have, and can kiss my lilly white ***!


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## UintaMan (Sep 16, 2007)

BUBBA said:


> It does my heart good to see a post from a fellow sourdough. I live in Utah now but grew up in Alaska. Haven't been up north too much but I spent many a days as a kid catching Kings in Ninilchik, Reds on the OLD Russian, (I do the Kenai now) and late running Silvers on the Kenai. My good friend has property, cabins, and planes on Daller Road, 2 miles this side of Soldotna and when I go up now we fly over for the Silvers on the Tuskatan. I do remember catching alot of Humpies in Alexander Creek, good float trips down Talkeetna, good outings at Kashwitna, and because of too many bear encounters at Cottonwood Creek I don't go there much anymore. Where did you land that big King? I know the Big Su and the Little Su. Would love to hear from you again.


What the heck is going on here? We do actually have a resident living in Utah that really knows Alaska and what it is all about compared to the many who think they know Alaska. Don't let the Grizz's get you while your fishing from the float plane again! :shock: :shock:


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## orvis1 (Sep 7, 2007)

WOW! Always nice to feel a tug back at the end of your line when you thought it was a log. A 40lb fish on 10lb tippet that is some kind of acomplishment way to go!


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