Hmmmm, not sure Smalma. I remember this being a skin mount, and an old one at that. So not a replica. And could've sworn it said something about a fishtrap out of grays harbor on the plaque. Been 10 years since I've seen it. So my memory is a bit vague.

Doc,

This guy will know the answers to your Skeena / Kalum questions;

http://www.sportfishingbc.com/articles/freshwater_fishing/kalum.htm

PD

I don't know how much truth there is in it, but I do remember much talk of a carcass found "somewhere" on the coast here by a bio doing spawner surveys about 10 years back of a carcass that if girthed out normally would have been 113 or something ...

Urban legends. I'll volunteer for the Mythbusters host job on this one!

Smalma is correct, the fish was taken in a fish trap in petersburg. The crew started to carve it up but luckily someone knew what they had. It ended up in seattle in the late 30`s. Down to Werstport during the Glory years. Languished in the meat market until its been reborn in Westport again. And Steelheader69 is correct. It is the original skin mount. Awsome Fish.

Oregon sport record 83lbs. Umpqua river 1910, Coho 25lbs.5oz. Siltcoos lake 1966.

I'd rather hook one 40lb. chinook than 4 10lb. steelhead. One of these days I'll be able to plan a trip to Ak. to target big chinook and halibut.

In the late 60's and early 70's I witnessed a fish in that class up in the Nass Valley near the Canadian/Alaska border. My brother played the fish for about 20 minutes before it tired with us and decited that it had enough. In that time we had the fish on the surface at 30 feet away long enough to see that it made a more common 40 lb fish, in that river, look quite small.

I have heard about that fish also Bob.

I have seen some mighty big Summer Kings up in the Park on the North Fork Hoh In Late Aug through Oct. A couple 60's for sure but no 80's.

Bob, I believe you are correct. When my uncle was the head bio for the Quinaults, he did fly overs all the time and told me years ago about spotting a spawned out king on the Queets that he believed to be over 100#'s, easily (and he is as about as honest as they come).

Thought I'd share these old B&W's of some pretty big (and very famous) kings:

World record 126.5# Point Colpoys fish trap Prince of Wales Island, Alaska 1939



World record sport-caught king 97.25# Kenai River Alaska 1985

I think the one Bob was talking about might have been from a Quileute Trib. Maybe Im wrong.

Anyone remember in the early 1980's (1982?) the guy in Canada who played a king for two straight day's running two boats out of gas before losing the fish? Estimates were well over 100#. The news cameras recorded the fish being lost. It wouldn't fit into a single net so they tried to net it with two head/tail and it snapped off. I don't remember what river.

stlhead,

I think that was also the Kenai,and IIRC it was the early 90s. They speculated that it would have been the new world record,beating the fish in the pic a few posts back.

FishnDoc, great photo's, especially the 1st one. I've netted probably 15 fish between 50 and 62lbs. and the last few moments are always very exciting and somewhat nerve-wracking, I can't even imagine seeing that top fish coming into net range.

Stihlhead and HBP,

I thought that fish you guys are talking about was at River's Inlet in B.C.?

There was a two page fish tale in Fishing Holes back when it happened...the fish was estimated to be in excess of 100#, the two guys who were in the boat were guides who went out to do a little fun fishing, and fought the fish for something like 18 hours before breaking the fish off.

There was whole entourage of boats that went out to watch when they were notified by another guide boat of the ongoing drama, and I think that a helicopter even went out to watch.

They had the fish in the net at one point, but couldn't get enough of it in to pick it up, and the fish flopped out.

Somewhere I have a box with all the 70's Fishing Holes magazines...what awesome mags those were back in the day...the best maps and information I've ever seen in a magazine.

Fish on...

Todd

I too am a fan of catching big kings and searching for my personal Holy Grail of a 70 plus pounder. I read an interesting article in Popular Science magazine a couple years ago where scientists genetically manipulated some Chinook using a gene from a very deep running bottom fish that lives in extremely cold water (some type of flounder I believe) and used it's growth gene to manipulate the Chinooks growth rate and cycle and produced two fish weighing in excess of 500 lbs. One was 574 if my memory serves me correctly. Although not a fan of genetic engineering I have to wonder what a fight that would be.

That GM Chinook was in Australia, I believe, and soon after the government ordered them to destroy the fish and put the research under lock and key. Can you imagine a 500# hungry king?

the biggst kings in rivers inlet come out of the wannock river. its closed to hook and line, but several hundred pound carcases have come out of this river.

I have never seen a big King in real life. Stupid question but when a fish gets really big say over 50 pounds or something do they taste good ??? My buddie caught a 250 or so Halibut and it tasted sort of bad.

I would be willing to pay to see a picture of a 500lb. king, genetically engineered or not!
I imagine the seals would probably leave it alone at least. Let's see... 50lb. stand-up tackle, Penn Senator loaded with 60lb Spectra with dacron backing, half a chrome truck bumper for a flasher and the biggest squid sold. You would have to beef up the downrigger of course, I don't think the old Scotty is going to cut it.
I wonder if the nets in the river would have a chance? I'd love to see one of those sliding upriver once...

Here's a monster of a Skeena/Kalum fish: