LAST EDITED ON Jul-17-09 AT 10:33PM (MST)[p]Joel Atchison will have quite a tale to tell when he gets back home, but instead of being about the one that got away, he'll be able to tell friends about the Kenai River hawg he let go on Wednesday.
"I had no idea (how big it was) when I hooked it," said Atchison, who is visiting from Wichita, Kan. "I was asking John (Whitlatch, his guide) the whole day, jokingly saying I'm looking for a 70-pounder today.
"When it hit, it just wouldn't come up. He stayed down real deep. We didn't even get a glimpse of him for 15 minutes."
By the time Atchison got the fish to a waiting net, Whitlatch was pretty sure Atchison had his 70-pounder -- maybe even an 80-pounder or better.
The king salmon measured 58 inches in length. Whitlatch said the girth, as close as he could determine -- the salmon wasn't exactly cooperating -- was at least 33 inches. He said a weight of 90 pounds was a conservative estimate.
By comparison, Les Anderson's record king salmon, landed in 1985, weighed in at 97 pounds, 4 ounces.
Atchison is visitng the Kenai Peninsula with his father, Richard, who lives in Minnesota. He said that before they got on the river Wednesday, they had decided that if they caught a trophy-sized fish, they would release it.
"That fish, he fought hard. It was really intense," Atchison said. "I had the idea in my head that if I had a big one, I was going to let it go."
Atchison said after netting the fish, things happened very quickly so the king could be released in as good of a condition as possible. Whitlatch quickly parked the boat on the bank and the two got out to better handle the fish, and another guide boat swung by to take pictures.
Atchison said he had no second thoughts about letting the trophy-sized fish go.
"I didn't even think about it. I knew I was going to let it go," Atchison said. "... (Whitlatch) did a great job of making sure we handled the fish properly. The fish swam away as strong as when I was fighting it."
Atchison called his visit to Alaska the "trip of a lifetime." He said with the economy down, he is on a furlough from his job. The timing was right to make what had been a dream trip to fish in Alaska.
Whitlatch, of Reel Adventures, said he had talked about conservation issues and catch-and-release fishing with his clients, and was impressed that Atchison stood by his decision to release the fish.
Atchison said he had only one regret.
"I wish my dad could've gotten it -- he was watching me work," Atchison said. "My arm is sore from that big fish."
http://peninsulaclarion.com/stories/071709/fis_358474391.shtml
With the record being 97 lbs. it would be tough not to weigh that fish!
Eel
