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DocSpotty
05-23-2008, 06:39 AM
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….imagine that….gives deep meaning to the boy scout motto, “Be Prepared”. While driving north on the Parks Hwy the weather was fabulous…..was nearly 60 degrees….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….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….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”….big bow…..but about halfway into my backing I realized this was much larger. A few seconds later, a mighty jump and my suspicions were confirmed….my first king salmon of the year! Having fished hard over more than the last 4 decades I assessed the situation rapidly……..and knew I didn’t have a hope in heck of landing this fish on the gear I was using….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….I dropped the rod, rushed down and carried her onto the bank…..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.

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j32/DocEsox/Kashkingwrod.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j32/DocEsox/Kashkinghoriz-1.jpg

Brian

Cap'n Ron
05-23-2008, 08:19 AM
Whoo hoo!

Nice fishy Brian!

Wow.

I need a dentist like you! Would you throw in a fish trip as an incentive to come up and have ya work on my mouth?

I'm tasting that king this morning in my twisted mind.

r!der
05-23-2008, 08:42 AM
Nice fish and good write up!

Trout-Slayer77
05-23-2008, 09:01 AM
HOLY $h%T !!! Brian, that is a beast. hats off to you buddy, congrats on landing that monster on the light setup !!! great Pics !!

big_mike_70
05-23-2008, 10:07 AM
w0w...on a lite setup...congrats...u have much more patients than me...haha u do cause ur a dentist,,,

CONGRATS AGAIN>>>

OnDaHunt4Fish
05-23-2008, 10:13 AM
That is one bis A** fish SUPER GREAT JOB thanks for sharing.......keep it bent

SoCalGuy7
05-24-2008, 02:51 PM
:Not Worthy::UDaMan::Not Worthy::UDaMan:

What an awesome day for you....That thing is a monster...Hope you had that thing mounted...Must be great (when not freezing arse) to be up in beautiful Alaska...

Thank you!

SCG7

breeze71
05-24-2008, 03:07 PM
One of the best reports I've read!!!

Congrats! Great looking fish DocSpotty.

Now when you go back for that root canal, ask for the MAX dose of pain relief & replay landing the fish while you're down for the count. :)

DocSpotty
05-24-2008, 07:37 PM
breeze71.....I agree about the pain killer and I should even get a max dose of nitrous oxide (laughing gas)....unfortunately, I am the administrator of the root canals not the receiver (although I have had a few......fun times). Somehow they frown on me being "mood altered" when doing dentistry.

Brian

johnsfishing
05-24-2008, 07:50 PM
great post!!! Huge Salmon :cool:

johnsfishing

Troutman65
05-25-2008, 05:28 PM
Super nice catch Doc !!!

:cool::cool::cool::cool::cool:


Thanks for the report.


Troutman65

JSAUCE818
05-25-2008, 06:19 PM
Team Viagra Does It Again.......thanks For The Report And Pics....keep Em Coming...

tacklejunkie
05-26-2008, 11:32 AM
Woah! Now that's some skill!
Excellent work landing that behemoth.
Your heart must have been pumping like crazy!

aboos
05-27-2008, 01:51 PM
wow!

5wt rod..10lb tippet..40lb KING!!
thats pretty crazy! considering we use calcuttas and 40lb line when fishing for kings!!
on a 5wt?!?! im in awe! congrats on the king!

troutdog
05-27-2008, 02:13 PM
Your posts have single handedly revived the "out of state" section....thanks for sharing your adventures and posting another great report. Hope your shoulder feels better!


TD

one_leg
05-27-2008, 02:40 PM
The pilots get all the huge fish!

Nice job and report Brian.

One_Leg

Crawler
06-19-2008, 09:46 PM
That is AWSOME. Great report as well. :UDaMan:

FishermanStu
06-20-2008, 06:27 PM
wow. now that is something you dont see everyday. nice one

blackwater
06-24-2008, 11:04 AM
Incredible! thanks for sharing...

steve092
06-24-2008, 01:44 PM
Nice!!!

Bet that thing was awesome!

seal
09-06-2008, 09:17 AM
Looks like that fish decided to turn the tables on a dentist and cause the dentist pain for a change!

5 wt rod, 40 lb fish, I think I would have to have sholder surgery after that fight.

Fantastic fish on light gear, or any gear!

sashimi
09-06-2008, 08:15 PM
Awesome fish, espon a 5 w. Congrats! What fly were you using?

DocSpotty
09-07-2008, 02:13 PM
Using my favorite early season trout fly....4 inch mossy green sculpin....the kings love the dang thing....but nobody believes that's what I am using...okay with me.

Brian

sashimi
09-08-2008, 02:15 PM
Using my favorite early season trout fly....4 inch mossy green sculpin....the kings love the dang thing....but nobody believes that's what I am using...okay with me.

Brian

Gotcha, thanks. Will try that next time I'm fishing the rivers up there

Liteliner
09-08-2008, 07:26 PM
Wow... Beautiful fish as always sir.... Nice going.