The King and I

We have just returned from the July 4th. trip to Valdez Alaska. It was nice to get out of the forest fire smoke in Fairbanks. When we left we had about a 1/8th mile visibility all the way to Delta junction. The Smoke had made its way to Prince William Sound 360 miles from Fairbanks.

We headed out to Glacier island to fish the first day, that is a 33 mile trip from Valdez Harbor, when we arrived we discovered that glacier ice was blocking the way to Long Bay, the bay we had planned to anchor for the night. The temps have been very high for the last week in Valdez, hitting 80 degrees. This caused the glaciers to melt and large chunks fall into the water, creating large ice bergs. We managed to find an area with smaller chunks of ice, about 30lb block size. We then slowed to about 1 mile an hour and pushed our way through it for about ½ LB block to get to the area in Long Bay.

Long Bay also had large chucks of ice and the wind off the glacier was cold. We did stop to anchor and fish for a bit and something managed to break my line, I think it was a salmon shark... We then decided to not spend the night there and headed the 16 mile trip to Ellamar to stay the night. The first day we drove about 50 miles.

So to get to the Title the King and I! We were fishing in Boulder Bay in our favorite spot for halibut. The fishing was slow and we had caught a few rock fish. I kept seeing fish along the rocky bank hitting the top of the water in pursuit of some kind of bait fish. I loaded up the ultra light spinning real for small grayling and trout fishing with a spinner with a large blade and tail. After a few casts I had a hit and I thought for sure this would be a 5 lb pink salmon because they are just beginning to run.

The line on the ultra light spinning reel started to peel off with the drag clicking away, I was unable to turn the fish until it had pulled out about 250 ft of line. Then the line went slack, I assumed the fish had gotten off the hook, I was winding and had just yelled at Red and George who were fishing near by that the fish was off when the line went tight again and started to pull the drag once more. The fish had run back and ran towards the boat.

We had two halibut lines down and I new if the salmon got around these lines I could loose it. Cathy was doing all she could to get the halibut lines in so I would have a clear area to fight the fish . The fish was close to the surface and I got my first site of it. It was a brilliant shinning sliver, I thought it was a giant silver salmon, but silver salmon do not get this big. "I estimate the fish to be at least 30 lbs". Off it went again on another run, peeling the line off the drag. I was now into 15 minutes fighting this fish. Using the ultra light rod and reel caused me to continue to adjust drag so the fish would not break the line or the rod.

I was sweating and the adrenaline was pumping through me as you can image. The fish was now so tired he came to the surface and was on its side, Cathy handed the gaff to me and I sent the hook through the fish's lower jaw and pulled it in the boat. The gaff went through the gill plates and the fish thrashed and the end of the gaff sending blood flying in all directions. The boat cockpit was covered in blood from the fish . I was glad I still had my plastic rain suit pants on and my rubber boots. Then I secured the fish with a rope over the side and headed back to Ellamar to clean it aboard the Pioneer.

Getting the opinions of the long time Valdez fishermen on the boat Pioneer. Jim, George and Red determined this was a salmon called the White King, known for its light oil and extremely fine eating quality. Not a lot of these fish caught in the area. I gave the fish to Jim and Joan to can. We did have some steaks for the meal that night. I am not a huge salmon eater, but this one was different, the meat was a light pink, there was no strong salmon taste and it was far better than the river kings I have eaten in Alaska.

The fish weighed in at 39 lbs. 13 oz, and it was a male fish (No Eggs). The big deal for me was it was caught on ultra light tackle, a reel and pole that would be used to catch 3lb. trout with. I considered having this fish mounted; it would have cost about $600.00 to do so. So I gave it to the good friends that we enjoy Jim and Joan. The fish would have a market value of $12.00 lb. or about $300.00 retail. The fish cleaned out to 25 lbs of raw skinned fillets.

The crew left to right, George , Red , Jack and Jim

These are the guys we meet up with on the Catamaran Pioneer.

Lots of fish stories told here.

Mark