60lbs King Salmon. Possibility or Days of the Past?

King Salmon are one of the most popular salmon on earth.  Those die hard King anglers would crave at landing a monster exceeding 60lbs.  Whoever where on earth do these 60lbs exist?  The Kenai River in Alaska is always at the top of the list when monster kings are discussed.  The Kenai is a glacially fed 85 mile long river which has 2 runs of Kings.  The first run starts in Mid May and lasts through June.  The second run starts toward the end of June, lasting through July.  The second run normally produces the largest Kings.  In 1985, Less Anderson landed a monster 96.4lbs King which is the official IGFA all tackle record.  However, the king population is on the downturn on the Kenai. Smaller kings in drastically reduced numbers have been the norm for the past few years.  Often the escapement does not meet up to DNR criteria, so the Kenai is shutdown.  Saltwater fishing in Deep Creek, Alaska which is located on the East shore of Cook Inlet is another option but then again the size and numbers are down in recent years.  British Columbia and the USA West Coast such as the Columbia River off good King fishing but not many exceeding 50lbs.  In the late 1960;s Dr. Howard Tanner was one of the main players responsible for introducing salmon into the Great Lakes.  Howard experiment to raise Triploid salmon which would grow huge failed, so now catching a King exceeding 30lbs will put you in the newspapers.  In the mid 70;s King eggs were transplanted into some rivers of Southern Chile for the purpose of commerial ranching.  However, the enterprise failed, but the Kings survived. Rivers like the Petrohue in Chile offer a decent shot at kings over 60lbs and a few each year slightly over 70lbs.  So for the meantime, 60s kings might be a thing of the past.  Sure wish I would have fished the Kenai years ago when I first visited Alaska as a 60lbs replica could be hanging on my wall replacing the 44lbs which I caught on the Alagnak River!

TANZANIA TIGERFISH

There is an excellent article written by Mr. Matt Harris in the July/August/September 2016 edition of the International Angler.  The article " One of the world's most exciting and undiscovered fly fisheries" discusses the fantastic monster tigerfish of the Mneyra and Ruhudji Rivers in Tanzania.  Harris discusses the Hydrocynus tanzaniae, tanzania tigerfish, which was identified in 1986 as a seperate species.  These tigers are much bigger than the common Zambezi tigerfish.  A few years ago, along with a few friends, I was able to cast a line into these rivers.  I was not disappointed as numerous tigerfish in the "teens" we landed and everyone in the group landed at least 1 tiger tipping the scales at 20lbs.  Fly fishermen would really enjoy battling with these monsters.  The trips are split into 2 sessions, a few days at the Mneyra Camp and the remaining time spent at the Ruhudji camp.  Numerous hippos and crocs were seen each day.  Each in the group also had the opportunity to view a few elephants during the stay.  However, the wildlife was nearly as abundant as seen on my trip for Nile Perch at Murchison Falls, Uganda.  Join the IGFA to get a great magazine as the International Angler and keep up on fishing news worldwide!

Venice, LA redfish update

Avid redfish anglers, Gary Clark, Jeff Stagg, and David Fields recently spent 3 days fishing with Capt. Keith Kennedy out of Venice, LA for monster redfish.  Dr. Clark reports on day 1 the fishing was absolutely crazy with over 50 trophy reds over 20 lbs being landed with the largest going over 31 lbs.  Some weather moved in the following 2 days but the guys still managed to catch more trophies including a monster tipping the scales at 36 lbs.  The top lures were the saltwater fluke Boom-r-Ang in FoxieFreddie coloration and large Bomber mud minnows in black/chartreuse tail.  Due to recent last minute cancellations, Capt, Keith has some openings during this prime time bull red season.  Keith provides everything from housing, all meals, fishing equipment, and even your license.  Give him a call at 504-908-3108 to have a fishing experience of your lifetime!