Even here in BC,that's a 30lbs fish.Not even close to 44.The angler in question is from Italy and spends a couple of months every year up here fishing the Skeena area(mostly the Bulkley).I've seen him in magazines with similar size fish,all around 30lbs or less.This photo was done for the benefit of American magazines.The measurements given were obviously exagerrated.You can tell by the way the fish is being held(away from the body),and by the girth compared to his hand,that they are trying to make the fish look bigger than it is.It's still a huge fish around 30lbs though,but it's nowhere near what they claim.News of a 44lbs fish would be the talk of every angler in BC,yet no one had even heard about this fish until this pic showed up.Several 30+lbs fish were taken last year without alot of people seeing that as a big deal.A 44lbs fish is in another catagory altogether.That would be the HOLY GRAIL of fish.Even if this angler were a very modest man,there is no way on earth that his guide and lodge would be able to keep their mouths shut over a fish like this.Every guide in BC would be hearing of the NEW WORLD RECORD caught at such and such lodge with so and so guiding him.It's big money for anyone who can put an angler into a fish like that.It's a huge fish,but don't kid yourselves.It's not even close to 44lbs.Low 30's at best.There have been several fish caught that size up here last year so it's no big deal.The story was almost as bad as that one in SalmonTroutSteelheader about Capt.Armand and his 30lbs Gold River steelhead.The boys up here are still laughing over that.That fish was low 20's at best,in fact it was probably less.Saying it was 30lbs was a joke.A 20lbs fish is HUGE for the Gold.A 30 is totally unheard of.To think someone could just show up and catch a 30lbs fish from there on 6lbs line in a 2 or 3 day trip,is an insult to the hordes of guys that have fished that river all their life without ever seeing anything close to that.The Capt. has a tendancy to hold fish away from his body too.What's with those US magazines?Why can't they just call it what it is?A huge,gorgeous 30lbs(not 44) or 20lbs(Capt.Armand) fish.I know several people who saw the Capt's fish when he caught it.They said it was between 18 and 20lbs.Nuff said!Canadian anglers aren't the only ones that lie.