Ten years ago, I probably would have killed it for a mount. Nowadays, replicas are easy to have done and more than likely I'd have let it go and had a mount done from that. I usually keep one or two kings a year for a round of squaw candy and that's about it, a smaller fish would have done me just fine ... for eating anyhow, I'd still like to catch one that big, who wouldn't??

C&R of kings is a taboo ideal to many in this area. I've seen many a letters in the local paper decrying it in light of the push of the Kenai River Guides' Association to employ C&R when marginal numbers of fish exist over basement escapement. The lynch mobs are assembled

FYI ... Color is actually very typical of "tide-washed" fish that inhabit the tidewater areas of both the Kenai and Kasilof Rivers ... meat of them is better than even the brightest fall king you'll find in a river at home.