An upcoming STS feature about this fish is due out this spring, but here's a little preview.

STORY: My all-time biggest Kenai king in thirty seasons of salmon fishing. It fell for a backbounced Flash/Spin Cheater and cured roe rigged as described in the "hook bite" thread. It measured 53 inches from snout to mid fork, and 31.75 inches around immediately in front of the dorsal, estimated live weight of 72 pounds. Caught and released on July 21, 2003. (The lo-mag avatar doesn't do the size of this fish any justice... click on my username for a larger view and see just how close to the driftboat that tail actually reaches... still makes me shake!)

MEANING: It's time to realize just how special the planet's largest chinook strain really is. For three decades, we have selectively targeted the Kenai's biggest kings. The fishery has created very un-natural selection pressures on the run whereby large size has become detrimental to a fish's ability to escape the fishery and pass on its genetic fitness. In about four chinook life cycles, we have begun to undo what Mother Nature took centuries to accomplish.

Anyone in this area who can afford to visit the Kenai doesn't "need the meat"..... if that's really why you go to Alaska, then bring home sockeye and/or pinks which return by the million. There's really no need for the trophy hunter to kill one of these hawgs either. With museum quality fiberglass replicas readily available, you can have a special memory on your wall that will outlast any skin mount.... and more importantly, have the satisfaction that you helped to preserve the unique genetics of an angling treasure!