Well, we continued on downriver after a nice little lunch/beer/pee break at Riverbend.

Stroked on over to Hog Island kitty corner from camp... then as per Cap'n Fishook's sage and repetitive advice, "drop the hook, take a piss, drink a beer, then S-L-I-D-E on down.

Well, we slid right down thru the Fallin In Hole and about 1/3 of the way down the run, my bait/diver rod takes a bit of a dip... then another... and another.... and BAM! She goes down for good, and line is just a screamin' off the Calcutta 400TE.

I bark, "Grab the rod, Tanner!", and we're off on a Nantucket sleigh ride! Fish rips out the first 50 yd topshot of 65# PowerPro as the Bimini/Cat's Paw/Bimini splice went flying past the rod tip on the king's first downriver run. Then it's all Tanner could do to get line back on the reel as that HOT tide-fresh hen charged back upstream at warp speed, parting the waters with her broad back along the way. Fishook is stroking like hell to try to keep Tanner's line tight, but it's utterly pointless. Line is slacker than a teen on his first full-time job. BUT WAIT! Only had to endure two more seconds, and the fish would tighten the line for him anyway.... STRAIGHT UPSTREAM!

Holy [censored]! Line is literally melting off the spool as the fish sprints upriver.... while the DB continues to drift downriver. Fishook has to kick the oars back into high gear in an attempt to slow our barge's downstream S-L-I-D-E. In an instant, the Bimimi/Cat's Paw/Bimini is out of sight again, and in the next instant the second 50 yd topshot of PowerPro is gone and we're into the 30# IGFA Dacron backing, and it's disappearing fast.... progressively so, as the diameter of the remaining spool of line continued to shrink precariously. The fish nearly spools Tanner when he passes me back the rod. "Here, you take it!"

Fishook is stroking like a mother to squelch the uncontrolled outflow of line, while I lean the rod low and to the side, applying progressive thumb pressure to the bare spool in an attempt to turn that fish!

WHEW! She finally stopped, and decided to just free drift with us at the end of her 200-plus yd long MEGA-leash. I scrambled eggs at warp speed to gain line, and once all of the base top-shot of PowerPro was back on the reel I passed the rod back to Tanner to finish the job. A few more runs and topwater antics, and she was ready for the bag. Beached the boat below a familiar island (see my FishAlska avatar), and it was time for a few glory shots of a FINE hen!