New World Record, or not

I just got a report of a new world record chinook caught and released on the skeena river I will let you read about it yourself at www.northwestfishingguides.com/report WOW WHAT A FISH!!!!!!

Sorry about that the link to the story was down, but here are the dimensions of the possible world record chinook , Length 53.5 inches girth 38.5 inches using a formula it would make this fish out to be 99.125 lb A new world record if she would of have kept it. The photos and story of the fish are at www.northwestfishingguides.com/reports if you can get the page

August 19th report, that's a big one.

That is the biggest chinook I have ever seen but I was a little disapointed with the quality of photos.

that sure as hell doesnt look 99 pounds to me!

Let me see...

Clients decide to release fish with as little handling as possible so they leave the fish in the water (the proper thing to do) and take quick measurements and a quick picture. They sacrifice fame so that fish survives.

Now if they manhandled the fish and took a bunch of hero/get on the cover of STS pictures the fish would probally not survive.

More credit it to them for the crappy pictures I say!!!

That is what I was trying to say earlier the quality of photos doesnt show just how big the fish really is, but the skeena river is known for big chinook Thats where the 92.2 lb world record chinook was caught a while back but it was broken buy the kenai king.

I dunno, it looks all of 19' to me.

Okieboy, checkout the girth of that tail in relation to the guys hand, makes a believer out of me.

After Ingrid finally managed to get the fish alongside the boat, I was able to net it. John and I lifted the salmon into the boat. Ingrid, meanwhile completely exhausted could not believe her luck. We drove back at full speed, since we did not want to set the fish back in the torrential current. I explained to Ingrid that we usually release all "the really big ones" to preserve the gene pool. She and her husband agreed to it without hesitation.
Does anyone else out there think this is OUTRAGEOUS ??? Landing a fish in what was most likely a nylon net and thus removing protective slime where fungus forms, slamming the fish into the bottom of the boat and then transporting to softer/slower water and in his words "I put the giant back into the river approximately 10 minutes later", is in my minds eye a criminal act and should be punished with fine and perhaps jail time. I doubt seriously if this fish is alive and well today.
I have studied the pictures and compared them with pictures of my trips to the Kenai. I'd guess this to be in the neighborhood of 65 to 70lbs no bigger, (fish I've landed). I've witnessed Less Johnson's current recorded record at 97+ lbs and the comparison is no where the same. This is just some Canadian trying to drum up more business for himself.

That picture really means nothing, I can show you a picture of a poorly taken shot of a 53lb. king and you would probably guess it weighs 25-30lbs. I've got numerous other photo's that similarly do not do proper justice to the fish. I do agree though that there handling of the fish was not very good

I agree on the handling issue, but the 30-40 minute fight also took a toll on the fish. It would be lucky to survive the battle anyway, regardless of the net issue. They did do their best to revive the fish once caught.

I read a lot of arm chair qb/fishermen here, so instead of complaining about the handling of this fish, what would you have done to make sure that this hog survived? Do you ALWAYS carry a cotton net? Do you ALWAYS carry a dowel de-hooker? I have yet to find a cotton net for sale, but I do have two of those dowel de-hookers on my boat.

Just a few questions for the arm chair qb/fishermen. Andy

That fish is a hog indeed. On a recent trip to Soldotna, AK I saw the mount of the world record Kenai king. It didn't look like it was close to 100lbs until I saw it from the front and realized that the damn thing is probably 10 inches thick between the eyes. We're talking some serious density here. I believe the fish in that pic is probably as big or close to the estimate of course it would be 120lbs if I caught it

I agree poor handling of the fish but if you look back at the last 6 reports those are all trophy chinook including the 70 lb. That fish is gigantic and anyone who doesnt think that fish is big needs to see a doctor. The skeena is a big fish river, No doubt

Holy Cow!!!! They released it ten minutes later I missed that part. That canadien should take a lesson on catch and release

I've been fishing on the Kenai for a lot of years and have seen a lot slabs in the 70's, 80's and one 91# in a net, this fish a 99#er I think not!! It's big alright'but I don't think it's that big. Justin you saw the mount of the record, that fish could wrap his jaws around your waist and the tail was as wide as my a$$ (thats fairly good size) This fish is not quite that big. Look at the mouth and tail size compared to its fine handlers. I'm not biting

And the winner is?

Dakingfisher----------I knew somebody would post the part about the 10min. suffication session. Big fish but a dead fish as well.

I dunno what to think. The mount in Soldotna doesn't look that big. The fish is just massive across the shoulders. I've seen much longer chinook, but not nearly as buff across the back. I've seen mounts that were just huge, but were only in the 80's.

I'm not even going to play hypocrite here. If that were me, I probably would have had it mounted and took the fame (and crap) that goes with a World Record chinook. Hey, at least I'm honest!

As for genes? Have a specialist extract a sample of the gametes. Freeze those little wrigglers. Pull out of the freezer in 100 years and rebuild/enhance the Skeena kings. No problem! They do it with humans, so I don't see why it can't be done with world record fish. I'm sure it's just a cost issue as of now.

Parker

Indeed, that's a monster. But I don't know if I can buy the fact that it's well according to my calculations in which I received from Bill Herzog's article years ago is length x girth squared divided by 775 that comes out to 102 lbs. which is huge.. I wish there was a better picture out of the water.
Keith

Clonein' sheep, Well, I can see HEYYALLS anticipation there but, clonein world record kings? Now that makes my rod hard-oh yeah.
(SP) Yeah, I know, I'm horny. What can I say?

Hey Dogfish answer to your questions.
"I read a lot of arm chair qb/fishermen here, so instead of complaining about the handling of this fish, what would you have done to make sure that this hog survived"?
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Do you ALWAYS carry a cotton net?
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Answer no. Cotton nets are available if ordered however. I got one once from the state when catching wild steelhead brood stock in the Green, you could contact them and ask where they get them. To answer that question though, I would have NEVER removed the fish from the water. (I never do when practicing cnr regardless of the fish or the size). After that length of time, and as exhausted as the fish must have been I would have taken it as close the beach as possible (wading depth) and tried, repeat tried as best as possible to measure it. Even as tired as the fish was, a fish that size has amazing strength and it may well have been quite a feat to get any measurements at all.
Do you ALWAYS carry a dowel de-hooker?
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Answer, yes two, one on each side of the boat. I doubt however that this would have been much use. 7/0 and 8/0 barbed hooks are hard enough to remove by hand. I'd have simply cut the leader.
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I have yet to find a cotton net for sale, but I do have two of those dowel de-hookers on my boat.
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Thanks for asking though. I agree that it is pretty easy to sit here at the keyboard and criticize others for their practices if you don't practice what you preach.

lets see, the skeena is a fishery with exellent genes for big fish anyway. and don't about 2000 of this fishes brothers and sisters have the exact same genes? i think i'd hafta say maybe this fish did a little bit better job of eating. maybe more bait fish got in front of him. if i have this fish on my line and all tuckered out i think the best taxidermist in town just got another client.
c&r is dandy and i release 95% of the fish i catch but isn't there a time when you just say thanks and besides enjoying the thrill of the chase you enjoy the fruits of the labor?

FYI, I've seen that R&R Marine in Port Angeles sells full-sized cotton nets...

I haven't bought one yet myself, but just releasing fish at the side of the boat using a dowel.

-N.