Northwest Fishing Magazine July 2025 Volume 4 Issue 10 - Flipbook - Page 29
Our second day was
another river trip, this time
on the Kasilof River, which
was open for hatchery
kings and native sockeye.
We were only a few miles
inland from the saltwater
bay so the sockeye in
particular were chrome
bright. We fished with
Hook Line Land Em guide
service. Starting the day
backtrolling spinners
off river divers, we soon
settled into the rhythmic
vibration of our rod tips,
until we heard an excited
commotion coming from
Rob and Hillary’s drift boat.
Rob had a nice king on
the line. We watched him
battle the strong king from
the top to the bottom of
the run, and saw his guide
swoop the fish into the net
and the boat. A keeper! As
we drifted by, Rob held up a
beautiful king we guessed
was in the 16-18 pound
range, chrome bright.
Back to the task at hand,
we backed slowly down
the next drift, taking in
the sights of bald eagles
feeding and the occasional
moose walking the
shoreline. Suddenly, my rod
doubled over to the pulls of
a big king. “Wait for it…” our
guide instructed. “Now!”
he called out. Pulling the
rod out of the rod holder, it
was obvious this was not a
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R E E L T IM E F I S H IN G . C O M
hatchery king. Line began
peeling off my reel, and
about thirty yards behind
the boat, a massive tail
broke the surface, followed
by what looked to be at
least a twenty-five-pound
king, bright red flank
glistening in the sun. The
back-and-forth battle was
on! I worked the powerful
fish slowly back to the
boat, alternately gaining
and losing line until the
line counter on the reel
read twenty feet. At the
same time, we had reached
the end of the drift and
the fish had a choice to
make – go through the fast
water to the next section
or run upriver into the
pool we had just backed
down. Taking a sudden run
upriver, the big king passed
our boat on the right, and
as he came even with my
rod, I felt the sickening pop
of the hook pulling out
of whatever corner of the
mouth he was hooked in.
A communal sigh of
disappointment for the
fish just lost, our guide
commented, “That
was a nice native. You
would’ve had to release
him. What an amazing
fish.” Indeed, it was, and
my disappointment
was tempered by the
opportunity to even hook
and play it for as long as I
did.
