I know it is common to catch a halibut while trolling for salmon but this year I experienced the opposite for the first time. Yes, I know someone is going to say, that’s not unusual either. But I have to tell you, my experience was a heck of a lot of fun.
White Feeder King; photo by Nancy Zellick
I was anchored in one hundred feet of water and my friends and I had boated maybe six or seven small halibut when my pole took a big hit while I was letting down and had just reached the bottom. The fish grabbed the bait, which was a large herring on a 8/0 x 9/0 double hook leader, and ran. The fish took line and ran maybe fifty yards then changed direction 90 degrees and ran some more. Then it rose to maybe twenty or thirty feet deep and started fighting the line.
When I finally worked the fish close to the boat, I discovered to my surprise that it was a good size salmon. I suddenly remembered reading in the latest Alaska Fish & Game monthly report that a fair number of feeder kings were still hanging around Juneau but you had to fish deep. I probably had one on my line and now I really wanted that fish.
When I hollered to my son to get the net, he was confused. Didn’t I want the gaff since we were fishing for halibut? “Nope, get the net ready,” I repeated. The next try at bringing the fish in, he dipped and missed. I suppose he was shocked at how big it was. I brought the fish in one more time and it was in the net. There were big smiles all around. My next surprise was later when I started to filet the fish. It was a “white king.” The fish was 36 inches but I didn’t measure the girth. The scale read 23 pounds.
