Alaska, more fish stories, Part IX w/pics

[Angus]

The resort hosted a group for years from a large Vegas casino, the casino would bring up a group of their "whales", these were the guys that were flown in and out of Vegas on the Casino's private jets and stayed in the top floor rooms. They usually brought up 40 or so clients and filled 8-12 boats, varied from year to year. Being the gamblers they were they always put together a pool for 1st and 2nd biggest kings with 1st paying $10,000 and 2nd paying $6000.
The group had a reputation for being decent tippers but if your boat caught the winning fish you could expect a little (or a lot if you had the right people ) on top.
I think it was the 2004 season, about the last year the big group came up, after that they only brought about 12-16 people and the prize $$$ dropped considerably. Anyways, I had 3 guys on my boat from this group, 1 guy has dying of cancer and stayed in the cabin most of the time, another guy was there only because it was a free trip and had very little interest in fishing, he may have fished 2-3 hours total in a 3 day trip, the 3rd guy however was a diehard fisherman and really wanted to win the $$$, he told me if he won he would take good care of me (we've all heard that before but this guy was a billionaire so I had hope)
The 1st day out 1 of our boats in the group managed to land a 43 and a 41 and set the bar pretty high, the next day nobody came close and with just a morning half day trip left before the end of their trip, the pressure was on, it looked like 1 boat was going to take 1st and 2nd.
We decided the last morning was going to be a Hail Mary, we weren't concerned with silvers, halibut or anything else, just a shot at winning. We headed to "The Cape" my favorite king spot where a lot of big fish are caught every year. We were greeted by about 20 charters from town and after talking to a couple of them it sounded like fishing was slow, only a couple kings had been caught. Didn't matter, we had our game plan and were sticking with it, we fished about an hour with nothing then noticed the crowd was thinning out so I was able to fish the spot more effectively, along the kelp line and where the big boys cruised. It was just myself and the diehard fishing when it happened, I wasn't watching him but I hear him say, "I think I'm stuck on bottom" I turn around to see line screaming off his reel and know that isn't the bottom, fish on. After clearing my line we work our way through the remaining boats chasing the fish out to sea. It was about a 12-15 minute battle before we were able to slip him into the net and put him in the box. I knew the fish wasn't 50lbs. but I knew it was over 40 and had a chance, with only about a half hour of fishing time left we packed it up and headed for the scale. With my guide buddy Randy from the leading boat watching and expecting a large payday coming we put the fish on the scale, 45.5lbs and the derby winner, sorry Randy . That was my biggest tip of my career, it worked out really well.

The big 1 that did get away, briefly. (Not my boat)
   About 5 years ago 1 of our guides had a day off and took a couple crew members fishing, they hooked a big 1 right at the end of the day and after a long fight they called the reosort on the radio and said they were on their way but because of this big fish, they were running late and might not be back before dark. The word got out that a big fish was coming in and about 50-60 people were on the dock to greet them when they got in. The guide who brought it in had never caught 1 over 50 and with all of the excitement while unloading from the boat to the fish tote on the dock, he dropped it overboard. Not to worry, we have a rookie guide who has done a lot of free diving so they call up to the bunkhouse and ask them to send down Alex and his dive gear. A few minutes later he shows up with just his fins and a mask, no wetsuit, no tank, just fins and mask. The water directly under the boat is 35' deep and the last sight of the fish before it disappeared it was headed for deeper water, and this is S.E. Ak. ocean water, maybe 55 degrees. We show him where it was dropped and off he goes, dives in and he's down for 30-40 seconds then pops up and says he see's it, takes a deep breath and down he goes again, this time he surfaces with the fish and we help him hoist it on the dock. The fish ended up being the biggest king brought in that season, 64 pounds. Alex was only there 1 season but I doubt he'll ever be forgotten.

[sumbeech66]

So the "billionaire" took care of you?

[Angus]

 

[Angus]

Funny story, that guy made his $$$ in pharmaceuticals, he started it all back in the 60's with in home, stool sample kits and built from their into a huge, world-wide company! True story!

[Mark Brenckle]

Great write-ups, Angus.  Just read through all 9 parts.  Quite the adventures!   

[Angus]

Thought I would add a few pics,
Pic 1, the boat I ran for the last 10 years,
Pic 2, a 200 lbs. halibut coming to the top for a quick pic before being released,
Pic 3, A little crew fishing, fish cutter holding a 36lbs. king.

[washelkhunter]

I want this job when I retire!