King salmon, also known as Chinook salmon, truly are the kings of North American rivers. While increasingly rare to catch, it is a fish that most anglers dream of hooking, and one that is well worth planning an Alaskan fishing trip around.
Kings are massive, powerful fish that are one of the toughest fighters out there, with lengthy runs, incredible head shakes, and acrobatic leaps. If you've hooked into a king, you better hope your fishing rig is dialed in to handle the monster and that you are ready for one heck of a fight.
The Kenai River in south-central Alaska is famous for its massive salmon runs and its massive king salmon. While most of the salmon caught in the Kenai weigh between 30 and 50 pounds, the river also holds eight out of the top 10 records for king salmon, the largest being a 97-pound monster.
While most kings can take 30 minutes to an hour of fight to reel in, two anglers on the Kenai experienced a lucky break back in 2016. One of them had hooked into a king that was estimated to be around 66 pounds. The angler settles in for a long battle to bring the fish on board when, all of a sudden, his catch leaps straight onto the anglers' boat. The whole thing was caught on video and posted to YouTube.
Talk about the fishing surprise of a lifetime! According to the YouTube post, that salmon knocked over both anglers and broke the rod. The fish apparently decided that if it was going to be caught, it was truly going to go down fighting.
Any fisher who's interested in hooking into a salmon like this can book their own trip to Alaska to try their luck on the Kenai River. Unlike many Alaskan rivers, the Kenai is easy to access and possible to fish without a guide. To get the best experience, you may want to book a fishing lodge such as the Salmon Catcher Lodge or the Kenai River Lodge.
