As an Alaska resident who spends her springs flipping for king salmon and the rest of the year trolling for them, it pains me to say this: The next world-record king will probably not come out of an Alaskan river.
Alaska was once renowned for its massive king salmon—the world record was 97 pounds, pulled from the Kenai River. But in recent years, king salmon populations have dwindled in number and size. It's a trend that's been seen around the country, from Alaska to Washington to California.
In fact, the next world record king salmon probably isn't even going to come out of the United States. For the next truly monstrous salmon, we'll have to look south—all the way down to Argentina, where Instagram videos of some incredible king salmon have been surfacing.
A remote glacial river system in the Santa Cruz province of Argentina has recently produced some massive king salmon. And it's producing them consistently. Rio Caterina is an 8-mile-long river that flows between two lakes in the Los Glaciares National Park. The salmon in Patagonia were introduced over four decades ago for sport fishing and aquaculture—and they have now become established, self-sustaining populations. Genetic testing shows that most of the salmon originally came from Lower Columbia River and Puget Sound stock. No one is sure why they get so big, but it's likely that they have far more food there to eat than in Alaska, where warming ocean temperatures have depleted salmon prey.
Tres Amigos Outfitters is one of the few licensed guiding outfitters that can work the Rio Caterina, and its Instagram feed is just chock-full of one monster after another. In 2018, a king salmon was pulled from the river that was estimated to weigh 90 pounds, just 7 pounds short of the world record. A few days later, an 88-pound salmon was caught in the same river.
If you're looking to catch your own world-record fish, head to Argentina during the winter. King salmon fill the river from the end of December to mid-April, with the peak between February to mid-March. Make sure you bring a 10-weight rod.
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