Wendy's Excellent Adventure
by Wendy Jordan

Dear Alaska Outdoor Journal.com

Attached are some photos of the King I caught on the Kenai on July 8, 2004. I was lucky to travel with my husband, Bill and our best friends from Boise, Idaho, Jake & Barb and Dave & Eva Humphries. We hooked up with guides, Ken and Elizabeth Smith of Drifter's Landing. Our guide is a purest, and does the river strictly by drift boat.

On the first day of our four day "fish, eat, sleep, fish, eat, sleep, fish, eat, sleep, fish eat sleep" adventure, we were backbouncing. After about three hours at about 10:00 a.m., I felt a "wham" on the end of my line. Our guide hollered "get em, get em, get em". Good plan.

With lots of direction from my fishing buddies and the guide, I received some great advice on how to win the tug of war of my fishing life. I remember thinking, "holy crap! This isn't like anything I have every hooked." I knew he was a big one, but I think at that point, my buddies were skeptical and thinking I was a bit dramatic in my efforts to land him. (After all was said and done, our guide said he would have loved to have had a picture of the terror on my face. Well, as you can see by the attached picture, my husband was able to capture the moment on film. Not pretty, but it tells the tale.) Anyway, in the heat of the battle, I would start to get him closer to the boat, and then that dreadful "zeeeeeeee" sound would come buzzing from the reel, unwinding every bit of line that I had just reeled in... and he would be off again. Every time that happened, I tended to whine and plead with the fish not to do that, but he had a mind of his own. I was determined to get that fish though - by myself. It was a contest of wills.

Although it seemed a lot longer, it only took 35 mintues to get him up to the side of the boat. Our guide had successfully manuevered the boat close to shore while the fight ensued. I was tired, and shaky, but the adrenaline rush enabled me to land him single handedly (well, actually, I used both hands and my feet, and held my tongue just right).

When they got the first glimpse of fish, my buddies echoed my original thought of "holy crap! That's a big fish," and my antics while landing the fish were vindicated. He was a beautiful color when he came out - red as can be.

So, by the time we got back to the lodge that evening, he weighed 70 pounds, 53" long and 33" girth. Not bad for beginner's luck!

Thanks for listening.
Wendy Jordan, Boise, ID