We’ve heard some awesome fishing stories this year.
First, there was 81-year-old Dr. Gary Hedges, aka The World’s Greatest Fishermen, who wrestled with a 59-pound salmon for nearly an hour to nab the largest king in Golden North Salmon Derby history.
Then, there was Ryan Beason and Jody Hass — fishing royalties around these parts. They’re the only two people ever to win the Golden North Salmon Derby, twice.
We also heard a story about Richard “Dick” Garrison — one of the greats and part of “The Five” fishermen who were as integral to the derby as rain on water. His passing this July marked the end of an era.
At the Empire, we were enthralled by all these characters and their stories, which were introduced to us through the Empire’s new reporter Kevin Gullufsen, who prior to manning our Sports desk spent nine summers on salmon fishing boats.
We also wanted to hear from you directly, and so we solicited stories from readers who know the virtue of a good tale.
We found our winner in Gary Wilson, who caught a 275-pound halibut while trolling for salmon in the 1970 Golden North Salmon Derby. He emailed us this picture and story, re-printed here as it appeared in his office’s newsletter.
(By the way, Gary, you won our $50 gift certificate from Nugget Alaskan Outfitter for submitting the best story, so come on in and claim your prize!)
We hope you enjoy this story below, and as always, happy fishing,
— Juneau Empire
“The good ship Sandpiper (known in some circles as the Flying Nun) had been trolling the breadline for about two cold, wet hours of the first day of the Golden North 1970 Salmon Derby. She was ably captained by Gary Wilson, first mate Bill Hruska, and Tom Perkins in charge of the galley, liquor locker, berths, gaff, and net (in other words cruise director). Captain Wilson swung the boat around and decide to show the amateur members of the crew some of the finer points of salmon trolling. Putting on 8 ounces of lead and stripping out 70 feet of lines, the Captain promptly hooked what appeared to be a small halibut. Bill shut off the trolling motor and he and Tom reeled in their lines preparing to man their battle stations. After a half hour of truing to bring the small halibut to the surface, Bill felt the line and decided the bottom must be hooked. Fifteen minutes later Tom felt the line and said “Yup, sure is the bottom: then he looked down into the water and said “it can’t be, the weight is at the surface.” Both he and Bill watched the water a while and all of a sudden said, “My God, look at the fish.” Gary got a quick look at the monster before it dove for the bottom again. Then followed one the longest hours Gary has put in. Using 25-pound test line and pole a little and losing a little. Bill threw out the anchor and after a good deal of discussion Tom readied the shark hook with 3 feet of chain and 30 feet of ¼ inch nylong line to hook into the monster should he ever again rise to the surface.
Tom and Bill retired to the cabin and proceed to devour a good portion of the day’s liquor ration, occasionally feeding a chocolate chip cookie to Gary. After an hour and 35 minutes, the monster again surface and Tom deftly sunk the shark hook into the halibut’s jaw, hung onto the chain and hollered, “Help!” Having him securely hooked and tied to a cleat, Gary collapsed. After unsuccessfully trying to subdue the beast by stroking his stomach, it was decided his tail would have to be tied to keep him from beating the boat to pieces. With Tom holding the chain and Gary trying to lift his tail with the boat hook, Bill finally lassoed his tail with all the skill of a Montana sheep herder. Having him this bound, the triumphant return to Tee Harbor was begin. Not wishing to waste any time, the lines were thrown out, Gary again using 8 ounces with 70 feet of line. Within a half hour Gary’s reel began singing and a few minutes later he successfully landed what turned out to be a 19 lb. 9 oz. king salmon.
After weighing in the salmon back at the judge’s stand, a struggle began anew with the halibut. The derby scale was not large enough so it had to be slid and carried to the commercial scale. With superhuman effort, and much cheering from the gathered crow, it was lifted into the fish box where it registered 174 pounds. Everyone knew it would the largest halibut prize of $1 per pound. At day’s end a very elated Gary had the largest halibut, was tied for 20th place with the salmon and was leading contender for the office pool for largest salmon.
Saturday disaster struck. A 184 halibut was registered, another member of the office pool caught a salmon and many bigger salmon were caught in the derby. By derby’s end a very generous (it turned out) Gary had donated 174 pounds of halibut to the derby scholarship fund without so much as a door prize chance. The salmon was good for a $100 prize, however, being tied for 53rd place.”
The following is a note from Mr. Gary Wilson regarding the fish’s weight: “According to the Halibut Length/Weight Chart it weighted about 275 lbs. At the time there was a dollar per pound prize for the largest halibut caught during the derby. I turned it in to the Tee Harbor weighing station but the only scale we could put it on was approximatly 18 inches by 18 inches so a large portion of the fish was left lying on the dock so the person doing the weighing estimated it weighed 175 lbs.”
