A West Vancouver man made headlines this month when he shattered a Haida Gwaii fishing lodge record by hauling in an 84-pound chinook salmon.
Chris Lewis reeled in the monster fish the same weight, it turns out, as his sons Bernese mountain dog on an excursion from Queen Charlotte Lodge on the weekend of Aug. 20.
Lewis knew he had something big on the line the moment he felt the first tug, he said, but that didnt prepare him for what he saw when it surfaced.
It was absolutely massive, said Lewis. I realized we really had a very large fish.
It took half an hour to reel it in, but Lewis said it wasnt his hardest catch ever although it may have been the most nerve-racking.
Everyones got the story of the biggest fish they ever saw getting away, so it was pretty rewarding to actually get it in, he said.
Just as Lewis was struggling to reel it in, his friend, Steve Mason, hauled up a 31-pound tyee, adding to the excitement.
Lewis credited the expeditions success to his guide, Derek Poitras. Lewis and Mason had told Poitras at the beginning of the day that they were in a running competition with their friends at the lodge, and the guide immediately took them to his favourite fishing spot, a big kelp bed just east of Klashwun Point.
When Lewis finally pulled in the fish, he guessed the weight fairly accurately his sons dog, a Bernese, weighs in at exactly the same. That fact earned the fish the same name, Bauer.
After a quick photo and measurements, they released the salmon back into the ocean, holding it for 15 minutes before watching it swim away.
Thats increasingly the norm, especially for big fish, said Duane Foerter, marketing manager for the Queen Charlotte Lodge, which is about 59 kilometres west of the town of Masset. The lodges policy is to let the big fish breed in the hopes of improving stock for future generations.
Lewis giant is well above the average, said Foerter. The next best, an 82-pounder, was caught in 2000, he said.
The typical chinook salmon that you would catch on most parts of the North Coast is probably going to be 25-28 pounds, said Foerter. On Haida Gwaii, there are at least 10 fishing lodges and several charter boats totaling hundreds of anglers, and in the 20 years weve been fishing here, thats only the second fish that Im aware of thats over 80 pounds.
