The moment of truth arrives as Sapsuk River head guide Mike Flynn is poised to net Michael Bowsher ’ s big Chinook salmon . glenn chen photo on free spool . A giant rooster tail of spray , accompanied by sounds of ripping Dacron backing slicing through the water , followed the swiftly vanishing fish .
All I could do was stand there , gripping the bucking rod with mouth agape , momentarily forgetting to breathe . My line hand absently drifted down to the frame of the wildly whirring fly reel , and I suddenly jerked it back in dismay , as the friction-generated heat from the drag scorched me like a red-hot coal .
With over 200 yards of line out in the river , the fish finally decided to stop at the very end of the pool , just before the current broke into the faster water below . The long rod was deeply bent all the way to the grip , and each of her ponderous head shakes generated extreme anxiety about the hook coming undone . A standoff ensued , during which neither of us relaxed nor gave quarter as the stretched line hummed in the heavy flows . For a while , I was beset by despairing thoughts of losing this salmon , until the heavy pressure from my tackle finally began to coax her back upstream , one slow reel crank at a time .
During the long minutes that followed , I gained but then lost line repeatedly , as the struggle continued ; at one point in the fight , the chinook made another wild , unstoppable dash back down to the tailout — a display of defiant determination pitted against modern angling technology . Far below me , she rose to the surface , her twisting body and thrashing tail
24 SALMON THE TAILOUT & STEELHEAD JOURNAL
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