Virginia Woman Catches Unusually Large Late-season Chinook

Holly Vagely may not have broken any records, but she certainly did accomplish a feat that Alaska’s Waterfall Resort has not seen in over 10 years. According to a press release from the resort, Vagely hooked Waterfall’s season record with a 63.5-pound wild Alaskan king, or Chinook, salmon.

“Certainly we’ve seen larger kings during the June and July peak—several over 70 lbs—but in more than a decade, we’ve not seen one this size in August,” said Waterfall operations manager Scott McKelvey.

It was Vagely’s third time at the resort, which is in the southern part of Alaska.

“I couldn’t believe my eyes when the creature caught my line,” said Vagely. “My boat mates and guide yelled, ‘Reel, reel! You can do it!’ After a 30 minute focused and tiring fight, the beautiful fish thundered onto the deck. You don’t come across a mammoth like that very often.”

According to the International Game Fish Association, the largest Chinook salmon ever caught was a 97-pound, four-ounce beast by angler Les Anderson in Alaska.

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