Nazareth Man Catches Really Big Fish

Resident George Wambold caught a really big salmon. Here is the story from the Clarion of Peninsula, Alaska:

August 4, 2008
By Joseph Robertia Peninsula Clarion
For the second time this season, an angler has brought a Kenai River king salmon into the Alaska Department of Fish and Game as a potential trophy, and while this most recent fish fell just shy of the 75-pound minimum requirement, like the last one, it will still go on record as being the largest legal king caught all season.
"Before we came, we watched videos of people catching Kenai kings, and I thought holy mackerel those are big fish. I never thought I would get one that was even bigger," said George Wambold, 70, from Nazareth, Pa., who captured the mighty chinook Wednesday, two days before the king season closed.
Fish and Game recorded the monster fish, which was just beginning to blush, at 54 inches long, 32 inches in girth and weighing 72.75 pounds.
"It might have been a trophy had we brought it in immediately, but it sat in the boat for hours while everyone on board got a chance to catch their fish," said Arlene Sterner, 66, Wambold's friend and fellow Pennsylvanian.
The two had started their trip in the saltwater of Cook Inlet, and landed numerous halibut before even taking to the Kenai River.
"We went out of Deep Creek, and we all got our limit. I got the biggest fish at 57 pounds," Sterner said.
The two thought her bottom-dwelling, flatfish was going to be the behemoth of the trip, but Wambold's whopper surpassed it with several more pounds of ruby, red flesh for the eating.
"Our guide, Mike Hopley of Alaskan Adventures Charters, took us to the spot," Sterner said, referring to a popular hole on the lower Kenai known as Mud Island.
It ended up being a lucky location for just about everyone on board that day. Another client on the boat caught a 35-pounder almost as soon as they got there at 6:15 a.m., Wambold had his hawg by 10 a.m., and Sterner also caught a 30-pounder just after noon.
Wambold said he knew immediately his fish was going to be a big one.
"It was no small bump. The rod was in the rod holder when it just suddenly bent -- and I mean really bent -- straight down. I grabbed it up and felt a hard pull, then it started stripping out line upstream," he said.
"The 'ziiiiiiing' of his real was so exciting," Sterner said.
They said everyone in the boat, and on the water, went out of their way not to interfere with the battle.
"We all reeled up our lines, and as soon as the net went into the air, other boats started moving out of the way," Sterner said.
"It seemed like a lot of respect from the other guides on the water," Wambold said.
After roughly four long runs and 15 minutes of fighting, Wambold wore the king out enough to get it near the boat and into the net. They said they couldn't believe its size or that of all the people fishing, Wambold was the one to catch it.
"In the stretch we were fishing, there had to be 1,000 lines in that two-mile section, so it was just being in the right place at the right time that it hit his line," Sterner said.
Wambold said he's no stranger to outdoor adventure, but his previous piscatorial pursuits pail in comparison to his past week.
"Back home, we hunt, snowmobile and fish for bass, walleye and other salmon, but it's no comparison to fishing for Kenai kings," he said.
The two said they had been planning their trip to Alaska for a long time, and it was worth the wait and the distance they had to travel.
"We had been saying for years we wanted to come up and fish the Kenai River, which we had read about in books," Sterner said. "We drove 8,000 miles to get here, but it's been the trip of a lifetime."
Joseph Robertia can be reached at joseph.robertia@peninsulaclarion.com