Guide Matt Romaine, Alex Cosmakos, Aaron Day (left to right).
John L. Beath
SalmonNews.net & GoFishMagazine.com
Dateline: June 25 – Prince of Wales Island Alaska, Waterfall Resort – Biggest king of the year for Alaskan Resort caught and accidentally dropped overboard at dock.
After resort guests returned from a long day of successful salmon fishing, two off duty resort employees decided to go fishing for king salmon. Fishing guide Matt Romaine, from Mission Viejo California took rookie employee/angler, Aaron Day, from Springfield Oregon with him. Day had never caught a salmon in his life and hoped to catch a king salmon at least as big as the resort guests brought to the dock every day. Average king salmon in these waters range between 20 to 50 pounds and always have shiny bodies.
When the two anglers arrived at the small bay on the southwestern side of Prince of Wales Island, they quickly baited two rods with cut-plug herring. Earlier in the day Romaine’s guests had taken limits of king salmon mooching cut-plugs within 20 feet off bottom. Salmon from dozens of rivers in Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon feed their way south along these shores to provide world-class king salmon opportunities for anglers. This small bay had massive schools of candlefish spawning in the sand which in turn attracted salmon to the baitfish buffet 24/7.
Following Romaine’s instructions, Aaron Day free-spooled his tightly spinning bait 100 feet to the bottom, engaged the reel and slowly began retrieving the bait. While reeling he felt his bait get picked up followed by his rod arcing into the water. At first neither angler knew the fish was the largest king salmon taken by anyone at the resort that year. The battle included long runs and lasted 45 minutes before Day finally brought the big Chinook salmon within reach of Romaine’s waiting net. It took both anglers to lift the fish heavy net into the boat. Following celebratory yells and high fives, Romaine called the resort dock and said they had caught a monster king salmon and would be returning in half an hour.
Word at the resort spread fast among employees and guests. When Romaine’s aluminum boat approached the dock more than a dozen people waited to see the big fish. Dock workers grabbed the bow and stern lines, tied the boat up to the dock tight against the boat’s bumpers. Someone slid a large fish tote next to the boat, just like they do with every returning boat. Romaine reached into his fish box, cradled the big fish and stretched over his boat’s gunwale to drop it into the tote on the dock. The site of the big fish caused an eruption of loud cheers. Seconds later a loud symphony of gasps followed by silence blanketed the dock. The big fish had slipped out of Romaine’s arms and slid between the boat and dock, into 50 feet of cold Alaskan saltwater.
All eyes looked into the clear water with shock. Several bystanders helplessly watched the fish glide underwater away from the dock and boat. Someone yelled, “Get Alex, hurry!”
Alex Cosmakos, from San Clemente California, is a resort fishing guide and avid free diver. Alex came running with fins, mask and swim trunks in hand. At the bottom of the dock ramp Cosmakos yelled out, “I’m getting naked, turn around.” He stripped off his clothes and slid into his swim trunks in about three seconds flat. He then jumped onto the docked boat, put on his fins and mask and jumped feet first into the water. He took two deep breathes, bent into a pike position and kicked hard toward bottom. Cosmakos stayed underwater quite a while, searching for the fish and then spotting it 40 feet from the boat in 50 feet of water. His head broke the surface; he gasped for air and yelled that he found the king. Several deep breathes and another quick downward pike left his fins kicking the air and then water as he propelled himself to the bottom. With the sun setting, he did not have long before it would be to dark to find the king. If he could not find and grab the king now it would be lost forever.
Over one minute later Cosmakos’s hairy head broke the surface. He gasped for air and began side-stroking toward the dock, with the fat, heavy and very long king salmon tightly gripped in his left hand. The scene looked like a scene from Bay Watch, but the rescues swimmer was saving a fish. Three pairs of hands reached over the dock and securely took possession of the fish from Cosmakos – the hero of the day. Cheers erupted on the dock with screams of “Yes.”
The monster king salmon pulled the resort’s certified scales to 63.6 pounds, the biggest fish taken at the resort for the year and the biggest fish for Day, the undisputed angler of the day, week and year at Waterfall Resort. The hero of the day, however, was Cosmakos, the second angler that day to land a 63.6 pound king salmon — with his bare hands instead of baited hooks.
