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The deep, chilly waters of Alaska’s Prince William Sound maintain a number of the best-tasting saltwater fish within the North Pacific area. Sablefish (also called black cod) are close to the highest of this record, and that’s what Keith DeGraff was fishing for on July 28 when he hooked what felt like a halibut in roughly 1,000 toes of water. The fish turned out to be a large shortraker rockfish that stands to exchange the state file for the species.
There’s additionally an opportunity that DeGraff’s rockfish would have outweighed the present world file. We’ll by no means know for positive, although, as a result of DeGraff cared extra about preserving the meat than certifying a file, based on Saltwater Sportsman.
A constitution captain who lives in Eagle River, DeGraff was out that day together with his fiancée Betsey Wilson and three mates. They’d rented a ship dubbed the Salmon Shark from Whittier Marine and had been staying at a distant lodge within the space.
On their second drift, DeGraff dropped an 18/0 circle hook baited with pink salmon and herring into the depths and connected instantly. Utilizing stout deal with and 80-pound-test braided line, he muscled the fish to the floor considering it was a halibut the entire time.
“With a thousand toes of line out, it may be arduous to inform,” he instructed Saltwater Sportsman. “After we bought it to the floor, it was the most important rockfish I’d ever seen.”
DeGraff dropped the rockfish within the cooler, they usually stored on fishing. When the group bought again to the lodge, he put it on a scale and recorded an unofficial weight of 48 kilos. This simply outweighed the standing state file of 39.1 kilos. It was additionally approaching world-record standing. The present IGFA all-tackle world file for shortraker rockfish is 44.1 kilos.
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However since they had been at a distant lodge, DeGraff knew he wouldn’t be capable to get his rockfish on an authorized scale for a minimum of three days. He determined to bleed the fish, which helps protect the meat and is a standard observe for anglers attempting to get the best-tasting filets. This additionally makes the fish weigh much less, however for DeGraff, it was a simple determination.
“I wasn’t going to taint the meat for the sake of a file,” he stated.
Saltwater Sportsman stories that DeGraff’s rockfish wouldn’t have certified for an IGFA file anyhow as a result of his rod was in a rod holder when he reeled the fish in. (IGFA rules dictate that the rod have to be held in hand and can’t be handed off to a different angler in the course of the battle.)
Days later, DeGraff weighed his rockfish on an authorized scale with an official from the Alaska Division of Fish and Sport current. They recorded an official weight of 42.4 kilos, which was greater than heavy sufficient to set a brand new state file.
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