25lb Salmon
By Christine Shufflebotham
I think I have a pretty good reason to be excited, because this is only my second season salmon fishing at the Waimakariri River mouth and in mid January at 5.20pm I hooked into a monster salmon. With ten fishermen helping me, I fought a great fight with the silver monster that really did not want to be caught.
With ten very 'knowledgeable' fishermen telling me what to do, the salmon and I battled for 25 minutes and if you were a gambling man it was even odds on who'd come up the victor. I couldn't believe the power of this huge beast and it was some time before I managed to land it - with of course the invaluable help of the fishermen down at the Waimakariri River.
Once I had my prize on the shore I was surprised to find the lure was just sticking in its lip, so I was very lucky to land him. The monster weighed in at over 25lb and was in great condition, so much so that the fight it put up left my reel wrecked. I was so tried from the stress of catching the biggest fish I have ever caught, but that didn't stop my mouth getting in on the action. I am still telling stories of my first big fish and of the battle it and I had
