Tag Archive for: fishing

Castlegar Man Catches the World’s Largest Kokanee…and Eats it

/in /by

In the summer 2017 issue of Kootenay Mountain Culture magazine I wrote about the strange story of Castlegar, British Columbia, angler Denis Woodcox who landed a huge salmon on Lower Arrow Lake. He promptly ate the fish and then realized he might have just consumed the world’s largest Kokanee salmon. He took the carcass to the government for DNA testing and the results came in a month after the story ran. You won’t believe the results. Here’s the tale.

The staff at Mountain Culture Group just heard from fish biologist Matt Neufeld of BC’s Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations regarding the DNA test of a fish that was landed on Lower Arrow Lakes. The results confirmed that the fish in question was indeed a Kokanee salmon. Other testing revealed the Kokanee was seven years old and weighed 12.1 pounds (5.4 kg). That’s almost three pounds bigger than the Kokanee caught by Ron Campbell of Pendleton, Oregon, on Wallowa Lake in 2010, which is the official world record according to the International Game Fish Association.

Despite the DNA confirmation, Denis will never be awarded with an official designation because, well, he ate the results. To read the story in its entirety, visit: mountainculturegroup.com/castlegar-man-catches-the-worlds-largest-kokanee-and-eats-it.

The Ugliest Story Ever

/in /by

My fiancé is a fish biologist and I have to admit there are occasions when it’s difficult for me to keep up with her day-to-day activities, which could include “ion regulation,” “Parr-Smolt transformation,” or “Leptocephali.” (I think that’s how it’s spelled.)

One day, though, she started describing a local sustainability movement to save this ugly looking fish called the burbot and it definitely made sense to my scientifically challenged brain. The story was incredible! Ice fishing in frigid February temperatures; orgy balls of breeding fish; and a myriad of government agencies in two countries all trying to bring back the population of a creature that is definitely not as endearing as a baby spotted owl.

I pitched the idea to Kootenay Mountain Culture magazine (which just won Western Canada’s Magazine of the Year award) and they too were smitten with the story of the ugliest fish in BC and its return from the brink of extinction. And so was born this latest piece, which just came out in the recent KMC.

Don’t let appearances fool you: this one may be the ugliest ever, but it’s pretty good reading. (If I do say so myself.) Long live the Kootenay burbot!

Read the entire story here: KMC 26 Burbot.