Anchorage airman catches first king salmon at Ship Creek

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - An Anchorage airman caught the first confirmed king salmon at Ship Creek.

Christopher Pouncey was rewarded for his frequent after-work trips to the creek when he felt a tug on the lure of his lightweight salmon rod and pulled in the shiny, 18-pound salmon, The Alaska Dispatch News reported (https://bit.ly/1cb6ENM) Friday.

“It put up a pretty good fight,” Pouncey said.

Pouncey said he fishes at Ship Creek as often as five times a week during the summer, typically trying his luck after work at nearby Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. He caught the fish around 9 p.m., and he says three more salmon were caught by fishermen shortly after that.

It’s the first known catch of king salmon, said Dustin Slinker, who operates the streamside Bait Shack tackle shop. There have been rumors of king salmon caught earlier this year, but none were confirmed, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Pouncey works at nearby Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and says he’s been a regular at Ship Creek for about a decade, fishing as often as five times a week during the summer.

He said there were only a handful of die-hard anglers who fishing on Friday evening. “There wasn’t many of us down there,” he said.

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Information from: Alaska Dispatch News, https://www.adn.com