I refer to the tactic of waiting at the riffles for the fish to expose themselves as "being the heron". We have lots of sandhill cranes in mainland AK, but great blues are rare. Once you get around Prince William Sound and south they are fairly common.
Actually I think the hook started as more of a round or perfect bend and was "adjusted" by the fish. You sent another of the same design but much smaller and I really wanted to use it. Unfortunately I did not find it until unpacking some stuff yesterday...
The fish was probably somewhere over 14 pounds. Six fish filleted were 42 pounds and this was a larger specimen than the average. They test hooks...
Playing the fish too much means they run back into the gauntlet where several different folks will hook your line and help you horse in your fish.
thanks again!
art
