Angler reels in record-breaking ‘colossal’ fish from Idaho river. ‘Slim odds to beat’
Matt Hosking had a feeling he caught a record-breaking fish when he reeled it in from an Idaho river.
So he took it to a certified grocery store to be weighed and learned he was right.
Hosking, of Lewiston, caught a coho salmon Oct. 13 from the Clearwater River, Idaho Fish and Game said in an Oct. 24 news release.
The fish measured 32.68 inches and weighed 11.78 pounds, officials said. Its weight beat the previous state record by 0.48 ounces.
Coho salmon of this size are rare, though, according to Clearwater Region Fishery Manager Joe DuPont.
DuPont said 2,400 coho salmon were trapped in the Lower Granite Dam this year. Of those, only two were bigger than the one Hosking reeled in.
“Those are pretty slim odds to beat!” he said in the release.
But in the next year, over 15,000 coho salmon will pass over the dam, officials said.
Coho salmon are also called silver salmon, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
They have dark blue or green metallic backs with silver sides and are typically born in freshwater before migrating to the Pacific Ocean a year after hatching, officials said.
These fish are “abundant” in coastal areas from Oregon to Alaska. They have also been introduced to landlocked bodies of water in the U.S., including reservoirs.
Lewiston is near the Idaho-Washington border, about 265 miles north of Boise.
