The one that did not get away

Once in a while we have a client that stands out from the rest.
Jed came from Montana with friends who had been our clients 3 years ago. He had never been on a plane of any kind. Rare for sure these days when air travel is so common for many. Also he had never been to Alaska or fishing in the ocean.  After fishing for 2 days with us  and catching some nice fish I was secretly wishing for him to catch something truly impressive on his first trip to Alaska. I had given him a lure that works very well but it was just not doing it for him up until now. On their 3rd and final day I gave him a pep talk on our way out to fish about halibut and hanging in there, as I really believed in him and the lure he had been using.
Most people want to change lures a lot and even though I give my advice they want something else as it is not working.  It is not always the lure but how you work it with halibut.  I was taught this by "Peter" a truly remarkable client who had fish every country in the world and even Antarctica . He was very humble and never talked down to people who did not "do it his way" . He fished with us and reaffirmed to me you can catch Halibut on jigs even without bait. Still one of the few that had it figured out. Most people "need" bait.
Arriving in the spot of the morning, I again went over all of the pointers he would need to catch the big one.  In less then 1/2 hour he did set the hook on the big one.!!!! After over an hour battle , several runs back to the bottom and sweating profusely he brought it to the surface from 140 ft deep. He said he had never caught anything bigger then 10lb and certainly had never sweated while reeling in a fish in 55 deg. weather.
We like to see all our clients get big fish but Jed worked hard for 3 days and  deserved a big fish  and we hope to see him again someday in Alaska.