Jack Gushiken, well-known among Kaua‘i fishing circles, added four new world records to his collection during a fishing trip to Alaska in August 2008.
Those records, three from the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame, and one from the International Game Fish Association, were recently confirmed and bring Gushiken’s collection of world records to 20.
The IGFA world record was for a Dolly Varden trout in the 2-pound category that Gushiken snared on an unnamed river in Alaska on Aug. 9. That catch weighed in at 10 pounds, 4 ounces.
That award joins Gushiken’s collection of nine other IGFA world records, including three for peacock butterfly bass caught in Kilauea and two for peacock bass, also caught in Kilauea.
The 10-pound, 4-ounce Dolly Varden trout also earned Gushiken one of three NFWFHF world titles. That title came in the Division 1-Rod/Reel category on 2-pound test line.
A 30-inch Dolly Varden trout snared by Gushiken on Aug. 10 earned a world record in the Division 2-Fly Fishing class using a 6-pound tippet; and a 36-inch Dolly Varden trout snared on Aug. 8 earned another Division 1-Rod/Reel award.
Of the 11 NFWFHF records, Gushiken holds two for peacock bass he caught in Kilauea — one a 2-pounder and the other an 8-pounder, both caught on Sept. 28, 2003, in the Catch & Release Fresh Water category.
“I was like the Pacific golden plover, flying from my back yard to the Alaskan Arctic,” Gushiken said in a release.
He met his fishing partner, Frank Canziani of San Diego, Calif., in Anchorage to start his fishing adventure.
Following the epic, Gushiken had four world records and Canziani walked off with three.
Gushiken said he was surprised to see instant saimin as part of the food they needed to pack to last 12 days during the rafting expedition downstream from outside Kotzebue, a small Eskimo village above the Arctic Circle.
“The trip down river was mild this year with lows in the 30s and high in the 50s,” Gushiken said. “It was mild weather with 22 hours of sunlight and two hours of twilight.”
During the down river trip, Gushiken said they fished with light lines, 2-8 pounds for Arctic Char and Artic Graylings, parking the raft when a school of fish was located.
The trip down river took 12 days with fishing during the day and camping along the riverbank at night, Gushiken said.
“Floating down stream is an amazing sight,” Gushiken said. “There is a lot of wildlife: bears, musk ox, foxes, rabbits, hundreds of caribou and all types of birds, including the golden plover. I also got to see thousands of years of frozen permafrost melting due to global warming.”
