UNLIKELY DORADO CRUSHES WASHINGTON STATE RECORD
Capt. Keith Johnson considers himself a newbie. After a decade as a river fishing guide, he switched to the ocean two years ago.
Part of Johnson’s education in offshore fishing came from the time he spent trolling off South Florida. “They were using rudder spreader bars to catch blackfin tuna and dolphin,” he observed.
When he returned to the Pacific Coast, he brought the spreader-bar idea on board his boat, Tunacious.
“I am new, so I wanted to try something new,” he explains.
The results have been positive. Some days, the spreader bar catches more fish than the rest of his spread. Johnson fishes three spreader bars in his albacore spread. He uses 6-foot trolling rods with 30-pound reels spooled with 60-pound braid. He connects the braid to the spreader bar with a snap swivel.
That’s how Johnson was fishing when he hooked the Washington state-record dolphin. “There was nothing unusual about the day,” he remembers. He was fishing a canyon 40 miles offshore
“Dolphin are rare in Washington. Fewer than a dozen are caught each year, mostly under 10 pounds.” —Capt. Keith Johnson
in 68-degree water.
“The weather was rough, and we were only able to troll at 5 knots,” he continues. Fishing was slow and, with only an hour left in the day, he was holding onto a handful of albacore.
When the dolphin hit one of the spreader bars, the fish jumped out of the water. “Everyone screamed and yelled,” Johnson remembers. Longtime regular Wade La Fontaine was on the rod. “Best of all, it was his birthday,” Johnson laughs.
The fish continued to jump and surge while dragging the spreader bar. Johnson admits: “My heart was in my throat. I was so worried the fish would pull the hook.” The crew’s luck held, and the fish was gaffed and dropped on the deck.
Johnson didn’t know the weight of the current Washington record, but he realized La Fontaine’s dolphin was large. As soon as the captain had cellphone signal, he called his wife. Once he learned the standing record was 16.7 pounds, he was confident the 21-pound dolphin would be a new record. “We were screaming our heads off,” he chuckles.
At the scales in Westport, the big catch drew attention. “People came to the boat to see the fish,” he says. To register the fish for the record, Johnson needed two witnesses and a certified scale. Later, he met with a state biologist to confirm the catch. After Johnson completed paperwork, the state certified the record dorado.