Mauricio and the Chile Kings
When I was giving the fishing clinic at the Cantarias Lodge in Chile, Mauricio Salazar, one of the participants, showed me a photo of a 55 lb + king that he had just caught on Rio Pertohue. I pumped him for information because I was headed there in a couple of days, and he was kind enough to tell all the details. I asked him to send me photos and a story, and he was kind enough to do so.
Mauricio knew spin fishers had found that the Luhr Jensen K14 plug (similar to a Flatfish) was the number one king killer, so he developed a big fly on a 2/0 hook that mimicked the overall action of the plug. He chose blue and white as the color scheme.
Rio Pertohue was a bit high and off color due to rain, but he and his companions landed a few nice kings in the morning. Then it really began to rain in a serious way, and the river became even more discolored. Mauricio decided to try his new “secret weapon,” and began casting with the K14 fly. Moments later he was fast to a remarkable fish that withstood the steady pull of his 7 weight rod for about a hour. That’s some king!
When you can’t get your hand around the caudal peduncle, it’s a big king!
They look nearly the same size, but Mauricio is the one that is smiling, the other is the king.