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Instead of the normal, little bump against the back of the net, Hill was nearly jerked off his feet by the impact.

" The next thing you know my net got slammed and it almost jerked me into the water," said Hill. " I'd never got a hit like that before."

For good reason. It's not everyday that you dipnet an 89-pound king salmon, which is what Hill did July 15 while dipnetting at Chitina, putting him in position to take home a $10,000 payday.

At first, Hill thought he had snagged a log or some other piece of debris floating by. But when he felt the end of his dipnet pole wobbling he knew he had a fish - a big fish.

" It started thrashing the pole around," said Hill. " I had to do some serious pulling."

With a handful of other dipnetters looking on at the O'Brien Creek campground, Hill winched the dipnet in as fast he could. He was amazed by what he saw when he pulled the net out of the water.

" The thing was huge," said the 35-year-old Hill, who grew up in Fort Yukon and now heads the U.S. Army's recruiting office in Fairbanks. " I had people coming out of their campers to check it out."

The fish was huge by Copper River standards, where most kings range from 20 to 40 pounds and a 50-pound king is considered a trophy.

" I've heard of some 70 pounders being caught before, but nothing that big," acknowledged biologist Tom Taube at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Glennallen.

The state record king salmon caught by a sport fisherman is 97 pounds, 4 ounces on the Kenai River in 1985.

It was the first time in Hill's 10-year Chitina dipnetting career that he has landed a king. He'd never even seen one landed from the bank.

For that reason, Hill was reluctant to buy a $10 ticket in the Chitina Village Council's inaugural personal-use king salmon derby, which pays $10,000 to the dipnetter who catches the biggest king between the McCarthy Road bridge in Chitina and Haley Creek. Fortunately for Hill, his wife Catherine convinced him to buy a ticket.

" My wife talked me into that," admitted Hill. " It paid off."

Hill will pocket $10,000 if his catch holds up until the derby ends Aug. 22, the same day the Golden North Salmon derby in Juneau is over.

And there's no reason to think it won't with the Copper River king salmon run winding down and a 63-pound gap between Hill's 89-pound fish and the current second-place fish weighing in at 26 pounds.

The derby hasn't attracted a horde of dipnetters. Organizers said few tickets were sold.

Derby tickets are $10 daily, $25 for three days and $50 for a seasonal. First prize is $10,000, second is worth $3,500 and third place will earn $1,500. Ironically, Hill lost two other kings after netting the 89-pounder. The second one that got away took Hill's net with him.

As for the 89-pounder that didn't get away, " it's already in the freezer smoked up," said Hill. " It's pretty tasty."