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DEH GAH GOT'IE KOE/FORT PROVIDENCE - A recent fishing trip on the Mackenzie River led to the catch of a lifetime for Allan Anderson.

Anderson, a resident of Fort Simpson, goes fishing in his boat almost every day. When he headed out on Aug. 27, however, he felt something different was going to happen.

Allan Anderson displays the 31-pound jackfish he caught in the Mackenzie River near Fort Simpson. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

"I said to myself I'm going to catch a big one tonight and I did," said Anderson.

Anderson positioned his boat near Six Mile Island on the Mackenzie River and threw in his first cast using a 25-pound test line with an orange and white spoon lure attached.

It was only a few minutes before the line was racing out and his pole was bent into an arch.

"It scared the hell out of me. I didn't know what the hell I had," he said.

Although Anderson wouldn't see it for a while what he had on the other end of the line was a 31-pound jackfish.

The initial pull set in motion a battle of wills that lasted more than half an hour.

Every time the jackfish raced out with the line, Anderson set the drag tension so it became harder and harder for the fish to pull away.

When it stopped Anderson would reel the fish back in.

As soon as the jackfish got close to the boat, however, it would race back out again. Anderson and the fish repeated the process about 10 times.

"That's the most excitement I had all year," he said.

Every time the fish raced out Anderson said he let out a whoop of excitement. When he finally wore the fish out and got it close enough to see what he had caught it was a shock.

"I almost fell out of the boat he was so huge," Anderson said.

The fight, however, wasn't over yet.

It took Anderson 10 minutes before he managed to grab the fish by the eyes and heft it into the boat. The jackfish flopped all over the bottom of the boat until Anderson landed five well-aimed hatchet strikes to the top of its head.

"I was exhausted," said Anderson.

This is the biggest fish that Anderson, a life-long angler, has ever caught.

Like most of the rest of the fish he's caught this summer, Anderson donated the fillets to Long Term Care for the elders.

"I'm sure it will feed all of them," he said.

According to information from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada's (DFO) website, the average size jackfish in a commercial catch is 50 to 75 cm in length, and weighing between two and five pounds.

Catches between 15 and 19.8 pounds aren't uncommon.

Bruce Hanna, a habitat biologist for DFO, said reference books show jackfish can grow to more than four feet long and weigh in excess of 40 pounds.