In 1994 I was fishing for king salmon on the Little Susitna River with my brother, Stephen, who was visiting Alaska from Florida. We floated down the river in a canoe and, with help from a friendly fellow fisherman, hooked into a BIG fish. This king swam back and forth, taking line. We could not get it to the surface, so we patiently waited to tire the fish to land it. Then . . . I heard a loud ‘click.’ The plastic bait-casting reel I had brought from Florida 3 years earlier popped a gear. The line went slack and the fish got off. That reel, meant for smaller fish, had already caught quite a few king salmon, but now it was worn out!