Whidbey angler dies after landing ‘fish of my dreams’

Published 4:58 pm Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Catching the fish of your dreams is supposed to be a happy event, but there was a sad ending for friends and family of Dan Dodds of Whidbey Island earlier this month.

Dodds died of an apparent heart attack after landing a hefty Chinook while fishing for much small pink salmon.

Justin Burnett wrote about Dodds’ death for the Whidbey News Times. To read his story and see a photograph, Click here

The 62-year-old Dodd was fishing off the beach for humpies at Keystone Spit not far from the Coupeville ferry landing when he hooked and landed a 28-pound Chinook.

Fellow anglers said he fought it for 15 to 20 minutes “up and down the beach.”

“He told me, ‘That’s the fish of my dreams,’” an angler said.

Dodds sat down and starting breathing heavily after the battle.

He was quickly given cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the beach and paramedics were called. Because the tide was coming in, he had to be repositioned three times until aid arrived.

He was taken to the hospital and was pronounced dead shortly afterward.