Mount Gilead native Brad Irons checked another item off his bucket list this past summer when he and three friends set out on a fishing trip in Alaska. While the trip was sure to be a success regardless, it ultimately took on additional meaning when Irons reeled in the type of fish his late father aimed to catch decades ago on a similar trip.

A 1980 Mount Gilead High School graduate and the current engineer of Marion County, Irons grew up fishing with his father, Art. When Art set out on a fishing trip to Alaska in 1995, Irons was supposed to accompany his father but didn’t go. On the final day of the trip, Art Irons got ahold of an 82-pound halibut. After a 20-minute fight — band a gunshot delivered to the fish — Art Irons was finally able to get his catch into the boat.

Art Irons downplayed the size of the fish at the time, noting its weight paled compared to some halibut that reach upwards of 400-500 pounds. Still, the fish represented the largest catch of his life, even if it fell a little shy of the 100-pound fish he was hoping for at the start of the journey.

Sixteen years after his father’s death in 2007, Brad Irons was in Homer, Alaska, alongside his friend, Rick Jackson, this July. The two often plan some type of adventure for their birthdays, and recent activities have included skydiving and fishing for peacock bass in the Amazon. The Alaska trip was planned before the COVID-19 pandemic but was forced to be postponed.

With an assist from mutual friends from Arizona who planned much of the trip after taking a similar trip last year, Irons and his bucket list buddy put another check on the list.

The trip spanned a full week and included five full days of fishing. While he didn’t necessarily set out to land a fish bigger than what his dad reeled in all those years ago, Irons admitted the thought was in the back of his mind throughout the week.

“You’re only allowed two halibut a day,” Irons said. “What they call an ‘under’ (halibut) is 28 inches, and you’re allowed one under and then anything after that. Usually, they take you to the holes that are the smaller ones where there are a lot (of fish), and you catch your ‘under’ first. Then you go out to find the bigger ones or other fish. Like, one day we caught our halibut quickly and went out and caught some salmon and rockfish, also.”

Irons said that on two of the fishing days, he and his friends were part of a much larger group on bigger boats, and only smaller halibut were being caught. The other three days featured a smaller, private boat for only his group. On the final fishing day, Irons and his group let those in charge of the charter boat know they wanted to find larger halibut.

Thoughts of landing a monster fish faded quickly as Irons reached the last half hour of fishing on the final day. Up to that point, the largest fish caught was approximately 50 pounds, and most were around 35 pounds. But just as it did for his father in 1995, fate intervened just as hopes were nearly dashed.

Immediately after the fish got on, both Irons and the boat captain knew it was big. The captain’s message to Irons was simple —don’t lose this fish.

Irons focused on keeping tension on the line and reeling constantly over at least 15 minutes of fighting, although it felt, at times, like he wasn’t making any progress.

“Sometimes the line wasn’t coming in, it was going out. It was a big enough fish that the pole never came out of the holder,” he said.

After getting a glimpse of the fish, despite it still being fairly deep, the captain retrieved his gun. Once Irons got the fish to the surface, the captain ended the fight with a single shot.

“It was just a cool feeling because it was such a big fish,” Irons said. “And believe me, I’m bragging all the time now. If you want to hear a fishing story, now I have one.”

At 103 pounds, the fish was, by far, the biggest of the trip and easily exceeded his dad’s catch years ago. Once the fish was secured in the boat, the captain handed Irons a pin to commemorate a halibut exceeding 100 pounds. At that moment, Irons said the thoughts of his dad began to fill his mind.

“That’s when it kind of hit because I knew the pin was going on my dad’s fishing coat, which I still wear,” Irons said. “I know my dad was looking down on it.”

Irons said the emotions of the moment really began to set in after he was able to sit down and text his three older sisters and share the moment with them. As for what Irons believes his dad would have said had he been there to see his son catch that elusive 100-pounder, he laughed before saying, “He would have probably said something smart. He was that kind of guy, very competitive, too.”

While his big catch produced bragging rights and will likely be talked about for years to come, Irons said the time with friends had already made the trip a resounding success before hooking into the fish.

“It was a great trip and very memorable without the fish. The fish just put the cherry on top,” he said.

Irons and his friends caught 480 pounds of fish throughout the trip, each taking home 120 pounds of filets.

“I’m not the biggest fish eater in the world, but halibut ranks way up there (in taste). And I know how to cook it now,” Irons said, noting he has also given a lot away to friends.

Irons later said his plan for the next bucket list trip is fishing for trout in a mountain lake, although the exact location has not yet been decided.

Reach Dillon Davis at 740-413-0904. Follow him on Twitter @DillonDavis56.