Northern Trails And Tales

Yeah, I guess I’m a contrarian. So here’s a rose, by some other name…. I want to begin by qualifying what I write here. It’s specific to the road system and areas we’ve traveled through, and at the times we visited. But there ain’t much fishing in Alaska, as far as I’ve seen, particularly as far as salmon are concerned…. Let’s start at the beginning. There are five species of salmon. Kings, also called chinooks and jacks, are the largest and the scarecest. They are also most sought after in many quarters. They can be caught with lures, live bait, and egg sacs, primarily in boats by back-trolling or back-bouncing by also by drifting, but there are a number of smaller rivers and streams where you can fish for them by wading or bank fishing. There’s one major impediment to fishing for them. The longer they are in fresh water, the less likely they are to hit a lure or bait. So, what’s the answer when this happens? Snag ‘em. In Clear Creek above Talkeetna that’s what folks were doing. In Ship’s Creek in Anchorage, same thing. Out here in Homer, ditto. There are a couple other places like the mouth of the Kasilof where it’s a mixed bag. Only in the lower Kenai and in the Susitna in the Houston area, have I seen people really fish for kings. I’ve made the point before that you have to put our time in to catch a king. The estimate from Alaska Department of Fish and Game is about 35 hour on average, and you can reduce that by half fishing with a guide. Like all salmon in fresh water the flesh begins to deteriorate but caught early enough on their upstream journey they are delightful to eat or smoke…. Next are coho salmon, also referred to as silvers. They will take a lure, at least when they are first in the rivers. I proved this, more or less, the other day in the mouth of the Kenai by catching three on flies. To do this however, I had to foul-hook about thirty or forty sockeyes, since the slivers and sockeyes swim together, or at least hang out together in pools and backwaters and it’s hard to get though the red to the silvers. But here in Homer, in the infamous Fishing Hole, I am told the silvers will only hit a lure for the first hour, maybe two, that that they are out of the salt and in brackish water. They are fished for here by dangling a bare hook under a bobber and, supposedly setting the hook when a silver swims into the line. Let’s say the jury’s still out, but silvers are sometimes caught on lures, flies, and egg sacs. How often is the question…. Then there are the sockeyes or reds. These are the favorite eating salmon for most people. However, they never hit a lure. Oh, there are a couple outdoor writers who swear they’ve caught one on a fly, but you can take that with a grain of rock salt as you brine your catch. These fish are great to eat, but they are apprehended by “lining” or by dipnetting in the salt or in the mouth of the rivers. At Russian River you must “fly fish” for them. You don’t need to use a fly rod or a fly line, but you must attach a fly as terminal tackle below your lead. Strictly speaking, this fish must be lined in the mouth to be kept. As far as I can see, most, but not all, people honor this stricture. So you can eat your sockeye, but you were “fishing” when you caught it only in the broadest sense of the term…. Next come the pinks, also called humpies due to the very pronounced hump they quickly develop in fresh water. These are the smallest of the salmon, averaging “only” four or five pounds, of the five species and are very abundant, comprising about 60% of the total of Alaskan salmon. Pinks are on the bite more than any of the other salmon and will readily take lures, flies and live bait. Very easily caught, they are considered the bluegills of the salmon family. In fact, they often interfere with fishing for other species and are considered a nuisance. This is probably unfair as they give great battle for their size. Unfortunately, they do not make good table fare after a couple days in the rivers, though some folks claim they are fine if grilled immediately after catching them. Like all salmon, they must be fished along the bottom of the river, but again, they’ll hit anything, so they are my heros, despite the scorn from most fishermen…. Last, and most of the folks up here would say least, are the chum or dog salmon. They earned the latter name as they are mostly fed to dogs. Absolutely terrible eating. I haven’t come across the chums yet so have no personal acquaintance with them, but am told they are bulldog battlers that don’t know the meaning of quit. Chums certainly will take a lure, and in recent years, folks are claiming that they’ll take a fly, but my guess is it’s a rare instance once they’ve been in a river a few days…. So there you have it folks. Five species, two that no one ever eats. Three that rarely hit a lure, fly,or bait. All of which have to be angled for by dredging the bottom with significant amounts of lead in most instances. Salmon don’t make for a fly fisher’s paradise. In fact, in terms of what we call fishing in Connecticut, they just don’t make the grade— unless you’re a Pulaski snagger!….Two comments made to me by other fishermen pretty much sum it up. A guy from Michigan up here for the first time with his three grown sons speaking of the number of people,especially fisherman said, “Hell, we came up here to get away from this. There are less people on the rivers back home. And from a guy from Texas who has visited here for nine straight years— and enjoys snagging the Homer Fishing Hole: I don’t really come up here for the fishing. I come up here (Alsaka) cause I think it’s the best place in the world. My wife and I stop in Montana on the way up and back to fish.” ….Yeah, you can fish Alaska and find salmon of most species that will take a fly or a lure in certain times and places without cossing lines with another angler. For that you’ll have to fly out to Bristol Bay or Iliamna or hit the Alagnak or someplace similar. You’ll pay $4,000 to $7,500 a for seven days and six nights, plus airfare. You’ll get fly outs and gourmet meals and —if you hit it right– have some great fishing. You can do it a bit cheaper by hiring a guide and roughing it, and maybe this is the real way to do Alaska. The limitations of my wheels keep me from wandering too far from the roads so maybe some folks get a little less crowded conditions, but I’m not sure about that. “Everyone”owns a float plane or a boat or both. Fishing in the boonies of Talkeetna, we boated eight impossible miles up the Susitna River to Clear Creek and for a few minutes I thought we were clear of the horde. Then we came around the final bend to Crystal Creek and there were twenty or thirty tents on a sandbar and maybe fifty boats. Good fishing holes don’t stay secrets up here very long. But the real problem is that the salmon migrate up the streams only at certain times and they are trailed closely by people and bears. If you don’t focus on the areas that are producing, you’re just wasting time. Please recall my experience on the Kenai for kings. There were an estimated 300-400 boats with guides and another 200 boats, or more, privately owned. There were many spots you could almost have crossed the mighty Kenai walking from boat to boat, ad it’s one wide river….. I’ll pause here to admit I’ve had a lot of fun fishing—sometimes. And I’ve caught some big fish All in all, I have to confess to a good time. Maybe i would be even happier if I could just follow the old adage, “When in Rome…” The halibut fishing and saltwater fishing in general is superb. There are grayling and pike and turbot and Dolly Vardens to pursue. Soon I’ll be fishing the upper Kenai for rainbows, and a lot of people have said it’s the best trout fishing they’ve ever experienced. Nothing short of spectacular. But today I’ve focused on salmon and fishing the road system. I’ve got one word: overrated! If I can have two words: way overrated!. Frank Rusczkek captured the whole scenario—and problem— beautifully. He wrote: “When you’re making love, do you stop to eat a sandwich?” …. Wanting to close on a more positive note, Alaska itself isn’t overrated. It’s beautiful, thrilling, magnificent, spectacular and on and on. One of the most beautiful spots in all the state is Homer, where we’ve resided for the past few days. Whether you like mountains or the sea, you’ll appreciate Homer. It’s on a gorgeous bay literally ringed by towering snow capped mountains, some recently volcanic. It bills itself as a “quaint little drinking village with a big fishing problem.” But it’s also a mecca for artists and artisans of all types. I could spend the whole summer here, happy as a released halibut…. Yesterday in the infamous Fishing Hole, which I’ve been denigrating, a seal was chasing around the silver salmon. If an angler hooked one up, and they were snagging plenty, he quickly zoomed in to steal it. It was a riot to watch! I was told that one day last summer eleven seals came in to gorge on the salmon. I wish I had been here…. Along with a couple photos of the Fishing hole, there will be a Tsunami warning sign posted with this blog. It’s only a few feet from the trailer. It’s for real, and so are the tsunamis here. One pretty much wiped out the Homer Spit a few years back. With Mt. Augustine, across the Katchemack Bay, spewing lava last January, folks pay attention to things like this up here. You have a plume from its summit to remind you… I’ll be out “fishing” tomorrow. You know, old dogs and new tricks….I’m different from most fishermen,

So let me tell you why.

Most fishers stretch their fish a bit.

I never magnify!

This past Tuesday evening we boarded the Alaskan Marine Ferry “Tustemena” for  Kodiak Island off the southern coast of Alaska.  Kodiak: as in bears, the grizzlies (brown bears) that are reputed to be a third larger than those on the mainland!  But that’s getting ahead of the story…..Owing to security checks, and the fact that Dave was bringing his bike which had to be loaded in the hold with trucks, cars, trailers, and in this instance, a huge backhoe, we boarded the ship at 8:30 PM for a 10:30 PM departure.  Boarding with us was the whole men’s and women’s cross country team from Wasilla High School about thirty adolescents strong.  The important thing here is that there are only eight cabins on this tub.  That means the vast majority of the 240 people aboard have to sleep in chairs or lying on the deck in sleeping bags or on blankets, which is what we did— proximate to the Wasilla students.  Their behavior was impeccable!  Still, I honestly didn’t get much sleep and we didn’t reach Kodiak till 11:30 AM on Wednesday….At the ferry landing, we inquired about a taxi, but all were engaged by those disembarking quickly, which we couldn’t do as we had to wait to get Dave’s bike out of the hold.  But someone told us the Best Western, where we were staying was “less than a half mile.”  Despite the fact that I was carrying my duffle with clothes and books, a backpack with waders, boots and assorted fishing rods and gear, as well as my computer, we decided to walk/bike.  Dave went ahead and dropped off his stuff and came back to help me.  For the first time in my life, when someone said “it’s only a half mile,” he or she was correct.  But when we got to the Best Western they were laughing because they have a courtesy van and were waiting for us to call!  And so it goes.  We went to bed exhausted…..  Because we went to bed early, we missed the call from our guide for Thusday and the trip got messed up.  We finally made connections and changed the trip to Saturday as he fortunately had an opening.  We used Thusday and Friday to see Kodiak ”city” and Dave did some biking around the island….  It is a gorgeous place, just as “emerald” as advertised.  The whole island is clad in plush green grasses and real trees, as opposed to the stunted spruce to which we have becaome accustomed.  The Kodiak folks boast that it’s greener than Hawaii, and so it may be.   They do have are a couple neat museums that trace the history of the native population and the damage from a volcanic erution and the tidal wave of 1964.  Actually, quite impressive for a small town…..  But Kodiak is mainly two things:  It has the largest Coast Guard base in the good ole USofA at about 1,500 Guardsmen/women, and almost 4,000 counting dependents.  They constitute a big percentage of the island’s population.  Second, they are also commercial fishermen/women.  You just can’t comprehend the number of fishing boats coming and going on a 24 hour basis almost.  It’s the largest fishing fleet in the United States, also, but they no longer have the highest tonnage by landings as that honor has been lost to Unalaska over the past decade.  But there are seiners, draggers, set netters, pursers, crabbers, long-liners and who know what else. Literally hundreds and hundreds of boats.  A colorful crew, and a typical waterfront town.  Plenty of bars.  A couple canneries and packers.  Quite a place…..  On Saturday. we went on the postponed ATV/fishing trip.  Our guide, Mike O’Neal, spent 28 years in the Coast Guard, as many of those 28 years  as he could wrangle on Kodiak Island.  He’s a man in love with the place where he lives.  The Cof C couldn’t invent a bigger booster!  Anyway, he picked us up at the Best Western with trailer and ATV’s in tow.  We only got a few miles out of town when a deer darted right in front of the truck and we hit it.  Somehow, the deer managed to get back on it’s feet and into the grass and brush.  So we started a second time and proceeded about 15 or 20 miles before parking at a trail to Saltery Cove. Mike unloaded the ATV’s and gave us a quick rundown on their operation and we were off. We went sixteen miles  including along an old river bed, then up a mountain and down the other side to the Saltery River maybe a half mile above the cove.  We climbed obstacles you’d never believe, unless, of course, you’ve used one of these machines before— which I hadn’t.  The most amazing thing about the ATV’s is the suspension system.  You get a relatively smooth ride over the harshest washboard trail and even two foot depressions.  We were actaully driving along streambeds at times that were probably 18 inches deep, and maybe more like two feet in spots.  We shot up shale shelves that looked virtually perpendicular, though I’m sure they weren’t and plunged down muddy banks almost as steep.  But even on the smoothest trail sixteen miles is a long way, so we broke it up a bit looking for wildlife.  We saw cousins of the deer we’d hit earlier, fox, eagles, buffalo (more about which later) and wild horses grazing the grasslands where we fished.  We even saw fresh bear tracks, and they had to be really fresh as it was raining at this point, but no bears.  Thwarted again!  But the wild horses were certainly beautiful to watch.  Best of all, though,  were the buffalo.  A herd of a hundred to a hundred and fifty grazed placidly across the river keeping seemingly unconcerned as we fished.  But this “river” was only thirty feet wide and averaged less than two feet deep.  At times, the buffalo were scarcely a hundred feet from us.  The herd has thrived as it has no natural predators.  Even the famed Kodiak bears don’t seek them out as the buffalo circle the wagons in a protective fahion and face the grizzlies down.  It was just a thrilling experience!….  As far as the fishing was concerned, the river was paved with salmon.  Devoted blog readers know I’ve been less than happy having to “snag” salmon.  Well, most of the salmon here were pinks and they will actually take a fly.  However, there were so many of them that it was often impossible to retrieve the line without foul hooking one.  But I caught a few that whacked the fly and so was happy.  The pinks were mixed in with reds, and Mike amused himself by lining a couple to take home to smoke.  Again, I had a day where my arms were tired, or at least would have been had we not quit after a couple hours.  For the edification of those keeping score, the pinks, aka humpies (though these were so new to fresh water that the humps had not yet developed in most instances), averaged about five pounds, maybe six.  The reds that Mike caught I’d have estimated about seven to eight pounds….  On the way out, we stopped by a mountain lake where the salmon were spawing and then an old abandoned ranch up on the mountainside.  All in all a great day.  Mike is a real nice guy, the rain stopped and we enjoyed bright sun, and the ATV’s are just real fun…..  Saturday night we left Kodiak on theM/V Kennicott, a larger vessel than we had come over on and we were able to hire a cabin.  Its about 400 feet in length with an 85 foot beam.  With stabilizing fins, it provides a smooth sail, though the twin 6,500 HP engines did seem to vibrate the ship a bit.  Still, a pretty boat, fairly new having been launched in 1999, and meticulously maintained.  Yet, the turntable that assists in loading the cars/boats/trailers/bikes/backhoes/u-hauls and just about anything else you can imagine, busted while loading in Kodiak and caused our departure to be delayed about two hours.  We arrived in Homer at 9:30 AM Sunday, a bit late, but glad we had ventured a bit off the mainland…..  A recommended side trip for anyone traveling up here! 

Monday evening Dave Friez and Paul Glinski arrived in Anchorage without problem or delay anticipating a week of fast and furious fishing in Cooper Landing. We were mostly slated to fish the mighty Kenai River whose aquamarine waters flow from a glacial lake of the same name and supposedly are home to rainbow trout and Dolly Vardens of significant size…. Tuesday afternoon we headed out for our first of three guided fishing trips with John and Heather Pearson, the proprietors of Kenai-Fish-N-Float . John, a lanky and laconic guy, hails from Colorado. Right after high school, he followed his dream to Alaska with his best buddy. Shortly after arriving he got a job guiding out of Gwin’s Lodge where he was to meet his future wife, Heather. She’s a stream ecologist, with a brilliant smile (and, guys, let your imagination do the rest), from North Carolina where she chased stripers and brook trout with her dad. Anyway, by that point, Dave and Paul had recovered enough to drag themselves to the boat. As John rigged, up three spinning rods, we began to develop side bets on first-fish, biggest-fish, most-fish, a bet that would endure through the week. Starting from the bridge at Kenai Lake the fishing was solid, though not spectacular. We landed some nice dollies and a few ‘bows. As a bonus, we had an eagle fly within ten or so feet of our boat three times as it unsuccessfully tried to pick up a flailing bait fish from the water just below us. A perfect photo opportunity was missed as we fumbled for our cameras. As the drift to the Russian River haul out continued, the pace was to pick up a bit with the rainbows becoming more numerous than the dollies, a trend we were to note throughout the week. We finished the afternoon satisfied with several fish in the twenty inch, and above, range. Due either to failing memory or to inflated egos, the debate over who won what category continued into the evening. As we “refined” the rules, we agreed Dave had caught the first, Paul the largest, and the most-fish category was too difficult to determine….. Early Wednesday found us back for an all-day float but using fly rods this time. From the start, the fishing was spectacular. Carl began the day with stunning brilliance, but soon the fish-gods frowned on him for throwing a butt in the glorious Kenai. Meanwhile, the fishing for Dave and Paul was to pick up and continue throughout the trip and reach the point of superlatives. We caught a number of dollies and rainbows above twenty inches all accounted for by others than yours truly. Dave managed to capture a 24 1/2 inch dolly and contended with a huge sockeye. It was fishing about as good as you’re gonna get. Even Carl recovered just before the haul out, nailing a nice rainbow in front of a gathered crowd….. Thursday found us up at 4:30 for a combination silver salmon/halibut trip out of Seward. We steamed SSE out of Resurrection Bay for a bit over an hour on the Pro-Fish-N-Sea with Cap’n Kevin, a biology major and football player at Idaho with an eye to graduating next May, at the helm. Also aboard were fellow Texans’s and friends, Jim And Wilbuh (pronunciation their’s). At a point the sonar indicated water fecund with silvers, we began drifting bait in about 70 feet of water at a depth of forty feet. The salmon ranged roughly from five to ten pounds, and most of us soon had our limit of three, though one of our group snagged two of his and anther had to be reminded by the Captain that the Captain could already be home with his girlfriend if said angler would catch his first!…. We then began another sail of over two hours south into the Gulf of Alaska to the halibut grounds. We may have all been turning a bit green at the gills except the day developed into a bright sunny affair with absolutely no wind. I would approximate wave height at one inch! This is particularly remarkable in that I’ve spent six days in Seward previously and it rained every one of them! Additionally, it’s been pretty much raining consistently all week… Kevin warned us as we motored out that we would be targeting halibut for “quality, not quantity” and therefore we might not catch our limits of two per person. He was to prove prophetic. After about two hours of angling only Paul had landed a fish, a nice halibut of over twenty pounds. At this point we’re going to fast forward to the last hour and a half of the trip when the pace picked up and the Texans earned themselves the sobriquet “fish hogs.” Paul caught a second halibut along with a lingcod and Dave caught a lingcod and finally a halibut. At some point the Captain indicated we had a lot of poundage on board and suggested we switch to releasing fish or just call it a day. As each successive fish was caught though, Jim would yell up to Wilbuh, “Do we want to keep it?” Wilbuh would unfailingly answer in the affirmative, thereby alienating the Captain. Final totals looked something like this: Six halibut caught, one released (much to Wilbuh’s dismay) and two lingcod, one retained….. It was, all in all a great day of fishing and we returned home wearied but content…. Friday we recuperated, but Saturday 7:00 AM we were back on the Kenai with John. This time we got off to a splendid start catching a dozen of nice dollies in no time at all. Maybe it was the rain that had persisted throughout the week (excepting Thursday) and tainted the water brown, but the rainbows had mostly disappeared. We did catch a few, but mostly of smaller size. Still, on balance, we finished the week as happy and successful anglers….. Oh yeah, the bets. After much negotiation we arrived at the final tally: Paul 7, Dave 5, and Carl 3. There will be plenty of time for revision as we head into Shetucket salmon season!… All the fishing left us little time for sightseeing, though most of the gang headed to Soldotna on a shopping trip and made a drive to Skilak Lake yesterday afternoon. Dave and Dave hiked the trail to the bear observation platform at Russian River Falls. Tomorrow Paul heads back to Connecticut to share his exploits in person, while Dave continues on with us to Skagway an another angling opportunity. A great time was had by all!!! Pictures to follow….

A Picture is Worth 182 Pounds!

Carl “Shooter” Sundell nailed this halibut 40 miles out in the Gulf of Alaska while fishing with Dave Friez and Paul Glinski on the Pro-Fish-N-Sea on Thursday, August 17th. When it was weighed in Seward six hours after capture, it tipped the scales at 182 pounds and measured 5′ 10″ . Savants at the weigh-in indicated that the fish had lost 10% of it’s weight in the interim. As phony as the result may sound, you do the math…. The “Shooter” that’s now my middle name derives from the fact that any halibut too large to be taken alive onto a boat safely is shot with a .410 to the brain before being brought aboard. A fish that size is also referred to as a “barn door” for obvious reasons…. Just to lend a sense of proportion to the size of the fish in a comparative way, if this fish had been entered in the Homer Halibut Derby, the largest fishing derby in Alaska, it would be the second largest fish thus far for the month of August. However, please note that the leader weighs 312 pounds!…. All this must be considered from a number of perspectives. Try these on for size. Scenario 1: Sundell is an able angler who puts in his hours on the water and earns his luck. He researched available charters carefully, and chose wisely. With aplomb and finesse, he enticed the halibut to the hook. He played the fish with considerable skill and panache. It’s not at all surprising that someone of his competence caught this lunker. Scenario 2: Dave planned the Alaskan journey; Charmi booked the charter; Cap’n Kevin put the boat over fish and baited the hook; Carl did manage to identify there was something making his rod jiggle and did reel (very slowly) the fish up most of the necessary 300 feet; however, he was kindly assisted by Dave Friez and received moral support from Paul; Cap’n Kevin administered final rites and hauled the fish aboard, with some help from Carl. In summary, Sundell is one lucky son of a gun who could barely hold on to the rod!….. Please comment to the blog and register your vote— or alternative scenarios….

Gold! We leapt from our benches,

Gold! We sprang from our stools.

Gold! We wheeled in the furrow,

Fired with the faith of fools.

We landed in wind swept Skagway.

We joined the weltering mass,

Clamoring over their outfits,

Waiting to climb the pass…..

Robert Service

“The Trail of ‘Ninety-Eight”

Kenai River (23)
Cooks Inlet (4)
Unknown (147)
Homer (106)
Cooper Landing (74)
Russian River Falls Trail (18)
Juneau Falls - Resurrection Trail (3)
Skilak Lake, Sterling Hwy (21)
Kenai Lake Overlook (16)
Glenn Hwy - Palmer to Tok (8)
Tok, AK to Haines Jct, Ca (16)
Approaching Whitehorse (3)
Skagway Ferry and Haines Eagle Museum (20)
Haines Museum and Fetty back to Skagway (22)
White Pass RR (21)