Finally got out for a few hours of recreational
fishing. Left on Tue and dragged a coho spoon around
for a few hours, with no luck and didn’t see any
caught. Saw one humpback whale.
I crossed Stephens Passage and pulled the crab pot.
Loaded! The new “lobster puck” bait we bought seems
to be working as advertised. This is the third pull,
at least, on the first puck put in several weeks ago,
and the third time the pot has had lots of crab. I
put new biodegradeable twine on the pot lid, and let
it soak another night.
I then skiffed another 100 yards to Horse Island,
offloaded my pack of food and gun parts, and headed in
to our cabin. The trail was lined with blueberry
bushes sticking out over the trail. My legs were
soaked by the time I got in the 10 minute walk. And
not many berries this year, either.
I took out the gun barrel and new stock for the old
30-06 iron-sighted Enfield. It took all of 2 minutes
to put together, and now I’m eager to sight the gun
in. Of the 3 rifles I have, it’s the only one I seem
to be able to consistently shoot straight – and the
other 2 have high powered scopes.
Our neighbor gave us some fresh corn on the cob from
her trip to Washington State, so I boiled that and
fried a piece of sockeye salmon for dinner, after
doing some chores around the cabin. Split wood supply
is low, so I split some wood from the dry (as dry as
it gets, anyway) round wood pile. Then jury-rigged a
new roof for the part of the porch that is uncovered.
When I went to stand on a metal chair, the legs poked
right through the deck. Looks like I’m about 5 years
too late on the roof, but at least it’s there now.
Although it wasn’t that cold, I started a fire as
that’s always part of getting away. I sat in a
rocking chair with the door open to the flame, with
the rain and sweat soaked clothes hanging down from
above drying. Dinner was great, of course.
The next morning, on my way out with the now assembled
rifle in hand, I looked up hill near the beach and
the bright orange chicken of the woods mushrooms on a
tree caught my eye. Then a head popped up! The deer
was a yearling, with big brown eyes and not a care in
the world. No horns, so not legal anyway but would
have made a great story if it was a big buck with a
christmas tree and me there with my rifle and new
stock … but no ammo! I tried a lame excuse for a
fawn bleet to see if the deer would come closer, but
it would not, so I left it in peace. I continued to
the beach, and rung out my rain-soaked $10 Costco
fleece pants, my standard wear for some 5 years now.
Returned to the Douglas Island shore for more coho
fishing. Now, not even any boats were there. No fish
for a couple hours of fishing. Saw a few porpoises
cruising the area. Back to town for the never ending
work, but great to get away even if only for a few hours.
–
Mark Stopha and Sara Hannan
Alaska Wild Salmon Company
Wild Salmon and Salmon Pet Treats
4455 N. Douglas Hwy
Juneau, AK 99801
907-463-3115
www.GoodSalmon.com