Got up at 415 am this morning, made coffee and
sandwhiches, and jumped in my friend Kurt’s truck when
he picked me up at 5 am. We were heading out to fish
for king salmon at a place I used to catch them often
in my former life before commercial fishing. When we
got there, there were already about 10 power boats, a
canoe and a paddle boat fishing, as well as about a
dozen anglers fishing from shore.
The first fish was caught by the dude on the paddle
boat at about 6 pm. Three more kings were caught from
shore in the next hour and half. No kings were caught
from our skiff or any of the $60K+ power boats.
It was good to see a few fish being caught, and it’s
always fun to watch the shore fishermen. When one
person gets one on, another who has a net helps to
land the fish. Tagaloug is the primary language of
the rocks.
I don’t know how they thread their herring so it won’t
come off when they cast it out – it’s something I need
to learn. I want to try casting spoons from there
sometime, too. I used to catch kings from shore when
I was a fishing guide out on the Nushagak River in
Bristol Bay way back when, and it sure is alot of fun.
Casting all day keeps your legs and arms loose, and
not cramped up as sitting in a skiff for a couple
hours can.
A couple eagles were squawking overhead. They may be
a mated pair, and perhaps living in the woods above
the rocks where the guys were fishing from shore.
Lots of thalropes whizzing by, too, as well as flocks
of scoters flying by. A nice morning to be out on the
water, fish-catching or not.
–
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