I went to the cabin this weekend to get it cleaned and ready for guests coming from Bolivar in a few weeks. I’d put a patch on the leak earlier in the week, and was glad to see it looked like the Splash Zone had firmed up and was well-bonded.

I wanted to fish for salmon, so had to go to the Sea Lion boat to get my license. When I got there, it was a minus tide, and I’d lost a cannonball at the dock, so thought I’d see if I could see it. As I walked down the finger, I noticed a landing net, a pile of line, and a small outboard bracket. Wow. I borrowed a pike pole from a fisherman working on his gear. First I pulled up the pile of line, which was a skate of stuck long line gear. What a find. I gave it to the fisherman who lent me the pole. Then the landing net – in good shape, too, so now I would have one for both boats. I couldn’t reach the outboard bracket nor could I find the cannon ball, so I returned the pike pole, got my license and headed to the boat ramp at the other end of the Douglas road and launched the skiff.

On the way over, I saw a buoy floating in the middle of Stephens Passage out of place, near where I’ve picked up a gas can for an outboard, two crab pots drifting because they had not enough weight,a long line contraption, and a crab pot with no buoy at low tide on the beach during trapping season. This buoy looked brand new. When I pulled up to it, I saw it was not tied to anything, and had no name on it. I threw it in the boat by the newly found landing net.

As I proceeded the rest of the way over, I had to detour around a couple humpbacks that looked to be feeding right in the middle, I fished near the cabin both days, but no fish. Didn’t look like there was any bait in there, as I didn’t see any murellets or other fish birds. Just the usual flock of scoters. I did do some beach combing, and found a pail on Admiralty and a length of hauser line on my cabin island.

Got the cabin cleaned. Dishes done. Sheets changed. Magazines in place. And hauled out a load of fishing poles, fishing gear, and an old gun case with a piece of duct tape with my mom’s handwriting showing my address at Wood River Lodge, where I worked in my early 20’s. Must have been when Dad came out and brought the case with him, maybe with a gun in it over 25 years ago.

Didn’t hear any hooters, but there have been a few heard here in town so it shouldn’t be long. Getting excited planning a trip here, then a trip in mid-May to Sierra Leone.
–
Mark Stopha
Alaska Wild Salmon Company
4455 N. Douglas Hwy
Juneau, AK 99801
www.GoodSalmon.com

I went down to Wrangell to fish for kings and watch the Craig high school girls team play.  My niece graduated last year, but I had 3 years invested into most of the rest of the team, so was glad to see them play again.  They won 1 game and lost a second.  Like many small towns, Wrangell has what I assume is a tradition of a cake auction at half time.  I’d seen parents and grandparents giving their young offspring fist fulls of dollars to buy chances on the cakes.  At halftime, the raffle begins.  Names are called, with a brief break between names.  Some of the 3 or 4 or 5 year olds would clomp, clomp, clomp down the bleacher stairs and out on the floor to claim a cake.  If they hesitated too long, another would be there choosing too, and that might make them more indecisive.  Pretty funny.  The first cake was the size of a wedding cake, and about a kindergartner came out and when she couldn’t carry it, her sister – maybe in 4 th grade, took
it and she barely made it back to the bleachers it was so big.  The girls split two close games Fri and Sat. Craig girls made about 80% of their foul shots on Sat to win, which was good to see.
 
We caught all the kings in one place in 20 feet of water.  Bob was over in Petersburg working a few days at their pharmacy, so we ran over to Banana Point on Sunday and he piled in with us.  Then I went back with him to Petersburg and caught the ferry home from there, where we had dinner at Paul’s house and Paul and Bob yaked about Bob’s gold mining in Nome.

I made another trapper hat on the ride down and back, hand sewing it all.  Turned out a bit small, so I think my sister will get this one, but it does look good.

Pouring rain here now, and much of the snow is gone at sea level. But it’s 40 below in Prudhoe, so I embrace the rain.
–
Mark Stopha
Alaska Wild Salmon Company
4455 N. Douglas Hwy
Juneau, AK 99801
www.GoodSalmon.com

Forecast called for windy weather this weekend, so I checked my traps yesterday. Finally got into the areas I had not been able to reach and am hopeful those sets will produce a few marten. Left my hatchet at one set, and hope I can find it when I return. I have a habit of doing that it seems.
Also glad to get the stinky bait off the boat. Hope it’s not too stinky for marten to come to it. I put some jam for bait at each set as well.

Pulled all the other sets as none of them had any fur this check. I’d taken all my marten to date in those 5 or 6 sets, and so they have probably run their course. Still no otters yet. Hope to find some more sets for those before the season ends.

The boat had been leaking, which I found out when I tried to go out on Monday. I’d already looked carefully under the boat after suspecting a leak, and could find none. When I launched the boat and pulled up the floor board, there it was. It was still hard to see underneath, and when I put on the marine tex, I did not put it on the right spot. It still leaked yesterday. I pulled the boat into the garage yesterday when I got back, found that I’d missed in my my patch, found the leak, and hopefully have it patched now. I’ll have to keep an eye on it since it’s right where the transom meets the hull and it will want to rub off. The first patch didn’t cure very well so I have a light bulb hung right next to this one to see if a little heat will do better.

–
Mark Stopha
Alaska Wild Salmon Company
4455 N. Douglas Hwy
Juneau, AK 99801
www.GoodSalmon.com

Spent the past week at the fish culture conference in Ketchikan. Met a number of people who were from my neck of the woods in NY and western PA. Also met a man from Victoria, BC who was friends with a Peace Corps friend in Smithers who came up here with his partner and trolled with me the first year I had the Dutch Master.

We ended up getting stuck in Ketchikan an extra night due to a mechanical. I had been watching the weather and though Friday was the one weather window day to check my traps, and I thought I wouldn’t make it back on time to get out and check them before dark. We flew into Juneau and it was a bluebird day and flat calm. And we arrived 25 minutes early. I checked my watch, and decided right then to get out and check if nothing delayed me. I figured if I could leave the ramp by 1 pm, I should have just enough time to get to the traps and check them by sundown at 3:45 pm. I knew I could take either way back to town and have the city lights get me the rest of the way as long as I could see them before it was pitch black and be safe getting in.

I got to my first set, and it took awhile to realize I’d pulled these traps last check. Lucky for me I did find the knife I’d left there, or it would have gone likely to a camper this summer. The next set, which I didn’t get to check last week, had one marten and the other trap was tripped. I got one or two marten at this same set the first check. I would have pulled it otherwise because it’s impossible to get in there on any southerly wind, but I had to leave it with this much success so far. I got one more in the next set and so 2 for the day. I wanted to set further south but ran out of daylight and got back to the ramp right at dark. I got the boat out, and had quite a bit of water in it so have to check for a leak. I also took the time to rinse off the marten in a stream this time, too. When I got home, I hung the marten in the garage to let them drip dry,

Today, i skinned the two marten, and then went to buy some lime to try to make some buckskin from the last deer I’d taken the last day of the season. I’d fleshed it and it had been laying on a table in the garage. The lime is supposed to free the hair on the hide. When I pulled the hide to start getting it ready to go in a lime solution, I saw the lime would not be needed. The hair was coming off by itself. So, I spent about an hour getting all the hair off I could. I hung the hide up in the garage, and the little hair that’s left will come off in a day or two.

–

Mark Stopha

Alaska Wild Salmon Company

4455 N. Douglas Hwy

Juneau, AK 99801

www.GoodSalmon.com