Fished Funter area till noon, then north to Pt Retreat and then home. 34 coho for the day. From what I’m hearing, few fish here on the north end, but lots in the south from Tebenkof to the border. Likely fishing will close on Sept 20, so I’ll get just 2 more trips in. We’re still in the hole for the season, but hope to sell our inventory and get out or at least back to even and look for some winter work in town.

Mark Stopha
F/V Dutch Master
Alaska Wild Salmon Co
4455 N Douglas Hwy
Juneau, Alaska 99801
907-463-3115

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Fishing bad and getting worse. Caught 5 at Adolphus, so left for Homeshore, where I caught 1, so headed for Funter now. My partner Chris is headed the other way to the outer coast. I’ve always wanted to fish lower Chatham, and so plan to sell on Friday and start at Pt. Retreat and continue south until I find some fish or reach Cape Ommaney on south Baranof Island.
Have been listening to the CNN feed on XM radio. The destruction in New Orleans sounds incredible. I visited there many times while attending grad school at Mississippi State, and it is one of my favorite cities, as far as cities go. It has the feel of a foreign city. The Mississippi gulf coast sounds in bad shape as well, and so our lack of fishing success and loss of income this summer are of no consequence to losing loved ones or a home. Folks in rural Mississippi live pretty close to the land, and so I’m guessing most have no insurance for this type of disaster.

Mark Stopha
F/V Dutch Master
Alaska Wild Salmon Co
4455 N Douglas Hwy
Juneau, Alaska 99801
907-463-3115

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Very slow fishing today. Just 20 coho by 4 pm. Tragedy heard over the radio today, as a Juneau gillnetter was lost from his boat, presumed overboard. The Coast Guard announced the incident so any boats in the area could look out for him.

My processor called today and said all our orders shipping east of the Mississippi were on hold due to a chemical spill somewhere, so I had to call all my customers with the bad news. I’m sure the hurricane has something to do with it too.

Mark Stopha
F/V Dutch Master
Alaska Wild Salmon Co
4455 N Douglas Hwy
Juneau, Alaska 99801
907-463-3115

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Fishing was good today. I was on my way to 100 when the gurdy pin broke, just as the wind picked up. By the time I fixed the gurdy, it was 5 ft seas and pouring rain, so I ran to Flynn Cove about 4:30, and caught about 70.

A sealion shadowed me in the morning, too. I must get some seal bombs. It’s amazing – they never seem to get full – ever. They just keep on eating one salmon after another until fishing slows down enough that they look elsewhere, or I can find a group of boats to pass and hope Mr. Sealion changes boats.

It’s August, sales are very strong, and we’re still in the hole. Fuel is killing us this year, with about a 450 to 650 dollar cost every trip.
This is my first time anchoring in Flynn Cove. I’m amazed how many Sitka boats are here. Must be poor fishing everywhere outside for so many all the way here.

Mark Stopha
F/V Dutch Master
Alaska Wild Salmon Co
4455 N Douglas Hwy
Juneau, Alaska 99801
907-463-3115

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Got boarded by the Coast Guard yesterday. Luckily, they were ready to check to see that my flares were not expired, nor my fire extinguisher. Several 20 somethings came on board, armed with pistols. In the event my flares were expired and the kids’ pistols weren’t enough firepower to take me in, 3 of the others stayed back in the zodiac boarding craft with a – and I’m not kidding- mounted machine gun. Luckily I passed the check, and the boys sped off to their next boat.

Today, few fish. Tried Funter Bay, then Homeshore, and finished at Adolphus for only 20 cohos. May have to continue to the outer coast if things don’t improve. However, there are about 75 boats inside here, and that’s telling me there are no fish out there either or these boats would be out there. Beautiful day. sunny and 65 degrees at least.

Mark Stopha
F/V Dutch Master
Alaska Wild Salmon Co
4455 N Douglas Hwy
Juneau, Alaska 99801
907-463-3115

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Tied up to the dock in Funter Bay. learned a new method for removing blood from my fish using a catheter attached to the end of the waterhose and inserting it along the forward part of the kidney, after the gills are removed. It took some monkeying around finding the right tubing to make the catheter work – half the fun of any project – and then trying to find the right insertion point. I finally got it, and know this is another big step in producing the best fish we can. Caught 31 cohos in a half day of fishing, and was so intent figuring out the catheter I didn’t realize I caught that many.

Mark Stopha
F/V Dutch Master
Alaska Wild Salmon Co
4455 N Douglas Hwy
Juneau, Alaska 99801
907-463-3115

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