The Glory and Bounty of the World

June 22, 2013

Sourdough PBJ’s for breakfast, then workout, major housecleaning and trip planning for VALDEZ.  I have eleven lakes and rivers and the ocean to fish in the 128 mile trip to downtown.  Dolly Varden and Rainbow trout, Arctic Grayling, Sockeye and Pink salmon are all game for the next few days.  I’ll be taking the tent and roughing it for the first time.

June 23, 2013

Let me see, should I get out of bed…VALDEZ awaits.  I fueled up in GLENNALLEN and made a quick stop to wish Hannalorre and Dieter well, in COPPER CENTER.  Dieter was absent because the sockeyes are starting to hit on all eight cylinders.  Weather was sunny and 65 before crossing the Thompson Pass summit and 55 on the south side.  Thompson Pass is an infamous winter highway that receives several feet of snow in the cold season.  Worthington Glacier was a nice site and very manageable hiking distance for the adventuresome.  After passing over this summit, I spied one of the small lakes to fish (Summit Lake).  I was joined by a father and son whom snuck out of Valdez to do some flyfishing.  No fish were caught by anyone that hour so we all left for greener pastures.  I finally arrived in VALDEZ around 2:00pm, ate and did some grocery shopping.  I checked the city docks and four people were using cut bait for bottom fish.  Before leaving town, I spotted a young black bear grazing on the sedge grass in the tidal flats.  I wasn’t alone, six other vehicles stopped for the photo opportunity.  I continued on for Dayville Road (AKA Oil Depot Road) where Allison Point and Solomon Gulch Fish Hatchery were located.    I was a few weeks early from the peak Pink Salmon run but I felt I could land a few early fish.  Word is the fish are in tight to shore nearing high tide so after spotting Harbor Seals catching fish, Bald Eagles beachcombing, and Sea Otters feeding and rolling about in the surf, I returned to town for the public library WiFi signal to check the tide table for Valdez.  It was due to return at 1:40am and I was a bit tired.  I rested my eyes for a half hour before starting at 10:30pm.  By midnight, I had had enough casting and empty hooks.  I pulled up stakes and headed out of town…Jerry had called earlier and reported limiting out on Reds both Saturday and Sunday.  Everyone says Reds taste the best and Pinks are just fun to catch so Klutina, here I come.

Bridal Veil Falls (area of Thompson Pass)

 Worthington Glacier (Thompson Pass north of Valdez)

 Young Black Bear, perhaps 2 or 3 years old (Valdez, city)

Sea Otter (Allison Point, Valdez)

Bald Eagle, immature, about 15 yards away (I was sneaky)

Drinking from a fresh water seep into the tidal flat

 Bald Eagle, adult beachcombing with opportunistic Fish Crow in the ready position (between Solomon Gulch Fish Hatchery and Allison Point, Valdez)

June 24, 2013

I made it back to Summit Lake around 12:30am and fished it again for another hour before giving up and getting some rest.  At 7:00am, I was again throwing my tackle box at the fish but nothing responded.  Around the corner I went to Blueberry Lake and had a repeat of Summit.  I headed north for the Klutina but stopped to enjoy breakfast near the Thompson Pass summit.  As walked toward an edge, I spotted two black orbs about 300 yards away.  Two Black Bears were wrestling and I assumed they were probably fresh from being kicked out by their mother.  The binoculars proved otherwise.  Instead, I witnessed and recorded an intimate moment between the boar (male) and sow (female).  They would jump on each other, bite, and swat before the boar mounted the sow.  He would hold on tight and bite her back during their romps.  When she had enough, she gave a quick nip and swat and he was off.

After making it back to the Klutina, I had a heck of a time trying to locate the fish.  Everyone around me was catching Reds, limiting out and cleaning the fish before I got so much as a nibble.  It was getting warm, I lost five hook ups and after three hours, I was hot.  I moved for the fifth time and lost some hooks on a new hole.  Jerry had arrived 20 minutes before and it looked like he had limited out across the river.  I returned to the scene where I lost the five fish.  Thirty minutes later I had lost two more but caught my first, about a 24” hen (female) Red/Sockeye Salmon.  I cut the gills to bleed the fish out (improves the taste) and on the stringer it went.  The next fifteen minutes was nothing, then another short hookup and loss, followed by a 25” buck (male) Red.  Up to this point all the losses had occurred from “No Hook Set” but the next loss was an exceptional hookup, battle and fish.  It bent the pole in half and made the strongest run downstream.  I could only get it back five feet before it had enough and was gone.  DARN…but just after that, I landed number three, a 27” hen and I had limited out.  Instead of filleting on shore and tossing the remains into the fast moving water, I opted to clean mine on the Gulkana, after the picture session.  Throwing the remains is the best way to rid of the scraps especially in bear country.  Imagine over a hundred fish carcasses scattered along the shore in a mile stretch of river, every day for a week.  That would attract more then one bear.  Besides, after spawning, ALL salmon die and those that are not eaten, rot in the nutritionally void rivers and streams.  Hakuna Matata. 

NOTE:  Tidal variations are smaller in Valdez (6 - 10’ average) then what I’m used to in Juneau (14 – 20’ average).  It is measured from the tides highest point to lowest in about a 12 hour period.  Example: Juneau on June 24 had High Tide at 1:56am, 19.7’ and Low Tide at 7:41am, -4.3.  That is a 24’ variation and it exposes a lot of the tidal flat.  Valdez for the same day was +14.6 and -0.4 for a 14’ variation.  Birds, bears, wolves, foxes, humans, etc. take advantage of this and collect all sorts of edibles.  Items such as: clams, mussels, sea urchins, small fishes, crabs, kelp (seaweed), etc. from tummy filler to collectibles.

 Black Bear couple and coupling (Thompson Pass) about 300 yards away

 Miscellaneous wild flowers, alright already, I’ll work on the taxonomy (Thompson Pass)

 The Prudhoe Bay to Valdez “Alaskan Pipeline”

My first, second and third Sockeye Salmon (Reds, derived from the red coloration when spawning), 24-27” (Klutina River, Copper Center)

 Hygiene is important in the bush but I fared alright after an overnighter and sweltering 80 degree day, but things must change

A shower and yes, a shave does the body and soul good

June 25, 2013

Sunny again but that is old news and a running five week story.  Jerry and I will be back on the Reds but the early, beat the crowd mornings are over with.  Laying back and relaxing, I picked up Ken Hughes and Jerry and I took him fishing on his 83^rd birthday.  Jerry and Ken went to the “easy hole” and I went back to my spot.  Twenty minutes in and I had my first Red (25” buck),  I missed the next two but nailed another.  I had it close to shore but missed the first attempt to net the fish.  The Sockeye had other ideas and made a run downstream.  SNAP!!  And the fish was off and the top section of my rod was broken.  Done fishing for today so I packed up and headed to meet up with Jerry and Ken.  Jerry had limited out and limited out on Ken’s proxy permit for Ken’s wife.  Ken was having difficulty but managed one Red by himself.  Jerry loaned me his pole and I stepped in the second best “sweet spot” and 10 minutes, I had number two (25”hen) and three (26” buck).  Jerry and I filleted everything to this point then Jerry and I each hooked up on a Red and handed the pole to Ken for the landing.  It took another 10 minutes but we walked out with a dozen salmon.

Ken bought us sodas in GLENNALLEN and thanked us for the day.  I dropped Jerry off at his camp and Ken invited me to his house for lunch of baked beans and a salmon spread sandwich.  I thank my host for the great lunch and hurried home in the 87 degrees to contend with the past two days’ catch.  I completed the cleaning, filleting, vacuum sealing, and cleanup by 6:00pm.  I was reminded that one does not venture outside unless one is protected.  As I put the fish in Jon’s outdoor chest freezer, I was immediately attacked by dozens of mosquitoes.  The shorts, tank top and sandals did not provide any protection and I still itch as I write this blog.

 Day 2 limit of Reds and Fillets