Sharphooks
Well-Known Member
I just got back to the home front after a six day rafting trip up in Alaska doing my annual steelhead expedition
My marching orders to myself this year:
1)) don't break any fishing rods.
2)) Don't get sucked into a log jam.
If I got a few fish, that would be a bonus.
That sounds like a goofy conversation to have with oneself prior to taking a trip like this but two years ago, on the same river in the same inflatable raft, I came really close to having a traumatic experience with a log jam during a huge high water. I've fallen between ships on the Bering Sea in February during a blizzard, slid down the face of a mountain in Sitka and tore off my thumb, and got caught in some really sporty weather in Milbanke Sound in a 22 foot boat where I thought it was pretty much over, but almost getting sucked into a log jam was definitely the closest I've come to cashing in the chips. The same year I had my log jam experience on this river, three guys in an aluminum drift boat hit the same log jam and two of them drowned so I felt like I'd been duly warned
But all that tossing and turning in bed worrying about high water events prior to leaving for ALaska was put into proper perspective once I saw the river----low enough to run through a garden hose. No rain for 6 straight days, water at historical low levels for this time of the year. All the fishermen complaining about no rain.
First time in 39 years going to this river where I didn't see snow. Not even a patch of it in the deepest part of the rain forest. Crazy. No place to keep my fresh veggies and smoked fish cool and out of the sun!
The fishing:
In past years, with "normal" water levels, it was not uncommon for me to have double-digit steelhead days. Not this year. With a pair of Polaroids you could literally see every rock and branch in the run which meant the steelhead in return could count your nose hairs.
Although I did have a morning in which I hooked four fish in four casts (on a bead I'd found in the gravel) for the most part it was maybe a few fish per day. These days, fishing is all about managing expectations. AS soon as I saw the weather pattern and the river height, it was time to manage those expectations
However, the upside of sunny weather? Fantastic camping!
Meanwhile, the log jams that were on my radar the entire trip: Try and imagine these with another foot or two of water in an inflatable that size with that amount of weight on the bow
And my particular favorite:
That’s my campsite off in the distance. It was an evening’s diversion to sit and have a few drinks and watch the lodge boats bounce off those logs trying to get through. It was crystal clear that at any kind of increased CFS, somebody was going to get flipped going through there
Here are the fish. They are classic spring fish, coming into the river in March and April, then spawning in May. They are gorgeous specimens and fight like very few fish I’ve ever seen. Not uncommon to get 8 or 9 jumps out of them
So, no snow and straight sun for a solid week. First time I’ve seen that in almost 40 years. Climate change or just strange weather patterns? The reasons are besides the point. But the bears know it’s time to come out of hibernation earlier. First time I’ve seen so much brown bear sign on this river in April.
That print was oozing water when I first saw it so he’d just passed by. Would have loved to have seen him (from a distance)
So, another year. Great memories Nice to get away from the computer screen. Gorgeous part of the world!
My marching orders to myself this year:
1)) don't break any fishing rods.
2)) Don't get sucked into a log jam.
If I got a few fish, that would be a bonus.
That sounds like a goofy conversation to have with oneself prior to taking a trip like this but two years ago, on the same river in the same inflatable raft, I came really close to having a traumatic experience with a log jam during a huge high water. I've fallen between ships on the Bering Sea in February during a blizzard, slid down the face of a mountain in Sitka and tore off my thumb, and got caught in some really sporty weather in Milbanke Sound in a 22 foot boat where I thought it was pretty much over, but almost getting sucked into a log jam was definitely the closest I've come to cashing in the chips. The same year I had my log jam experience on this river, three guys in an aluminum drift boat hit the same log jam and two of them drowned so I felt like I'd been duly warned
But all that tossing and turning in bed worrying about high water events prior to leaving for ALaska was put into proper perspective once I saw the river----low enough to run through a garden hose. No rain for 6 straight days, water at historical low levels for this time of the year. All the fishermen complaining about no rain.
First time in 39 years going to this river where I didn't see snow. Not even a patch of it in the deepest part of the rain forest. Crazy. No place to keep my fresh veggies and smoked fish cool and out of the sun!
The fishing:
In past years, with "normal" water levels, it was not uncommon for me to have double-digit steelhead days. Not this year. With a pair of Polaroids you could literally see every rock and branch in the run which meant the steelhead in return could count your nose hairs.
Although I did have a morning in which I hooked four fish in four casts (on a bead I'd found in the gravel) for the most part it was maybe a few fish per day. These days, fishing is all about managing expectations. AS soon as I saw the weather pattern and the river height, it was time to manage those expectations
However, the upside of sunny weather? Fantastic camping!
Meanwhile, the log jams that were on my radar the entire trip: Try and imagine these with another foot or two of water in an inflatable that size with that amount of weight on the bow
And my particular favorite:
That’s my campsite off in the distance. It was an evening’s diversion to sit and have a few drinks and watch the lodge boats bounce off those logs trying to get through. It was crystal clear that at any kind of increased CFS, somebody was going to get flipped going through there
Here are the fish. They are classic spring fish, coming into the river in March and April, then spawning in May. They are gorgeous specimens and fight like very few fish I’ve ever seen. Not uncommon to get 8 or 9 jumps out of them
So, no snow and straight sun for a solid week. First time I’ve seen that in almost 40 years. Climate change or just strange weather patterns? The reasons are besides the point. But the bears know it’s time to come out of hibernation earlier. First time I’ve seen so much brown bear sign on this river in April.
That print was oozing water when I first saw it so he’d just passed by. Would have loved to have seen him (from a distance)
So, another year. Great memories Nice to get away from the computer screen. Gorgeous part of the world!
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