Alaska Trip #17... Day 1,2,3, + abridged 4,5...

[TomT]

On salmon, I agree with what Lee said.  I live in Nor Cal and have caught lots of king salmon and, of course, think they are great.  On a fishing trip to Yakatat, Alaska about 5 yrs ago--we fished in the open sea and mainly targeted salmon or halibut and caught many of each species.  We caught 2 of the "white" king salmon.  Our fishing guide had they opinion that they only caught the "white" kings up in the inlet where they lived and that they never migrated into the open ocean where the krill are so they never ate them.  Lee's version that they have a genetic problem with the krill seems more logical to me.  On 2 different days we had fresh caught "pink" king salmon and "white" king salmon for dinner.  They were cooked exactly the same and we all agreed that we could tell NO difference in taste.  One other note, one of those "white" kings weighed in at 56 or 57#'s.  Had I personally caught the fish, I would know it's weight to the ounce.     It was the biggest salmon I have personally been in the boat and helped with the catch. 
     A little different type of Yakatat story is that 1 of my fellow beach fishermen in Baja was from Yakatat.  He had a bumper sticker that I liked.   The bumper sticker said,  YAKATAT--A REMOTE DRINKING VILLAGE WITH A TOURIST PROBLEM. 
  TomT

[Dominick]

I used to fish out of Deception Pass in Washington.  I caught several white fleshed salmon.  The locals call them European salmon.  I did not think they tasted any different then the pink fleshed salmon.  Dominick

[Steve-O]

Wow! Didn't expect so much chatter from just two pics!  Let's see what a few does.  jk...

I do appreciate the replies and support. Just returned from meeting my buds from Idaho, who I have enjoyed fishing with over the years.  They are happy to be here and I took them two quarts of cured eggs to start them off catching in the morning.

Enthusiasm bested my better judgement and I jumped on the kayak during a lull...should've recalled quicker how the wind cycles up here. So I paddled out half a mile and drop a 16oz jig tipped with bait and proceed to jig a while in 180'. Wind picks back up and my jigging becomes a drift. OK...then it slacks off and i jig.

Then the wind comes around again and I'm drifting again...pete and repeat....next comes some wind chop and little white caps. ok...I'm enjoying the rocking, the cloud show, drifting....i look up and see I'm now 3 lodges down from mine. Grrrrrr! So I paddle back up wind and troll my bait/jig. The wind is making for a bit of left only paddling. More chop....more wind...time to call it good. Fish or not.

What a workout. My drysuit is fabulously warm! Lol! Off comes the hat to let out some steam. Keep paddling, son!

Get to shore and sit in the cool water a bit, then drag the boat onto the beach.  I look back and it flattens down again. Nope, think I will shore cast a spell and see what happens. More of the same . Wind and calm. Lesson learned...wait for glass then yak fish. I' a weeny.

Cast jigs and bait off the dock with mixed bag of Big Cod, a quillback, a few staghorn sculpins, a few more great sculpins, a northern rock sole , Yay! Kept that one. A Red irish Lord, and then the wind and rain came in strong. It's rocking the dock.
Took a few pics, Cleaned the fish I kept, and went in for a snooze.

The Steve-o Heave-ho rod performed flawlessly? Me likey! Still it is hard to cast a 2# lead with bait more than. 30 yards..for me anyways.  Will try again tomorrow with more like 5oz plus bait. Got several doubles on it. The cod pic was a double. Both fish were near 30" and 11 or so pounds. Bent the SOHO rod good. The Okuma  Komodo reel is nice and does the job well.  Gotta catch a few winks 430 will be here soon enough.


Edit..sorry for the bunch of typos. River fingers and no lotion plus fatigue from the day.

[Steve-O]

Couple pics. Rockfish and Sole. What an old guy looks like holding up 50# of Silvers.

[Steve-O]

The Cod Squad on deck.


The brown lodge right behind the cod is Sure Strike...Captain Kirk is the guy who ran out 35 miles west for Albacore Tuna that made a trip north due to el nino currents and temps.

[Steve-O]

The Dew bottle was my fish grip float on the kayak. Also good for scale, it's a 20 oz.or just over Half a liter, or 1.25 pints. ...yeah.

And a Red Irish Lord on my knee.

[thorhammer]

Great write up an pics, Steve, keep it coming! I had forgotten about the Heave-Ho project, nicely done, sir!

John

[Keta]

Nice!  I think I fished with Kirk on a 15 day LR trip.

[Steve-O]

Okay, another day in the last great frontier of America. I love my country!

More wind..no kayaking...not sure it will lay down enough to get out this week.

So keep on fishing!

More bright chromers bigger than yesterday's fish.

6 fish went to 50#.

Hung out with the Idaho gang today and got invited to dinner this evening. Having a blast! Still struggling to take pictures..grrr...too busy to when the bite is red hot.

A little recap...couple bears joined us for fishing this AM. Luckily blackie was on the other side of the river about 100' away. I guess one was 250-300# and the other slightly less.

The Silvers came in en masse...that's French for "like crazy". A silver freight train of fish. Everybody got limits. The hatchery is harvesting fish every other day to fill 10 big blue totes.

After the "hard work" (processing my catch to the freezer) I went to the cliffside road to cast for whatever was biting.  Dang it! I just realized i caught a tan Irish Lord and could have had two with color variations.

Caught and released 20 or so rockfish...kept a couple of the bigger Coppers.

Props to Rockfish Ninja for sharing the shore based RF techniques. After a bit of trial and error I got the hang of it. Lost two lead head jigs due to snags. I paced off 10 yards for each casting sessions to discern any discoverable pattern. One narrow slot was red hot and the rest was mediocre over approx. 100 yards split between where I parked. Only two Great Sculpins, the brown Irish Lord and the rest Coppers of small, medium and extra medium sizes.

Had a monster seal cruising the shoreline hunting Coho and catching at least on near me. It was a violent splash fest.

Back at the river....at first light the jacks were the only game in town. Then the big boys and girls came out to play. Yeehaaa! One after another for a while then jigs were the hot item, then Pixxee spoons, then back to cured eggs.

Enough ramble on with a pic or three.

[Steve-O]

The Idaho boys with me at the dockside diner.one absent and one under the witness protection plan who leaned out of frame. Hot, brown and lots of it!

[Steve-O]

What a rough looking bunch of spudniks!


Fun with a fish....the lodge owner had me pose with a nice one.

[Steve-O]

What a mess!lol!



And a fine mess of fish, too. On the dock.

Gotta hit the hay...I have been yawning for 30+ minutes...cross-eyed to boot.

More tomorrow.

Something else came to mind...I have done Iki jime to all my fish thus far. Thanks, LL!

[Alto Mare]

Great report Steve, enjoying every bit of it.
Tell your buddies, smiles are cheap.
Thanks for taking us along.

[Keta]

Tell your buddies, smiles are cheap.

Nothing is cheep in SE Alaska....

[mizmo67]

Some fun fishing up there and obviously a nice variety.

Almost choked on my lunch though when I hit the funny faces with fish set, lol.