Annual trip to Prince of Wales Island, Southeast Alaska .

[Steve-O]

Same time as always, same program as always.

A generous freezer filling limit of 6 Silver Salmon per day, plus also harvesting other fishes & Dungeness Crab.

Been here since Monday the 14th, going home Sunday the 20th.

Recap thus far:

Monday ....flew...first from SLC to SEATAC, WA. Then SEA to KTN, AK to get into the COVID test check line. Breezed through with a negative and all firms pre filled out plus uploaded to the portal. Bunches of people were mulling asking each other if they filled out their forms, yet.

Not me...I watched the gal at the table checking anyone off who had their ducks in a row. "I can help who's next" she says made eye contact with me and I waltzed past the confused ones right up to her. She reads my name checks the portal and asks if I uploaded the two forms. Yes, I say. Ahhh! Here's the PDF. Opens it, reads  Negative within 72 hours of test , 'you're good to go,Mr. Price!'. Thank you. and I hustle over to the last flight to the island and jump a seat  on the departing  plane with a temp check...arriving 5 hours ahead of my scheduled flight.
Got to the lodge, grabbed my gear from the rafters and headed to the river. Stopped by a friend's house to drop off some fresh ground Java and WHAAAAATTT!? They're cleaning 112 big Silvers just seined from the bay behind their house . They say here put these grundens on and get to work. It's 2pm....got all the fish done ...fed up and gifted 8 fish...or rather 16 fillets. Wow! Great first day!

Tuesday-Thursday...Pete and repeat. Get up,hit the river, limit out in less than two hours, process the fish back at the lodge. Two 50# fish boxes filled and sealed in the -10F freezer. Woohooo! One box to go. Lodge owner gives me 6 huge Dungies plus two pounds of Elk burger. Oh yeah....karma is a good thing. And fresh ground coffee  from Park City Roasters greases the gears nicely for the Karma Express.

This morning I released 5 nice Coho before putting one on the stringer . Chrome goes home the rest go back...Unless! It's a big male that's a little blush. He's still a keeper for the smoker. Yepper do.

Very crowded despite COVID.

Two days to go and I probably will do C&R all day Saturday. My limit is three boxes.

On Wednesday after fishing  I went back to my native Tlingit friends to see what I could help with. Put me to work again splitting alder for the smoker. And then helped take care of the Smoked Hawaiian Strips...like fish jerky. Vacuum bagging 25 bags. And repairing a huge Igloo cooler with a broken handle, jarring peach jam and doing a grocery  run.  Was rewarded with several bags of smoked salmon strips. Best I've yet eaten.

Living the dream in Southeast Alaska ....one week at a time ...over the last 21 years.

Tomorrow morning I'm taking Father Augustine Minh fishing to give him a crash course on how to fill his freezer. The lodge owner built the Catholic Church here and the current priest wants to learn fishing, Should be fun!

Oh yeah, pics or it didn't happen.

[bhale1]

wow, Steve-O,
That looks like a blast...Holy cow...looks like you have paid your dues and they respect that. Enjoy the rest of our trip.
Great pics BTW....jealous
Brett

[thorhammer]

We don't hear from Stevie for a year and then he comes in guns blazing! Good work my friend!

[Hardy Boy]

Gotta love that river fishing for coho. One of the things I miss since leaving the North Coast of BC. Nice job.


Cheers:


Todd

[gstours]

Thanks for sharing your pictures,  yes you did good.  Fishing 🎣 the riverside is in my opinion more fun than trolling in fighting the fish.  Crabs are a bonus,  and you had fun with some locals too!
  You paid your dues,  Heaven can wait!  🦀

[Bill B]

Living the dream!  Good job brother. Bill

[Steve-O]

Thanks guys, more to come. The wi-fi is mediocre ...my AT&T cell service is worse. Sunnahae is a 3300 foot hill which the lodge is up against with the tower on top. Guess the mountain shadow blocks the beam.

I have to drive to the burn pit up the road to get a signal or occasionally on the southwest corner of the lodge dock. Yeah. But it's a nice break from the phone and on my terms. So not really a complaint about the service...only a very mild inconvenience .  When it rings on the river...I just squeeze that button on the side through my pocket.

Saw a guy in the river cast his spinner...then pull out his phone.

Then tried to unsnag his Lure.  Yeah.

Today was interesting....I almost thought Father Augustine had backed out. Then just a few minutes later, he jumps down the last step of the trail onto the bank.

We got set up, I traded my rod for the net and only had to tell him where to cast....and wait for the fish.

He hooked up right off and broke off the first 5 fish. Then he played one much smoother all the way to the net. Needless to say he was very pleased. His first Silver caught in the river. His previous experiences were all on boats. He said there was no comparison. After we bonked and bled it he announced that it was time to go prepare for Mass, which he does everyday at 9 AM.  I think I enjoyed his catch as almost as much as he did.

Then I swapped the net for the rod and got busy. Bigger fish had come in overnight and a few of us were able to land some large bucks in the 12-14 pound range as did other groups.  Another 6 fish limit and this day's fishing filled my third  50 pound fish box. So tomorrow is a C&R day. Visit friends, take pics, dink around, relax, pack and get ready to fly home.

The panorama shot is the view I have looking south across Saint Nick Bay towards the Coronados islands and beyond....worth clicking to enlarge it, IMO.

[Steve-O]

Oops! A double image post. In the second  pic...if you don't know Japanese...then Sake Kama is your new proper description of what I'm holding.

And if you don't know fish collars...well, those of us who do will keep the secret to ourselves and our taste buds. Hamachi Kama might right a bell. Sake is salmon ....and the famous rice wine drink we mostly pronounce wrong. Kama is collar. So...salmon collar.

Best part of the fish? The collars! A group of Cambodians on the river heard me asking for the large male Coho heads from my friends and a Japanese guy with them  spoke right up and said I was the first person (and I'm certain he meant white person) to ever know about fish collars. None of the guys I fished with this week knew.

Marinated in Yoshiida's teryaki and grilled or smoked....oh my gosh!

[smnaguwa]

Nice! In the past in California, you could get all the collars from the salmon charter boats for a good tip to the deckhand. Now, people are keeping the "kama".

[Gfish]

Awesome! Great report, good job on the details which I'm oriented towards. Do you get that cheek meat?

[Steve-O]

Awesome! Great report, good job on the details which I'm oriented towards. Do you get that cheek meat?

If they were bigger, I would cut out the cheeks. The Natives and some locals cook the entire heads whole and pick them apart. One guy explained about the meat behind the eyes, the cheeks and anything else edible on the head.

Only the biggest Coho bucks were worth saving the collars . On Kings it's definitely worth the effort.

[Dominick]

Right on Steve-o.  I discovered Salmon collars a couple of years ago and after marinating and bbqing them I am a true believer.  You look like you had fun.  Dominick