remember Peter, Paul, and Mary? Lookem up if you don’t
2 July
Bigfoot and Elkhorn have been stabled here in Juneau and Douglas Island since we drove off the ramp of the Blue Canoe 24 days ago on 8 June. We have not been this stationary since we left Statesboro, Ga on 13 April, so in a way it feels kind of good, but Bigfoot and Elkhorn are getting antsy. Hard to believe we have been on the road for 11 weeks and we are not even halfway through this journey, how cool is that.
So here in Juneau, the king salmon season opened on 1 June and everywhere we go fishing we are told, we are too early and the fish are 2 weeks late. Of course they are… so we went to Lena Cove which is a beautiful little city park on the shores of the cove where the fish are supposed to be. We fished there for two days, four or five hours each, and we caught nothing. If it makes us feel any better, nobody else caught anything either. Too early we are told, they are 2 weeks late…
When we go to the local Sportsman’s Warehouse, and “hear” fish tales of anglers that caught the Big One, at such and such a place using a certain lure. So we buy a couple of those lures, Buzz Bomb, Fly “C’s” to name a few. We go to such and such place to tear em up and Too early we are told, they are 2 weeks late…
We have casted our lures thousands of times, trying to catch a fish that is not even there, plus a fish who may not be hungry, as salmon do not eat once they swim back into freshwater to spawn. It is all about timing and being in the right area, when the salmon are running, and we are NOT…Too early we are told, they are 2 weeks late…
We are “working” way too hard at trying to catch these fish, but it will pay off soon. Real SOON.
OUR fishing hotspot for the next week or so is Fish Creek on Douglas Island, which is right across the bridge from Juneau. The bag limit is four kings per day and it does not count against our annual limit. Let’s load ’em up we say…. The kings are heading up the creek (haha) only about 3/4 mile to the pond which is where they will spawn. We were told the pond will be bubbling with fish, and to catch them, you cast a large treble hook with a 4 oz weight and snag them any way you can. Once we get there we find nothing, not a fish, nor an angler who has seen a fish. Too early we are told, they are 2 weeks late…
We are told to fish the tides. 2 hours before and 2 hours after high tide. The high tide pushes the salmon up stream to help them complete their last difficult leg of their long journey. Over the last seven days we have geared up, and hiked about 3/4 of a mile along the creek to the mouth of the creek. We fished there six times without success. One day Virgil did hook one and gave it a short fight but the king won and got off the hook. Nobody is catching anything here. Too early we are told, they are 2 weeks late…
Well, seeing how we are not catching any salmon yet, let’s TALLK fishing as it might be good therapy for me… Sport fishing here in Alaska is a big deal and big $$. Every geographical area of Alaska has its own fishing regulations all the way down to certain portions of rivers, lakes, channels, and bays. Here in Juneau, this is a hatchery release area, where the hatchery releases millions of “fry” (baby kings) at a set time in late spring, then 3 to 8 years later, the “King” will return to its old stomping ground to spawn, die, and the cycle continues.
There are Fish and Game Reps stationed all over the place, boat ramps, trail heads, lake and pond parking lots. They are doing “creel surveys”, surveying each angler as they return from fishing asking them if and what they caught, resident verses non resident, Also the State uses radars and weirs to count the salmon run. A weir, essentially a fence placed in flowing waters, directs the movement of fish. The trap is the gate to the weir, and when the trap is open, the fish proceed upstream. Many volunteers stand on top of the weir for hours, counting fish using a small, hand-held counter and clicking the button for each fish that passes through. All these numbers help the State determine the fish harvest, and they do incredibly well managing this very important natural resource. Seems like a lot of work,, but fish are big money up here. Just ask us about our $200 each, fishing license! Also remember, many remote communities up here need salmon for subsistence, and not sport. Thinking I’m done talking about this, time to get a hook wet.
