7/24

7/24

Today was a day of toad chasing, ripping lips on Leopard ‘bows, hunting that elusive thirty incher. I hopped in my buddy Nick's boat at 4:15, racing to Bear Creek to swing for sockeye with a family of clients, a husband and wife, three sons and good ol’ weak-in-the-knees, can hardly stand up in a foot of water, grandma. We were sockeye fishing (snagging), and the only exciting part about it was when I had to fish granny out of the water after she took a tumble. She was a trooper though, and after a hot cup of cocoa she went back to harassing fish. The sockeye were slow so we offered to take the folks trout fishing, they agreed and we were off. We split the family up into two boats – Nick and I had the father and two of the little boys, none of whom were capable of casting. My buddy Nick (an absolute trout assassin) was at the tiller and as he positioned us in the seam I would cast for the boys and then hand the rods over. Our first pass on an island tip both boys missed fish, so on our second pass I held on to each of their rods to assist in a hookset. Halfway through the run one of the rods bent over double, out of instinct I yanked up on it – knocked the poor little dude's hat off and just about gave him a bloody lip (I guess I was a little overzealous in my hookset?). He soon forgot about any pain he may have been feeling when an absolute toad of a ‘bow came clear out of the water. Nick and I looked at each other and both mouthed “holy shit!” The boat was pure chaos, with Nick and I barking orders and the dad and brother trying to help but only getting in the way. We finally got them back in their seats and I began helping the boy fight his monster trout. It gave us a great show, jumping, diving deep and dogging us, going under the boat –all the classic moves. He was hooked well however, so it was only a matter of time before we got him to the net. We fought the fish into a small set of rapids so the net job was a little squirelly as our twenty foot Fish-Rite was bucking like a bronco, but the trout's last jump landed him right in my net. We kind of sat there for a second taking everything in, all of us just staring at the fish I was keeping in the water safely in the net. The dad finally broke the ice, hitting us with “So is that a nice fish?” Nick and I looked at each other and forced smiles. The boy had just caught a twenty eight inch twelve pound rainbow trout, and had no idea what that meant. I think Nick and I both wanted to throw that dad overboard, but we patiently explained what caliber of trout his son had just landed.

                After fishing a little longer we dropped the clients off at the lodge, grabbed a quick bite, tied up some flies, and hit the river again. We picked up another guide and headed upstream on a fun trip (no clients) to some of our favorite trout holes. In the first two passes at the very first bar Nick and I both landed toads in the twenty four inch range, it was a great day to be on the water. We farmed a few big ones, caught a few “small” ones (15-19 inches) and got our adrenaline rush on by running the Naptowne Rapids a few times.
               

                When we returned to the lodge our boss asked us to go on a scouting trip to Quartz Creek to see if any of the big dollys and rainbows had moved in behind the spawning sockeye. I’m embarrassed to say it but neither Nick nor I had the motivation to fish further. Throwing a fourteen foot leader, four #7 splitshot, an articulated flesh fly and an inch and a quarter thingamabobber all day had absolutely whipped the two of us. We decided an ice cream and a case of beer sounded much more fitting and spent the rest of the evening lounging around trading stories with the guys and talking about home (something we’re all starting to miss right about now!).

                Alaska is still incredible, the fishing is only getting better as the silvers are starting to move in (I caught my first one a few days ago), and the second run kings are absolute brutes. The big rainbows are finally starting to show, double chins and all, and the dolly's are starting to move up the small tribs engulfing sockeye eggs. I haven't been doing a whole lot of traveling as I'm on the water every minute possible, but I'll try to get out and take some pictures of the beauty Alaska has to offer.