Hunting Report: Admiralty Island, Day 3

Sunday morning came and the boat was right were it should be.  How about the deer, were they where they should be too?

We made it over to Admiralty Island with no hitches.  Our plan was to hunt a series of muskegs just south of where we hunted on Friday. We had less wind, and rain, which meant our hunting conditions were much better.

Todd, hunted Buffalo Springfield style.  "It's time we stop.  Hey, what's that sound?  Everybody look what's going down."

Me, on the other hand, pretended I knew what I was doing. I may dress like a hunter, but I'm that guy that had to borrow a rifle to go on a hunt (thanks, Todd).

Since this was his backyard, Mark definitely knows what he's doing. Here he is surveying the muskeg after making a series of deer calls. You could tell Mark is good because he's wearing a Stormy Kromer hat (right, Dave?).

Todd didn't always hunt Buffalo Springfield style.  Here he is patiently waiting for a deer to come into view.

Unfortunately, on this day, no deer would show itself (sorry if I let down any of my readers).  Oh, it was encouraging that we saw more signs than we did on Friday, but the deer definitely won.  Ah, but next time......

Since I've been back to Kenai I've had time to reflect on my adventure with Todd and Mark. I knew in advance that this time of year was not the best time to hunt deer.  However, this happened to be the only time that all three of us could get together to do this. I would say this trip is perhaps summed up best by paraphrasing a sign that Will Jahrig keeps in his shop. "The least important part of hunting is hunting."

100% success for me.

Hunting Report: Admiralty Island, Day 2

It ain't easy being me.  So says Mark Stopha.

On day 2 we were going to get an early start.  After breakfast we loaded up our packs and headed down the trail to the beach where the boat was tied up.   Mark and Todd lead the way.  As the trail transitioned from coastal rain forest to beach grass, the ocean came into view.  Mark and Todd slowly came to a stop.  By the time I caught up to them I could hear, ".....where did it go?"  Oh, oh, no boat.   After looking out across the ocean in search of a drifting boat it was Mark who took a look up the shoreline and found it. Turns out we had a mechanical breakdown with how the boat was tied up.  We were very, very lucky that the wind blew into the island and not away from it.  Did I mention we were lucky?

Whew, what a relief.   I knew we weren't far from civilization but not having a boat kinda worried me.  I wondered how long would it take for someone to realize that we were stuck on an island.  I mean, for three seasons the castaways were on Gilligan's Island and they were never found.  It wasn't until they made a movie that Gilligan, Skipper, the Professor, the Howell's, Ginger, and Mary Ann finally made it off. Anyway, I digress....

Mark said the next high tide would be at 3:30 p.m.  He said if we still wanted to go hunting today we could take his kicker motor off the boat, put it on a small skiff he kept on the beach, and head across to Admiralty Island. Todd said, "we're going back to the cabin and we'll wait until the tide comes up. No hunting today"   Good move because the tides were getting smaller every day and we weren't sure it would be high enough to float the boat.  If we were a just little bit late coming back from Admiralty Island we may never get the boat in the water.  Luckily, the tide was high enough.  And you know, this time we made sure to use a different setup to secure the boat.

Was I disappointed in not hunting on Saturday?  Heck no!  It rained all day (year to date rain total for Juneau is over 56").  The cabin was warm, dry, and we were able to listen to Mississippi State beat Auburn on SiriusXM radio.  Considering Mark got his masters at Mississippi State, I think he too was happy that we didn't go hunting. Go 'Dogs!

I went to bed Saturday night knowing that Sunday would be our final day of hunting.  Would we get anything?  Even more important, would the boat be there in the morning? You'll have to read the next post to find out...

Hunting Report: Admiralty Island, Day 1

While dipnetting this past July with my college buddies Todd Laflamme and Mark Stopha, it was decided that this fall we were going to get together and hunt Sitka black tail deer where Mark lives.   Now, I'll admit right off the bat that hunting is not exactly in "my wheelhouse", but it was hard to pass up an opportunity to spend some time with friends and explore new parts of the state.

Todd and I flew to Juneau on Thursday night.  Mark picked us up at the airport and took us to his home on Douglas Island.    Not knowing any details of what we were going to do other than hunt I asked Mark what the game plan was.  He said we would leave Douglas Island mid morning on Friday and go to Admiralty Island to hunt. We would return on Monday.

After a good nights sleep and a hearty breakfast we loaded up and headed to the boat launch.

We weren't a 100 yards away from the boat launch and Mark asked if we wanted any dungeness crabs to eat. Heck ya! We pulled up a pot that would have impressed Sig and the boys on the Northwestern.

We were going to be out for three days so we only took what we needed.  This was a heck of way to start a hunt.

After a short boat ride we anchored up on Admiralty Island. Mark said we were going to hike up to a couple of muskegs (bogs) and hunt there.   After a 6.2 mile hike and not seeing any deer, we headed back to the boat to go to Mark's cabin on Horse Island.

What a great cabin.  Warm, dry, and comfortable.  What more could you ask for?  If you are interested in where we were take a look at the map at the the top of the page.  We were just west of Tongass National Forest where you'll see two small islands. The north island is Colt, the south island is Horse.  West of Horse Island is Admiralty Island (our hunting grounds).   The beauty of Mark's retreat is that it's only a 20 minute boat ride from his house.

Here I am getting ready to go out.  It was kind of weird having a gun over my shoulder and not a fishing rod in my hand.

The fittest of them all, Todd, looking fresh after a long hike.

Fearless leader and host, Mark, making his way through a muskeg.

Well, that was it for Day 1.   Crab, a boat ride, and a little bit of hunting.  Little did I know what kind of adventure would lie ahead on Day 2.

Fishing Report Week Ending 10/5/14

This is the last silver salmon caught in my boat on the lower river for 2014.  This is because during the week ahead I'll be busy winterizing my gear and getting the dock in.  

Fishing was definitely slow out there. But, this last fish is not a bad way to end the season.

One word that described last week: cold. Not only the morning temperatures but the bite as well.

 Definitely a hard frost.

And how's this for water temperatures?

I fished almost everyday this past week and had one fish to show for it.   Some days I fished alone, some days with Jane. All I know is I enjoyed the solitude on the water which allowed me a lot of time to reflect on this past season (I will blog a recap in the near future).

In the meantime, next week my post will be a couple of days later than normal. Instead of a fishing report I will be giving a hunting report from Southeast Alaska. Should be fun and I'm looking forward to getting together with a couple of old friends.  Until then....

Fishing Report Week Ending 9/28/14

The silver fishing is still good on the Kenai River.   Here's Jane with her limit of silvers.

 And here she is with the largest silver of the season, a 17lber.

On this day Jane let me catch a couple of fish to go along with her limit.

On Tuesday, my friend Boo called me and asked if I wanted to fish the middle river with him.  Glad I went along because the fishing was outstanding.  This is a rare photo of the guy who usually is the one taking the photos.

 Here's a box full of middle river silver salmon all caught on jigs.

On Wednesday, Scott and Steve spent the day on the water with me. Great weather and conversation easily made up for the lack of biters.   Wish we could have found more fish but that's just the way it goes some times.

On Saturday, my good friends Gary and Nicky came down for an afternoon of fishing.   It wasn't red hot but we caught a few and lost a few.   No complaints.

Hard to beat fresh salmon fillets late in September.

Unless my phone starts ringing, I am now officially done guiding. This does not mean I am done fishing.  I plan on fishing most of this week and well into October.  I'll keep you posted on what's going on out there....good, bad, indifferent.

Fishing Report Week Ending 9/21/14

For most of the week the fishing was really good.   It wasn't until Saturday that the affects of heavy rains finally took a toll on the bite. I had my fingers crossed that the river would stay clear until then but unfortunately it did not.

Above is a photo of the last day that I fished Ron, Rafael, Joe, and Jeff.   A steady bite was a perfect way to end their stay at Beaver Creek Cabins.  It might have been an even better day if Jeff would have left the bananas at home.  Hey guys, I look forward to the next time we can all get together to swap stories and catch a few fish on the Kenai.

On Friday,  for Team ABC Seamless (Team 1), their timing was perfect.   Good water conditions and lots of fish moving through.   From left to right is Travis, Nick, Wally, and Sid.  At the end of the trip Wally told me he contemplated going moose hunting but decided he should go fishing.  He thought his chances for success would be better.   I guess we'll never know how the hunting would have been been but you can't do any better than this on the Kenai in September.

On the flip side, Team 2 of Team ABC Seamless (Robert and Clark), probably wished they were here on Friday rather than Saturday.   Initially, I didn't think any of us thought that way because Robert landed the silver in the photo above within the first five minutes of our day.  It should be noted that this fish completed a trifecta for Robert. This was his first, his biggest, and the most fish he has ever caught.  Anyway, as we settled into the day, and as it got lighter out, I could see that overnight the water color changed had from teal green to brown.   Rats.  Fishing was going to be tough.  Well, at least we enjoyed a day of nice weather and stories.   Thanks again Team ABC Seamless (Team 1 and 2) for doing your annual fall silver trip on the Kenai.

I am not scheduled for any trips until next weekend.   When the water conditions get better there's no doubt Jane and I will be spending time on the water trying to catch a few fish for our own freezer. See you next week.

Fishing Report Week Ending 9/14/14

I think the peak of the second run of silver salmon came a week early.   Don't get me wrong, the catching was decent but the bite definitely was slower.   Well, for almost everyone it was slower, with the exception of Mary Meyer.   Mary pulled off a pure hat trick, catching her three fish limit in under 15 minutes.  All I can say is her Kit Kat mojo really paid off.

"Esko" Bill and "Thompson" Kenny had a great week in Alaska.   They spent some time with me on the river and found quite a few other fishing spots on the peninsula to fish on their own.

Here's Dan, Ron, Joe, and Jeff after a day on the water.   It's always a great day for me to be in the boat with guys who have done this before.   We've all had more productive days on the Kenai, but this wasn't bad either.

On Friday and Saturday I was a participant in the Women's Classic event.   Lot's of fun fishing boat loads of women.   If you notice in the photo of above, the event was about "Wild Women, Wild Salmon."    Not everyone in my boat landed a silver but at least everyone had one on.  I think the saying, "Fishing is the least important part of fishing" characterized this event.  Definitely a weekend for people to network.

I ended the week fishing with Joe, Ron, Jeff and Rafael (pictured above).    I thought with the timing of the trip and having a moderate tide the fishing would be much better (so did Dan Meyer). We fished in the morning and caught one fish.  We went back out in the evening and squeaked out three more.  It was no surprise to anyone that the only limit was caught by Rafael.    He's the best red salmon fisherman that I've been around so it's only natural that his fish whispering skills would work for silvers as well.  The kid can flat out fish.

My week ahead is nearly full and my only prediction is that we'll give it our all out there.  Some years the bite remains steady until October, and some years it slows down to what feels like a king trip. I can't wait to see what happens.