Tissy Furnes
09-21-2009, 02:50 PM
A perk of the job is that it sends me to Alaska about every other summer. The destination this year -- Southeast AK (the part that dribbles down the coast of Canada). You know you are in the Great North when the mountains are above the clouds.
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g33/sebastianokelly/IMG_0345.jpg
The target was a river green from glacial melt.
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g33/sebastianokelly/IMG_0338.jpg
I wasn't the only one fishing.
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g33/sebastianokelly/IMG_0344.jpg
The pink salmon were in thick. They were stacked like fans lining the entries to Fed Ex field this past Sunday. And equally feisty. It was a fish nearly every cast. Some snagged on the strip though usually got off or I jiggled them off. Others were legit strikes. Here is a male with his hump starting to form.
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g33/sebastianokelly/IMG_0339.jpg
My friend found equally good fishing.
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g33/sebastianokelly/IMG_0341.jpg
On to the next stop. This is the Tongass National Forest. A step inside is a step into another world. They should have shot Lord of the Rings here and not in New Zealand.
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g33/sebastianokelly/IMG_0352.jpg
I hit a tidal creek that has produced for me in the past. The pinks were far into their spawn and soon heading to Fish Heaven and the silvers were not in the creek yet or if they were they showed me no love. Pretty waterfall though.
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g33/sebastianokelly/IMG_0353.jpg
I hit a nearby slough the next day. Looked the sort of place you could pan for gold. But it wasn't nuggets I was after but slabs of silver. This time I found them.
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g33/sebastianokelly/IMG_0355.jpg
It took awhile to find the magic fly in the downpour. The traditional gaudy patterns were spurned. The ticket was a small pink fly of my own creation that has caught species from bonefish to shad. An added bonus was a bunch of searun cutthroats -- a new species for me. Pretty and strong fish -- I regret not taking a pic but I was fearing for my nonwaterproof camera's life at that point.
Last stop was a community where commericial fishing reigns supreme.
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g33/sebastianokelly/IMG_0365.jpg
When the local police chief offers to take you fishing you don't turn him down. So the long rod stayed behind. It was jigging and cut bait on the bottom for halibut. A couple of hallies that wound up frozen and taken home for the family and friends.
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g33/sebastianokelly/IMG_0363.jpg
Just a great state in so many ways, not the least of it fishing-wise.
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g33/sebastianokelly/IMG_0345.jpg
The target was a river green from glacial melt.
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g33/sebastianokelly/IMG_0338.jpg
I wasn't the only one fishing.
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g33/sebastianokelly/IMG_0344.jpg
The pink salmon were in thick. They were stacked like fans lining the entries to Fed Ex field this past Sunday. And equally feisty. It was a fish nearly every cast. Some snagged on the strip though usually got off or I jiggled them off. Others were legit strikes. Here is a male with his hump starting to form.
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g33/sebastianokelly/IMG_0339.jpg
My friend found equally good fishing.
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g33/sebastianokelly/IMG_0341.jpg
On to the next stop. This is the Tongass National Forest. A step inside is a step into another world. They should have shot Lord of the Rings here and not in New Zealand.
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g33/sebastianokelly/IMG_0352.jpg
I hit a tidal creek that has produced for me in the past. The pinks were far into their spawn and soon heading to Fish Heaven and the silvers were not in the creek yet or if they were they showed me no love. Pretty waterfall though.
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g33/sebastianokelly/IMG_0353.jpg
I hit a nearby slough the next day. Looked the sort of place you could pan for gold. But it wasn't nuggets I was after but slabs of silver. This time I found them.
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g33/sebastianokelly/IMG_0355.jpg
It took awhile to find the magic fly in the downpour. The traditional gaudy patterns were spurned. The ticket was a small pink fly of my own creation that has caught species from bonefish to shad. An added bonus was a bunch of searun cutthroats -- a new species for me. Pretty and strong fish -- I regret not taking a pic but I was fearing for my nonwaterproof camera's life at that point.
Last stop was a community where commericial fishing reigns supreme.
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g33/sebastianokelly/IMG_0365.jpg
When the local police chief offers to take you fishing you don't turn him down. So the long rod stayed behind. It was jigging and cut bait on the bottom for halibut. A couple of hallies that wound up frozen and taken home for the family and friends.
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g33/sebastianokelly/IMG_0363.jpg
Just a great state in so many ways, not the least of it fishing-wise.