First Opener and First King on Board!

Monday, May 21, 18
Anchored last night on the NE side of Magoun Island in a little cove by ourselves. We broke out our newest kitchen tool - the new Instant Pot per our friend Lisa’s suggestion.  We made a pork tenderloin with potatoes and brussel sprouts in less than 30 minutes!

The wind gusted up to 40 knots and we were really swinging on the hook! There were deer on shore and we saw a weasel of some kind - maybe a mink or a martin? The fish opening was delayed until tomorrow here and the wind and rain continue today with a gale warning so we are not leaving the anchorage. We spent the day here prepping for tomorrows opening. I polished brass spoon lures for kings and sewed upholstery to fit our cushion Doug had cut down in Skagway to give us more sitting room. Doug pumped bow water and checked the engine and generator. Rain and wind finally slowed down around 4 and we had a much quieter night at anchor.

Tuesday, May 22, 18
First King on board
First day of fishing! Up at 5am, anchor up, coffee and a run to Salisbury Sound back thru Neve Strait. We had gear in the water around 6. No fish in Salisbury for us today : ( but saw our first otter and 2 more grizzlies cruising the beach for greens. The day started out windy and rainy but became partly cloudy. Late afternoon Doug decided to run to Sitka Sound to see if we could find any kings there.

First king on board! Caught just before 7pm in Sitka Sound. Doug says about 12 lbs. First day of my piloting Pacific Son –still learning the nuances of avoiding kelp and staying at a good depth for the gear (running at 20 fathoms today). We anchored in Sitka Harbor around 8pm. The first of many long days (13 hours of fishing) to come!

Wednesday, May 23, 18
Troller in front of Mt Edgecumbe in Sitka Sound
Today dawned mostly clear and sunny even though the forecast had been for a week of rain. Mt Edgecumbe (a volcano) towers over the fishing grounds of Sitka Sound. There are several otters and whales in the area.  The otters are so cute floating around on their backs and rolling around in the waves!  Kind seas all day - but no fish. There were lots of trollers crossing every which way, which meant I got a lot more practice at the helm.

It was a beautiful day but long and frustrating by the end without any bites = tempers get short. It’s not going to be all sunshine and whales.

Thursday, May 24, 18
Overcast and rain today. Trolled around the Sound from dawn until mid-afternoon with no bites. The fish are just not here yet in good numbers. The average catch is still only 1 – 2 fish per boat across the fleet (if you can believe the reported numbers) on these 3 day openers. This time of year Alaska only allows us to fish a few “inside” water areas and the fish are mostly still in outside waters until summer. Today is the last day of this week's opening so headed into town to sell ours to Sitka Sound Seafood. The one we sold was 11 pounds, current price is over $12 per pound so we got a nice price for just 1 fish but boy I wish we could catch a lot more of those! Praying for more fish to come in before next week's opener!

Forecast calls for rain and wind the next few days so we will tie up at the harbor. If the weather improves we may head out to explore more little coves, etc. before next week’s opening. If the winds stay up we will remain in town at the dock. Perfect opportunity for me to set up this blog and fill everyone in on how this adventure is going!


Comments

  1. WoodBoatGuyNoMasMay 27, 2018 at 7:24 PM

    Loving your blog!

    Is it okay to say reading while drinking a rum and tangerine juice, but still fascinating. Nature is amazing, and you guys are living it.

    Went to a Holly & Rick dock party yesterday. Same cast of characters - always great to see. Even an occasional heart to heart conversation. Funny how we're getting old and some battle cancer, while others battle bulge, some wrinkles, and others just float along.

    Reading your stuff is a joy, and appreciate much the land and sea details. Beats the stupid shit holes driving the 101 in Oxnard and Camarillo. But it helps when you drive a Mini, that makes your problems seem mini too. (Loving the wheels, and the stick too...much thanks)

    Keep sending the news and vibes. It can't be easy...otherwise you'd have even more G-Dockers joining you. You're always a welcome sight whether eating port in Sitka, or a pixie in Ojai.

    Cheers you guy's. You make me smile.
    Rog

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2022 Season Begins and a 2021 Recap

Image
A Good Morning in Haines Alaska  We left our beautiful mountains-to-sea town of Haines, Alaska this morning and headed out for our 20 22  summer fishing season. It was a glorious sunny  morning and the all-day trip to Juneau was smooth and  lovely.  Both Doug and I were looking forward to  getting back out on the water and pulling up those big  King and Coho salmon – especially after the 2021  season we had.  2021 Recap 2021 was a good year for most trollers – there were fish to be caught and a nice price point per pound. Unfortunately, Doug hurt his ribs right before the start of the season so we didn’t fish as hard as we usually do. We started late and had to take a couple weeks off mid-summer for healing. It was a different kind of season for us but still delivered spectacular sights and long days of wilderness fishing. We often spend much of the season fishing in the Gulf of Alaska – from Cross Sound south along Baranof Island. Due to our adjustments for the season we chose to stay
Read more

End of the Summer Season

Image
Coho salmon were not abundant this year. Other stocks did ok, and the local sockeye run was a good one, but coho numbers are what we rely on as trollers, so this was not a good year for us. In fact, Alaska Fish and Game stated that this years' coho run was the third worst in the last 40 years with a harvest 42% below the 20 year average!  We spent our last week of fishing in northern Chatham Strait. We didn't catch many fish but we had some really nice wildlife viewing. Again we had a group of whales bubble net or lunge feeding near us for a couple of days and that is always a spectacular site. There is also a really great sockeye stream in the bay we were anchoring in that draws lots of bears. It’s the classic Alaska photo op. There’s a beautiful waterfall that then streams down into the cove. At high tide the salmon can jump up the waterfall with some amount of effort, at low tide they get stranded in the rocks down below. A feast for the bears! One morning there were four be
Read more

Alaska Homesteading Update #3

Image
Our little guest cabin now has quite a sweet outdoor space with its fire pit, benches, serving counter and cowboy hot tub (heated by the fire pit). It’s very inviting and we spend as much time there as we can.  The house itself got new stain and an arctic entryway, which helped during the cold winters that we spent here during Covid isolation times.  We bought a tractor last fall and a mill this spring so we could use the trees on the property to make our improvements.  Doug dropped a few trees and milled a bunch of lumber while I was recuperating with my broken arm. We are now in the process of building a pole barn for all of our equipment. Next spring we will work on an addition to the house. It’s really fun to watch our little Homestead grow!
Read more