Hoonah

This last weekend Robbie, Chad, Scott (Chad’s Bro), Marc (Chad’s Bud), and myself all took the ferry over to Hoonah, Alaska. Hoonah is a small fishing town of about 800 residents, located on Chichagof Island. We all had the intention of catching Coho (silver) salmon. Chad, Scott and Marc also brought their shotguns for some duck hunting. According to Chad, the fishing wasn’t off the hook, but we were all able to bring in enough fish to send everyone home happy.

We were pretty fortunate the weather held out all day Friday and through most of Saturday. However by Saturday evening the sky broke free into a Southeast Alaska down torrent. Luckily we had a “Tarpologist” with us, as Marc referred to Robbie. Actually, all the men worked really well together and donated great ideas so that we could still enjoy the outdoors, and cook without getting soaked from the rain. Can anyone guess where I was during all of this? Yep, you got it, in the truck, nice and dry. I figured it best to stay out of the way of all that testosterone. Plus, like a moron, I forgot an extra pair of waterproof boots, and didn’t want to take the chance of getting my feet soaked. That could have been a downer for everyone. Needless to say that evening most of us went to bed early, and listened to the rain hitting the cabs and canopy roofs of the trucks.

On Sunday, we awoke to the rain, but not as hard as the night before. Robbie and I didn’t go fishing with the others. We drove some of the forest service roads, looked for critters, and explored the town and its infamous brown bear hang out, the city dump. I’ve heard plenty of stories from Robbie and our friend Keith about the Hoonah dump and how huge the brown bears are that frequent it. According to Robbie the dump is different now, they have a gate around the freshly dumped off trash, and had it on fire, actually more like a smolder. Robbie didn’t expect with the change that we would see any bears, but low and behold one came out of the wood work, and another was down by the big pile of somewhat already burned trash. I thought the bears were plenty big, but Robbie assures me that the bears of the past got so big on human waste, that their belly’s dragged on the ground.


More pictures are down below in the albums, if you care to take a look.

When Ma Sanders Came to Town

After Brent, Cheryl, Ryan and Kristy came to visit, my mother, Renee stayed with us too. We had a wonderful time, and were even able to convince her to go out on the boat last Saturday. While heading out to North Pass, to silver (coho) salmon fish, we lucked out and witnessed porpoises, and whales around us and in the near distance. Unfortunately the pictures don't do it any justice. Our adventure was highlighted with mom bringing in the lone silver salmon into the boat. I think it may have been her first too! She did well, and had a grin from ear to ear. It is always awesome to hear the excitement of a none experienced fisher person when they bring in their catch of the day.

We also went up the Mt. Roberts Tram and ate dinner at the Timberline Bar and Grill on top for all of our birthdays. Moms was in July, and Robbie and I at the end of August. The ride up and down on the tram only lasts a few minutes, but to my mother, who isn't fond of small tight object floating up in the air, I think was a lifetime. At one point Robbie and I looked over on the way down, and wondered if she was hyperventilating. All in all we had a wonderful dinner and a spectacular view.


As with any of our summer time visitors, we headed out to the glacier to spot bears. We got lucky and saw a black bear fishing in the creek, and walking about the forest.

When The Folks Came To Town

Well the folks came to town and although they didn't catch too many fish they did land a 62+inch halibut that, according to the tide book, weighed over 120lbs. It was a good thing pa made me bring the pistol that day. That was the only fish landed that day and we just about gave up on the halibut to start trolling for silvers when ma got the bite. There was much teamwork and switching off with the pole between the two of them prior to the shots from the pistol (5 total, hey it's a small pistol). Good job you two! Also they did manage to catch a few silvers and we had an incredible visit with some fair weather. Ryan and Kristi showed up later on in the week and now Naomi's mom is visiting. So we have some updating to do but I just wanted to post some photo's for everyone to see.

So we went out with Carol and Keith on Tuesday evening after work in the boat and saw another pod of Orca's. It looked like there were approximately 10 or 12. It was another great encounter. They were not as close to us, but fairly close to some of the whale watching charters, and I'm pretty sure those folks got there money's worth. I've attached a few of the pictures I captured, but mostly I sat and watched. Some of the Orca's were slapping their flukes and playing around. When we least expected it one even breached from the water, right in front of another boat. It was awesome!

On our ride back in from halibut fishing, which I caught a little one, we saw a few sea lions hanging out on one of the "can's", like a buoy marker. Attached are a couple of those photos as well. Hope everyone is having a great 4th of July.

Can you say halibut? Part II

No complaints on Sunday morning when we awoke, as the sun was shining. As anyone living in Southeast Alaska knows, the sun has the uncanny ability to take a good day and immediately make it a great day. Robbie and I slowly made our way out of bed, as I had homework to do, and he painting. Thank goodness our great friend Chad Hood called and asked if we wanted to go fishing. We looked up the tide and marine forecast, and knew everything was aligned for a successful day on the water. We met up with Hood about 1pm, and headed out on "The Summer of 99" for one of the best fishing excursions we’ve had in a long time.

On the way out to our location, about an hour away from Juneau, I spotted what appeared to be something in the water off in the distance behind us. Chad turned the boat off and we sat and watched for just a brief moment, that’s when we realized I spotted some Orca’s (Killer Whales). A little interjection, I don’t like to use the words killer whale, because Orca’s aren’t a whale at all, but part of the dolphin family. O.k. back on track! The Orca’s were not in a tight swimming group as I had imagined they traveled, but sparsely spread out. Before we knew it the Orca’s were headed in our direction. Chad and I immediately got our cameras out to get some snapshots. The hard part about filming on the water is it is so vast, and you never know when or where sea life will pop-up next. Well, low and behold one Orca decided to surface and then dive under the bow of the boat and swim underneath the right hand side of the boat. I could see everything about it under the water, the white and black.

Hood’s dog Beavis was on the boat as well with us, as soon as she sensed and saw the Orca in the water below us, she jumped up on the side of the boat, and instinctually I grabbed her by the collar, this was one fish she didn’t want to jump in after. Thank goodness for Hood and his charged camera, because mine flaked out just then. I did get a shot of the Orca as it surfaced behind us on Robbie’s camera. It’s hard to make it out, but provides proof that what I’m saying isn’t total bull sh**.

With our adrenalin pumping, we discussed the day’s beginning, our excitement, and talked about that if we had to go home, the day would still be a total success, but that just isn’t how we roll. We continued on another 20-30 minutes to the halibut hole. The rest of the boat ride was uneventful, and that was just fine by us.

Hood took us to a tried and true halibut hole, he had secretly marked on his GPS, and as soon as we started dropping lines in the water, the bite was on. Chad was the first to yell “Fish On” and bring a fish in the boat, and actually I think he probably caught the most fish all together (catch and release after he met his limit of course). It didn’t take Chad and I long to get our two fish limit, when Robbie hooked into a “Masher.” Robbie knew immediately that is wasn’t a chicken on his line. It’s hard to tell actual size when a fish tugs 200 feet down, but by the way this fish took the bait and was stripping line, we all knew history was in the making. Robbie made good time reeling up the fish, not like some stories I’ve heard, but this fish wasn’t going easily. I was now on video detail and Chad was waiting in baited breath with the gaff. Unfortunately Chad’s first attempt with the gaff didn’t prove successful, but that was fine, as Robbie had the fish hooked really well. It didn’t take long to realize we might need to bring out the big guns, or some might say little guns, and nip this in the bud. Literally, Hood brought out his 22 pistol and instead of taking the chance at missing this honking fish, he put a bullet in it, and then just like a professional gaffed the halibut into the boat. We didn’t have a scale that went above 50 pounds, which this fish most definitely did, so we used the tide book to get a good estimate of its weight. Tide books have a section in them that give a length to weight ratio chart for fish. Robbie’s halibut was 55 inches long, so therefore approximately 82 pounds. The seas laid down and we stayed out on the water a bit longer and enjoyed the sun.



On the return we checked the dungi crab pots, plenty of crab in them, just not legal’s. I think we had a total of five for the day. All in all we all made out very well, and are grateful to the ocean for providing us with its bounty, but also an experience we won’t forget. Every time I’m out on the water and phenomenal things like this happen, I think of our family and wish they could enjoy and witness this as well.


Video footage to come, check back soon.

Can you say halibut?

If a picture is worth a 1,000 words, then what is this picture saying?

We will write more tomorrow, it's 11:15pm and time for bed.

Sitka

Hey everyone, long time no chat. We haven't been to good about keeping up the blog the last couple of months. Sorry! You know how it goes, sometimes life just gets in the way. Anyway, on Memorial weekend Robbie and I headed over to Sitka, Alaska on the fast ferry for a couple of days. We left here on Saturday morning around 8am, and got into Sitka about noon-thirty. The fast ferry M/V Fairweather was a wonderful way to travel. It's amazing all the country that Robbie has been to in Southeast Alaska. Everywhere we turned he was saying oh remember when I told you about this story or that story, it was here or there. He was able to point out a lot of the landmarks and that was nice. I'm even a little envious that he's seen so much! I was able to spot three brown bears on the shoreline on the way over, and on the way back I saw a sow and cub as well. There was rumor to of been some porpoises off the bow of the boat, and a few humpbacks were spotted as well. I couldn't of asked for a more relaxing way to get there.

Once we arrived we drove to the Sheldon Jackson Museum, http://www.museums.state.ak.us/sheldon_jackson/sjhome.html and enjoyed some of the history and art work of the indigenous people of Alaska. We later walked along the Totem Pole Park trail http://www.nps.gov/sitk/historyculture/totem-poles.htm. It was a short walk, but none the less great to check out some of the different types of totem poles and understand their significance a little better. We ate lunch at a burger joint and then went to meet up with a new friend Robbie made while working on the Sitka Ranger boat, Terry. Terry and his wife Mary where very welcoming and they and their daughter Greta had us over for dinner and allowed us to stay the night at their home. They have a wonderful view from their house of Mt. Edgecumbe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Edgecumbe_(Alaska) and the ocean. Did I forget to mention the weather was absolutely gorgeous while we were on the trip too? Well it was, maybe in the low 60's and sunshine.

On Sunday Terry took Robbie and I out fishing on his boat. He showed us few new tricks as well. Thanks Terry! It's always good to have a few tricks up your sleeve. We brought up quite a few halibut, two king salmon, a flounder and a rat fish. I know, what the heck is a rat fish, I've attached a bad picture to the blog or you can click on this link to see a better example, http://www.goatview.com/ratfish.jpg. All in all it seemed to be a productive fishing day. Terry put us to shame with his magnificent fishing abilities.

Oh yeah I almost forgot to tell you, after six long years I finally saw my first humpbacks breaching. It was awesome. At first it looked like a cow and a calf were playing around and slapping their flukes on the water and then a few moments later out of the water they shot. It was so cool to see. I wish I could of gotten some photos or video footage, but I wasn't able to stare at one point to long, as the water was a little rough and my tummy wasn't to happy. Sitka is out on the open ocean http://www.accommodations-alaska.com/Southeast_Alaska_Map.jpg, not as well protected like Juneau with small islands that Keep the waters a little calmer.

That evening Robbie and I went to a wonderful dinner at the Channel Club and had the best smoked prime rib steaks I think we have ever eaten in Alaska and possibly the best steak I've had. We spent our second night at the Forest Service Starrigavan Campground. I had to get to spend one night in a tent. It's been such a long time since I've been camping. Robbie probably could of done without, as he camps for work out in the field all the time. We had a fire too! Forgot the smores though, Waaa! There were a couple of short trails at the campground and we went for evening walk on one and an early morning walk on the other.

We didn't take as many pictures as we should have, but they are down below with the other albums if you want to take a look.

Catfishing with Naomi

Hey Everyone, our friend Chad made up this video footage of some Mekong Catfishing in Chiang Mai, Thailand. He did a great job putting it together, music and all. Let's see what you think.

Mekong Catfish

Alright we are a few days behind on the blog. We apologize, but we are just having so much fun, it's been tough to make the time. But here we are at the almost end of our trip, and ready to share the past few days with you. As you have read in our previous blog, our friends Chad and Monica were in Chiang Mai as well for a few days. We caught up with them and went fishing with Chad a few days ago. We were fishing for Mekong catfish. It was not your usual fishing scene, but never the less very fun, and even a work out. We arrived at the lake outside of town in the early morning. We were anxious to see what Chad had been talking about from his previous experience here last year. We had a wonderful guide, his name was Mr. Tuk Tuk. He baited and cast the poles for us. I allowed him to do this all day, but Robbie eventually baited his own pole. Guess what we used for bait? Come on, think outside the box, way outside. Give up, left over 7 Eleven ham sandwiches. Mr. Tuk Tuk cut it all up into small pieces and then stuffed it into some sort of cage. I have a picture, and will post it once we are back in the states. It didn't take long at all to catch fish. Well actually it didn't take me long to catch fish. The largest fish I caught was 46.3 pounds (21kg), and I caught a total of 5 fish, and then lost 3 others. It was hard work getting them into the shore. Robbie did well also. He caught 4, his biggest being 42 lbs. It was non stop action, and there was only a handful of us there.