The weather was frankly terrible as we landed in Yakutat. High winds, pouring rain and blown out rivers. Regardless all of us were excited to head out and see what we could do. We were picked up by the shuttle for Glacier Bear Lodge, got to the lodge, met the new owners and went over their program and were in our rooms getting geared up and waders on within 30 minutes of arriving.
The vehicle was absolutely the nicest SUV/Car/Truck I have ever rented anywhere in Alaska. No cracks in the windows, the windshield wipers worked, as well as the heater, defrost. This thing was first class! We loaded up the Chevy Suburban and the guys were looking to me to get them on the fish. Historically, I have had a lot of success on Tawah creek, which is relatively close to the lodge, so I decided to take them to what we've all called the "Christmas Tree" hole. See Yakutat 2022 - Day 3 - Tawah Creek (fishlipproductions.com) to understand why this seemed like a good idea to me. When we arrived, the winds were gale force...nearly blowing Jeff off the bridge. We threw about 10 casts each that all struggled to get to the target across a 20ft wide creek. Plan B.
Although it was going to be a drive, and there wouldn't be really any keepers, I thought it would be good for all of us to get the skunk off by heading up to 9-mile bridge and catch and release some firetrucks and possibly get into some dollies as Greta and I had the year before. There are more trees up at 9 mile and the winds and rain weren't nearly as bad. This was both Ed and Jeff's first trip to Alaska and Ed's first-time fishing for any type of salmon. Within short order, Ed had his first on right under the bridge, and successfully landed and released without harming the fish. Jeff was fishing up above the bridge, and although there were opportunities, the overall water was flowing way too fast to have great success.
We walked upriver to the end of the trail, which is what Greta and I call the Dolly hole. Typically, throwing a little cleo spoon will get you either a dolly or a fire truck coho with nearly every cast. We did manage to catch and release one dolly, and all of us were able to catch and release a number of Coho Salmon within an hour. It was getting late and we had several days left of fishing, and the great food at Glacier Bear Lodge was sounding really good after being wind and rain blown for the past few hours.
The menu did not disappoint...we had a great conversation and called it a night, with an understanding of the low and high tides for the following day. We would meet for breakfast when the restaurant opened at 6:00 and head out early to get our fish. Nothing in the ice box, but it isn't about the harvest but rather the experience...and day 1 was great on all accounts. I was very much licking my woods from my personal life fiasco the previous week, but was extremely grateful to have the great distraction and wonderful company of my brother Ed and great friend Jeff fishing in Alaska with me. Truly nothing better for the soul.
Comments