Today was the first real trip down the river for Silvers. While I was gone, there was a big storm, and lots of rain came down. (Approximately 16 inches in 5 days), so needless to say, the river was up a lot from the time I left. With this rise in water, the log jams all moved around, and the wind that came with the storm, also put down some new trees across the river. I had to cut one fairly good sized tree out of the way today, and I figure over the next week, there will be quit a bit more much more cutting to do.

Back to the fishing.

I started out today, just thinking about the rise in the water, and I was not sure how far up the river the Silvers had come. We got started targeting pink salmon, with lead head pink jigs. We got a few to the boat, when I heard Randy say on the radio, that they had already caught a Silver. I knew then that we should be getting into them anytime, because Randy was just around the next corner down. We switched over to black jigs, and it was on. We went to the next hole below Randy, and I don’t think it was more than 3 casts, when the first hookup came. This was a real nice Silver, weighed out at 16.7 Lbs. We got one more here, in a very peculiar way. With an errand cast, that when behind the boat, and over the back, behind me. I grabbed the line to retrieve the jig, and get it back out front, when a Silver grabbed it from my grasp, and the fight was on. This fish hit within 5" of the boat, then wrapped around the anchor rope, before we were able to wrangle him into the net. We struggled for some time after these first two, but we were able to limit out along the way.

All in all, it was a great day on the river, and the Yakutat Lodge clients I had today, were great guys, and fun to have in the boat.

We did see some bears, on the way out this morning, and I got one blurry pic.

The updates should be daily, from here on for some time, so keep looking for big Silvers.

Good luck out there

Flymstr;

I will let you know if I get any fish in the Morning at the creek. I am so glad to be on my home turf, even if only for a couple of days. I want to hit as many streams as I can, while I am home. Hopefully i can Get some nice fish, and some good pics, or vids. See you all tomorrow afternoon.

Good luck out there.

Flymstr;

Well when the fishing slows down, and there is nothing left in the water, we take to the air. The video tells it all. This dumb bird flew directly into the hook during a cast. The line wrapped him up, and the hook took him down. I guided a great guy from Fairbanks today,(Merle) and the fishing was absolutely off the hook in the lake. There are so many fish in the creek that feeds the lake, you can walk on them. As these Sockeye head to their spawning grounds, they stack up at the lake, as they prepare to stage an spawn. So with 80 K over the fish counting station, and only a couple thousand left in the system itself, it shows how many have gone to the lake. I got some great video today, and what I think are some of the best jump shots I have personally taken at the lake.

Good luck out there

Flymstr

Marla and Roy Hagen came to Yakutat with expectations of having a good time. They were not disappointed!!!. The first day off the plane, they were able to hit the ocean, and get into 8 Coho. The next day, they were strapped with me in the drift boat. We put in at nine mile bridge, and just sat and fished Sockeye until 11:00 O’clock. We were able to get 8 Sockeye here, and then floated down looking for Pinks. The Pinks were in foul mood this day, and we only got two in the boat. They got a limit of Halibut the next two days in a row on the ocean, including Ling Cod, Salmon, and rock fish, (Not limits of each). Then today we headed back to the bridge for more Socks. Well the fish just had there mouths closed, and it was a tough go of it. Although we only brought back three today, we had a great time playing with fish. There were some kings in the hole also, and Roy hooked and got spooled of 150 YRDS of line from a nice 30 Lbs big boy. That’s the way it goes though. This was a great two days with the Hagen’s, and I hope to see them, and more couples like them in the future.

Good luck out there.

Flymstr;

You may remember the Moulton group from last year on the Aqwe river. They returned for more this year. Although the Aqwe did not provide any good fishing this year, they still got into some Kings on the Situk. We could  not keep them, but we could play with them at least. The Sockeye fishing is winding down, but they still got some to the boat. We spent some time at Mountain lake the first day, floated the second, and fished at the 9 mile bridge the last round, where the majority of the Sockeye are held up. The second day was much better than the third, but we still had a great time getting into them. Mountain lake contains a large number of fish, but they are bit of a hassle to get to.

I hope I will see them again next year.

Good luck out there.

Flymstr;

It has happened now for good. The Sockeye fishing has slowed to a halt on the river, but the lake should produce for the next week or so. We got some real big rains in the last couple of days, and the water rose about 10". With the water going up, the Sockeye took off, and the Kings moved on up also. Just two days ago the river opened for King fishing below the weir, but with the water going up, the Kings are all above the weir, and so it just sucks that they did not open up sooner. They are suppose to open the river for Kings, when the prediction is 750 large kings over the weir. Well as I passed the weir today, the sign said 849 large Kings over the weir, but still no opening. I don’t understand it at all. I don’t know if it is bad management, or if they just don’t want the sport fisherman to get Kings. I just don’t understand, how they can keep it closed, when the escapement has gone over the weir. I just don’t get it. So, with this, all we have to fish for now, is Pink Salmon, and Dolly Varden. All those Kings, and we can get any. Just Sucks!!!!!!!!!!. Here are the pics of the Pinks we got today, also a King we released, (Take a look at all the spots on this kings gill plate),and some pics of the new Pavati drift boat the Lodge got this year, and also a Bald Eagle eyeing our hanging fish.

Good luck out there

Flymstr;

Well, I was at the fish cleaning station when the Halibut boats came in the other day. I got some good pics of these great fish. The Halibut fishing, and the Black Bass fishing, has been real good lately. They are still picking up some Kings, and some Silvers. Here are the pics of the Halibut.

Good luck out there

Flymstr;

Today Brian Woobank and Son Ryan, stepped off the plane again, for another shot at the Sockeye. Brian has been staying at the Yakutat Lodge for 19 years now, and there is no sign of slowing down. We flew up to Situk Lake, where all the Sockeye are congregating, before they go up and spawn. The fish here are very nice and bright, we only kicked back 5 red fish the whole time. The recent rains seem to have brought in a good number to the lake, and they should continue to be good throughout the rest of the month. Yakutat Lodge clients are more than welcome to take advantage of this service anytime they are staying with us. The fly out fishing is good now for Sockeye in the lake, but come September when the Silvers show up, the fly out fishing to the Italio can be fantastic. Take a look at these amenities, if you are planning to come to Yakutat, and you will see that Yakutat Lodge is the only place to be. The Pinks are here now, and if you have kids that want to get into fishing, now is the time to get here.

Good luck out there

Flymstr;

      Well it is inevitable. Every year at this time, the Pink Salmon start to show up in the river. As the Sockeye start to fade out, and the Kings are done with their push upstream,  the Pink Salmon take over. We had a great Sockeye season, and for the next 2 weeks we will still get into Sockeye’s in the river, and the Lake will produce decent fish for the next 3 weeks, but every new tide brings hundreds of Pinks. Within the next week, the Pink Salmon will fill the river, and along with them, comes the presence of more Bears to the gravel bars. The Brown and Black bears will gorge themselves on Salmon over the next two months, and gain pounds of weight before their winter hibernation. This reserve of Salmon fat will help the adult bears and their new cubs, survive the long cold winter. The arrival of Pinks in the river always signifies a slow down in clients for a couple of weeks, until the Silvers start to come in.

      During this slow time, the entire staff here at the Yakutat Lodge, gets together, cleans up, and fixes any damaged equipment. We are also building some new cabins at the Halibut station on the bay. I will get some pics in the next couple of days. One of the cabins is completed, and ready for clients at any time. These cabins offer, a kitchen, a bathroom, microwave oven, stove top oven, and a magnificent view of the Mountain range, including Mt. St. Elias. The second and third cabins should be ready for Silver season, which starts the second week of August. If you have any interest in staying in these cabins, you may want to call ahead for availability. 

      Anyway, this time of year I wish more families would come up for the Pink run. The amount of Pinks in the river during the peak, is unbelievable. For the entire 14 mile float, the river is black with fish. Pink Salmon are 4 to 8 pounds on average, and they are very aggressive on pink flies, and lures. For kids, this is the best fish to get them hooked. It is not unusual for a person with no fishing skills, to hook into over 50 Pink salmon in a day on the river. The fight is good, but not to hard that kids wear out on every fish. So for the meantime I have no pics of new fish, so I will throw in some pics through out the season, that did not make the cut the first time around.

      I will not be on the river for a little bit of time, and I will be home in Oregon on a bit of a break, from Aug. 11 – Aug 17. On the 11th I will be turning 40, hope I can still fish at this age Ha Ha. I am hoping to get into some kings when I get home.

Good luck out there

Flymstr;

Two days ago with Gary and Erik, we had our fish taken by a sow and her cub. The next day we were run out of three holes, because of the same bears. Well today, I had enough, and I decided to go right at them, and run em’ off. I was not sure if the sow was going to run or not. The other day when she took our fish, I let her have it with the bear spray, and she walked right through it like nothing. Her cub got a little shot today, and turned around quickly. When the sow came out, I just kept going at her, and she turned and ran off. Five minutes later she returned, and I did the same routine. Again she left, and this time did not return to bother us again. I don’t know if I could have done it again, without pissing her off to bad. We were able to get some fish, but did not keep any. Here are some pics of the bears, and a fish.

Good luck out there

Flymstr;