Monthly Archives: August 2014

One Last Cast

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My time in Alaska has come to an end.  It’s off to the next assignment; which just so happens to be a return to Utah for a couple weeks.

Alaska has been amazing.  And getting paid to be up there wasn’t bad, either.  The day before I left, I wanted one more chance to catch some fish, so I headed a few miles outside of Ketchikan to a small lake about a mile upstream from the ocean.

The lake was jammed with Pink Salmon.  After a bit of trial and error with different lures, I found one they liked and had a great time wrestling a few of them to the shore.  Pink Salmon are also called “Humpback Salmon” and it’s easy to see why.

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I eventually lost that lure and packed it in.  The lakeside trail took me back to the van through monstrous old-growth Sitka Spruce.  The entire area has a real “Forest Moon of Endor” vibe.  It was a great way to wrap up an outstanding trip filled with unbelievable scenery, awesome wildlife and fantastic fishing.  And we managed to complete everything we needed to on the business end, but who’s going to remember that?

On to the next adventure!

Other Sea Life

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In a departure from the popular images of salmon, whales and cute mammals, today I will present some other interesting life I’ve encountered.

I’ll start with this beauty.

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It’s a Staghorn Sculpin.  I’ve caught a handful of these over the last two months.  Though they look weird, they are perfectly harmless; no spines or teeth.  The name comes from the unique shape at the point of the gill plate.

On another day, my lure blundered into a dense school of baitfish, snagging one in the process.

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I’m not 100 percent certain, but I believe it is a species of smelt.

Jellies are an extremely common form of life in the world’s oceans.  When the waves are calm and the lighting is good, I have frequently seen them from the decks of ferries and drifting by from the shore.

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Low tide is a wonderful time to observe a plethora of interesting creatures.  This image of a small crab also has a bunch of snails and a limpet.

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Only once have I been at a location where tidal pools contained sea stars.  Naturally, I needed to take a closer look.  At this spot, nearly ever surface of every rock was covered with mussels and barnacles.

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My time in Alaska is drawing to a close.  With all the work complete, I am back in Ketchikan getting things ready to ship out.  The streams around here are full of chum salmon right now, so am going to see what I can do about that in the time I have left.