"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat." ---Theodore Roosevelt 1910

Friday, August 30, 2019

Fishin with Bears in Alaska 2019

                                                                              
                                                                               
Humpy Salmon
Chum Salmon

We took a shotgun along with the fly rods on an Alaska river adventure. The skiff boat dropped us off during high tide at the tributary. As it was pulling away and we threw a round of buckshot in the chamber, I knew this was going to be my kind of fishing. We were going to be fishing with Kodiak brown bears lurking around up a small river few men have traveled. Little did I know this day was going to be one of the most intense outdoor activities of my life. There is a tremendous amount of
respect for these majestic creatures. The trees and fern vegetation was so thick we had to stay on the bear trails just to get to the river's edge. Trails that bears have been using for hundreds of years. It didn't take long to see bear scat and giant tracks in the mud and they were obviously fresh. When we had to cross a downed tree across the trail I noticed it was all marked and scarred up with decades of bear claws as big as my fingers. 

As we approached the first pool there were no bears but the water was muddy at one end. The wind was at our backs and a bear must of winded us and quietly slipped back into cover. Admiralty Island is known to have the highest population of bears per square mile than anywhere else in Alaska. Quickly my mind went into fly fishing mode though as the pool was loaded with Chum (Dog) salmon nicknamed for dog like looking teeth. They are so powerful and fun to catch on a fly rod. They aren't a good fish to eat but the bears love them just the same as there was sign of half eaten fish everywhere. We also caught quite a few Pink (Humpy) Salmon on our trip named for a big hump on their backs and we also caught the occasional Coho (Silver) Salmon running with the big Chum schools. I got to witness stretches of river where it was only 6" deep and the salmon struggled to cut their way through the gravel bars.

We hadn't seen a bear all morning long as we hiked deeper up the river looking for more pools full of fish. In fact I started to let my guard down when it happened! I was by myself as Darryl was around the corner out of my line of sight when I heard a big splash not 80 yards below me a female bear jumped in the pool and began chasing fish up the river towards me. Oh my heck! My heart was racing!! She knew I was there and didn't care. I got out my palmcorder and started filming Marty Stauffer like. I noticed she had a cub hiding in the brush on the bank waiting for momma to bring him some fish. Luckily she turned around chasing fish back down the river. It was the coolest wildlife encounter of my life. It didn't take long for her to catch a Chum and as quickly as she appeared she was gone leaving me with a memory that I will never forget.

Well wouldn't you know it. High tide was in only a hour and we had a couple miles to get back to the cove. I have never been on more alert in the woods than when we had to walk down the middle of a tight meandering river with the wind in our face. The first 80 yards was the scariest as we walked right past where I last saw that bear enter. I just knew she was going to fly out of the brush and attack one of us. I was glad we had the shotgun but it still felt like she had the upper hand if she ever wanted to tangle. Nothing happened but it will make for a great story I can tell my grand kids someday. We made it back to the boat and I knew that day would be the closest feeling to what it must feel like bow hunting Alaska brown bear that I was ever going to experience. It was the best fishing day of my life!

  



                               


                               


                               
 
Sitka Deer Shed Antler
                         
       
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