Fishing Alaska....
I wasn't sure how much fishing I was going to do in Alaska, if any at all. I didn't bring any poles because we had filled our bags with our clothes and camping items. The one thing that I had brought with me was an idea that I would like to fish and I never lost that thought.
I had seen people fishing here and there while we were hanging out in Alaska and I kept wishing that that was me fishing. Finally, in the middle of August, I got my chance. I had expressed my interest in fishing to Barney and he said he would take my out fishing for Halibut during the break between groups 5 and 6. So when we went to town to get supplies, I got a 3 day license. I only got out one day and caught one halibut. We would have gone out again but it wouldn't stop raining.
It did stop raining as soon as the break was over and we were joined by group 6. In group six, I met a nice gentleman by the name of Jim Brown. He had been a volunteer on the project last year and wanted to come back again for a second stint with the otters. He had made plans with Randy and Fred to stay in the camp in between groups 6 and 7. Jim had rented a skiff for the break and planned on doing some fishing. I was lucky enough to be asked to tag along. So, on our trip to town, I went ahead and purchased another license so I could fish with Jim. This time, I purchased a 2 week license and immediately it began to rain.
**Believe it or not, where we were staying in Alaska is actually a temperate rain forest.**
We endured another couple of days of downpour, trapped in the cabin. It cleared a little and we ventured out to catch some Pollack and Rockfish but we didn't find any Silvers. By this time, Fred was feeling our pain and he decided to take us to his secret spot where we were ALMOST guaranteed Silvers. There is a disclaimer with everything in this day and age. Good news, the disclaimer was mute, we did catch fish and they were definitely Silvers.
The Silvers would slam the lure and run. I had one on the line that wanted to spool me but luckily he didn't have a lot of room to run. He probably took 50 yards of line out and then started back at me. It was awesome. It ranks right up there with any one of those rare days where you are out on the water and the fish won't quit. The unique thing about the Silvers is that they are such great fighters.
On my last day in the research camp, Barney and I went out and had a wonderful day with the Silvers. It was the only day, out of the 4 times fishing with Barney, that I even came close to out fishing him. It was luck on my part I guess.
