Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Chitina kicks azz again!

Yeah mine

Firshing was open as the river had dropped and fish were moving

So stayed up late loading the truck with all the essentials worked 10 hours on Sat & left the banks at 7 pm

Rolled into O'brien creek at 1a.m. Set out a bucket with my name in the line, hmmmm I'm 18 back, we'll see if I get out in the a.m. (Due to all the closures Hems is running on Sunday's and staying open an extra week)

K
Reclined the seat to try & catch a 3 hour nap in my lil taco truck

No dice, finally drifted off about 2:30.

Alarm went off at 4:30. I'm not worried if I don't get out I brought stuff to overnight, have done it before and caught a few winks on a slanted rock with a boiling eddy right below

But a new deal, you can go day or overnight but not both when your time is up they haul
your azz home

Poured some lukewarm coffee outa the Stanley and hustled my dry bag, nets, poles & stringers down to the line

Oh well I was the last guy out on the morning boats, shared it with 5 chicks, mom 2 daughters & 2 of their friends, very nice gals

Barely ran me across the river, not even in the canyon picked up a couple overniters off there

they had fish & some were some big hens

So attach the heavy net to the pole find the tail end of the eddy & proceed

Fished till 7 pm grabbed a snack a few times one handed

Peed when I had to put a fish on the stinger

That late in the year netted 4 dollies, hello Dollie & goodbye

Only ended up with 16 reds & 2 silvers & wore down to the nub

Thought perhaps I'd been better off to sweep some late Sunday off O'brien & go out today, but glad I didn't just saw on fb on hems page that fishing slowed considerably. They had some that didn't catch any : (

Really feel for those folks, guess it could have been worse

I'm too old for these marathon meat runs

I think chitina may turn into a 3-4 day affair for me,

Maybe take the camper & pull the boat down there

After high tailing it outa there on Sunday eve hit the hub had some terrible tok Thai food (skip it if u have options) but it was warm and filling

Pulled into gulkana river and slept a few more hours and hit the road early am had a so so bkfst in delta and hit home at 11, showered & crashed

Gears put away laundry done truck cleaned out

Now to go toss some reds in the freezer

And wonder when I'm gonna realize I can't push it like I used to

I never had the guts to try eating out of the purple truck at the hub. Figured it was a sure way to induce a scramble for glovebox napkins and a run for the timber somewhere between Glenallen and Mendeltna.

Sucks you only scratched up 18 but I have a bud who went for a whole weekend and got skunked so 18 sounds pretty good for this year.

Sorry to hear that pard. Even sorrier to tell yo our mutual friend hit there Sun nite a week ago and was home the next day with 35.

Tok Thai is the tits.. Didn't know folks from squarebanks were so refined 😁

That purple Thai... yeah, we've avoided it too for sure.

Was hoping to hear a good report, sometimes the dump looking places have the best grub, but know for sure to continue to avoid it this year also.

Same with a trailer or two in Glennallen I suspect....

Already knew the Tok Thai food was not good but nitro was closed Sunday night and after just snacking on chicken salad & crackers during the day my system needed something hot

Had a stove & mtn house beef stroganoff but really didn't want to f with boiling water tho, just wanted to drive & sleep ( tho not simultaneously)


Yep Mike it's a timing thing, should have been here last week, anyone that's hunted or fished much knows it

Just my work schedule is not conducive to hems schedule

Hate to,burn the gas to haul my own boat and it's a bitch to tie it off most places in the canyon

I've seen both sides of the coin in chitina 50 fish in a few hours to 13 between two guys all day. Latter was the worst I've experienced but that was in the old days when hem would leave you out over night if you desired, I did and a run came through about 11p.m. And we filled our limit in about 3 hours

It just looks more and more like I'm gonna need to take my own boat and take my sons or a pard and spend a few days if necessary

My family loves red salmon, just gonna have to restrategize to make sure there's enough in the freezer

Hopefully the moose gods will smile a lil brighter on us this year

2 years in a row now that I've missed out on my annual dipping run to Chitna. If you decide to make the run next year with the boat I'd be happy to share expenses with you Randy. The ride through the canyon can be a sporty one and I'd be happy to meet you at the lower end. lol

Sounds like the makings of another Alaska reality TV program

Randy is in a last ditch effort to get enough protein to ward off starvation in the frigid north. His family has already lost weight waiting for him to return.....so weak they can hardly cut wood for the stove....

After changing two flat tires on his 50s truck, he coasts into Delta and remembers his old geezer friend with three freezers full of prime moose steaks. SAVED!

You seem to know the typical plot lines well......I wonder why that is? (Worse, how do I seem to know that you know? )

An instant classic and hit in the making!!!!!!!!!

I'm short of attractive females to play a role......can you or Randy send a few this way?

We have a foreign film crew about to begin work in Delta. They hope to stave off starvation with a couple cranes and spawned out silvers from Delta Clearwater River. Yummmm!

I've seen a couple or so over at Creamer's Field but I'm afraid if I approach them, they'll confuse the drool on my chin in the wrong way.

(I don't know which would be worse, getting confused as a lecherous old fool, or being [rightly] identified as a potential threat to several of those tasty-looking cranes?)

Yup ..my days of monster runs down to chitina and back have been over for a few years...that chit hurts!

Lol vernesto

Were you out & about Monday morning ?

Or could you not stomach the thought of bkfst at the hotel or was it the thought of having to look at my ugly mug while trying to digest?

Sent you a text

Did you get it or in my stupor did I send it to an old contact number?

Maybe it's not chitina maybe it's me a snogo trailer wiring kicked my azz yesterday & so did one nut on the taco

The azz kickings will continue it seems until my morale improves

Some days it really ain't worth chewing thru the straps

I've got an 18 year old lil Tlingit graduating this week Vern. I'd send her your way, but I'm dearly afraid she'd hurt you

God knows they're killing me

Terry I recall thinking when I met ya " yep he's smarter than me"

This only confirms it


Akmtn, that's a helluva offer, expect my call next year

Speaking of offers, I sure hope my moose packer calls pretty soon to invite me to go help him hunt again. (After last year I wasn't so sure he'd need my 'help' this year, but he told me to keep September flexible this fall. LOL. I can still fool 'em!)

I think I'm going to start going to the casinos. I know the odds don't favor a fellow, but I'm beginning to understand that they have better odds than betting against the calendar. ".....Ain't for sissies" is an understatement!

BTW, I'll chase trailer wiring issues for cheap......(for a select few). Hit me up if you run out of patience for it.

Randy,

Sorry I missed ya but I was in FBX getting a new cell phone as mine had crapped out.

Those suicide fishing runs are a lot like a night out with friends at a good saloon. When it's over you say "never again" but you always do.

I done that a couple of times get back home just in time to change and go to PT and the rest of the day you are going what in the hell was I thinking.

Definitely all about the timing. I only mention Tommy's haul so you know where to get some!

He was down here for a couple days but our run while pretty steady, never hit the 80K - 120K fish/day we like for netting. I've heard only a couple stories about limits though, so timing there too.