#2265536 - 06/20/08 09:02 AM
No country for old men...but I'm staying anyway
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1akhunter
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Registered: 09/27/03
Posts: 9935
Loc: Fairbanks, Alaska a piece down...
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just got back from the Chitna marathon
left town Tue. evening around 6 p.m. stopped in Delta for a burger, hit Chitna about midnite, slept till 4 a.m. got up took a charter out at 5 and started fishing at 5:30 or so after getting dropped off on a pile of rocks from a sheer cliff slide.
had talked to pards that had been down previous weekend and according to sonar fish were in but not moving, guys that have been going for years, 7 guys brought back 25 fish, 3 guys brought back 9 fish, not encouraging for sure.
looked like we were in for the same gig, pard and I fished hard, only times nets were out of the water was to take fish, after 14 hours of fishing I had 7 reds and he had 2 reds and a king.
the charter said we'd done better than most that day and wanted to know if we were content there for the evening, I said F that, we got no where to go, in case of rain or worse yet flood, take us to the opposite shore where there's timber and the road bed up above.
last thing I want to do is be stuck on a pile of rocks on the Copper river. we'd seen a few fish taken during the day at about the same rate we'd been taking them.
so across the river we went, unloaded and went to fishing, I stayed and fished by the gear, after a short break of me fixing dinner via alcohol stove and MH Chili mac, with slices of cucumber and red pepper. From 8:30 till midnite, we hauled in 3 more fish.
but at midnite the run started, from midnite to 4 a.m. we took our limit of 48 more reds and one more king.
at about 2 a.m. I hauled fish up the cliff and over to the other side where the boat would be able to pick us up and told my pard I was all in and going to catch a few winks, slept from 2 till 4 when he came over hauling a stringer of fish.
got up and went and hauled another stringer full of fish, knees sore, wrists and forearms sore, you know the drill. and we got picked up at 5 a.m. turned out we were the only overnighters they had out and the first of the season to limit out.
unloaded the boat rinsed our fish off and iced them down in coolers, loaded gear and headed down the road, after 30-45 minutes of driving I felt the wave of exhaustion again and pulled over at a wayside and slept for 3 hours.
got up drove to town and unloaded and went to cleaning fish, have em all done but 6-7 reds and my king. Mother in law and her sister are headed over today to do those while I'm off to work.
tis good I'm going to give them fish anyway, so they might as well help clean them. sides I love those old girls, when I have a moose to work up, they're my favoritest crew.
will also slip them some cash for Bingo as they are both addicts of the game.
slept good for 6 hours after doing my homework and off to work.
life in Alaska, can't imagine life anywhere else being as good.
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"This ain't dress rehearsal....it's the life you get to live, make it a good one."
some folks that can't make a compelling argument, enjoy pointing out typos, errors of grammar and spelling oversights. I add as many as possible to accomodate.
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#2265567 - 06/20/08 09:21 AM
Re: No country for old men...but I'm staying anyway
[Re: 1akhunter]
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wildswalker
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Registered: 11/26/05
Posts: 5491
Loc: It's My Mountain dammit...
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'Twas a plan, it seems.....
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It was a business decision, don't take it personally. Livin' Life is my business......
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#2265578 - 06/20/08 09:25 AM
Re: No country for old men...but I'm staying anyway
[Re: wildswalker]
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AkMtnHntr
Campfire Guide
Registered: 08/15/06
Posts: 4074
Loc: Alaska
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Nice going 1Ak, I use to dip down that way and it is a lot of work but well worth the effort. Can't think of a better way to fill the freezer with salmon in a short amount of time. Congrats on limiting out!
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Let your gun accompany you on your walks, the heft will do you well and it will ward off evil doers. Thomas Jefferson
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#2268047 - 06/21/08 06:57 PM
Re: No country for old men...but I'm staying anyway
[Re: ironbender]
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las
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Registered: 06/26/01
Posts: 5877
Loc: Soldotna, AK
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I know the drill, having fished Chitna a half dozen times or so, but never with a charter. I fished O'Brian Creek, or, when the water was high, a quarter mile up on the rock slopes, or a couple miles down in the canyon. At O'Brian at normal water levels, I knew where these two perfectly positioned underwater boulders were. I picked up nearly all my fish either just as the the net went into the water and/or touched bottom at the upper boulder, or just as I started to sweep up to clear the lower boulder, for obvious piscatory swimming reasons... The drill is to dive your net rim in to touch bottom just at the backside of the upper boulder, back it off an inch or two off-bottom (nearly everyone scrapes it- bad move!) to sweep downstream just fast enough faster than the current to belly the net, then rotate it up sos\ the rim arrives at the water surface parallel to the water surface at the downstream end just at the boulder there. Repeat endlessly... I caught many fish at that downsteam end, without being aware of their presence until the net rim broke the surface! This tehnique was not easily learned/acquired.... Must have taken a couple hours, the first time....
We always figured a fish per hour average, and fished nights, when all the A-holes were boozing it up or sleeping it off. Catch more fish that way, without all those rock-banging idiots keeping the fish just out of reach of the nets... Cold, but often gorgeous.... As soon as the idiots hit the river in the morning and started banging their nets off the bottom, the fish stream moved out about 5 feet beyond net reach. It was very noticable.
There was this one night when I fished (we used the "sweeping" method - after an hour, one has a "fire-point" between the shoulder blades, which lasts for about 2 weeks after you quit fishing.... ) for 13 straight hours without a hit. Then I hooked and lost a big king. 3 sweeps later after she'd been dragged up on shore, flipped the net, flopped back in the river and dropped back downstream to think things over a bit, I had her again, and again when I dragged her up on the gravel, she did a net flip, but this time, there was a Wainwright GI there who pounced on her and wrapped all four limbs around her to keeping her from escaping and him getting thoroughly slimed in the process. ( He has my eternal gratitude!) It was now about 7:30 in the morning, and the camper/ big tent doofus coffee drinkers came pouring out of their abodes as I carried the fish up to my rig, done and done-in for the night (I was sleeping in the front seat of my Datsun PU), telling me how "lucky" I was.
Yeah, right. I EARNED that fish, azzholes! She went 54 lbs - almost a Red per hour.... The thing is, if you don't have net in the water, you can't catch fish.... It always pizzed me off how all these bystanders would watch other fishermen for hours until someone would net a fish, then rush down and poke their nets noisily in the water, hoping , apparently, that "the run" had started. Lazy idiots!
Only once in those years did I hit the "run", My brother Bill and I caught the 60 fish we were allowed between us in less than 4 hours. IIRC, only one was a king, though we usuallyaveraged about 10 kings, averaging maybe 30 lbs, on most trips. (The limits/regs have changed since I last fished Chitna, a couple decades ago.)
In this instance, I again had a wrestler available. I was a quarter mile or so above O'Brian, on a steep rock slope, out on a "walkway" of under-water boulders extending several yards out into the river, which was high, so our normal fishing spots were not available/productive. The fish were sweeping around this "point", but one had to get out and balance knee-deep in rushing water on the last boulder, in hip boots, to pick them up as they came around that "point" of rocks. Reds were not a problem, but when I hooked this 50 lb. king, all I could do was get the net rim parallel to and just above water, and rotate it back to the bank, where my non-resident younger brother Kurt was watching me fish. Immediately on hitting the shore, the fish flipped the net, and Kurt dove on it - as in full-body tackle- among those large jagged boulders.
The fish proceeded to beat the hell out of him, but he wasn't letting go, and I was out there on a precarious perch laughing so hard I damned near fell in. But we got the fish. The boy had good instincts and a better grip. Thoroghly slimed, of course. 
Another night, at O'Brien, I was in my usual spot sweeping when a king raised it's head out of water, some 10 feet beyond my 12' handled net. My first instinct was to get the hell out of the water. If that fish was less than 80 lbs, I'll eat my webbing!
I'm getting too old (not too smart, be it noted) for that stuff. I fished the evening tide yesterday at the mouth of the Kasilof River with my 60 foot Personal Use gill net, and collected 36 reds - one more than my official limit, but F&G aren't too fussy, within reason. I noted it honestly on my permit before leaving the beach, barely. Gill nets are not exactly a precision instrument.
The Protection Officers rig was effectively blocking the main roadway (although there was room to pull over more), forcing those of us with standard sized rigs to squeeze through, with barely a foot of room on either side. Larger rigs were blocked. This doesn't bode well for PR!
As of 1 p.m. today, the fish are vac-packed and in the freezer! As of an hour and two whiskeys ago, the gear is cleaned, dried and put away. I'm done fishing for the year. Unless I want to go fun-fishing....
The battery on the camera is about shot, and my wife apparently has both chargers with her in Peru, so pics will have to wait a few days.
Edited by las (06/22/08 12:30 AM)
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"Where do they find young men like this?" Reporter Savidge, Iraq
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#2270245 - 06/23/08 06:13 AM
Re: No country for old men...but I'm staying anyway
[Re: las]
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1akhunter
Campfire Outfitter
Registered: 09/27/03
Posts: 9935
Loc: Fairbanks, Alaska a piece down...
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biggest king I've handled personally (I didn't catch it, was 63 lbs.)
dang las, 80 lb. king, or you eating your webbing, I can't make up my mind which would be more entertaining to see! (grin)
I'm still recovering from the trip.
I fished 22 hours straight, my pard a true stud, fished 24 hours w/out a break.
yeah first ones to limit out, lucky alright I reckon.
las has it right, hard to catch fish w/out a net in the water.
_________________________
"This ain't dress rehearsal....it's the life you get to live, make it a good one."
some folks that can't make a compelling argument, enjoy pointing out typos, errors of grammar and spelling oversights. I add as many as possible to accomodate.
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#2272383 - 06/24/08 09:20 AM
Re: No country for old men...but I'm staying anyway
[Re: Elf]
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1akhunter
Campfire Outfitter
Registered: 09/27/03
Posts: 9935
Loc: Fairbanks, Alaska a piece down...
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didn't even take the camera Elf, my bad.
_________________________
"This ain't dress rehearsal....it's the life you get to live, make it a good one."
some folks that can't make a compelling argument, enjoy pointing out typos, errors of grammar and spelling oversights. I add as many as possible to accomodate.
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#2272420 - 06/24/08 09:44 AM
Re: No country for old men...but I'm staying anyway
[Re: 1akhunter]
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ironbender
Campfire 'Bwana
Registered: 12/08/03
Posts: 11506
Loc: Kenai Peninsula
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las has it right, hard to catch fish w/out a net in the water.
Yep! There were times slow enough I had to coax myself into staying in the water with "another 30 minutes or one more fish..."
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If you take the time it takes, it takes less time.
Pat Parelli
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#2276859 - 06/26/08 11:21 AM
Re: No country for old men...but I'm staying anyway
[Re: Barkoff]
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Uncas
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Registered: 02/04/05
Posts: 671
Loc: Kansas and Alaska
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Yup, 'done the drive from Eagle river, dipped until done and drived the 260 miles back, stopping in Kenny Lake for grub, gas and more ice (and checking in to assure bird numbers are in good shape for fall). Never occured to me to stop for a nap, however!..AK ROCKS.
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Watch 'Yer Topknot!
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#2278005 - 06/26/08 09:52 PM
Re: No country for old men...but I'm staying anyway
[Re: Uncas]
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las
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Registered: 06/26/01
Posts: 5877
Loc: Soldotna, AK
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Are we Alaskans tough, or just plain too dumb to know when to quit enjoying ourselves??
Pat McManus's "A Fine and Pleasant Misery" is spoken up here!
_________________________
"Where do they find young men like this?" Reporter Savidge, Iraq
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#2278075 - 06/26/08 10:56 PM
Re: No country for old men...but I'm staying anyway
[Re: las]
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1akhunter
Campfire Outfitter
Registered: 09/27/03
Posts: 9935
Loc: Fairbanks, Alaska a piece down...
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I got to vote for the dumb side of it las, at least personally, but it's a razors edge between dumb and tough somedays.
_________________________
"This ain't dress rehearsal....it's the life you get to live, make it a good one."
some folks that can't make a compelling argument, enjoy pointing out typos, errors of grammar and spelling oversights. I add as many as possible to accomodate.
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#2278090 - 06/26/08 11:19 PM
Re: No country for old men...but I'm staying anyway
[Re: 1akhunter]
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las
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Registered: 06/26/01
Posts: 5877
Loc: Soldotna, AK
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Optimist!
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"Where do they find young men like this?" Reporter Savidge, Iraq
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