Post by scansy on Sept 9, 2007 9:36:56 GMT -5
Well, I finally got around to posting these pictures. We were in Alaska from 8/23 through 9/1. We were staying in Cooper Landing - it's about 100 miles from Anchorage.
These first few are from Quartz Creek. It's the stream we had the best luck with trout. There were dollys all over the place. The first day there, we fished all morning and caught prolly 50 or so each - and none under 14". We had some that were 24" - five pounds or so. heck of a fight on a 5 weight fly rod. In one of the pictures, you can see a bunch of dead sockeye salmon. They were all over the place - alive, dead, spawning, done spawning and waiting to die. The trout (dollys and rainbows) just gorge on the eggs and the wildlife feed on the fish. One picture is the seagulls - they were always around. This creek had a smell of rotting flesh everytime we were there.
These next couple are from the Russian River. It's the most popular place in Alaska for Sockeye fishing. We were there at the tail end of the run, so there weren't too many people there - but I saw pictures of the peak of the run and guys are fishing maybe 10 feet apart for as far as you can see.
The red fish in the water are sockeyes - I can see nine all pretty close together. And this is the end of the run - not enough to fish for.
This next bunch is from a fly-in trip we took across Cook Inlet to a part of Alaska that you can only fly in to. We were fishing for salmon within a few hundred yards of the ocean. It was low tide when we got there and we were there through a whole cycle.
Right after we got there, I found a set of tracks from a brown bear - actually there were tracks everywhere. I was glad that I had the flare and Carl had his .44
The scenery was awesome
Then I found a pile of bear scat. Thank god there was no human bones in it.
Then we saw a bear - it was pretty far away though.
But it got closer.....
And closer......
Carl shot the .44 near it to try to scare it away, but it just sat there. Eventually, the bear just went away. Then, this guy came out - I figured the trappers here would like it.
Then, the dang bear came back. It was funny, it's front right paw was injured and it was hopping around on three legs. But we figured he was about 500 lbs anyway. He's in this picture - look below/right of the driftwood. This is a shot looking out over the ocean.
Took a couple of scenery shots that I thought looked good.
Then, the bear was on the move again.
I got a shot of Carl and the bear in the shot together so you could see how close it was. The creek is maybe 20-30 yards wide here. Of couse I was smart enough to not turn my back to the bear - convinced Carl to do it instead.
At that point, we got tired of keeping our eyes on the bear so I took one of the flares, waded about halfway across and set it off. It was somewhere between a road flare and a roman candle. Lots of fire/sparks and smoke. The bear ran away - it was more scared of that than the .44.
I took a bunch of pictures of the bear - that's the great part of digital camera - you can store a ton of pictures and sort through them at home later. This one is my favorite.
When the tide was at it's highest point, we did see a seal. He was very shy and tough to get a picture of. You can see him (or is it her? ) in this picture. It's head is right in the middle of the creek.
Then, I saw something else swimming in the water - but what the heck is that?
Here it is after it climbed up on shore - a porcupine. Never saw one of them swim before.
Anyway, when we were in the plane - one of those 8 seater types - I took some pictues of the shoreline. Here are some of the better ones.
Here's one of the plane landing - you can see the pilots head. We had to land on the beach. That's why you have to get there and leave during low tide.
One day we did a float trip on the Kenai River trying to catch big rainbows. Here is my dad and them me with a couple of the bigger ones. Mine is prolly about 4 pounds - my dads is more like 7 or so. Carl caught one that was about 8 - but somehow I didn't get a picture of that one.
This picture is a couple of silver salmon caught a few days later on the Russian River. They will be good eating.
On the last day in, we had to leave and start towards Anchorage, but had time before our flight so went to a town called Hope - its across the Turnagin Arm from Anchorage - it's about 15 miles across the arm, but 100 miles by car. There is almost nothing here - but great scenery.
Then we went to Whittier. It leads to the Prince William Sound. The millitary put a base here in the WW II era. They get a ton of snow here - it's kind of like lake effect, but really it's ocean effect. One year, it was so bad the military had to pull out. You can only drive there through a tunnel that is 2 miles long and one lane. They alternate directions every half hour or so. But when we got there, we saw a cruise ship. This is now a stop for those Alaskan cruises. It's very touristy feeling - trendy shops and stuff. It's also about 50 miles from Anchorage and there are a lot of personal boats docked here for going into the Sound.
They also had a sign at one of the piers - don't feed the sea lions.
This last picture is of Portage Lake - on the other side of the tunnel from Whittier. It's all glacier fed and the temperature on the shores was at least 10 degrees colder than anywhere else around. And the water was cold too - and there were chunks of glaciers floating around. The building is a visitor's center.
Anyway, that's all of the pictures I want to post. (I have about 150, but these are the better ones).
We really lucked out on the weather. It was like 50 or so in the mornings - fishing with long sleeves. Most days, by 11:00, I was in short sleeves. It rained twice - but only in the late afternoon/evening. We were in the rain for maybe two hours total the whole week.
These first few are from Quartz Creek. It's the stream we had the best luck with trout. There were dollys all over the place. The first day there, we fished all morning and caught prolly 50 or so each - and none under 14". We had some that were 24" - five pounds or so. heck of a fight on a 5 weight fly rod. In one of the pictures, you can see a bunch of dead sockeye salmon. They were all over the place - alive, dead, spawning, done spawning and waiting to die. The trout (dollys and rainbows) just gorge on the eggs and the wildlife feed on the fish. One picture is the seagulls - they were always around. This creek had a smell of rotting flesh everytime we were there.
These next couple are from the Russian River. It's the most popular place in Alaska for Sockeye fishing. We were there at the tail end of the run, so there weren't too many people there - but I saw pictures of the peak of the run and guys are fishing maybe 10 feet apart for as far as you can see.
The red fish in the water are sockeyes - I can see nine all pretty close together. And this is the end of the run - not enough to fish for.
This next bunch is from a fly-in trip we took across Cook Inlet to a part of Alaska that you can only fly in to. We were fishing for salmon within a few hundred yards of the ocean. It was low tide when we got there and we were there through a whole cycle.
Right after we got there, I found a set of tracks from a brown bear - actually there were tracks everywhere. I was glad that I had the flare and Carl had his .44
The scenery was awesome
Then I found a pile of bear scat. Thank god there was no human bones in it.
Then we saw a bear - it was pretty far away though.
But it got closer.....
And closer......
Carl shot the .44 near it to try to scare it away, but it just sat there. Eventually, the bear just went away. Then, this guy came out - I figured the trappers here would like it.
Then, the dang bear came back. It was funny, it's front right paw was injured and it was hopping around on three legs. But we figured he was about 500 lbs anyway. He's in this picture - look below/right of the driftwood. This is a shot looking out over the ocean.
Took a couple of scenery shots that I thought looked good.
Then, the bear was on the move again.
I got a shot of Carl and the bear in the shot together so you could see how close it was. The creek is maybe 20-30 yards wide here. Of couse I was smart enough to not turn my back to the bear - convinced Carl to do it instead.
At that point, we got tired of keeping our eyes on the bear so I took one of the flares, waded about halfway across and set it off. It was somewhere between a road flare and a roman candle. Lots of fire/sparks and smoke. The bear ran away - it was more scared of that than the .44.
I took a bunch of pictures of the bear - that's the great part of digital camera - you can store a ton of pictures and sort through them at home later. This one is my favorite.
When the tide was at it's highest point, we did see a seal. He was very shy and tough to get a picture of. You can see him (or is it her? ) in this picture. It's head is right in the middle of the creek.
Then, I saw something else swimming in the water - but what the heck is that?
Here it is after it climbed up on shore - a porcupine. Never saw one of them swim before.
Anyway, when we were in the plane - one of those 8 seater types - I took some pictues of the shoreline. Here are some of the better ones.
Here's one of the plane landing - you can see the pilots head. We had to land on the beach. That's why you have to get there and leave during low tide.
One day we did a float trip on the Kenai River trying to catch big rainbows. Here is my dad and them me with a couple of the bigger ones. Mine is prolly about 4 pounds - my dads is more like 7 or so. Carl caught one that was about 8 - but somehow I didn't get a picture of that one.
This picture is a couple of silver salmon caught a few days later on the Russian River. They will be good eating.
On the last day in, we had to leave and start towards Anchorage, but had time before our flight so went to a town called Hope - its across the Turnagin Arm from Anchorage - it's about 15 miles across the arm, but 100 miles by car. There is almost nothing here - but great scenery.
Then we went to Whittier. It leads to the Prince William Sound. The millitary put a base here in the WW II era. They get a ton of snow here - it's kind of like lake effect, but really it's ocean effect. One year, it was so bad the military had to pull out. You can only drive there through a tunnel that is 2 miles long and one lane. They alternate directions every half hour or so. But when we got there, we saw a cruise ship. This is now a stop for those Alaskan cruises. It's very touristy feeling - trendy shops and stuff. It's also about 50 miles from Anchorage and there are a lot of personal boats docked here for going into the Sound.
They also had a sign at one of the piers - don't feed the sea lions.
This last picture is of Portage Lake - on the other side of the tunnel from Whittier. It's all glacier fed and the temperature on the shores was at least 10 degrees colder than anywhere else around. And the water was cold too - and there were chunks of glaciers floating around. The building is a visitor's center.
Anyway, that's all of the pictures I want to post. (I have about 150, but these are the better ones).
We really lucked out on the weather. It was like 50 or so in the mornings - fishing with long sleeves. Most days, by 11:00, I was in short sleeves. It rained twice - but only in the late afternoon/evening. We were in the rain for maybe two hours total the whole week.