Alaskan Sea-Duction: Time to Catch Up and to Fish

After dumping $1500 in fuel cost at Shearwater, we staged in Fury Cove which is the last protective anchorage to cross Cape Caution. Getting into the cove proved to be a challenge as a heavy fog bank came in and blocked the entrance. So it was all about radar and charts. Going slow helped too. The entrance is very narrow, so the closer we got (within a 1/4 mile) the more uptight I got. Then as if a switch was thrown, the fog bank stopped we had clear sunny skies and my butt pucker factor dropped significantly. The we were treated to an awesome sunset.

The next day around Cape Caution which wasn't that big of a deal. We had 3 foot swells, but they were far apart. We decided to go straight to Sullivan Bay in the Broughtons as we had full fuel tanks and no need to go all the way over to Port McNeil. Sullivan Bay is always one of our favorite placed to go and spend a few days to unwind and relax with our friends from Pairadice, John and Tracy.

http://www.sullivanbaymarina.com/

A few days of hang 'in and time to our next anchorage. A little hole in the side of the mountain called Kwatsi Bay. On the way to the anchorage, John decided to troll for salmon as they were jumping everywhere. So he slowed down and threw a line. Not a long wait he was fighting the largest salmon he had ever hooked! Tracy got the net ready by pulling the handle out. John traded with her and took the net while she held the pole. He was instructing Tracy to lift the pole higher so he could get it into the net! One big dip and the monster was in the net! He went to lift the net by the handle and the net fell off of the handle and back into the water! Oh crap! John grabs the pole away from Tracy and the fish is free of the net as John watches his net float away. Now what to do. He was able to get the fish onto the swim platform and there both man and fish were wore out! We almost. When John stepped onto the swim platform the fish came back to life and with one big last performance, all John had left was a bare hook........

On the way in to Kwatsi, John and I dropped our shrimp traps and we anchored directly across from the dock. Although we have never tied up here, we hear it is a nice place. That evening we were treated to a black bear sow and a cub wondering around the anchorage lifting rocks looking for food. John and I tried some fishing but I think they were all scared of jumping into a broke net! No shrimp in the pots either. Wonder if fish communicate with fish??

Our next stop was Lagoon Cove. Kay and I have never been here, so it was a new adventure. The place had a new owner, Jim. The web page below still has to catch up.

http://lagooncovemarina.com/?v=4326ce96e26c

Upon docking John and I started to notice people bringing in lots of fish! Wow is this the jackpot? We started the next day and we trolled along the edge of the islands. John was able to loose fish and actually hang on to them due to the excellent highly trained and experienced netter....ME! But what gives? All the strikes and bites came from Kay's side of the dink. No strikes on my side! These fish are very bright Cohos. Why am I not catching fish? I have changed lures, depths and anything else that might work.

We decided to stay another day as we still have a little room in the freezer. Today was my lucky day! I landed a 13lb Coho and a 10.5lb winter king! I had heard about winter kings, but never caught one. This was a treat. The meat is white, not red like the other salmon.