Combat fishing is just no fun

My wife excitedly called over that she had a hookup. I reeled in my line, laid down the rod, and picked up the landing net and fish club. After a good fight, my wife reeled the 12-pound silver salmon in close enough that I was able to net it. A quick bop on the head and another coho was added to our stringer of fish.

I went back to casting the Tee-Spoon lure I was using and quickly had my own fish fight happening. We traded tasks as my wife scooped up the silver dollar bright coho with sea lice still attached. I clubbed the fish and it was also added to the stringer. When we were done fishing that day, we took home 12 bright and shiny silvers. That was close to all the fish we would need that winter.

Were we poaching?

No, everything was perfectly legal, but if we had been, we would have gotten away with it. We were the only two anglers fishing in the entire bay that evening.

That trip happened many years ago in Kitoi Bay, located on the southeast side of Afognak Island. We were fishing in saltwater where the individual daily bag limit was six cohos each. Fishing time was short that year and this was the main “meat for the freezer” fishing trip. With the fish averaging around ten pounds each, we were in good shape going into the deer hunting season. I had already landed enough dime-bright pink salmon earlier that year to fill in any gaps we might find in the freezer stocking.

This was the normal occurrence for us over the nine years we spent living and working on Afognak Island. When we went rainbow trout fishing in the freshwaters of Big Kitoi Lake, we also had the entire lake to ourselves, except for the occasional brown bear we encountered swimming in the lake or hanging out on the island in the middle of the lake.

Moving to the Valley 26 years ago and being on the road system was a culture shock for us both. I had been living and working in remote locations for the state for something like 15 years prior to that, so learning to deal with the crowds while hunting, fishing or trapping was a new experience.

The first time we drove up to Willow Creek State Recreation Area to try bank fishing for king salmon was a real eye-opener! We had heard of combat fishing, but had never actually seen an example. We watched in semi-shock as anglers stood shoulder-to-shoulder, casting over each other, yelling at the lucky angler playing a king to hurry up and get the fish landed or they would cut the line so they could go back to fishing, and other rude interactions. We never took the fishing gear out of the vehicle. We drove home shaking our heads and wondering if we would ever fish again!

I quickly figured out that a boat would allow us to escape the masses. That was true for a short while and then everybody else figured out the same thing. The good thing about a boat was that if the area we were fishing became too crowded, we could always pull anchor and move someplace else.

We did that a lot as we learned the Valley’s river systems!

Over the last seven or eight years, between my wife dealing with bad health and poor king returns along with erratic silver runs, we haven’t been fishing as much as before. I still try to get out on occasion and, over the past couple of years, started chartering with a good friend and fishing guide for my king salmon trips. I’m looking to shift my own boat over more toward lake fishing. An electric winch for retrieving the boat onto the trailer would be a great help, since I’m not getting any younger!

Maybe next year!

I got up at “dawn-thirty” this past Wednesday to try fishing for cohos on the incoming tide on Fish Creek. I figured there would be other anglers present, but I was hoping they would all be down toward the mouth of the creek. I like fishing upstream of the highway.

I arrived about 6:15 a.m. and was the 18th vehicle to park near the water. There were already at least three guys fishing exactly where I had hoped to go. I returned to my truck and headed home.

I guess I’m still spoiled from the “old days!”

Howard Delo is a retired fisheries biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. This column is the opinion of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman or its parent company, Wick Communications. You can leave Delo a message by emailing sports@frontiersman.com.