Searching for silvers

Continuing some thoughts from last week’s column, Alaska Department of Fish and Game issued a third news release late last week expanding the coho daily bag limit from two fish to three for Wasilla, Cottonwood, and Fish creeks. They also added Mondays to the weekend only fisheries at Wasilla and Cottonwood creeks, making legal fishing on Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays now. Fish Creek was expanded to seven days a week for sport fishing. All other regulations for these systems remain the same.

The news release further states, “Coho salmon runs to certain small streams within Knik Arm to date are strong. As of August 5, 859 coho salmon have passed the Fish Creek weir (as I write this, there are more than 2,070 fish counted). Based on average run timing and current weir counts, the department projects escapement to exceed the sustainable escapement goal of 1,200 to 4,400 fish. Previous studies indicate a strong correlation in run size between coho salmon runs to Fish Creek and runs to Cottonwood and Wasilla creeks.”

I’ve been out bank fishing for coho twice so far. I hope to get the riverboat out this week and next. However, I have yet to hook a silver.

Why?

My timing when fishing on one trip was poor. The sun was brightly shining, it was late afternoon, and the temperatures were into the high 80’s to low 90’s. I was sweating just sitting on the river bank. I was also using some old bait which I’m guessing just didn’t appeal to the fish.

My second trip saw me out on a different river for some morning (not early, though) fishing. This time I used some much fresher and softer bait. I had several nibbles. Finally, after a series of light bites, I decided to see if there was any bait left on the hook. I gave the line a quick jerk, just in case, and much to my surprise, reeled in a fat, about 12-inch rainbow trout. The fish had completely swallowed the hook and bait so there was little chance it would escape, but I didn’t know that at the time I was reeling in the fish. That rainbow plus a king jack from earlier in the season became dinner that evening.

While I have caught silvers while bank fishing, I’ve generally done better over the years if I can fish out of my riverboat. Most of the bank fishing access I can negotiate with my somewhat restricted mobility usually involves crowded conditions and the good holes being on the other side of the river. Having to cast across the river makes it harder to work the holes for bottom hugging coho. With a boat, I can usually position myself to take full advantage of placing a bait in the best part of the hole and maintaining the bait in that position until a fish bites.

Another unusual aspect of my two trips is that there have been no other anglers competing with me in the specific locations I fished. The hot and dusty trip is understandable — the weather conditions were far from optimal and I was the only one getting sunburn. The second trip saw other fishers present, but they were all upstream a quarter-mile or more from my location. I had a lovely gravel beach on my side of the river stretching for almost 75-yards around a bend, so I had the ability to work two or three holes on the far bank, using a heavier in-line weight to hold the bait in place. Using that heavy weight is probably why I didn’t feel the rainbow after it swallowed the bait.

Since we didn’t get much fishing in last year, I had forgotten just how peaceful and almost therapeutic just sitting on the bank holding a fishing rod and waiting for a bite can be. Fishing from a boat can be almost as peaceful, except for the constant vigil of watching to make sure the anchor isn’t dragging or rocking and rolling from the wakes as other boats move by my location. However, even the boat fishing beats most other things I can think of for peacefulness.

I had to go back and count, but last week’s column marked the beginning of my 14th year writing this column. I’m both pleased and humbled that the Frontiersman editorial staff and you, the readers, have been willing to “listen” to my comments, thoughts, and opinions over that long period of time. Thank you for allowing me this opportunity.