First off, I want to thank Susan for making me relive my fishing experience in Valdez simply for enjoyment of others. Secondly, I wish to thank Uncle Karl and my Dad for supplying me with the tools I needed to ensure I was able to fish for days on end, if required. The vision of coolers full of fresh salmon being delivered from my fishing line directly to doorsteps across America was like an addiction right from the first cast. What is that motto they are using against drug use?, “Not even Once!” Well, it’s way too late now. The Silver Salmon were running, 3 weeks late this year, and just in time for our arrival. License in my pocket, pole and tackle in my hands, I was off for the pier. It was 12:53pm, I remember it well. My first cast into the cold waters of the bay using the best looking lure in the tackle box was perfect, right where I wanted it and right where I KNEW the salmon would be the thickest. I could see the salmon in the water, they were everywhere, but somehow they resisted my good-looking lure. Inconceivable! I shifted my way down the bank towards an area with an especially large number of salmon breaking the water surface. Again I cast, again they resist. Tony, a local 5th grader comes down by me and sees all the fish and says he’s going to catch one, “good luck”, I think. And ya know… before I could get my next cast untangled from the seaweed he yells out, “I GOT ONE!” Sure enough he pulls in a nice 20” salmon and then says, “Excuse me, Jim? Could you help me?”
I have now somehow become the official hook remover for Tony as he pulls in 4 or 5 nice size fish one right after the other. I’m thinking, “Dude. You really have to figure out how to do this yourself.” I manage to find a moment to make my escape and move out onto the pier to try my luck out in the open water a bit more. Tony’s older brother, Mikhail (a 6th grader), is fishing out on the pier as well and begins to educate me on the finer points of fishing for “Silvers”. Turns out you don’t even need to cast that great looking lure out at all, simply release the line, let the lure drop to the bottom, then pull it up a little and just wiggle it a bit… “Like this”. Wouldn’t you know it, he latched onto a nice fish that takes his line for a run and then spits the hook. Ok… I’m in! Drop down, Pull up a little & Wiggle. Drop down, Pull up a little & Wiggle.
Seems so simple.
It’s a beautiful day in Valdez by any standard. One guy in shorts walks by and I make a comment that any day you can wear shorts is a good day. He replies, “Yep, 5th day this summer!” Wow, did we luck out, being here on such a day. Mikhail and I continue to fish off the pier and exchange fishing theories as Tony continues to catch fish off the shore and lure some unsuspecting onlooker into doing the dirty work. Even Susan got sucked in but was able to get out after just one. Mikhail gave me a bigger sinker and I put on the second best looking lure in my box. At this point I decide it is time to light up my lone cigar and channel the fishing friends of mine, namely Dave, Uncle Karl and, my brother, Ralf. Now I have a winning combination for sure. I cast out several times anxious for my first hit. One cast was reeling in a bit harder than the previous couple hundred but I thought it was only more seaweed. But as I pulled the lure from the water I saw a wonderful sight on the hook… a nice 6” Bullhead. Now, I'm not quite sure what a Bullhead is, but Mikhail assured me that was indeed a Bullhead. Oh Golly, I'm hot now! Unfortunately, I was too excited to stop and get a picture of this trophy and quickly returned it back to the water so I could begin casting again. Susan came over about this time and I informed her of my success and she seemed quite pleased. It was close to 5pm at this point as Mikhail and Tony had to be home. I was now on my own but I think I have enough information to really get serious and get down to business.
I move down the pier and try my luck in different locations before thinking I should move back on shore where everyone else has been fishing all day. Susan accompanies me in my move and offers her suggestions for where I could try next. It was good having Susan there to help as she was instrumental in rescuing my lure which somehow had found its way into the back of a boat across the water. As we are trying one more spot from the pier, a fellow on shore starts pulling in a couple nice size Silvers. We decide to head over by where he is and try there. At this point I am thinking that I am done with the pretty lures and I am going with the local method… snagging. Snagging requires a LOT less talent and a LOT more luck. Since there are so many fish in the water all you have to do to snag them is to put a BIG treble-hook on your line, cast it out and yank it quickly back through the water. Every couple casts you get lucky and your hook gets caught on an unsuspecting fish and Waa-La! You have dinner. Again… seems so simple.
Round-a-bout 8pm, I talk to the little kid fishing not far from me who is all excited about catching his 17th Silver and says, “They’re running right now!” “Whatever”. Susan and I stand on shore watching fish jumping all around where I am casting. “Over there” she says, “Try down that way”.
At one point I reel in my cast and find a poor little fish, about 4” long, that was unlucky enough to be in the way of my hook as I pulled it back in. I mean this thing wasn’t even big enough to be bait! How can I manage to hook a 4” minnow and not be able to snag a 20” Salmon? Let’s just say we’re lucky that we are not relying on my fishing skills to survive up here. I cast out a couple more times and all of a sudden I got a good one! This thing is fighting and jumping I find myself using all the knowledge I have acquired from hours of fishing with a 6th grader. I manage to get the monster Silver out of the water and up on to shore and request some assistance from Susan who is actively documenting the whole experience.
I reach down to secure my prize when it looked me in the eye, quickly removed my hook from its body, gave me a that “Sucker” look and flopped itself back into the water. Come to think of it, Mikhail never actually told me what to do if I did manage to catch a fish. But now… with newly adapted strategies in place, I go back to work. It’s getting dark and Susan is ready to change dinner plans to macaroni & cheese, but I am not one to quit after only 8-1/2 hours of casting… nope, not me, I've only just begun. With a new sense of purpose, I cast defiantly out into the bay............................................... Nothing.
Susan decides to head back to Thumper to start heating the water for the macaroni as I continue my efforts.
It was just about dark when my line went tight as I reeled it in from the last cast. My heart pounded as this Silver did its best to eject the hook that was imbedded in its tail. It jumped and thrashed as the crowds on the boardwalk above were cheering me on and hoping they could go home soon. I was able to get this beauty to the shore and then walked straight backwards pulling it onto the bank, up the hill, across the street and to the grassy area where I felt confident it could not make it back to the water on its own. Finally, after 8 hours, 56 minutes and 23 seconds, I have dinner… and if our freezer works, a couple other meals. I took it up to the cleaning station and proceeded to do my best to respectfully fillet it. Susan stepped in at one point and tried her hand at it to see if we could actually get a decent fillet off of this fish or if we really just needed to be happy with the chunky pieces. In the end we decided that we really needed to apologize to the fish.
So was my day on the shores of Valdez. Our salmon was wonderful and we did get three good meals from it. But I just want you all to know that you can quit waiting for that cooler full of salmon to arrive at your doorstep.
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