Chasing the King

We had arrangements to take a 6 hour fishing trip with Driftwood Charters today for King Salmon. Armed with lunch we're off to the dock at 8AM. We met Jen Taylor and walked to the Driftwood Lady, a neat red and white fishing boat. On board was her husband Carl, who used to fish the East coast, and their new son Quinn (21 months). Quinn was adorable and was a fantastic little seaman. He is newly adopted by Jen and Carl and they make a pretty special family.

Carl has captained fishing vessels for a long time. We left the dock knowing the King's had not been hitting very well. They were running very late. We enjoyed a cloudless day under azure blue skys and glacier green waters. We tried a number of places for several hours. Finally a hit! I caught a 26" King, but the limit is 28", so back into the water he went...after we took his picture.

Enjoying the mountain views we watched a beautiful glacier waterfall cascade over the rocks at the bottom of the Chilkoot Mountains into the Lynn Canal. An appearance by a Humpback Whale provided some excitement, but he was gone as fast as he appeared.

We've now been out quite a few hours when a boat comes charging across the inlet toward us. It's the Coast Guard and State Police! They board, check papers, licenses and wish us luck! Hopefully they are a lucky charm.

We head in to the harbor as we've been out now for 6 hours and 10 minutes... suddenly a hit! Ken grabbed the pole (his turn) and brought in a beautiful 33" 19 lb. King - Yeah success! It was pretty and just starting to turn a green color as it was getting ready to spawn. We learned the salmon find their way up the waterways through the cloudy silt by smell. Each inlet has it's own scent!

We brought the fish in, Carl cut us fillets and we'll have plenty to put in the freezer. It was really nice just having the two of us on board.

Of course we cooked salmon for dinner and it was yummy. After dinner we hung out at camp and later went to the Blue Moose for ice cream.

It was a good day.

Note: We highly recommend Driftwood Charters if you are going to Haines. they knowledgeable, professional, and reasonable.

Pictures: Glacier waterfall (2), Little sailor Quinn, View while fishing Lynn Canal, Whale fluke in Lynn Canal, My King Salmon, Ken's King, The Taylors