Here is a map snippet that shows the general route for this trip:
And here is a little more detail of the Shrimp Bay / Klu Bay connection at the very end. This map snippet also shows a little bit of Orchard Lake, which I attempted to fish.
You can see that you must pass through Shrimp Bay to enter Klu Bay.
I left Bar Harbor at about 7:15 AM in clear, calm, cool conditions.
Almost immediately I saw a photo op. One of my many faults is that I sometimes am in too much of a hurry to reach my destination and am unwilling to stop for photos. On this trip I made myself a promise to not do that and to take my time and not be in a hurry to get there.
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| Eagle on nav aid at Lewis Reef |
Tongass Narrows was FAC, but there was a lot of debris in the water from recent extreme tides.
About 10 AM I stopped in front of Naha Bay to try some bottom fishing on a halibut hole I know about there. It was dead calm so did not need to anchor, just drift fished. Excellent conditions, but not so excellent results. After an hour and a half of jigging, and sore biceps, I continued on my way.
Passed the entrances to Traitors Cove and Neets Bay in near FAC conditions.
Had a good lunch while underway. My former step-son Steven and I used to say "There's nothing better than lunch on the boat."
About 1:30 PM I stopped again, this time just around the corner from Brow Point, and tried some bottom fishing again. Same results as before, so moved on.
About 2:50 PM, just before entering Shrimp Bay, I stopped yet one more time in my quest to have fresh halibut for dinner. I did manage to jig up a small Turbot, but tossed him back.
About 3:30 PM I dropped my 3 shrimp pots (on one ground line) in about 460' of water in the middle of Shrimp Bay. I have done well here in the past. Who'd have thunk it - shrimp in Shrimp Bay!
There is a pair of side by waterfalls at the tail end of Shrimp Bay, just before you make the turn into Klu Bay. Here is a shot of one of them:
I went through the narrow passage into Klu Bay and tied to the mooring buoy there at about 4 PM.
I had logged 42.4 nm to this point.
These mooring buoys are great. The USFS has them scattered around at various places, sometimes near a cabin that can be rented, and sometimes not. The only problem with them is that they are first come, first served, so you can never really count on getting one when you need it. In some of the bays, like Klu Bay, it's not a big deal, because you can just go anchor nearby. But in other locations the nearby area is just too deep for a small pleasure craft like mine to be able to anchor. But this time of year not many boats are about so I was pretty sure I'd get this one.
About 6:30 PM I started on dinner, which this evening consisted of hamburgers cooked on the Foreman Grill, green salad, and chips.
While cleaning up the dinner dishes I watched "I Love You To Death," a comedy with Kevin Kline on my iPad.
After that I played some guitar, and then hit the sack about 10 PM.
A very quiet and restful evening. When you're on the mooring buoy you don't really have to worry about your anchor dragging.
On Saturday I was up at about 6:30 AM. It was raining lightly from overcast skies, but it was calm.
After a quick breakfast I got my gear ready for an excursion up to Orchard Lake. I had done some trout fishing there before, but never this early in the year, so did not really know what to expect. But it was an adventure, and that's what I came for.
I dropped the raft, mounted the 4 HP kicker, fueled it up, and got all my hiking and fishing gear ready.
The trail head to the lake is right next to the waterfalls in Shrimp Bay. It's a little more of a raft ride than I would normally take when I am alone, but I prepared well and I did have both the Spot Messenger and the Delorme InReach with me, so I figured if I did get into trouble I could signal for help.
I did make it up to the very end of Orchard Lake, but had to bust through some deep snow on parts of the trail. Unfortunately it was raining hard, which makes it hard to take pictures. I did manage to get a few casts in and land some small trout (cutthroats), which I tossed back in. Here is a pic of the end of the lake where I was fishing. You can see some skim ice in the back part of the pic.
Oh yes, and I neglected to mention - never arrive at the trail head to Orchard Lake at a -2.1 tide! Of course I knew the stage of the tide, but did not know it would be such a challenge to get the raft high enough up the beach to tie it off, even with a long line. I have small wheels on my raft intended to make it easier to move it on shore, but the rocks were huge and the beach was steep, so it took me awhile, and I worked up quite a sweat. In hind sight I'd have been better off to come back at a higher tide. Next time.
Before I left the area I floated the raft near the waterfalls and got a couple of better pictures of them.
I got back to the boat about 1 PM and had a good lunch.
About 2 PM I pulled away from the mooring buoy and motored through to Shrimp Bay and pulled my shrimp pots. Got a good load of about 140 shrimp, so I reset the pots in the same location.
I discovered when I went to behead the shrimp that a recent basketball injury to my left thumb caused a problem. About half my left thumb nail had been ripped away during recent basketball play, and I was unable to behead them the way that I normally did - so I used a knife and cutting board this time. Slower, but just as effective.
Whiled away the rest of the short afternoon, and then had a dinner essentially the same as the night before. I am a simple man, with simple needs.
After I had cleaned up from dinner I watched "Life of Pi" on the iPad. It was fine, but as an avid reader I almost always think the book is better than the movie, and once again thought so in this case.
Bed at 10 PM - very quiet.
Easter Sunday morning
I was up at 6:30 AM. Weather was very calm, cool, and partly cloudy.
The bay was absolutely beautiful, and I took a few shots, which I will share with you here. These were taken between about 6:15 AM and 7:30 AM, just before I pulled away from the mooring buoy.
On this one you can just see a little bit of skim ice in the back of the bay. The water was so calm in here that the little section between Klu Bay and Shrimp Bay had skim ice in it and I had to slice through it to make my exit.
I pulled away from the mooring buoy at 8 AM.
Pulled the shrimp pots again getting about 90 this time.
9:15 AM headed South towards town.
Light winds in Behm Canal, with very light chop. Sunny and clear weather.
Had an uneventful but pleasurable ride south in Behm Canal. The water kicked up just a little in front of Traitors Cove, but then settled down again as I passed Naha Bay.
Got into the stall at about 2:30 PM, with total mileage logged for this trip about 87.3 nm.
Another successful adventure aboard Faraway.
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