This trip was supposed to be an armada of several boats and many people from my place of employment, First Bank, based in Ketchikan. We have made this type of trip in the past, and while I would not want a steady diet of them, they are indeed enjoyable in small doses.
The plan was to take several boats and lots of people and go around our island, Revilagigedo. One of our group had reserved the USFS cabins at Winstanley Island and at Anchor Pass so that we could use one or both of them as a base and also have a place for people to sleep if there was overflow from the boats.
The "round the island adventure" was planned to start on Thursday the 4th of July, with the return to town planned for Sunday afternoon. On Tuesday of that week people started bailing out, and so there were only two boats left in, mine and one other. I was supposed to take some riders, since my wife could not make this trip, but I ended up solo once again.
We decided to reduce the scope a little and only go up the western side of the island, and not circumnavigate on this trip. Here is a map snippet that shows my general route. On the way home I did pull into Traitors Cove for some bottom fishing, and also spent the last night at the Naha, and those detours do not show on this route.
I fired up the engines at 7:20 AM on the 4th and pulled out at 7:30 AM.
Weather was overcast, with occasional rain, and light NW winds.
I passed these colorful kayakers in Clover Pass. They seemed to be enjoying their time on the water this morning.
The run North in western Behm Canal was fine, with just a little bit of chop from time to time.
There were lots of commercial power trollers in the Traitors Cove, Neets Bay area. The ADF&G (Alaska Department of Fish and Game) manages that area very closely as there is a salmon hatchery in Neets Bay.
At about 2 PM I came into the area of Behm Narrows, near the northern part of the island. The other boat that I was planning to meet had left town on Wednesday and is a much faster boat than mine, so I knew they were already in the area somewhere. I tried to contact them by VHF radio but got no response.
As I was fairly near the final destination, the mooring buoy at the USFS cabin in Anchor Pass, and I did not really want to just sit on the buoy and wait, I decided to do some salmon trolling. This area is well known for good salmon fishing, and there were several small 18' runabouts from the Yes Bay Lodge in the area. There were also a couple of smaller private boats trolling in the area so I decided to give it a try.
Trolling on my boat while solo is not easy. There is no back deck steering station and it is very hard to get the gear set, watch the rod, and control the boat all at the same time.
In short order I landed a Pink salmon, which I released, hoping for something a little more substantial.
About 3:15 PM I had not gotten a hit in awhile so I decided to bring my downrigger up and check to make sure I still had bait. I cranked the downrigger up from about 40', but had not yet taken up the slack on the fishing rod when the downrigger cable bumped a little, and I realized that the line had just popped off the cable and I had a hit. Of course all that slack line was not good, but there was nothing I could do about it at that point.
The fish started running and just taking line. I could not slow him down or even turn him for awhile. At one point I had to set the rod in the rod holder and run up to the helm station to maneuver the boat. There were a lot of boats in the area and the tide runs strong there, so I had to get out of their way as I played this fish.
Finally I got him turned around and started gaining line.
Netting a salmon by yourself is also a challenge. The length of the leader and gear on the rod means that you cannot reel it up very tight to the rod tip - there is a lot of line out. So you have to hold the rod as high as you possibly can above your head with one arm, while with the other arm stretching out as far as you can with the net to try to get the fish. It helps a lot if the fish cooperates with this process, which this one did.
Here are a couple of pictures of the King salmon that I landed. I do not carry a scale on board but his length was 37". Taking the picture of myself with the fish was also a challenge since I had to set up a tripod on a rolling boat.
I'm almost as proud of getting this photo as I am of getting the fish.
I have not targeted Kings for a number of years, so it had been awhile since I caught one this size. It sure was a lot of fun, and I may start fishing Kings again next spring.
After landing this fish I pulled the trolling gear and headed to the mooring buoy at Anchor Pass. I knew I had some work to do to process this fish and I wanted to do it while tied to the buoy.
On the way into Anchor Pass I saw this brown bear on the beach. He was shy and spooked as I tried to get a little closer for a better picture. It turned out to be the only bear I saw all weekend.
When I got to the mooring buoy I gutted and gilled the fish and got him all cleaned out and into the ice in my cooler. I normally just fillet them but was unsure of the rules that apply when you are staying out for multiple days without going to shore. Later on I did fillet him and bag the pieces and put them in my on board freezer.
I had logged 52.3 nm on my GPS to this point.
The other boat showed up and I went out with them to set 2 more strings of shrimp pots. They had already pulled some pots and had a good load of shrimp and numerous crabs on board already.
They later tied on to my boat, which was tied to the mooring buoy and we passed a quiet evening on board.
Here are a few scenery shots taken during the evening.
Since it was indeed the 4th of July one of the guys in the other boat felt compelled to shoot off some fireworks. However since it wasn't dark yet they did not produce the same effect that they would have if it had been dark.
We all sacked out about 10:30 PM.
Friday morning I was up about 7 AM, but the others were a little slower to get moving.
I went over to the other boat for the entire day. They are not picture friendly so I did not take any pictures of the activities this day.
We trolled awhile, getting only Pinks, and then pulled and reset all the shrimp pots. They had 5 strings, with 4 pots on each string, so it was a lot of pots and a lot of shrimp.
As we approached my boat I was able to get a couple of shots of her on the mooring buoy.
We got back to the boats about 5 PM.
The main course for the dinner this evening was barbecued King Salmon, which all agreed was spectacular.
Another quiet evening on board, sacking out about 10 PM.
Saturday morning I was again up about 7 AM.
The weather was sunny, warm, and calm.
I had a light breakfast of cold cereal and then did some basic engine checks and maintenance, adding some oil and some coolant.
As I said, the other boat was much faster than I am, and they had 5 strngs of shrimp pots out and some crab pots as well. Their plan was to pull all the pots, process the catch, and then head for Neets Bay for the night. The general plan was for me to meet them there later in the day.
I pulled away from the mooring buoy at about 8:15 AM, in beautiful weather.
About 9:20 AM I was again trolling in the same general area of Behm Narrows where I had hooked that King on Thursday. This time I only trolled an hour or so and got one medium sized Silver, which of course I kept.
While I was trolling I noticed something in the water ahead of me, and when I looked more closely I saw it was what appeared to be twin bucks, swimming across Behm Narrows. I did not have time to put on my telephoto lens, so this shot was cropped and zoomed with my photo editing software. I watched them all the way across and saw them get out safely on the other side. I see deer swimming from time to time, but certainly not often, so this was a rare treat.
I had a pleasant run south in Behm Canal, running from the flybridge because the weather was so nice.
Saw an amazing number of power trollers working Neets Bay and near the entrance to Traitors Cove.
I trolled for about a half an hour outside Neets Bay but the fish were just jumping nearby and laughing at me,
I also stopped for about an hour or so inside the entrance to Traitors Cove to try some bottom fishing but had no luck.
I decided to abandon my plan to meet up with the other boat in Neets Bay. I saw them enter the bay and I didn't really want to just sit for the rest of the afternoon. I made contact with them by radio and told them I was moving on down the line.
A group (herd?) of seals was sunning on the rocks at the entrance to Traitors Cove and I took far too many shots of them. This is just one of them.
I went into my favorite spot, the USFS dock at the Naha, and was pleasantly surprised to be able to find a spot there. There was only one boat at the dock. I had logged 94.2 nm to this point.
I got tied up, took care of that Silver that I had gotten in Behm Narrows, and fixed a quick dinner of hamburgers on the Foreman Grill.
I met the owners of the other boat at the dock, a 24' Hewes aluminum boat. They were Scott and Marsha Rumsey of Lakeside Montana. They are an adventurous couple to be sure. They had trailored their boat to Prince Rupert BC, and run it up from there, with the intention of exploring the Wrangell and Petersburg areas. They had no real itinerary but were just enjoying what SE Alaska has to offer. We had a chance to visit and that was enjoyable.
Sunday morning when I got up I noticed their boat was tied up on the other side of the float. A chat with Scott revealed that they had attempted to depart earlier in the morning (which I apparently slept right through) but the winds in Clarence Strait had turned them back.
I always watch that beach right across from the cabin and once again this morning I saw a small doe wander out.
On my way out through Moser Bay I came across this vessel on the new mooring buoy there.
The vessel's name is "Modoc." A quick check on Google reveals that it is a former USCG vessel that has been converted into a luxury charter vessel. She is based out of Gig Harbor WA, but has apparently been up in our waters for some time. I lingered nearby for some pictures, but saw no one about. Look at all the water toys on this vessel, amazing!
When I got to the Clover Pass area I trolled for about another hour and managed to boat another nice Silver.
In the stall at 1:30 PM.
Total trip mileage - 116 nm.
Another successful adventure aboard Faraway is completed.
