Sapsuk guide Mike holds a big male king salmon adorned with sea lice that was caught by the author in the lower river . mark won photo
Prawn loose from her jaw with a disdainful slap of her huge tail against the outstretched leader .
We spent our final day parked at the lowermost pools where upstream migrating kings first stopped to rest . This was an “ ambush game ” that was rewarded at periodic intervals between patient waiting , concerted casting efforts , and frequent fly changes . While I managed to land several hefty kings , including a 32-pound , copepod-decorated brute that immediately blasted downstream and tore line off the reel following his ferocious grab , Mark was the hot stick , hooking up on consecutive passes after he switched to a heavier pattern ( weighted with a large brass cone head ) that enabled him to better entice the fish holding in the deeper parts of these runs .
Heading back to camp , I asked
Mike drop me off at a favorite spot for a final session . I fished thoroughly and patiently through the entire length of this pool , with nary a touch . Reaching the tailout , I let my Prawn fly dangle , swimming back and forth in the eddying current , in the hopes of enticing one last fish . My musings were pleasantly interrupted by a jolting strike . The enormous , chrome-sided buck thrashed violently at the surface , then cartwheeled end over end after feeling the offending hook . I managed to regain my wits and somehow remained attached to this out-of-control salmon , eventually parrying his wild runs until I was able to slide him into the gravel shallows . I placed my Winston Spey alongside , and noted that his snout extended nearly to the first stripper guide ; back at camp , we used a tape to measure this length , and concluded that the fish ’ s weight was somewhere in the high ’ 30s .
The return to Nelson Lagoon proceeded in orderly fashion ( which isn ’ t always the case ; strong winds can result in big waves on the Lagoon , making it impassable ; flight delays due to nasty weather occur frequently as well ). I bid farewell to Kathy , Mike , and Joe . We were treated to clear skies during our flight back to Anchorage . The numerous streams and rivers flowing into the Bering Sea that passed beneath our wings sent their siren beckons to me … surely some of these must hold little-fished runs of chrome , anadromous salmonids . My dreams of mounting a scientific expedition to document the distribution and abundance of chinook , coho , and steelhead along the Alaska Peninsula will need to become reality . Someday . . .
28 SALMON THE TAILOUT & STEELHEAD JOURNAL
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