We went on the weekend of 13-17 as planned. Thanks to your advice.
We booked our accommodation months in advance at the Beach Roadhouse. Unfortunately, Phil mixed up our reservation & gave it to other Yukoners. As a result, our first night was free for the whole top floor of his house. Great hospitality in Haines, and I must note my amazement since Yukoners have quite a reputation in Haines (not a good one, but that’s a whole other post for another day).
First day we spent shopping & taking newborn Cadence around to see the sights. Hit the Chilkoot first thing Sunday morning & it was eerily quiet. I was the only fisher at the bridge at 8:00 am & I quickly found out why. I noticed out of the corner of my eye a flock of seagulls flying around, instead of sitting on the beach & rocks as usual. I had to go up to the bridge to see what was on the other side & it was a sickly looking Grizz with a bum paw. While I was watching him, another one came out (A blondie) directly across, out of the bush & started crossing the river in the direction of mr. sickly. The situation turned quite volatile very quickly & mr. sickly started running in my direction to get away, and I in turn started hightailing it back to my truck. Long story short….wayyyy too much bear activity for me for 1 weekend, and that was only 10 minutes after I arrived to start fishing.
Next stop was the Chilkat, as I have always been a running shoe fisher (no spandex here), I checked out Mile 21 & 8. Tons of action & countless snags. Lindsay caught her FIRST salmon which was a special moment (in the mouth I might add) And, alas, no Coho.
Overall, an incredible trip, great time of year to go. Coho were running thin so far this year, according to Clyde, and the commercial fishery was closed a few days before we came (caused by low numbers? I’m not sure).
I’ll just make sure to leave earlier from work on Friday. We went over the summit at 20KMPH with whiteout conditions in the dark (wet, heavy snow & fog). There was ZERO visibility, and if it wasn’t for the markers on the side of the road, we would’ve been royally screwed. The custom’s agent ho-hum response to my “Quite the conditions back there!“...
“Typical for this time of year”...
Duly noted.
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