Over the last month my time has been filled with more work and fishing. Work has brought me south once again to Prince of Whales Island where we sampled about a dozen sites for our fish sampling and habitat surveys. While there we were blessed with more awesome weather for working. Sunny and warm dry weather perfect for working... but not so good for the staging salmon. Rivers this summer have been lower than usual making is more difficult for the salmon to return to their natal watersheds to spawn. The first day on Prince of Whales Island, the area received heavy amounts of precipitation causing the streams and rivers to rise and in return a massive influx of pink, chum and coho salmon who had been waiting for a rainstorm like this, surged into the rivers. As the water levels receded what I saw was something too remarkable for words. Thousands upon thousands of salmon stacked up in the rivers to the point where the bottom could not even be seen. I have never been witness to such a profound biological phenomenon first-hand. It truly is amazing to stand by one of these rivers and watch as thousands of these fish return to the streams they were laid as eggs years before to complete their life cycle. The seemingly unending flow of migrating fish from downstream up through pools, riffles and waterfalls, jumping and swimming against the current to fulfill their life's purpose and spawn only to shortly thereafter die completing their life cycle. To see this happen there is no wondering how these trees get so huge or how these forest sustain such a high biomass. The salmon here are a keystone species that every single living organism in these forests rely on in some way for the energy that they provide to the waters and surrounding forests and animals within. Seeing this phenomenon really reiterates the importance of the work that is done by the people of the Forest Service and other government agencies who I work with on a daily basis to properly protect and manage this ecosystem. I am so fortunate to have had this opportunity, to help work toward the efforts for future success of the fisheries, which in turn gives rise to the success of everyone and everything that relies so heavily on them. Not many people get to see and do what I have done this summer on the Nation's largest national forest. Although I did not see all of the 17.6 million acres of the Tongass National Forest I saw a whole lot, and I took none of it for granted. As I leave here, the past week of rain, and rising rivers have me feeling hopeful that just as the salmon return, I too will one day have the opportunity to come back to this special place in our country. Many great friends have been made and many awesome experiences have been had, all will be greatly missed.
As for a fishing report, I have in the past month wrapped up the grand slam of salmon fishing here in Alaska by catching king, coho, chum, sockeye and pink salmon all on my flyrod. Add to that a multitude of sea-run cutthroat and dolly varden and you could definitely say that southeast Alaska is a fisherman's dream location. I will be leaving here with a cooler loaded with fresh and smoked salmon to supplement my college diet of ramen noodles and rice and beans. Here are a few pictures to wrap things up, enjoy!
Pink Salmon
Sockeye Salmon
Coho Salmon
Chum Salmon
King Salmon
Goodbye Petersburg you will be missed.
