Healing Towers – Day 3

Day 3 of the Healing Towers trip began with the same terrifying motor wake-up. I was slightly more prepared this time. We made our way to the coffee maker as Garry continued his many tasks, moving around like a squirrel gathering nuts. After everything was set up, we threw out a couple crab pots, hopped in the dingy and started on a different river. We only had half a day to fish this one cause we’d be making a long trek to get to the place we’d be fishin the next day. As we moved up the river, a group of local fishermen got curious.

The day before, we had to go up the river quite a bit, since it was high tide. We didn’t have to travel far up this river since it was low tide.

As we went upstream, we quickly started to see the salmon doing their thing. Allow me to blow your mind.

Let it be known that the number of fish you just witnessed wasn’t even close to the many other schools we shared the week with. So just imagine that! We got out of the dingy and fished close to the bank. We didn’t really need to move around, as they kind of came through  in waves. It didn’t take long to start gettin into them. They were so aggressive! I could go on and on about this and that, but pictures speak for themselves. So here’s just a taste of how the next few hours went…

We got headed back to the HRB and checked the pots. Boom shakalaka.

Garry wasted no time in getting things done. Checking their size…

Step 1:

Step 2:

Step 3

Step 4:

One of the few bucket fulls…

Before we started on the long ride to our next location, Garry told me to hop on the back and try to catch just one more. I felt obligated….

On the way, Garry decided to take a power nap while the other two old men did the same. I took over and felt such a feeling of freedom. It’s kinda hard to explain, but I think that it’s a feeling many boaters feel at some point. Maybe more in the beginning. That feeling that drives them to such a hobby. As I navigated to our waypoint, I reflected on the last thing Garry and I discussed. Wake me up when you come up on the landmark. What landmark is that? You’ll know. Roger that.

What you just saw is called New Eddystone Rock. It’s a 237 foot high pillar of basalt formed by a volcanic vent. Pretty amazing sight. As you can tell from the photos, the typical Alaskan weather was setting in. But we had a pit stop to make before going into the next inlet we’d be spending the night at. We had to catch supper again. But this was going to be done using a different technique than fly rods were designed for. We’d be jigging for halibut while drifting off a tabletop to depths of up to 300 feet. I knew what this meant… I was about to feel the burn. Jigging at that depth, one-handed, with a jig bigger than a squirrel. Of course it started pouring rain! But we had Sirius Satellite goin and all was good. During the next hour or so, we all had one on at one point or another. But the only one that could seal the deal was my man Cleve.

We would have rain for the remainder of the trip. As we made our way through Behm Canal, I felt like we were exploring uncharted territory. I know that sounds lame, but seriously- it was amazing how natural and untouched the surroundings were. No smog. No mad-made eye sores. No trash. Just us and nature.

When you look at the mountains, there are channels where no plants grow. This is due to runoff- the natural channels that are grooved by the abundant rainwater and snow melt. As we made our way further in, the accumulation of rain turned the bare spots to waterfalls.

Pretty awesome sight, yeah? The halibut was insanely delicious. I mean amazing. At this point, I’m really considering winning the lottery and buying a house up here….