Team Old Phart invades the Grizz Den: Steelheader.net- Steelhead, Salmon and trout fishing

The following is an abbreviated recap of this past week at the Grizz Den. Once again I'd like to thank Janine and Warren for being such gratious hosts.

The Grizz Den is located about 10 miles south of Ketchikan on Herring Cove. What a view!!! And the Cove is a focal point for salmon activity due to a small hatchery located upriver just a short distance from the Den. Upon our arrival we were informed that locals were snagging [legal] some nice kings "out front" off the beach. Mel [Uboat] gave it a try early on and hooked into a hawg judged at 40-50 pounds, but it threw the smallish treble hook [4/0] he was using - 8/0 is apparently the favored size. Curtis [Redheaded Stranger] and I didn't give it a try but we did occassionally see a few fish being snagged by locals during our stay. Apparently you can also shoot them [the fish

] with bow and arrows, if you're so inclined, but we didn't see anyone doing that.

As would be expected on any northern coastal area, the weather had considerable influence on our range of activities, particularly when you don't have a sea-worthy boat. We saw our fair share of rain, but were well prepared for that with good rain gear....rough waters took a considerable cut out of our time on the water. Early in the week we managed to get some trolling in for kings, but didn't see any action in that regard. All that we managed to hook up on were several rock fish and a smallish halibut that was tossed back.

Last Saturday we were ready to head out to the halibut grounds and crabbing area in John Carlson's "Yella" boat, but again winds kept us from getting out. Fortunately we were able to get out Sunday and had a great time on the water. Mel managed to catch 2 butt's worth keeping; Grizz got a nice Yelloweye; and we managed to get 9 keeper dungees. The day was capped off at John's where we cleaned fish, cooked the crab, and sampled the bounty of the day.

The rest of the week was spent trolling for the elusive kings whenever the winds/weather would allow us to get out in the Grizz sled. A few more rockfish were caught, and Mel surprised us by catching the biggest butt of the trip. Finally we did manage to hook into a king and our spirits were up lifted, but after several more unproductive trolling hours we pretty much realized that based what we saw and heard, we were probably too early in our visit. This was reinforced by what we heard from other fishermen in the airport the morning we left.

Yesterday we left for the airport by about 0500 but had a short visit with Chris who had arrived the night before for his stay. He said he had been out snagging at about 0330 but hadn't gotten anything yet. A later note from Grizz indicated that Chris snagged 3 for the day.

To close our adventure, upon arrival in Boise, Curtis had his wife take him to the hospital because of stomach problems and associated pain he had been dealing with. Just spoke to him on the phone, he's still in the hospital and will be having a gall stone removed this morning and hopefully will be home tonight and on the mend. Best wishes to you my friend, for a speedy recovery.

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