End of the Day

It's the end of the day for this troller, the Mickey V (five). Like me, he's chosen Flynn Cove for his resting place for the night. It's a popular harbor with quick access to Eagle Point, Point Adolphus, Pleasant Island and about an hour and half away, Homeshore. It's a great place to anchor if the wind is coming from the East, though any Westerly will find it's way into there and you can rock and roll all night. When the coho salmon are running later in the season, it's not uncommon to find twelve or fifteen boats anchored in here. This year though the fish have been hard to come by on the inside. Even the guys outside haven't done all that well that I can determine. There's been a steady stream of boats passing by lately, partially because of the poor fishing, and in part because of the horrible weather we're experiencing now. ( Forty knots and twenty foot seas out in the ocean and Icy Straits isn't much better today, with thirty five knots and six to seven foot seas.) The cold storage dock is packed with trollers waiting for a break in the weather before they head home and the harbor is starting to fill with boats, many of which I suspect won't bother going back out this season. One or two local boats are stuck up in Yakutat because of the weather. It's a chance you take this time of year. Usually there a few guys who listen to the reports of fish in far off places and end up traveling there in hopes of salvaging their seasons. That's not for me. If I can't get fish close to home this time of year, I just do without. It doesn't do much for the bottom line, but I'll be here to fish another day.