7/3/06 Fourth of July Grayling

Two weekends ago, I went fishing, but never got to fish. Sunday afternoon I loaded the canoe into the truck, packed up the rod and tackle bag, the paddle and the life jacket. Drove a half hour to the lake. Muscled the canoe down to the lake, hiked back to get the other gear, hauled that down. Went to string up my rod and ~~ no string. I'd left my reel back at the house!!!! A couple of guys were just leaving, and I looked in their bucket at about a half dozen rainbow trout that were 15-18" long. I gave a heavy ~sigh~, then I muscled the canoe back up to the truck, went back for my other gear, loaded that up and went back home. By then, it was late, and rain clouds were closing in. Damn.

This past weekend went much better. I had a 4 day weekend, but wasn’t sure how to spend it. Almost anywhere I went up here would be loaded with tourists from Outside, all the camping spots would be taken and the streams would be at combat fishing levels, none of which appealed to me. I didn't want to stay home, but I didn't want to join the crowds either. So ~~ I headed north, away from the salmon streams, to fish for grayling.

I ended up at Brushkana River, about 4 hours from the house, then 30 miles down the Denali Highway – which, by the way, is a dirt road. I was worried about getting a campsite there, but got there at 3 PM and took one of the last ones open. By 3:45, the campground was full.

I stepped out of the truck, and was immediately swarmed by mosquitoes. I mean, lots of ‘em. Swipe your hand in front of your face and you’d hit 10. I knew the Interior was infamous for it’s mosquitoes, but had never witnessed it at this level. Thank god for Deet!!

I strung up my rod and went down to the river, intending to fish from shore for a few minutes just to see what action there was, and got a nice grayling on the second cast. I retreated back to the camper a happy man, bugs hitting my face and getting behind my glasses despite the Deet. Cooked a steak over the campfire and found that even standing in the campfire smoke wasn’t proof against the mosquitoes.

The next morning turned out a bit chilly at 38°, but it quickly warmed up to around 50. Going to the campground outhouse with the mosquitoes gave a completely new meaning to the football term “defensive tight end”.

I cooked breakfast out over the campfire, then headed out for some serious fishing. Managed to get better than a dozen grayling, about half in the 10-14” range, which isn’t too bad. A trophy grayling is 18”.

Supper that night was out on the picnic table with a citronella candle lit between my legs, and I was still swarmed with bugs. The only relief the candle gave was when the mosquitoes got too close to the flame and nose-dived in.

The next morning was overcast with sprinkles, so I headed back down the road on the almost 5 hour drive back home. As I approached Peter’s Creek, it became sunny and warmed up to 75, and I kept shedding layers of fleece the further south I went.

By definition, a bad day of fishing is still better than a good day at work, and I actually had some pretty good fishing, so it was a nice weekend away, despite the bugs.

Already planning the next fishing trip.