IRL Capt John Kumiski 8/2/2016

Please enjoy the July Whale Pass fishing report, and accept my apologies for not getting the reports out more regularly. I can’t do much about the lack of internet service here.The biggest news as concerns the fishing here is that the silver salmon run has been sad. There have been very few silvers compared to past runs. Lots of time has been spent by lots of people speculating on why the fish haven’t showed up very much this year. The fact is that no one really knows. What we do know is that silver fishing has been close to terrible.

Trolling for king salmon out by the Triplets has been producing a legal sized fish and several “shakers” most every trip. Son Alex has been running his downriggers as deep as 100 feet for these fish.

Fishing for cutthroat trout up in Sweetwater has been excellent when we’ve been able to get up there. Small minnow patterns have worked well.

The pink salmon are starting to run up into 108 Creek. Daniel spent 50 minutes up there yesterday and hooked five fish, landing two. Small pink flies work best. Trollers out by the Triplets have been getting limits of pinks every trip.

Lastly, bottom fishing has been consistently good. Halibut and black cod have been mainstays, with Pacific cod and rockfish rounding out catches. As always, sculpins are very dependable!

All that having been said, this reporter has not been fishing much. My days have mostly been spent transporting guests to the LeConte Glacier, a fantastic if somewhat chilly place. There is no doubt that the glacier is receding. The change in the position of the glacial face from last year’s position is obvious.

A few weeks ago I got to do a fly-over of the glacier in a float plane. Wow! That added an entirely new dimension to my glacier experience, getting the big picture. The glacier stretches back into the mountains for over 20 miles and reaches depths of 4000 feet.

I love doing the glacier trips.

I got to take a trip to the west side of Prince of Wales Island, the Pacific side. I operated to boat, chef Rhys did the cooking, and Rowen and Eliza, two guests from Australia, intended to do some wildlife watching, including whales. We stopped on a little island out in the bay, where I negligently let the boat dry up. Our two hour stop out there ended up taking four hours, since we had to wait for the incoming tide to float the boat again. I can think of worse places to be stuck than on a beautiful, deserted island along Alaska’s coast, with seals, otters, and whales swimming by!

Another job I’ve had is running the whale watching excursions. The word incredible fails, as do any other adjectives, to adequately describe the magnificence of humpback whales. “PHOOOOoooo!!” On a calm day you can easily hear them blow from a mile away. You see the spout and five seconds later hear the blow.

Of course it’s much more exciting when they’re 100 yards from the boat. And it gets really exciting when they start doing tail slaps, fin slaps, bubble net feeding, and breeching! Again, it’s hard to describe the thunderous crash a 40 ton animal makes when hits the water after leaping clear of the surface. And through it all they manage to look utterly dignified.

Since they spend most of their time underwater, and guessing where they will appear is an inexact science at best, photographing whales is hard to do. When not running the boat I keep trying. I love doing the whale watching trips too.

And that is the July Whale Pass Fishing Report.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com