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8 June 2007

June 8, 2007 - Day 13 In Alaska - Douglas Island and DIPAC Salmon Cannery Fishing

Posted by Darrell under: Alaska; My Journal .

Check out my Pictures from today or view All My Alaska Pictures.

Today was the last day we would be spending in Alaska and it was a beautiful day of sunshine. We decided to go to the beach! Yes, there is a beach in Juneau, Alaska! It is called Sandy Beach and is located out on the end of St. Anns Ave on Douglas Island.

Before hitting the beach, we stopped in at The Island Pub (on Douglas Island) for some great Pizza. From our table, we had a great view of the Gastineau Channel and Downtown Junea. A Juneau local had referred us to this spot for what they said was “the best pizza in Juneau” and I will agree that it was very good!

Caleb and I then hit the beach. We weren’t the only ones with this idea as there were lots of people out soaking up the sunshine. Families were having picnics, playing tennis, suntanning, and a few crazies were actually in the water. I was surprised to see people walking around in bathing suits (it was still only in the 60’s) but absolutely shocked to see a few people actually getting in the water.

There is an old mine along Sandy Beach that blew up some time in the past. Debris from the mine and old buildings are everywhere. It was fun for Caleb and I to explore all of this.

During our exploration, we stumbled upon an old gold prospector. This guy was the real deal and he was panning for gold right out on the beach. He had some gold in his pan that he showed us. In the winter he traps and in the summer he pans for gold. I’ll probably do a seperate post with some of the stuff this guy told us and might even upload some of the video I shot of him, as he was very entertaining and enlightening. He knew a lot about trapping, hunting, and looking for gold in SE Alaska.

Once we left the beach, we headed back over to the mainland to do some fishing. We heard from some locals that there was good fishing around the DIPAC (Douglas Island Pink & Chum, Inc Macaulay Salmon Hatchery) Salmon Hatchery located on Channel Street. There were already quite a few locals fishing the area and I witnessed several catching Dolly Varden (or as Caleb refers to them “Dolly Partons”) along the bank. I went out on a rocky point (avoiding the crowded fishing dock) and started throwing a big Mepps spinner. After about 2 hours of casting I almost had my rod ripped from my hands.

I was battling a massive King Salmon! This beast stripped line from my cheap light tackle at an alarming rate. Twice I was able to turn him and get him coming back in towards the bank. After over 30 minutes of fighting and having him less than 6 feet from the shore, he made a final dash for the deep and never looked back. He stripped all the 10lb line from my cheap Eagle Claw reel and then snapped my line when there was no more line to strip. I felt envigorated and sick at the same time.

One of the locals who had come over to help told me that it was a really nice King. “That was way over 20lbs” he said, followed by “Why are you fishing with such light gear?, aint you ever hooked a King before? You can’t land a King on gear like that unless you are just lucky”. What could I say to that kind of logic? “Yeah, I’m an idiot, used to catching Bass and Crappie - not GIANT Salmon”, was about all I could think to say.

Shortly thereafter, Caleb and I went for our last Alaskan meal. I let Caleb choose and we went to an oriental restaurant (this is what happens when you let kids make a choice), Kenny’s Wok & Teriyaki. The food was OK, and Caleb gorged himself on raw Sushi. Normally, I love sushi - but I couldn’t bring myself to eat Sushi in Alaska. It just didn’t seem logical to me, but Caleb was happy.

Our Alaska trip was awesome and I highly recommend it to anyone that hasn’t spent some time up here.

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