2. Gakona

Have you ever heard of the famed Copper River for sockeyes or kings?  Well, I have. 

Today, while en route to Gakona (not even a whole hole in the wall in rural AK), we stopped at Copper Center.  This town is at the confluence of the Copper and Klutina Rivers.  Red (sockeye) salmon are coming up the Klutina, so we stopped and fished for about 4 hours.  

Fishing for reds really isnt fishing. They get their food by filtering planton out of the water with their gills.  So they dont hit normal lures- cause they dont eat big stuff.  You cant snag them in freshwater (legally) but you can "flyfish" for them. 

So the technique goes like this- tie a ~1 oz weight on, then add a 18-24" leader with a decent sized hook on it, and tie a piece of yarn on above it.  Act like you're flyfishing while you drag this thing thru the water, flipping it upstream, let it bounce downstream, and once it gets to the end of your line (you leave out about 10-15' of line, and never reel in), pop the line, lift, and "roll cast" - repeat.  You can do this sequence about 6 times per minute.  I managed to catch one fish in those 4 hours - so about 6x60x4=1440 casts for one fish. Totally worth it. 

Erik will be happy to know I paid $3 for that net in Valdez at a thrift store.  Bargain!

My fish was probably 4-6 # red.  Not huge, not tiny and nothing special, unless you got to eat on it.  

Deanna and I grilled about a third of it for dinner tonight and if it turns out to be my last meal, I'm satisfied. 

Gakona is completely out in the boonies on the Glenn Highway.  There is nothing to do but fish, so I plan to do more of that tomorrow. Deanna plans to hang around the AirBnB and research stuff to do in Glacier View, our next stop the day after tomorrow.  

I heard it was 112F in TX today. Sorry fellow Texans! I wasnt wearing a jacket, but I thought about it. :)

Also, Happy 29th birthday to Deanna. :)  She's still a spring chicken.