Salmon Tracks - BOW 2015, Day 2

It was chilly when I woke up, but it warmed up as the day went by. I got dressed and plodded up the hill to the mess hall. Thank God - they had coffee. I couldn't believe the snoring that came from the tent next to mine last night. It kept me up and I needed coffee.

Breakfast:
Scrambled Eggs
Country Potatoes with Onions and Bell Peppers
Bacon
Pancakes and French Toast
Hot or Cold Cereal
Fresh Fruit
Yogurt
Orange Juice
Hot Tea
Hot Cocoa
Coffee
Water

For Session II, I took Salmon Fishing. The other options were Firearms Safety, Field Dressing, Hunting Know-How, Bow Hunting, Fly Fishing, Smoking Fish, On-Lake Spin Fishing, Map & Compass, Kayaking, Backpack Chef, and Field Optics. Again, there were about 10 of us in the Salmon Fishing group. Our instructors, George and Leslie, were an interesting couple. They try to live off the land, so they do a lot of salmon fishing.

We started with the regulations. I was interested to learn that there are regulations for "proxy fishing." This allows someone to fish on behalf of a disabled person or a person over 65. The proxy fisher gets to catch their own limit plus the limit of the other person. Woo hoo!

George and Leslie usually go salmon fishing from the beach in Valdez, so they told us their favorite spots there and gave us the regulation book for Southcentral. They didn't spend much time talking about river fishing or fishing from a boat or dip-netting, except to say that fishing in the Copper River/Chitina can be very dangerous. I didn't know that dip-netting is considered a subsistence fishery, while salmon fishing with a rod and reel is considered a sport fishery, which is why the limits are so much lower for rod and reel fishing.
We learned about the five species of Pacific salmon and how to identify them when they are adults and when they are spawning. They can look very different when in the spawning phase. You need to be able to identify them because there are different limits for different species and you might have to throw one back if you accidentally catch the wrong variety. We also learned how to handle the flesh once we have caught a fish or two.

The next topic was equipment. We learned something about rods, line, lures, and assorted accessories. George gave each of us a bonking stick, a lure, and a swivel clip to keep.

The Swag: Lure, tide tables, gear list, bonking stick (decorated), leader, salmon guide, and Southcentral regs

I can see why fish are attracted to lures. They are very alluring. They look like they would be fun to buy. When I get home I am going to decorate my bonking stick. We used the swivel clips to practice knots. George showed us some improvements on the fisherman's knot I had learned yesterday.

Recommended equipment for salmon fishing

The rods and line for salmon fishing are fairly heavy compared to the ones we used for fly fishing. The method of casting is different. Instead of whipping it back and forth, as you do for fly fishing, you are supposed to do something that is more like swinging a baseball bat (but with one arm). You are supposed to look at the spot you want to cast to while looking behind you to make sure you don't get your hook in someone's eye, then move your pole back and quickly turn sideways, cast, flip back the bail, and start reeling, all at the same time. I found this incredibly hard to do and I was easily the worst caster in the class. George kept saying to move my arm as though I were flicking paint. Who has ever flicked paint? Not me. I'm no Jackson Pollock. Or Trout. Or Salmon.

There are no salmon nearby, so we pretended. We spent some time practicing casts (without hooks - George knows what he's doing), and then Leslie set out some plastic fish for us to catch. They had a little slot in their back, so if you could get your lure in the right spot, you could reel in one of these "rock fish". The idea was to throw your cast out beyond the fish, and then reel in until your lure snagged a fish. For quite a while, I couldn't even cast my line as far as the fish, much less beyond them. Meanwhile, one by one, everyone else in the class caught a fish. One by one they headed back to the mess hall for lunch. I really wanted to catch one, but my arm was getting tired. I switched to a lighter rod, and that helped. Finally, with George as my cheerleader, I did it!

George demonstrates casting

Looks like the tide is out

I think it's a bluefin!

It seems to me that the main reason to do salmon fishing is for food. Unlike fly fishing, salmon fishing wouldn't be much fun if you didn't catch anything. It's just work.

 
Lunch wasn't work! It was fun. Everyone was bubbling over with news about their classes.











Lunch:
Soup of the Day: Creamy Chicken Artichoke
New Orleans Shrimp Po' Boy w/Cajun Remoulade & Sweet Slaw
Red Beans and Rice
Fresh Garden Salad
Fresh Fruit
Raspberry Tiramisu
Sodas
Hot/Cold Tea
Coffee
Water

And soon it was time to dash off to Session III, Tracks & Sign. We were advised to bring rubber boots. The other classes were Shotgun, Field Dressing, Pistol, Moose Hunting, On-Lake Fly Fishing, Fly Tying, Boating, GPS, Canoeing, Survival and Map & Compass. Last but not least, there was Dutch Oven. We were all invited to the Dutch Oven location for a social hour at 5 pm.

But first, a little about Tracks & Sign. Our instructor, Mike, was a wildlife biologist. He reminded me a little of Jungle Jack Hannah, only smarter. Mike started us out in the classroom. There were 9 or 10 people in the class, plus Jen, who assisted Mike. We learned an incredible amount about animal tracks. Some of the things you need to look at are:

• the number of toes
• whether the toes are like a finger, a hoof, or a pad
• is the heel pad one or multiple?
• are there claws?
• is there webbing?
• the size of the track
• the stride
• the gait

We worked with some stencils and made rubbings so we could practice identifying various features of the tracks. We looked at actual feet and rubber models of feet. Mike showed us samples of scat and things like owl pellets. We also talked about some good websites, books, and an app, including:

• CyberTracker.org 
• Mammal Tracks & Sign by Mark Elbroch 
• iTrack Wildlife

That was a REAL moose leg, and it was VERY heavy. You do NOT want to be kicked by a moose.

Then we got in a couple of Suburbans and drove a few miles to a river. This is where the boots came in handy. Mike taught us how to be more observant and how to read signs. He showed us an abandoned fox den and how to tell it was abandoned. Then we looked at moose browse and learned how to tell it from rabbit browse (not as obvious as the height off the ground).

Moose browse

Moose bones

Mike led us down a trail that he had "seeded" with things for us to notice. It was interesting to see how well things blended in. Our eyes are designed to detect motion first. Many animals freeze and it becomes very hard to see them. We then have to detect anomalies in shape and color to find them.

After wading across the river we looked at a lot of moose tracks. The most interesting thing we saw was a set of red fox tracks. It appeared that the fox was stalking an arctic hare. Eventually the hare ran away. According to Mike. I couldn't see where the hare ran away. But I could actually see the impression left by the fur on the fox's footpads.

A moose track

The hare

The fox

Mike also showed us how to tell whether tracks were fresh and how to tell us how fast an animal was going. Cool stuff.

Before this class, I could tell whether a track was moose or not moose. Now I can tell the difference between a black bear track and a brown bear track and I have a handbook and some great tools to help identify tracks.

We got back to camp after the Dutch Oven social hour had started. I was still full from lunch, but I couldn't resist trying some of the products of this class. 

L to R: Caribou pastilla, bear and moose meat loaf, caribou lasagna

Dutch oven delights

Dutch ovens: Put hot charcoal briquettes on the lid and voila!

The social hour was immediately followed by dinner. They expected us to keep eating.

Dinner:
Soup of the Day
Sauerbraten
Red Beans and Rice (yes, leftover from lunch)
Broccoli and Carrots
Fresh Salad
Fresh Fruit Bowl
Dinner Rolls
Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Cheesecake (OMG)

It was so interesting to hear about the different experiences people had today. The two groups who seemed the most enthusiastic were the Field Dressing group and the Survival group. Who knew that Field Dressing was such a big deal?

Apparently they got an elk from a farm somewhere and shot it right before the class. Maybe there were two elk (elks?), one for each class. Then the class learned, in a very hands-on manner, how to gut and quarter the animal. I don't know how much additional butchering was done, but at the end of the weekend, everyone in that class had a good size package of meat to bring home. It is illegal to "waste" game meat in Alaska, so you really do have to know how to do this if you plan to hunt. Once you shoot an animal, it is your responsibility to field dress it appropriately and pack out the meat. One other thing - a drawing was held at the end of the program and one person from each Field Dressing class got to take home the rack (i.e., the antlers). Some of the meat from this class was used by the Game Processing class. Everybody in both classes got some of that to take home, too.

After dinner there was free time to pursue waterfront activities, or hike, or learn some more about wild edibles. But first, we had some entertainment. Everybody was divided up into groups and given 10 minutes to come up with a skit about what you learned at BOW. A lot of people didn't want to do this, but enough people did to provide some laughs for everyone. I only had two others in my group who were willing to be in a skit. We did get some laughs, but we didn't win (and we didn't deserve to). 

I tried the hike to make up for all the food. It was a very steep climb up to a lookout point. I made it about 90% of the way (I found out later), but I gave up because I didn't realize how close I was to the end. I had been having foot and knee problems and I didn't want to overdo it.

When I got back to Coldfoot, someone had a campfire going and people were talking until 11 or so. It felt very hygge (as they say in Denmark). I was too tired, and it was getting buggy (as they say in Alaska). So I took a shower and crawled into my hygge tent before 10 pm. My Fitbit said 15,100 steps and 27 flights of stairs. Goodnight.

Hygge:
Coziness. The art of building sanctuary and community, of inviting closeness and paying attention to what makes us feel open-hearted and alive. Creating a warm atmosphere and enjoying the good things in life with good people. The warm glow of candlelight is hygge. Friends and family – that’s hygge too. There's nothing more hygge than sitting round a table, discussing the big and small things in life. 

Link to BOW video and newspaper article