fishing – A Darker View

Cordova Gallery

Just a sample of travel to Cordova, Alaska…

A rainy day in Juneau as seen from the window of an Alaska Airlines flight
The fishing port of Cordova, Alaska
Lupine along the trail at Sheridan Glacier
A muddy Sheridan River drains the lake in front of Sheridan Glacier
Icebergs scattered across the lake in front of Sheridan Glacier
An iceberg from Sheridan Glacier sits in the muddy waters of Sheridan Lake
Trumpeter swans (Cygnus buccinator) forage near Cordova, Alaska
A bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) monitors the Copper River Delta from a convenient perch
The Copper River delta near Cordova, Alaska
The fish processor Dawn unloads in Cordova, AK
Orca Adventure Resort, Cordova, Alaska
The old cannery dining hall serves breakfast at Orca Adventure Lodge
A large winch list abandoned in the brush
A small unnamed stream tumbles through the rock
The Lioness fishing boat belonging to Orca Adventure Lodge
A pole awaits a halibut in Gravina Bay
Fred Cooper fishing with a traditional northwest indian halibut fishhook
Coho salmon ((Oncorhynchus kisutch) on the deck
The author with a nice catch

Fishing Cordova

Summer 2025 featured another family fishing trip.

This time the destination was Cordova, Alaska. Why Cordova? Why not? New water, new adventures, new things to see.

We had never been to Cordova, bouncing through the airport on the milk run from Juneau and Yakutat does not count. The area feaures some interesting history, very scenic country, more than a few glaciers, and access to Prince William Sound for fishing.

Fishing Halibut

Charter Boat — The quintessential Alaskan charter boat anchored to fish halibut in Yakutat Bay

Home-Made Caviar

The king salmon I had caught proved to be a female. This serendipitous occurance allowed my father to execute the plan.

King Salmon Caviar — Hand made king salmon caviar on cream cheese and crackers

Execution? A trip to the local hardware store to buy a cheap plastic collinder, an hour washing salmon eggs in the sink of our fishing lodge kitchenette, another trip to a local grocery for a box of salt, more fiddling in the kitchen sink, then waiting overnight to see if the result of all this effort is edible.

To my surprise the result was not only edible, but pretty good. Caviar!

An intense salmon taste different but reminiscent to smoked salmon. Served on crackers with cream cheese the bright golden orange caviar was a nice treat after a day out fishing.

Fishing Yakutat

It has been three years since the last voyage of the Nordic Quest. In the meantime the Quest has been sold and a pandemic raged. Three years is long enough, time for a return to the mainland and another fishing trip. My first visit to the mainland since the pandemic started.

King Salmon — A nice king salmon from Yakutat Bay

My father and brother had not taken much of a pause, with the sale of the boat they have instead headed to a fishing lodge for their annual fishing. After some research my father decided on Yakutat for the abundance of halibut and more generous fishing regulations than found in SE Alaska.

For the last couple years they have used Yakutat Lodge, a choice I have to agree with. We had a great time with five days of fishing on Yakutat Bay.

Grizzly Fishing

The Bears of Pavlof

After the aborted shore mission at Iyoukeen Cove, we were not done for the day, there would be more bears.

We knew there was yet another opportunity to see bears, under somewhat safer conditions, just around the corner in Freshwater Bay. Pavlof Harbor is a small cove off the bay that offers a small river that tumbles over a low waterfalls right at tideline. If there are fish in the river, there will be bears fishing here. As this is still Chichagof Island, they will be grizzly bears, there are no black bears here.

As we entered Pavlof harbor we were surprised as a float plane came overhead and landed along the northern shore. The plane quickly beached a few hundred yards north of where the river enters the cove and disgorged a group of passengers, the plane deparing as soon as the passengers were off. While we set about anchoring the Quest in the cove, they got a briefing from their guide and slowly walked along the shoreline trail to the river.

In binoculars we could see at least two bears at the river. It looked like these folks were getting what they paid for, a chance to see and photograph grizzlies fishing in the river. Deciding to give the other group a head start we broke out the chow and had grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch.

Continue reading “The Bears of Pavlof”

Inside Passage… One Last Time

OK, you can stop asking for the new Inside Passage video… It is done!

It has bears! Whales! Sea lions! Grizzly bears! Aurora! Lots of drone footage! More bears!

Actually the video came together pretty well. I already had a piece of music picked out, that saved a great deal of trouble. Nearly four weeks on the water meant a great deal of photographic material to work with. As usual the Inside Passage provided plenty of photographic opportunity, particularly the first week when is seemed like even the wildlife was performing on cue.

And there were lots of bears…

Halibut Fishing

The boat is anchored several miles from the nearest land in the middle of Sumner Strait. Here a series of reefs and shoals provide habitat for many creatures, including our target… Halibut.

A Fish — A 100lb halibut is not a small fish

Conditions are perfect, rather odd on this large body of water. The sea is a sheet of rippled glass reflecting a few clouds. Bright sunlight warms the day. This is not exactly the bitter wind, waves, and rain that comes to mind when Alaskan fishing is mentioned.

A few hundred yards north a pair of sea otters keep a wary eye on us, noisily eating something lacy and bright orange. Along the shoreline south a humpback is breaching, the white splashes visible miles away.

This is halibut fishing. Pick a likely spot, anchor the boat, drop lines to the bottom, and wait. In the meantime you can simply enjoy the day, listening to the spouts of whales passing by.

As for the halibut? One modest fish is in the cooler, the others remain elusive. Not that anyone is too worried. The day is nice enough to enjoy any excuse to be out on the water.

Tag: fishing