SE Alaska Remote Lakes and Salt Kayak Fishing Trip Report

In July and August I spent a bit more than 3 weeks on a solo kayak fishing trip around SE Alaska. My goal this year was to focus on the remote lake systems on the south end of Prince of Wales Island (POW). I love fishing salt, especially in Alaska, but these remote lakes have been haunting me since I blew past them on a 2013 trip. I had plans to make it into 6 lakes, but had to settle for 4 lakes as the conditions and effort it took to get there were both more difficult than I'd originally imagined.

I've been kayak camping and fishing since my father took me on a trip down the Colorado River at the age of 10 in a Royak. I've had a lifetime of trips thru Australia, Africa, South Pacific, Mexico, Canada and the U.S. but Alaska tops it all and my only regret is discovering it so late in my life. During this trip I celebrated my 50th birthday and it was great to be out there doing what I love and having one of the best trips in memory. I hope I can continue this for decades but I'm realistic that the great trips won't last forever. On to the report.

Weather:

The weather in SE AK was rough this year to say the least. In 2013 I did 2 weeks with a bivy and a drytop and rarely used either. This year I lived in my Gore-Tex and rubber rain hat and spent a full 4 days of the trip locked down not moving due to the conditions. During the 18 days of the trip I was in Alaska camping there was no less than 20" of rain. The weather radio sounded like it was stuck on a loop...small craft advisory...gale force winds...complex system of low pressure systems...rain continuing with heavier bands moving thru the area late. My trip was broken into thirds, one third of it was dry and mostly sunny, one third drippy and breezy but doable, and the last third stay inside the tent you're not going anywhere today. In the end I exercised my option to extend my trip from 2 weeks to 3 weeks largely in part to wait out some very serious storms that moved thru the area.

Route:

I took the M/V Columbia from Bellingham to Ketchikan and returned the same way. This is a great bargain for getting to Alaska with gear and kayak and the r/t still cost less than $600 for one person and kayak. I got dropped off in Bellingham on the way up and on the return I paddled back to Seattle via the San Juan Islands (70 nm) in 3 days.

I left Ketchikan during on a very rainy day and headed south into the Hecate Straight with the intention of crossing the Dixon entrance over to POW. The weather was nasty and I got a face full of it as soon as I got there. I had hoped to be over on POW in 2 days, but was forced to relax my plans and it took a big effort over 4 days before I got to POW.

After getting hammered on Hecate for days making less than 10 miles per day or just staying put I pushed out into the Dixon entrance when it was still under SCA. The winds were dying off from 15 - 20 kts sustained and for most of the eastern portion it was improving. The western side was where it got a bit dicey and swells picked up to 6 - 8 feet with breaking white water. I was forced to change heading to surf down swell to avoid a roll. I was put many miles off course and had to move southward along the coastline to POW to make for it. The effort started at 1 PM and ended after 11 PM at night, and it was 100% paddle effort the entire time. I was spent, but while making my first camp on POW I had a bear bust out of the bush and approach. More on the bears of POW later but I was very rude to this one making a lot of unfriendly noises and throwing rocks in it's general direction. I throw like a 6 year old girl when startled so I don't believe I hit it directly but it got the message and took off when it got about 30 feet away.

Once in Moira Sound I was able to access lakes by portaging up river's from the salt at high tide. This was not easy. All portages took hours of effort and some were just impossible and I had to give up and settle for some river camping and hike in. Some of the rivers it was possible to load up the kayak and paddle upstream once past the rapids near the mouth. In short, I had to earn the right to kayak fish in every lake I made it too.

Fishing:

For all the effort to get to these lakes the fish were not huge by any measure. The lakes are Oligiotrophic (nutrient depleted) so the trout were about 12 to 16 inches. The sea run Salmon were the big fish of the lakes and Pinks, Sockeye and Chum made it into most lakes. The trout were Rainbows, Cut Throat, Brook and Dolly Vardens. They weren't easy to catch in the lakes and trolling produced between 4 and 8 fish per day. But I could always stop trolling and play with the salmon that stacked up near the inflows.

Salt fishing was fairly typical with the exception of a Coho run this year. I heard of a few coho being caught but I missed them on the days they moved thru. As consolation the pinks were running 23 to 24 inches this year and were nice and thick. I caught them until I was sick of reeling them in and tossing them back. The rockfish were generally small and I got one chicken halibut that was a tasty treat.

Gear and Clothing:

First off, Gore-Tex rocks! I told my Kokatat rep what I wanted to do and the conditions I expected and he told me to upgrade to full Gore-Tex drysuit with the wool-core underwear. It did the job and I lived in that set up for days on end only pealing back the drysuit long enough to jump into the sleeping bag. At times I was soaked with sweat from portaging for hours but within an hour or two I'd be dry again as the moisture just kept making it's way out of the suit. I have no idea how it works so well but I'm 100% a believer in the full Gore-Tex option and proper underwear for the really nasty conditions.

Solar power sucks. For the most part I relied on lots of battery power for the radios, GPS, light and camera. I had 6 camera batteries and this was enough for 8 hours of video and many stills. I switched my FF to a Mark V-Pro in b/w with a draw of 170 mA coupled with a 10,000 mAh SLA battery I ran the FF for 5 hours per day on average thru Alaska and the 3 day trip from Bellingham to Seattle and dropped the voltage from 12.9 to 11.5 volts. I'm not thrilled with the low performance FF but having a poor quality FF is better than fishing blind. The small solar panel I took to charge the iphone held enough charge to replenish the phone once, then struggled to get enough capacity to recharge the iphone for the rest of the trip. It works okay in Seattle, but go 600 miles north and what sun there is looses a lot of power when it comes to recharging these little solar devices. Next time I'll rely on all battery power to recharge all devices.

Bears:

Lastly, yeah there were bears and lots of them. At times I would see 6 of the furry guys within 200 yards of my camp doing what bears do. I don't consider myself a bear expert or a bear lover in any form, but they are remarkable animals to watch. My evening entertainment would be to watch them kill salmon. The more experienced ones just got the job done in quick order while others would watch a pool of salmon for 15 minutes then just do a belly flop into the pool and come up with nothing. The cubs seem to look right thru me and at times I had to scramble to get out of the way so I didn't come between mother and cub or look like I was any threat to the cubs. It all worked out and I wasn't threatened at any point. I gave the bears space and they gave me room to do my thing. No I didn't have a gun and I can't imagine a scenario where I'd shoot one of these bears for any reason. I was there for fish and so were they, my turn came after they were done and cleared the area.

Here's a few pics and videos I've gotten together so far. I have many hours of raw video that I'll still be putting together for the next several weeks or months.





-Todd

AWESOME!!!!!!  NEED MORE!!! lol. 

Can't wait to review more carefully after work and the upcoming stuff!!!

Sounds like an amazing and intense trip, especially those portages.

Did you see many, or any, other people while you were out there?

An epic trip!  And all the lousy weather you encountered makes the trip even more impressive.

Did you see any brown bears, or just black bears?  It's a good thing there were plenty of salmon available for the bears.  I would not have wanted to be in the middle of that many bears if me and my food supply were the best source of food in the area.

How did your fiberglass kayak hold up under the portaging?

Excellent Report!  I love getting the flavor of a place, beyond a simple fishing report.
It's the adversity that defines a great adventure.

-Spot-

Just Black Bears on POW, or so I've been told. Yes, well fed Black Bears, that's what I want to believe.

I rebuilt that kayak with lots of extra fiberglass in the right spots over the past 6 months. The keel has about 8 layers of 8 oz 2" wide and the cockpit is lined inside as well as multiple layers outside. The weight went from 54 pounds when it was stock to about 65 pounds but it took some serious abuse this trip and only has a few cosmetic dings to the gel coat. Last year (when it was stock) I managed to put so many holes in it that it leaked about 1 gal per hour after 2 weeks in Alaska.

I saw about 10 people on my 18 day trip. Some came by boat others by float plane. There are 2 FS cabins on Kegan Lake that are always full during the summer. It cost a minimum of $850 for the smallest float plane to bring in 2 people and gear into Kegan. The cabins are $25 and $45 per night and are booked out immediately when reservations open 6 months in advance. I think I went 8 or 9 days without seeing anyone. Just me and the bears.

An epic trip!  And all the lousy weather you encountered makes the trip even more impressive.

Did you see any brown bears, or just black bears?  It's a good thing there were plenty of salmon available for the bears.  I would not have wanted to be in the middle of that many bears if me and my food supply were the best source of food in the area.

How did your fiberglass kayak hold up under the portaging?

Way better than mother ship fishing or doing it from your buddy's motor boat. Nice trip!

Epic trip! Love that place, can't wait to go back. Thanks for taking us along.

That was a great read.  Thanks.  Enjoyed all the details. 

AK ferry system is a great deal.  Spent many hours as a kid on the "rusty tusty"  M/V Tustumena. 

That is an epic trip and the type of thing I dream about.  Thanks for sharing.

You are one hardcore S.O.B.!!! What an amazing trip. I am glad that you were able to share...Thanks as always.

Way better than mother ship fishing or doing it from your buddy's motor boat. Nice trip!

Ray .... In Alaska there are no roads to most places. So you use water taxis. Your statement is the equivalent of saying it is way better to kayak to Neah Bay rather than drive.
To some that might be true, personally I rather catch big fish. Some guys are kayaking fishermen some are fishing kayakers .... Others just like to sit on the couch and post on the internet.

I agree with FGs comment, paddling there was my choice and nothing else. This was a fishing kayaker's trip. 90% of my energy went into getting there and basic survival needs. It's not practical to do this as a kayak fishing trip. Getting a kayak into those lakes would either be very expensive by plane or a lot of effort by boat/portage. Alaska has a lot of great fishing areas, these lake systems will never be on that list.

Awesome trip. Thank you for sharing. I've been shopping or a solar charger but take your experience to heart. I've been using a Biolite stove on the BC coast for charging my phone. It's a little bulky but light. It'll burn almost anything and I've always been able to scrounge enough hanging dead/dryish fuel.

Way better than mother ship fishing or doing it from your buddy's motor boat. Nice trip!

Ray .... In Alaska there are no roads to most places. So you use water taxis. Your statement is the equivalent of saying it is way better to kayak to Neah Bay rather than drive.
To some that might be true, personally I rather catch big fish. Some guys are kayaking fishermen some are fishing kayakers .... Others just like to sit on the couch and post on the internet.

I like turtles!

-Allen