Theres More to it than just Fish

"Some men fish their whole lives without knowing its not fish they're after"

Somebody famous said that years ago and although I think it doesn't give people like us enough credit it certainly underlines what we all know about this sport, theres alot to appreciate. So, to help celebrate my 10,000 visit milestone I decided to go through my Picasa and post some of the many cool wildlife sightings I've experienced here and around Mile 14. Naturally in 30 years on the creek I've seen just about everything I'd guess but I've only packed the digital camera for the last 7 or 8 years....some of the most memorable sights have been without a camera or caught with the old film deal. Of all the wildlife I've seen though the coolest was years ago. I was downriver in May, the only boat around when the entire lowland Caribou herd crossed the river below me. It was a like a scene from the Serengeti, the migration of the Wilda beast, over a hundred animals swimming with me, full of direction, knowing exactly where they were going.

Anchored up silver fishing we watched this huge Caribou come out and swim straight towards us. Unbelievable close, I stood at the bow with the anchor line in hand so I could throw it out and float away if we had a problem, we didn't.

This little guy and his twin got separated from its Mom one spring right here at Mile 14. They hung around for days and we were all worried sick that they'd be lost forever. But low and behold the mom came back and we watched them swim the river off to the future. This Caribou Pic was a no brainier to take. I don't know whats cooler, the animal or the mountains behind him, I guess the combo is the deal.

We've got lots of Moose but how often do you see them up close? We do routinely, some days that King Salmon might be hard to catch but we can generally mitigate that with at least a Moose sighting or two.

Getting a pic of a seal is almost impossible. You get the camera out, they go down. You set the camera down and they come up. They're the one creature here that likes to watch us as much as we like to watch them I think. These guys are seriously smart, you can see it in his eyes.

Me and MP were anchored up one fall silver fishing at Eagle Rock when this coyote came out. He was flat bold and we watched him scavenge around for almost an hour. The coyotes might be the toughest life form on the river. In the winter we find holes the ice where they scratch down a foot or so to get at an old salmon carcass.

Every year we seem to have more and more Bald Eagles. This guy is an immature one, I've been told it takes 3 years for them to get good and white, if somebody knows for sure, I'd like to know. One of my favorite things is watching them get the first salmon guts of the year after we clean our first King of the year, usually in early to mid May. As far as fish go they seem to depend on us but I have seen them take live fish and those poor Merganser ducklings don't have a chance.

Sandhill Cranes are pretty confident birds, they make no secret of their arrival. You can hear them a looooong way off. They kind of cackle. I call them Pterodactyls as they just look so different than geese or other big birds when they fly over.

Those Trumpeter Swans are the last migratory bird to exit stage south every year. This bunch here I jumped right at the end of the island below my house. I would have gotten a better pic of them and maybe one of them feeding but the Jet-Dog could show no restraint and needed a closer look, fast. With all the talk I've made lately about our bears here I'm embarrassed to say that I don't have any really good pics. Just two nights ago we had a sow and two cubs outside and one was on the picnic table 15 feet from our bedroom window. MP had some sunflowers on it for the Jay Birds and the cub just had to have some....but theres just no way to get a picture with the dark and reflection of the window. I tried. I'll bet my photography major buddy Roy could have pulled it off. So that leaves me with this ultra magnified pic of a browny that we watched across the river for many days. He's having a spawned out Humpy all you can eat buffet.

Sometimes around here you just have to share the fishing hole. Thats what my buddy Jacques Lizin is doing here. I'd bet he's not as calm as he looks here....would you be?

I'll close out this little camera Safari with a pic that Jacque took in Seward. Absolutely gorgeous. The porpoises are like the seals I'd say, they love to entertain....Hope you liked the tour.