Alaskan
Adventure 09/04
from
the desk of
Steve Deibler
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If you are in good physical condition, consider Prince of
Wales Island for a great Alaskan hunting and fishing adventure. Prince of
Wales Island (POW) is a coastal island in Southeast Alaska. The island is a
lush, very dense rainforest consisting of spruce, hemlock, alder, devils club
and numerous other impenetrable types of vegetation. The island is also
interspersed with numerous regenerating clear-cuts. Access is via inter-island
ferry, jet boats or float planes from Ketchikan or Wrangell, Alaska.
Our group of 5 avid sportsman arrived in Ketchikan via
Seattle using Alaskan Airlines. Once we ferried the three-hour ferry to
Hollis, our rented van took us to a rented cottage for the next 11 nights.
Prince of Wales Island is a do-it-yourselfer's dream with over 1500 miles of
logging roads crossing and criss-crossing numerous lakes and salmon streams.
Black bear, black-tailed deer, wolves and numerous waterfowl species abound on
the island's mountains, streams and estuaries. The surrounding waters are a
world-class fishery for halibut, lingcod, rockfish and 5 species of salmon.
Excellent saltwater fishing is within easy reach of all the island communities
and charters are relatively inexpensive compared to other areas of Alaska. Our
trip was planned for the September 1, 2004 opener of black bear season, with a
couple of days allowed up front for charter fishing. We fished for two days
out of Naukati, Alaska, which is on the northwest side of the island. Our
charter captain worked hard in boating numerous halibut from 10 lbs to a 198
lb whopper. On the second day, trolling produced good Coho Salmon for the
dinner table that night. There was no shortage of fish and the halibut catch was
interspersed with 30 plus lb lingcod and numerous smaller rockfish. Whale
watching was an added bonus, in addition to bald eagles, seals, otters, and
other marine life.
Opening
day of bear season soon arrived, which found us wading salmon streams loaded
with thousands of Pink and Silver Salmon. It was easy to locate bears by
riding the roads and finding a stream full of migrating salmon. Wading the
stream stuffed with spawning salmon revealed huge bear trails leading to
fishing spots with dozens of partially eaten carcasses. A setup usually
resulted in a bear sighting within an hour, as the bears routinely returned to
feed. And these are not small bears. Prince of Wales Island has some of the
biggest black bears in North America. Average bear hides square over 6 feet,
and there is no better place to search for that Pope and Young or Boone and
Crockett bear. It's not hard to understand why the bears get so big with vast
wilderness and thousands of spawning salmon. In eight days of hunting, we
never saw another bear hunter. The hard part is holding out for that
exceptional bear. After two days of hunting streams, our group had taken four
bears with one hunter holding out for that exceptional bear. Ray got that bear
in a remote cove reached only by boat on Day 5. The belly dragger squared over
7 feet and weighed close to 500 lbs. After going five for five on bear, we
spent the remainder of the trip fishing, deer hunting and running crab traps
for the delicious Dungeness Crabs. The big bucks eluded us in the High Alpine,
but that's another hunt for another day. We did find a heavy black-tail shed
with five points on one side.
For an incredible adventure in the wilds of Alaska or
another remote location, join one of our group hunts by contacting
Deibler Outdoors at (770)
377-5321 or visit us on the web at:
http://www.deibleroutdoors.com
(Copyright 09/21/04)
