Boy, the days sure are long here. At half past nine in the evening there’s still enough light to see. I’m sure by mid-June, during the summer solstice, it’ll still be light out by sometime after 10. Ha, I can sense some of you far northerners rolling your eyes and thinking, “10 aint noth’n. Come to Northern Alaska and experience the difference.”
I had a busy day, but now it’s time to hit the water. I feel like making the inaugural cast at the same place I did when last I was here. No, it’s not the main river, but the canals are fed from the river and are chock full of fish. They receive so little pressure, many locals are surprised to see someone fishing them. That’s been my experience, anyway. Many times, when I see a local, they tell me, “I had no idea there were fish in there.”
I drive to the back of the Albertson’s supermarket and park my minivan in one of the available spots. I’ll be honest, I feel a bit odd doing that. It makes me feel like I may be up to some illicit behavior. Regardless, I push the thought of that aside and proceed. For this inaugural fishing, I grab my ultralight spin outfit, a six-foot ultralight rod fitted with a Pflueger reel. I don my Fishpond chest rig, outfitted with spinning gear lures and attractants. Additionally, I also have my .45 stashed in the main compartment ready for emergency use.
From my vehicle, I walked the paltry twenty-five feet to the edge of the canal. I’m still amused this trout filled canal runs so close behind the supermarket. After getting across the canal by walking across a three foot diameter pipe, I stop to rig up my rod. I think I’ll start with a candy corn color trout magnet.
I begin carefully working the canal, tossing my lure into the seams where the faster moving water meets the slower moving water. First cast, nothing. Second cast, nothing… Fifth cast, fish on. It doesn’t feel like a big one, but it doesn’t matter. It’s still the first fish of the trip for me, a nice ten inch rainbow.
After snapping the photo and carefully releasing my first catch, I continue working my way down the canal, carefully working the stretches of water that are likely to harbor a fish.
“Uggh!” I hung my lure up on some reeds. “C’mon come loose. Don’t break off. Damnit, I lost my lure.”
At this point I decided to change it up a bit and put a spinner on my line. My all-time favorite is a Panther Martin black with yellow spots and silver blade.
First cast, nothing. Second cast, nothing… Sixth cast, fish on. “Oh yeah” this one is much bigger than the last. As I’m working the fish, I become hyper focused on the action and tune out everything around me. I need to keep it out of the underwater structures. I grab my dip net ready to scoop it up. Here it comes. It’s at the edge of net. “Uggghh!” It threw the hook. missed it.
“What’s that crunching sound?” I ask myself. It’s not too close, but close enough I can hear it. As I look up and in the direction of the crunching, there she is on the other side of the canal, not more than fifty feet from me, a cow moose. Okay, we’re separated by water and it seems more interested in feeding than attacking me. Clearly, this moose has been around people so much it doesn’t care I’m there.
I stood there for a while watching it feed. It knew I was there. It looked in my direction a couple of times, but didn’t care and continued feeding. Well, if it doesn’t care neither do I. “You do you and I’ll do me, moose.”
I continued fishing a bit more with no luck. It’s okay, I caught my first fish and encountered a moose… Welcome to Montana!
