Noatak 2012- THE GRANDPA'S TRIP, by Russ
Kayla was on family leave last year when we were here and was not so busy so she had us set up well to post all the time on here. She puts a ton of effort into her teaching which does not allow much time for non- computer people to do this kind of stuff. I forgot my cables for my camera to get my pictures on here so hopefully the kids can help me with it when I get home. There are some great ones that will at least show some of what this place is about.
The flight here was no problem. I did have to keep an eye on grandpa however!! We stayed at Adena and Chad's on the way to the airport in Chicago. They were out west on their trip but it was obvious Cruz is taking over their place and is the center of attention. He has stuff!! We flew out early Sunday and stayed the night in Anchorage. We arrived here Monday morning 8/27. Kayla and Bret were at work but Mark, a friend of theirs, picked us up from the gravel runway. I took a quick nap a got Oren from Doris' house and we did some grandpa/great-grandpa bonding. We have had a lot of fun and he has quite a personality for a 1 year old. We stayed home with him on a few rain days as well. We drop him off with Doris and pick him up in the afternoon. We have effectively screwed up his organized schedule put have enjoyed him so much! He came fishing with us and loves keeping an eye on the fish flopping on the banks. He loves hockey, reading books, and playing with his toys. I thought I was doing him a favor by walking to and from the babysitters but he loves 4 wheeler rides way more than walking- Smart boy! He is also quite a visitor.
The Arctic weather has kicked our butts about 4 days of our stay so far. Every braid in the river is bank to bank water. We drove 4 wheelers last year on dry river beds which is hard to imagine this year. Paul will be able to tell the difference with the pictures I have this year. We had 2 days of rain outs and 2 days of extremely high muddy water. We would have not been able to get anywhere without Brett's boat. It was the best purchase he has ever made! Dad and I were certainly glad he got it in time.
The fishing has been far more difficult this year but we have still managed to find fish and have had a blast. The high water spreads them out a great deal and we have found them mainly in smaller normally dry river sections. The best day was a near 40 fish day not counting salmon. The next best day was near 30 not counting salmon. On the 2 muddiest river days Bret took us in the boat to creek mouths to find clearer water where we caught salmon. We went up some of the creeks a ways but they were at high levels as well and we found no fish. The river is usually clear and it certainly has not ever been to that point. We have had days where it has cleared somewhat and that is when we have had the best fishing. We still managed to have plenty of fish in the freezer to take home. Dad figures he is the best fisherman so far because he caught a huge trout in a small overflow braid of the river. I take some satisfaction in that he has converted to fishing with a single egg on occasion and that is the method used to land that big one. The trout are significantly bigger this year but we have not caught as many. The white fish have been more plentiful. The numbers of greyling have been about the same. We did not make it to out last years hot spots until a few days ago because of water levels. I have not seen dad move so quickly in years as when a fish popped off the hook right at the waters edge. He had backed up rather than reel it all the way in so he had to move about 15 feet to save the fish. Sure enough- quick as a flash he made an athletic move and gave it a boot to high ground.
I came prepared this year with the perfect fishing pole for this river and the different types of fish- a 10 foot ultralight spinning pole. Our first day of fishing was at the "Pit" and I lost my quota of 3 lures a day in short order- on the same snag which must have been a submerged tree. On the third snag I jerked and broke the pole in half! I knew enough to bring 2 extras but they were not the "perfect" setups.
One evening we took a ride up a creek and got out in the thick bush on the river bank. I was the first off the boat and I smelled bear but thought it could be my imagination. About 15 minutes later Kayla said "I smell bear". My immediate vote at that time was to GO! We did not see a bear and if we did it would have to have been within 50 yards as the bush was so thick. It is not just tundra here. The next night we were fishing on an island close to town. When we got back Kayla saw a post from Doris who lives at the end of the village from 45 minutes earlier that they were watching a bear on the same island we were on! They saw our boat. We did not see that bear either. Bret, dad and I saw 2 grizzlies across the river from us yesterday. It's a good thing the river is wide as 400 yards was close enough for me. It's funny how aware you become when you see them as that river would not slow them down if they wanted to cross. A 400 yard buffer is pretty comfortable though. I was much more jumpy last year about bears and actually have been probably a little too casual from a not paying closer attention standpoint. Bret does not appear too be but is keeping and eye out all the time. The bears have been struggling getting fish and have already come into town this year! They tend to shoot them around here when they start coming into town!
We have had the best moose and caribou meals! Everything Kayla and Bret make is done with either of those. I enjoy those meals so much and could certainly live off those. The one thing I would pass on was Bret cooked up some salmon heads on the river bank on Saturday. I ate certain parts and it was good but a filet would have been better.
Bret is learning how to drive a boat the "Noatak way". This is the craziest boat operating place you will ever see. We use a pole a lot to check water depth. There are times when you just have to go for it. Going upstream is more difficult because you need speed to offset the rapid current. We had a set back this morning when we wet to go fishing the key for the boat was gone! As Paul had Bret set up with a couple controls, Bret was able to change the ignition switch and we were off. On the way back grandpa spotted the keys floating in the river- who would have thought that was possible. Some kids were down by the boats messing around the day before. You can never have enough extra gear or parts and nothing remotely valuable gets thrown out for that reason. You never know when you may need to piece something together.
We have a few days left on this adventure. Tomorrow we a going downriver with another boat to do some fishing and cook supper on the river bank. The weather finally got sunny but got much colder. The plentiful mud puddles had ice on them this morning. The wind switched to the north and a north wind here is very cold! I could not even take pictures some days as it was raining continually. We were prepared for it so the rain did not slow us down but it was cloudy and rainy for much of this trip. We knew we were lucky last year to have such good weather the entire time.
My goal is to catch a dolly bigger than 27 inches before we leave otherwise it will be a long year!!
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