More Fun Today!

Monday September 28^th, 2009

Via Rail – St George to Jasper

I guess nobody has found Godzilla yet and taken that doll away from her. Woke this morning, eye swelled again, maybe worse than yesterday, however, I seemed to have broken fever during the night, which made me feel much better. Until I got up that is, needed a nice shower, no hot water at the Ramada Inn in St George, seems they had a boiler breakdown! Just my friggin luck!!

Oh well, smell like a shoe, goes right along with a swollen face which looks like you should have just spent the night in jail!!

Cab ride to train station, forgot about time change from Alaska, so I am there well ahead of time. Went to visitor center next door and saw this amazing wood carving of a school of salmon, see picture. Then went out and took a picture of our train.

Next picture is of the one stop we made between Prince George and Jasper.

By mid-morning the swelling on my eye had gone down to almost nothing, so I feel and look much better and can see out of both eyes! What a great feeling. More scenery even more dramatic than yesterday as we approach the Canadian Rockies. Beautiful weather, sunshine and blue skies. Every 15 minutes you see something more beautiful than before.

Pulling into Jasper I see a heard of elk grazing right beside the road, this is going to be fun!

Train arrived Jasper and as it pulls into the station, I see my friend there to pick me up, eye swelling is almost entirely gone and no pain, so hopefully one of you people found that miserable last wife of mine (Godzilla) and snatched that doll from her hands, because it seems the hex is wearing off!!

Thank God!

Jim

More updates on our travels around Jasper and on down to Kalispell over the next couple days!! It's picture time!

Is THIS Fun???

Sunday September 27^th, 2009.

Prince Rupert to Prince George

aboard VIA Rail Canada!

OK - $50.00 to the first person who sees Godzilla and removes the little doll she is sticking needles in and destroy it!! This must be some kind of hex the woman is putting on me.

I awoke in wonderful downtown Prince Rupert after a fairly restful sleep and went to the lobby of the hotel for coffee, but not after scaring the beJesus out of myself when I attempted to look in the mirror.

Along with the left eye being blackened by a head butt from a drunken Irishman, I now have some sort of infection in the OTHER eye which has caused it to swell as well and it is nearly shut!

See PIC!!

So, needless to say, I am not going to have to worry about people wanting to sit beside me on the train!

Made the train station on time, boarded the train, laid claim to my seats and settled in for a 10 hour ride to Prince George.

There is no way I can describe the scenery you pass on this trip. It would be very difficult to sleep on this trip as you just don’t want to close your eyes for a minute for fear you will miss something, even with my swollen eyes it was constant beauty passing by the window. Train ran right on schedule, served hot coffee and tea and other snacks for reasonable prices and the seats were comfortable.

One more day of traveling until Jasper, made two stops today which allowed us to get off the train for a few minutes at each station which was interesting, since these stations are literally in the middle of nowhere!

You will have to stay tuned for a book I will be publishing and also a link to my smug mug site when I process and load up some of the pictures I took along the way.

Enjoy,

More on the trip tomorrow as I make the next leg to Jasper.

Jim

The Adventure Begins

Friday – September 25^th, 2009

Well today was another bad weather day, although it seems that Slammers flight did depart Ketchikan this afternoon on time, early this morning Sharon’s flight was cancelled in the morning and now she is not scheduled out until tomorrow morning, so I will be hanging out with Sharon and Dewey until my ferry leaves tonight at 9:30 pm.

Arrived early to board the ferry and was beginning to have a sensitive tooth…so medication was in order, couple aspirin and Gin in the ferry bar seemed in order. Loaded luggage into my stateroom and headed to the bar. Light load on the ferry, not many people aboard, so it was pretty quiet. Windy and rainy, although not near as bad as this morning, so hopefully it will be a pleasant sail to Prince Rupert.

Easy overnight trip, wake up my ship crew at about 3:30 am for 4:30 am arrival in Prince Rupert. Not a very scenic place, especially when you wake up to find in addition to my right black eye, now my left eye is swelled nearly shut. Seems I have an infected tooth or at least that is what I suspect. Thankfully not in too much pain, so it is more swelling than anything else.

Although I look like somebody beat the hell out of me.

Cab to hotel, not a bad place, Harbour View Inn, expected a nice marina, but guess that does not exist in Prince Rupert. Not real impressed with the “Scenic Beauty” of Prince Rupert. Checked into hotel and went to bed.

Took a walk, got some nice warm soup, swelling is a little better this afternoon, can see anyhow. Rain, drizzly weather, not much for picture taking. Rest today and board train first thing in the morning.

Up early again, eye swollen, but not too bad, still no pain, which is the good thing. Cab to train station, pleasant people on the train, boarded and headed for Prince George.

Couple pics attached, of leaving Ketchikan on the ferry at night. More details in the next update later today.

Jim

Last Day at Yes Bay

Wednesday September 23^rd, 2009

Well today everyone except Kevin and family are leaving the Lodge. This is a couple days earlier from planned, however the weather is supposed to take a decided turn for the worse and we need to get to town as a couple people have flights to catch.

So early this morning the Whaler is getting loaded down with crew, luggage and of course garbage for the run into town. If we leave early enough, we may miss the wind which is supposed to blow pretty good today.

No such luck, by the time the boat was loaded we left a little later than planned. Myself, Dan (Slammer), Dewey (Cutter), Sharon and Nicky left the Lodge at about 8:00 am – managed to get as far as Canoe Rock before we got hit with some serious 30 to 40 mph gusts of wind and of course rain. Luckily the wind had not been blowing long enough to get the water real rough yet, but it would over the course of the 1 hour remaining on our trip, so it was a very rough ride at the end as we entered Clover Pass, with easily 6-8 foot seas, howling wind and horizontal rain.

have attached a picture from the beautiful sky on the morning we left the Lodge. Red Sky in the morning, sailors take warning!!

Arrived Knudson Cove marina, was met by Art and a van for our trek to town. Hauled everything up the ramp in pouring rain, had to use tarps to cover luggage.

Headed to respective hotels and watched the bad weather continue all day!! Several had early morning flights on Thursday which were cancelled due to the weather, so most ended up leaving on Friday. Although Slammers flight in the afternoon on Thursday managed to get out.

So the 2009 Season at Yes Bay Lodge is officially over.

Stay tuned for happenings around the Lodge here during the winter and of course stay tuned for the plans for the 2010 season and the re-launch of Pirate Airworks…on the Yes Bay fishing reports blog.

Have a great winter,

Capt Jim

Professor

Yep Shamrock - It still hurts!

A bar room head butt from a drunk Irishman gets worse every day. I can’t wait to get back to Florida, so I can take a drive over to Plant City and even the score…

Buttoning up things at the Lodge continues today with stowing all the porch furniture, finishing all the laundry and cleaning rooms and packing to leave tomorrow for Ketchikan.

Rain and more rain, the river is the highest that Kevin has ever seen it and there is no let up in the rain. It has rained solid for the past 3 days and there is no end in sight.

Hopefully the wind will stay down for tomorrows boat ride into town, although we will be in the big boat, so it shouldn’t be too bad.

Stay tuned for updates around the Lodge throughout the year.

Capt Jim

From the news...

This was taken from the SitNews..

http://www.sitnews.us/

FISH FACTOR: Salmon harvest will approach respectable number; Pinks trounced and Get steamed! By LAINE WELCH - Well, it won't be one for the record books, but Alaska's 2009 salmon harvest will approach a respectable 160 million fish.

We won't hit the preseason projection of 174 million fish, but it's still going to be a good catch in historic perspectives. It's a solid year pretty much across the board," said Geron Bruce, assistant director of the state commercial fisheries division.

The salmon shortfall stems from a no show of pink salmon at Prince William Sound by both hatchery-raised and wild fish. A harvest of nearly 40 million pinks was predicted at PWS this summer, but the catch came in at 16.5 million fish. Statewide, the total pink salmon harvest squeaked past 94 million fish, 20 million less than projected.

A couple hundred thousand chums might still be landed, and the statewide tally was nearing 17 million, not too far off the forecast. Likewise, coho catches are still coming in and likely to approach the 4 million fish forecast.

Bruce said the harvest of 321,000 king salmon this summer was mediocre.- More...
Monday - September 21, 2009

Winding down...and a helluvaparty!

Well the last guests left yesterday morning and it was time to start
breaking down the Lodge and get it ready for winter.

No sense packing up all the booze from the bar, se we as a group attempted
to lessen our work load and have a couple cocktails last night...

It MUST have been a good time since I woke up with a heck of a black eye.
That will teach me to drink with an Irishman...Sean (Shamrock) Hagen decided
that a head butt was in order...missed my head and hit my eye. Yes there was
alcohol involved. But we all survived and most of the crew left this morning
on three boats heading to town.

The only crew left here at the Lodge is; Myself, Slammer, Sharon, Nicky and
Dewey. Plenty of chores to do around here today and tomorrow, the rest of us
are leaving for town on the morning of the 23rd. Then a couple days in town
and then off on my trip home adventure starting the 25th.

Enjoy the pictures of the black eye, last plane out and crew leaving.

Capt Jim

Mad Momma Bear

The dogs ran a mother bear and her two cubs up a tree in front of the Lodge this morning and Momma bear was not real happy. The cubs were so far up the tree that a picture was impossible.

Finally got the dogs (Cinder and Nikko - Karelian Bear Dogs) to calm down and leave them alone so they could come down and scamper off into the woods. The dogs were just doing their job to alert us of any bears around the Lodge and of course keep them away.

Final day of fishing at the Lodge today, tomorrow we clean up around here, see the last guests off and get the lodge shut down for winter.

I have a real adventure planned for my trip home, should involve tons of picture taking so I am looking forward to that...

Check my blog below for details posted a couple days ago.

Enjoy the pictures,

Capt Jim

Yes Bay Lodge Fishing Report - September 19th, 2009

Saturday September 19^th, 2009 – Fishing Report

Slow fishing continued today with the weather being a little more cooperative, although at times it rained like the dickens. We have had over 10 inches of rain in the past 36 hours…

Some nice silvers hit the dock today and also some halibut this afternoon.

Enjoy the pictures from the last fishing report of the season. Last guests checkout tomorrow and most of the crew is out of here in the next couple days.

Capt Jim

Yes Bay Lodge Fishing report - September 18th, 2009

Friday September 18^th, 2009 – Fishing Report!

Well the season is winding down with only one more day of guest fishing tomorrow. Today was my last day guiding so now the work starts, getting boats broken down and transported to town, fishing tackle cleaned and put away for next year. Tackle inventory and needs list.

It has been a great season and today, although still a little slow, was better, a little quicker bite and some real nice fish. For some reason the silver run was not quite as good as last year. Maybe it’s the weather, some are suggesting with all the rain we have had that the schools are passing us by and heading right up the swollen rivers to spawn, I tend to think they are late this year, and the main run has yet to arrive, we’ll see.

Enjoy the pictures and look for tomorrow’s final daily report, then a year end summary and highlight report.

Capt Jim

Sad Day!!

Well the end is in sight…always a sign when you have to empty your boat and stow your gear. My small boat got pulled today and pressure washed, ready to be transported in to town for the winter tomorrow. I have one more day of fishing on the big boat with guests, then it is time to pack up all the fishing gear and do an inventory of what we need for next year, button up the Lodge, get laundry done and pack for home.

Trip Home – Itinerary!

My trip home this year will be another adventure! All planned and ready to go.

Leave Yes Bay Lodge by boat on the Friday the 25^th of September, a day in town running a few errands and then board the Alaska Ferry at 9:00 PM for an overnighter to Prince Rupert in Canada, arrive early in the morning. Check in to a hotel and spend one night in Prince Rupert.

Sunday morning departure aboard the Canadian Railway – “Skeena” for a day trip to Prince George. Overnight there in a hotel, then Monday morning the 28^th early morning departure again on the Skeena to Prince Rupert. This should be a beautiful trip through the Canadian Rockies by train, I am really looking forward to it. Arrive in Jasper BC in the late afternoon and meet a friend of mine from Montana who is driving up to spend a few days taking pictures and enjoying the wildlife around Jasper. Then we are going to drive down to his place in Kalispell where I will spend a night or two and explore Montana.

Check out the train trip here: http://www.viarail.ca/en/trains/rockies-and-pacific/jasper-prince-rupert

Then an overnight bus trip from Kalispell to Salt Lake City, where I am meeting up with another friend and I will spend a night or so at his place before flying to Ohio on Monday the 5^th of October to visit family for a week. Flight back to St Petersburg is scheduled for Monday the 12^th of October arriving in the afternoon.

Make sure you stay in touch and look for some pictures posted of my journey on the blog.

Pictures for today - explanation!

One of those days when you wish you had the big cameras with you, but thank goodness for my little Stylus 790 waterproof point and shoot. Waterproof was a necessity today as it rained and rained. Anyway, spent time out fishing with the big boats today there were several trollers working the area and I hope they were doing better than we were, but anyways a couple nice shots of working boats, then there was a beautiful rainbow that warranted a couple shots!!

Enjoy,

Capt Jim

BTW – The blog is always open for comments, so comment away!! And of course and email every now and again is nice!!

Yes Bay Lodge Fishing Report - September 17th, 2009

Thursday September 17th, 2009 - Fishing report

Slow bite again today…everyone is wondering why the fish aren’t biting! Diligence and long effort provided some fish today but it took all day to get any amount at all. Nice big silvers and even a couple Kings and halibut hit the dock today, but it was only for those who stuck with it.

Weather was a little better today, less wind and a little less rain and thankfully relatively calm seas made the day a joy…

Enjoy the pictures,

Capt Jim

Yes Bay Lodge Fishing Report - September 16th, 2009

Wednesday September 16^th, 2009 – Fishing Report

Bad weather day and really tough fishing and not just because of the weather, the fish were not cooperating today!! It was slow and rough and windy and cold and tons of rain! Other than that it was a fine day at Yes Bay!!

Nice fish hit the dock and several boats hung in there and got their limit of salmon. No halibuts today but a few were rewarded with some nice sea bass and rock fish.

Enjoy the pictures,

Capt Jim

Yes Bay Lodge Fishing Report - September 15th, 2009

Tuesday September 15^th, 2009 – Fishing Report

Can you say SLOW – WOW, the bite was surely slow for salmon today, a limit was hard to come by and those who did took all day to reach their goal! Maybe it was the dropping barometer from the weather change today, storm was expected this evening, in fact the wind was so bad in Ketchikan this afternoon, our arriving guests could not fly out on the float planes this afternoon, which is a rare occurrence.

Anyway, the fish we did catch were all really nice big silvers, so it was worth the wait. Bottom fishing was no better as several boats tried and failed at anything worthwhile.

Enjoy the pictures of some nice fish,

Capt Jim