A Glacial Whale Pass Fishing Report

Glacier trips! That’s what this week featured. Oh, and Capt. Julian aboard the Thorne put his angler Curt on a 300 pound plus halibut this week, too, though unfortunately I do not have photos of that beast.

Monday found Leslee, Megan, and Robb on the Blashke for a trip to the LaConte Glacier. First, please allow me to brag on the Blashke. Owned by the Lodge at Whale Pass, the Blashke was purchased specifically to make the glacier trip. The 32 foot long Almar aluminum hull is powered by a 500 horsepower Yanmar diesel. The drive is a reversable jet, and can easily propel the Blashke to a cruising speed of 30 knots. The Blashke can make a full 360 rotation within its length. It is astonishly nimble, and I certainly have not mastered the full use of the reversable jet drive yet. Like all Lodge at Whale Pass boats, the Blashke is named after nearby islands. The boat is amazing.

Megan is a bundle of energy.

Back to the glacier trip. Megan is a bundle of kinetic energy, always moving, very animated, highly enthusiastic, and certainly pleasing to look at. She wanted to taste the icebergs, drink the meltwater from them, paddle around them, etcetera, loads of fun. When we got up to the glacier face it put on an incredible show, big chunks calving off, shooters popping up, loud reports, spectacular fountains of spray, big waves. Everything the glacier can do it did do. We certainly had an awesome day.

Leslee and Robb take photos.

Leslie knows how to have fun, too.

Robb gets into the act! Nat obtains more ice.

Can we be silly?

In a sea full of ice.

In the center of this photo, a large piece of glacier has started to fall.

BOOM! The noise is almost deafening…

Megan sent me this email:
“Well, it’s the furthest thing from a glacier…Phoenix! Made it back late Tuesday night, and I am still in denial of being home. What a magical experience it was! A warm thank you for making and taking the time to create a once in a lifetime memory for Leslee, my brother Robb, and I. Your attentiveness, knowledge, great company and shared enthusiasm for my “goals” for the day were awesome! All achieved…drinking from a waterfall, licking…(or whatever the hell you want to call it) an iceberg, drinking from an iceberg, holding an iceberg, and sea kayaking through it all! Clearly you are doing what you love, and know how appreciative I am of all of your efforts for our day John! I trust you have a whole new crew of guests coming and going, and you will enjoy your days. I have never been to such a pristine, majestic place on earth.”

Thank you Megan. We certainly appreciate your staying with us, and miss your high energy around here.

…and that is how these icebergs form.

Tuesday found Leo and Cynthia and their three children aboard the Blashke for another glacier trip. The glacier was not performing as well this day, unfortunately. But all of them got out in kayaks and paddled among the icebergs and the seals for almost an hour and had a wonderful time.

Your reporter, floating and boating.

Wednesday was another glacier trip. The glacier is always awe-inspiring but, the travel time seems to keep getting longer, even running at 30 knots. The weather was perfect for a glacier run though, with even the Sumner Strait looking like a pond, a glassy surface the whole way both ways. Our guests this day were Laura, Stacy, and Sarah. Jonathan, Jessica, and Nuttapong, LWP staffers, were able to come along as well. The glacier still did not perform like it did on Monday, but we did get a couple of moderate-sized calves breaking off, as well as a shooter.

What is a shooter, you ask? The glacial face does not end at the water line. It extends well below the surface (I would like to know just how far down it goes. The water near the face is almost 800 feet deep.). Pieces of glacier that are underwater break off too, of course. The ice, being buoyant, shoots up towards the surface. If a piece of ice has a large flat surface it can move quite a distance laterally, making it quite dangerous to vessels that exhibit an excess of boldness. These pieces that break off underwater and then shoot to the surface are called shooters.

Nuttapong is from Thailand, where glaciers are rare.

For those who have never heard the name Nuttapong before- Nuttapong is from Thailand. He’s in the States on a student visa, and is working his butt off as an intern in the kitchen at the Lodge. I like his cooking. He understands how I like to eat. He says Nuttapong is a very common name in Thailand. Who knew?

That big halibut was caught on a piece of cut bait, in this case a chunk of pink salmon. I think they were in Snow Pass but I didn’t ask. I know Julian likes to fish there. Anytime you catch a 300 pound fish though, you deserve kudos. Congratulations, Curt!

Thursday was a low-key day with only two guuests in-house. I tied some flies, watched the rain fall, and did other low-stress activities. Julian took the guests fishing at the north entrance to Whale Pass, where they had success trolling for salmon.

Friday Kurt and I took Jeff and Pat to Memorial Beach, hoping to catch some Dolly varden. The fish were thick and Kurt and Jeff railed on them. Kurt used a Mepps spinner, Jeff a Fiord Spoon. I tried with a fly rod. In spite of changing flies a half-dozen times I only managed two, one on a Firecracker and one on a Silver Thorn. Pat likewise only got a few, even though she was throwing the same lure as her husband.

Saturday dawned with some low fog, which has now burned off. It looks to be a spectacular day weather-wise. We’ll see what it brings!

And now, for the results of the Haiku Challenge!

I’m afraid there weren’t many poets among my readers this week. So far exactly one response has come in, from Joe Pires:

I am a pilot of a low and slow aircraft.
Break the bonds of earth
World becomes an image of god
till i must return

Joe’s poem clearly does not fit the tradition haiku mold, which is as follows:

“Haiku is a traditional form of Japanese poetry. Haiku poems consist of three lines. The first and last lines of a Haiku have five syllables and the middle line has seven syllables. The lines rarely rhyme.”

That having been said, since he was the only entry, we have a winner! Joe, use the contact form to email me a snail mail address and we will snailily get a book out to you. Thanks for participating!

And that is the A Glacial Whale Pass Fishing Report from Spotted Tail and the Lodge at Whale Pass.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2015. All rights are reserved.