Slick and I tried to float at odd hours -- either starting very early or very late -- to minimise overlap with the 10 or so other drift boats (plus 3 motor/ jet boats) on the 14 mile stretch of water fromt the 9 Mile Bridge to the take-out. Our earliest alarm was set at 4:00 a.m. for 5:00 a.m. on the water (cold, but saw some compensating wildlife including several moose, beaver, martin and mink). We were so exhausted one day that we slept till 8 a.m. and didn't make it to the river till 10 a.m. We were virtually alone, and had a great fishing day, too (in part, we believe, because the pools were well-rested by the time we got there).

Most days we would be putting in 14 hours on the river (e.g. 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.), with fresh fish targetted the last two hours or so when we were down river. The chromers were hit-and-miss, with some times there being none visible and other times pods of up to 50 fish in 2-3 feet of water. (Talk about shaking hands when you cast!) Some nights we were so late off the river that we couldn't spot the fish till we were on top of them. I saw a (honest to goodness) 45"+ chrome steelhead that way one evening: looked like a cross between a bright king (except for the giveaway 'stabiliser' fins and pointy head)and a shark. Damn near fell out of the boat trying to grab some brush to slow our drift so we could throw a fly at it. No dice.

We averaged about a hook-up a person per man hour spent on the water. Of course, nothing ever happens steadily: it's 3 or 4 in 20 minutes and then nothing for a couple hours at a stretch. We fished long days, too, and benefited from being 'FOLO's' ('First On, Last Off' the river). Given that most of the time we were casting to where we knew there were fish, we were frustrated a lot of the time! In short, someone with more experience as well as our Iron Man persistence could have done much better.

Slick landed the biggest fish, 38.5" and around 18-19 lbs plus the next two largest at 36-37". I lost two giants, both of which I think I fould hooked by the way they fought. (One winter fish felt like an otter he was so big, and refused to move much at all, showing me his dark scaly back only once before busting off. The other was a bright fish that zipped upstream 50 feet on the take then reversed course and went absolultely crazy, taking 150 yards off the reel straight downstream and refusing to be turned. By the time we hoisted the anchor and followed him, he was well hung and gone). The biggest fish we saw -- and only dead fish on the whole trip -- taped out at 40" while our guide has landed fish up to 37lbs (47")in past years. (Photos and mounts upstairs at the Glacier Bear Lodge in Yakutat.)

(By the way, it IS possible to accidentally foul hook fish on a yarn fly, hence my nickname.)

[This message has been edited by Snagly (edited 05-09-99).]