Fish & Bear Stories

A FISH STORY

A little quiet time for Penny from Chevy and I. We gather up the fishing gear and head out to the entrance of Khutze. Now we have been fishing for a while and there is fish jumping about. There is a small tug on the rod and I reel in savouring the thought of perhaps there’s a Salmon on the line. WOW, there it is! It’s A KEEPER.

Now I have an 8 ounce slip weight on the line, DID I SAY SLIP WEIGHT? IT’S THE WEIGHT THAT WHEN A FISH BITES IT SLIDES DOWN THE LINE out of the way to allow you to reel the fish closer to net and dinner.  The Weight has not tripped and sometimes if you reel the weight to the tip of the rod it will free itself and slide.

The fish darts toward the outboard and I panic. I reel in the line ……………AND THE WEIGHT CUTS THE LINE FREE……….. PLOP goes the weight into the depths. I watch and there IS MY FISH, MY NEW DODGER AND FAVORITE LURE BEING TOWED ABOUT by the FISH.

The fish with gear in tow heads towards the boat and I grab my fishing net and slash away at all this stuff running under the boat, not once but a number of times.

It flashes through my mind wouldn’t this be a REALLY GOOD FISH STORY IF I BOATED IT? NOOOOOOOOOOOO.  NO THERE’S NO CRABS IN THE POT EITHER!

Khutze Flats

 BEAR STORIES

Dog ashore, but check out the bushes on the shore for BEARS. We were here a number of years ago with friends. They had Kobi and we had Scupper. The boys (DOGS) were taken ashore and did their business. We no sooner had them back in the dingy and backed away. OUT OF THE BUSH, RIGHT WHERE THE BOYS WERE, UP POPS MOM GRIZ and her cub. She had brought the cub here for safety.

We captured her feeding the cub, she just rolled over and it was lunch being served.

Inquisitive Cub

It was a tear in the eyes moment.

 

We have been away for about a month and not seen a single bear black or brown. The nearest we have been to a bear is stepping in bear poop on the way to Sager Lake in Codville Lagoon.

A glass of wine for Penny and a road pop for me and we stalk the shores. Perhaps we’ll get a glimpse to say that we were not skunked in Khutze for a picture of a Bruin. Chevy is at the bow with her nose thrust high in the air and we watch intently as see is the first alert. We are running about 20 ft of the shore.  Much of it is too steep for even the four wheel drive of the forest Bulldozer, the bear. We pay particular attention to the alluvial fans at the base of the steep mountains that a creek comes out. Most of it is too shallow to get too near to view, let alone see a bear in the tall grass.

Watching Chevy

Big boulders on the beach covered in the brown seaweed mimic the shape and color of a Griz patrolling the beach looking for Tim Bits. Penny is riding shot gun with the camera and we glimpse an Eagle on a low branch over hanging the water. You never want to give up an opportunity to snap of a shot of these magnificent birds of prey. I whistle and hoot at him to get him to pose, and he cooperates. He/She’s eyes the black terror (Chevy)  and is judging  whether he can swoop down and fly off with our little treasure posed at the pointy end. We all get bored with this camera stuff and move off.

I don’t think an eagle has the brain of a chicken, He/she knows they are too beautiful to need one, much like Jeanie Monroe. We are running out of beaches and pass the point that has a primitive camp on it. “THERE, THERE, NOT THERE”, I POINT, “I DON’T SEE A THING” Penny exclaims.  In the excitement I want to say “use your dumb eyes”, but I don’t. The large boulder with brown seaweed disguised as a bear moves. We glide into shallow water and kill the engine (always a good thing to do if you are 30 ft. from a Griz.) Chevy is at alert but can’t figure what it is that we are so excited about.

Not Sure of Us

We are now talking in hushed tones not to spook the magnificent animal before us. We admonish Chevy for growling as she has now a good whiff of her. She has been on a bear hunt before and does her best to choke back a bark...The Griz is cautious and moves undercover of the surrounding foliage. Penny gets a butt shot with the camera but it could have been a boulder covered in brown seaweed.  “Well we did get to see a Griz” I said. The bear moves off out of sight and we are savouring the moment.

My finger is on the key to start the engine and the bear comes out of the cover of branches and almost with a shy smile (it’s a little girl Griz) she begins to feed on the tall grass that she was nibbling on before. Penny picks the camera to her eye and fires of a round of digital shots keep shooting, keep shooting I command in clenched teeth. The camera sounds like a miniature Gatling gun. KLICK,KLICK,KLICK>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.


                                                     FANTASTIC, SEE FOR YOURSELF
 

Skinny Young Momma Bear

We rush back to OA to view how our prize shots have turned out………………………………………………………