Salmon Season in Alaska

Thank you to Henry Bin Uyu Hidayat, Statendam’s human resources clerk, for this fun post about his recent adventure.

Today is a gift day! Sunny, a little bit windy and I’m ready…

It took about 20 minutes to reach the ‘earth,’ a fishing spot from the pier where we docked. Along the way our eyes were rewarded with a vibrant art scene of Haines, Alaska. The surrounding countryside is equally lovely.

Our guide has prepared a charter boat and here we were, Chilkoot Lake for salmon fishing with gorgeous mountain views entwined with the ocean. Salmon bottleneck at low tide and rush into the creek as the tide comes in. There’s a sense of outdoor adventure here. Haines is known for an abundance of salmon in late summer. They are a lively sport fish, know to fight aggressively on the line. The river may seem crowded with fish and fisherman. This situation is known as “combat” fishing and occurs mainly on weekends during strong runs.

“Yuhuuuu!!” I screamed when one of pink salmon hooked on my fishing rod. I scrolled in the fishing rod carefully. It was hard, very hard to pull out the fish from the water and totally this is the best moment, a big salmon in my hand.

“We have to treat them carefully when they’re out of the water, take a picture of your catch and quickly release them back,” said Linda, the guide.

For your information, these pink salmon are catch and release and of course you’ll need a valid state of Alaska fishing license before you fishing.