Mac And The K Ketch
First the Tale
Mac is a 6-year-old, 26-pound Scottish terrier. In mid-June, My wife, Bertsie, and two kids, Casey and Katy, and myself decided it was time to go fishing. We took Mac and flew in our Cessna 206 on floats to Prince William Sound. We have a floating houseboat there called the K Ketch. It’s got all the comforts of home: shower, kitchen, propane lights, and everything. It makes a perfect set up for kids. There’s lots of fish to catch, they can get inside if it’s cold or the weather is bad, and they have a nice comfortable, warm bed at night.
When we landed, we pulled right up to the houseboat and there were pinks and chums jumping all over. We got our gear stored and then got in the boat to go fishing. The pinks and chums follow the shoreline. What we’d do was go up into these little lagoons and ponds and look for fish close to the shore.
We could see them jumping out of the water like champagne corks. We could throw out anything, a pixie, or even some fresh herring, and every time we’d get a bite. We had a great time catching fish the first night.
Mac naturally likes to go along so he went along in the boat. But Mac can’t stand fish. He thinks they are an intrusion into his private domain. He likes to fish, but he has a very weak technique. He jumps in and swims after them. He doesn’t catch them, but they go away and Mac is happy.
After the first day of fishing we came back to the K Ketch, baked salmon, and had dinner. After dinner we got up on the top sun deck of the K Ketch in the evening and cast our rods. Bertsie, an advocate of “lets not kill fish, but let them go” joined us. Everyone caught a few fish. After fishing, we played monopoly, took a shower, and went to bed.
Next morning, we let Mac out on the back porch at about 5 AM and went back to bed. For some reason Katy was up. All of a sudden, I could hear her hollering, “Dad, Mac is gone! Mac is gone!
I ran up on the deck in my underwear and looked for Mac. He wasn’t on the K Ketch and I searched the water around the boat for him. Then I spotted him. I could see his nostrils like periscopes about 30 feet off the side of the K Ketch. It looked like he was going down for the last time.
He had gone fishing and couldn’t get back on the boat. He had dog paddled around, got cold, and he really was going down for the last time. I dove in in my skivvies, and I tell you, that wakes you up. It was so cold. I swam out to him. He was just disappearing. I reached out and grasped him by his furry head and dragged him back to the boat. We got him all dry and warm and everyone was happy.
After breakfast, we went out on the porch. Mac would just stare at the fish jumping, but he decided he wouldn’t go fishing again that day.
Now the Tip
Everyone talks about king salmon in Alaska, and they are a lot of fun. But my tip is, try Prince William Sound. Saltwater fishing for chum and pink salmon is out of this world. Numbers are high, the Sound is beyond description, and it’s close. It’s an excellent place for youngsters and Alaska first timers.