Fish, Fur and Film

We pulled up to the secret halibut hole and josh maneuvered to drop anchor. Doc and I rigged up our fly rods and decided a deceiver was the best fly for the test run. Josh went to sleep again. We used 425 grain sinking tips and 20-pound maxima leader. Doc’s no more than hit the bottom and was hammered by a rockfish. I opted for building up the fishes self esteem by casting and recasting for an hour. I am now very proficient at casting a 14 weight. Doc on the other hand was nailing fish one after the other. Being the purest fly fisherman I am, I purely switched to a halibut rod, a giant herring, and enough lead to kill Godzilla. A funny thing happened, I began to catch halibut. Now just for the record, halibut fishing is not rocket science. Most days on charters I am out fished by 80 year old tourists. Fly fisherman tend to want to set the hook, which is not productive when using a circle hook. I have learned that when I feel the bite, I then close my eyes, and begin reeling slow. It goes against every fishing trick I have ever learned, but again, when in Rome! We land plenty for the freezer and the day flies by; the cameras roll footage and soon enough bear hunting hour approaches.

We slowly patrol the beach at about 300 yards offshore. We glass the slides and it doesn’t take log to spot out first black bear. His shiny coat shows no rub marks and he feeds slowly down the fresh green slide. We ease the little Zodiac in to the water and depart for our first assault on the beach. Doc and I form a quick game plan. He will take the camera crew to the bottom of the slide and set up there with his rifle If the bear showed signs of leaving dodge in a hurry he would harvest it. I would take my Browning Bow up through the heavy woods along the side and see if I could stalk within 30 yards, which is my comfort zone for bears. The plan goes off without a hitch. I sneak up through the mossy hillside and close to within 15 yards in the heavy timber. The old growth timber reminds me of the heavy pine trees from Michigan some of which are as big around as a bus. I place a giant spruce between myself, and Doc below. The beautiful animal was oblivious to my presence but I still could not see him as he was in the gully that forms the slide. I knock an arrow and pull back the bow as the bear take one step in to a tag alder bush. I wait almost ten minutes for him to emerge about 10 yards higher up the hill. I pull back the bow just as the rifle booms. The bear hits the ground immediately and I can hear cheers from below.

I walk to the bear in the plain view of the camera crew, Doc, and Josh. The bear expires quickly from a head shot. I pull him to the snow shoot, and he slides 200 yards to the bottom and lands at Docs feet, too easy! Pictures are taken and stories are recounted as we each tell our side of things. Doc throws the bear over his shoulder and we load him in the boat.

We had enough video footage in one day to make two TV shows. We would spend the next two days on the same song, just a different verse. I never did get close enough to take the bear with my bow this trip. At one point on film you can see a total of five bears around me. They are all within 50 yards and none of them know I’m there. I know they are there, but seeing them and shooting one with a bow as you know are two different things. It is truly humbling to be in the Alaska wild among these animals on their turf. In the end I was happy to have a great trip with my friends Josh, Doc and Tim. That’s the way it works with friends, hunting is not harvesting and fishing is not catching, its all about what goes into an Alaska trip that makes it worth while, not the actual killing or catching itself. Some of the most beautiful things in this world lie in front of us in plain view. We just need to open our eyes a little wider to see them sometimes.

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