Say Yes to Yes Bay

0 Comments 28 December 2010

Say Yes to Yes Bay
story by Lois Beath, photos by John & Lois Beath

The early morning sun creeps over the tops of countless evergreen trees clinging precariously to steep rock hillsides. A fluffy ring of low-hanging mist hangs just above the glassy-smooth glacial green water, soon to disappear in the rare Alaskan sun. The lone hum of an outboard motor breaks the stillness of the morning air. Our chariot has arrived. Batman, our fishing guide from Yes Bay Lodge welcomes us aboard his 20-foot Olympic boat for a half-day salmon charter. We step off the back of Safari Quest and into the smaller boat. Immediately, John breaks out his fishing tackle.

“You’ve got to try this,” he tells Batman. “My new invention, mini fat squid.” John gives a quick demonstration on squid proctology as he inserts a miniature glow stick into the small plastic squid. Batman takes us to a productive fishing hole, not too far from where our ship anchored in Yes Bay, Alaska. We caught several coho salmon in quick succession on the mini fat squid, then gave our trusty deep stinger jig a try. In no time at all we had four coho. We had lots of time left and no need for more fish, so Batman suggested a trip to nearby Neets Bay.

“There’s a chum and king salmon fish hatchery there,” he said. “Bears love the easy fishing.”

We docked at Neets Bay. The water surrounding the dock teemed with a multitude of moon jellyfish glowing iridescently in the murky bay. A short trail past the hatchery led us to bear observation areas. Neets Creek flows into Neets Bay in a broad shallow bolder-strewn swath. A flock of seagulls enjoyed the easy fishing along with a pair of young black bears. We watched the bears catch a salmon. They slowly wandered out of our view. On the way back to the boat we passed a tour group that had just flown in from Ketchikan heading in from the dock.

As we left Neets Bay, we passed a large rock where a group of sea lions sunned themselves. The females seemed quite happy to lie still and quietly bask in the sun. The males barked and scratched themselves. Half-heartedly they fought. Whether for more territory or the attention of the females seems unimportant as they gained neither.

Back on the dock of Yes Bay Lodge, the efficient dockhand had our salmon filleted and vacuum packed before John even had time to find his filet knife. Others from our yacht hung about the dock, waiting for their float plane tour. Jealously they listened to our tales of the bear sighting, possibly regretting their choice of kayaking or hiking for the morning’s activity instead of fishing.

Later, the DeHaviland Beaver floatplane from Pirate Airworks of Ketchikan returned for our flight. We had aerial views of the yacht and the lodge and many unnamed lakes and waterways of the Misty Fjords National Monument.

“It’s really nice to see where I’m going for a change,” the pilot commented. “Usually we fly under the clouds between the mountains.”

That day there wasn’t a cloud in sight and we flew right over the tops of the mountains. Misty Fjords in the absence of mist.

There are a variety of ways to see this area of Wild Alaska. Small ship cruises from InnerSea Discoveries provide an excellent way to see Alaska in ways the average tourist never dreams of. Remote fishing lodges like Yes Bay Lodge allow a longer stay in one area. Fishermen staying at the lodge also enjoy the opportunity to fish for other species such as halibut, or paddle kayaks around the bay. The forest service has a rustic rental cabin on nearby Wolverine Island, transportation and supplies not included.