The Situk River 2005

Chris Pettine and I met his Uncle Eric Pettine and friend Dave Cook at the Yakutat Lodge in May 2005.  The Yakutat Lodge is right next to the Yakutat Airport.  The Lodge is not elaborate, but has simple Cabins, adjoining Bathrooms with running water and showers, and a reasonably priced restaurant that offers good food. This is a photo of the row of Cabins in which we stayed (except for one overnight float).  We rented a van and fished from the road system that provides two access points to the Situk River.  One is at the mouth and one about 14 miles upstream where the road crosses the river.

Steelhead begin returning to the Situk River in about October.  They continue to arrive in spurts throughout the Winter and Spring.  The last stragglers will show up in late May or early June.  All these fish actually spawn in the Spring.  Some of the early Spring Spawners will return to the ocean while the late-comers will be just entering the river. This 31 inch fish is a very typical example of an average, but beautifully colored Spawner.

The fresh fish are a bright silver color.  These are referred to as Chromers.  During the late Spring, most of the fish in the river will be Spawners.  However the late run fish will still be Chromers. This fish is another average fish of about 30 inches, but since this fish has recently returned from the Gulf of Alaska, it is still a bright silver Chromer.

Eric Pettine is a Dentist from Fort Collins.  He is well-known as a Fly Tier and Colorado Guide.  He has written regularly for Field and Stream, Fly Fisherman, Fly Tier and other magazines.  He is part owner of St Peter's Fly Shop in Fort Collins. Eric is no stranger to Steelhead fishing.  He has fished the Babine River in Canada for many years.  He found the Situk River to be a different, more intimate experience.  This is a nice 33 inch Steelhead he landed the first day.

Dave Cook is a guide at the St Peter's Fly Shop in Fort Collins.  He had never attempted Steelhead fishing before.   This is Dave's very first Steelhead.  He was giddy as a school-girl.

Most of the Steelhead were taken on a multicolored Yarn Fly dubbed the Dennis Rodman.  Eric was convinced that he could catch a fish on his bright orange Shrimp Imitation.  He proved true to his word, the fly worked!. Other patterns that took fish were Egg-Sucking Zonkers and Bunny Flies.

This is a Dipper.  The Dipper is a small Shore-Bird that is common along Alaska's stream banks.  This little dude was quite comfortable with my presence and allowed me to get close enough to get a portrait. We also saw a few Ducks and several Eagles along the Situk River.

I have never seen a Bear on the Situk River, but there are plenty in the area.  There are some prolific Salmon runs on the Situk (King, Pink, Sockeye, and Silver), so I assume the Bears show up for some fishing in the Summer and Fall.  Dave is standing next to a Bear Country Warning. I have seen both Grizzly and Black Bears along the road around Yakutat.  There is a population of a very rare phase of Black Bear called a Glacier Bear around the Yakutat area.  These Bears are a Blue-Gray in color.

The Dennis Rodman is created by tying an Egg-Loop on a hook (same as that used by Egg Chuckers to attach a Spawn Sack when fishing for King or Silver Salmon).  A clump of varied colored Egg Yarn is looped onto the hook.  This is trimmed to the desired shape. Chris is at work "tying" up a Dennis Rodman streamside.

We decided to rent a Drift Boat and float to a Cabin owned by the Yakutat Lodge at about the 9 mile point on the river.  The Situk is a fairly small stream, so there are a few pretty skinny stretches along the river.  However, the flow is very friendly, and other than having to drag the Boat in a few places it is an easy drift. I generally don't fish on Sunday, so our first day drifting I spent rowing.

We had great weather for our entire trip in 2005, maybe too good.  The fishing was good at times, but the warm temps and low water made the fish a little lethargic. This photo shows Chris Pettine with his Uncle Eric Pettine on a bend of the river during our float.

The Cabin that we spent the night in was a little rough.  No frills here, but it served the purpose for which it was intended. There were some nice holes with good numbers of fish that were away from the heavy traffic areas near the Cabin.  We caught as many fish in this area as any section of the river.

The extremely clear, shallow water of the Situk River generally demands a somewhat stealthy approach and fairly long casts.  The fish can be fairly spooky, so fishing from the boat is pretty tough.  We used the boat predominantly for transportation.  When we reached productive water, we got out and waded. Chris acted as look-out to ensure I did not row us into anything...well, I guess not.

There were no Salmon in the river while we were there in May.  There is supposedly a population of resident Rainbow Trout in the upper reaches of the Situk above the Bridge.  There are large schools of Dolly Varden in the river up to 25 inches long.  If one of these groups is encountered, an Egg-Pattern can provide hours of entertainment. Erik holds up a nice Dolly that took an Egg-Sucking Leech he was drifting in front of a Steelhead.

Chris began 2005 on a good note.  He caught the best fish on this trip to start off the year and the momentum carried on through every trip that we made in 2005. This beautiful spawning male was 37 inches long.  Chris caught this fish on the Rodman.  Bastard!