The Tsiu River 2003

In September of 2003, while camping at the Kiklukh River, I flew my friends Kurt, Randy, and Tyler and relatives Scott and Steve to the Tsiu River on day trips. This photo shows N2162Z on the sandy river bank of the Tsiu.  Though used frequently, this area is very soft and requires Tundra Tires.

The Tsiu River is a short, crystal clear, spring-like stream that originates from the 10,000-year-old waters weeping from the melting Bering Glacier eight miles upstream. This is one of many Silver Salmon of about 34 inches that I caught on one of these day trips to the Tsiu.  I believe that I could have easily caught 100 Silvers per day using the unweighted Purple Bunny Fly that I caught this fish on.  However, after a couple of hours of non-stop action I switched to the Pink Pollywog.  I was only able to catch around 25 fish on this top-water fly.

The Tsiu River is located on Alaska's Lost Coast about 100 miles East of Cordova.  The annual return of Silver Salmon to the Tsiu River can exceed 200,000 fish.  The runs are so heavy that at times you can see waves created by the schools of fish as they push their way into the pools on the incoming tide. This photo depicts a school of Silvers creating wakes as they forge up stream.

This photo of Steve with a large fresh Silver also provides a beautiful view of the Wrangell-Saint Elias Mountains in the background. We were fortunate to enjoy warm, sunny weather during our visits.  Just three days later a powerful wind-storm stranded several campers in miserable conditions along the river.

The Tsiu River is no secret.  There are several lodges in the area and the proximity to Cordova result in plenty of Fishermen along the river.  However, we had plenty of room and fish to cast to. This Fisherman was not crowded by any of the others in the area.

This Brown Bear entertained us from across the river as he dashed after the schools of Salmon.  It was pretty incredible to see the speed at which this big animal could accelerate to the chase.  Seeing these predators in action gives one a fresh appreciation and respect for their power and agility.

Besides the thousands of Silver Salmon that return to the Tsiu River, a fairly decent population of Steelhead spawn there as well. Kurt Zorn is pleasantly surprised to land this Steelhead that he caught incidental to the many Silvers he landed.

Though the Steelhead were not as big as the Silvers it was very satisfying to find a few in the Tsiu. In this photo I proudly cradle the small Steelhead that I caught on a Purple Bunny Fly.

The Silver Salmon on the Tsiu River reportedly reach 20 LBS.  Though we did not find any that large, there were several that could have reached 16 - 18 LBS. My Cousin, Scott Cook shows a classic Tsiu River Silver Salmon.

The Tsiu River did not offer the solitude of other locations in Alaska, but I do not know of a location that offers the numbers of Silver Salmon that can be found here. Tyler Garn poses in a beautiful setting with a hefty Buck Silver.

Multiple hook-ups were certainly not the exception on the two days that we fished the Tsiu River.  Truthfully, it was rare that one of the four of us on the river each day did not have a Salmon. Scott, Kurt and Randy pose for a Trio shot with Silver Salmon caught on the Tsiu River.