Seven nights:  Seward,  Swanson River,  and Sheep Creek Slough

Our second attempt to see the Turnagain Arm bore tide was spectacularly successful.   The August 21 wave was much bigger than July 25 (https://roaming-nature.com/2024/07/27/bore-tide-and-bears-sockeye-ii-2024/)

This time we could see the wave even before Beluga Point!  As we were pulling the trailer we didn’t have the flexibility to keep the wave in sight for hours.  We needed to park somewhere, so we kept driving south and set up at Girdwood Pullout 3 (I think, they aren’t labeled).  The pullout was nearly empty, and I estimated it might be an hour and a half or so until the wave reached us.  We knew we had picked a good spot when the surfers started showing up!  More vehicles crammed into the lot than I thought possible, and over 20 people got into the water to try to catch the one wave.

It was entertaining to watch the surfers, plus they give the wave scale in the photos.  What a fun way to spend the evening.

Next we went to Seward for 3 nights.  We splurged on the luxury of electricity and water at our oceanside campsite.   It was lovely to turn the faucet handle and have water gush out just steps from our abode.

Charlie spent a lot of time fishing while I split my time between fishing and a couple of long visits to the Alaska SeaLife Center.  We also looked for Mountain Goats (saw some each day, glassing from our campsite) and drove to view Exit Glacier.

We then went to Swanson River for 2 days of camping,  canoeing and fishing.   We saw a lot of salmon but only caught a small 13″ “jack” coho.  We also saw and caught a lot of small trout, fun!

We ended our trip with 2 fishing stops along the Parks Highway.  Caswell Creek wasn’t great, but a school of chum stopped in at Sheep Creek Slough, and we caught and released 20 chum in 3 to 4 hours! Wow, that was amazing.

Wildlife and Fish Count:

August 21 catch and release at Sheep Creek Slough, C 6 chum and M 1 chum .

August 22 at Seward, saw 2 mountain goats, 1 sea lion and at least 3 harbor seals.  C caught 2 coho and 3 pink, all by legal saltwater snagging from shore (no luck for either of us with lures)

August 23 at Seward, saw 3 mountain goats, C caught 4 coho and 4 pink, all by snagging.  Ate, canned or froze the 5 coho we kept. Gave 1 coho to a visiting co-worker.

August 24, saw 2 mountain goats,  3 river otters, and 4 green-winged teals.  C also saw an ermine.  Caught nothing at Seward in the morning,  caught and released at least 3 trout each at Swanson River in the evening.

August 25, C caught 1 coho and 3 trout, M caught 21 trout and 1 dolly varden.  Kept and ate the little 13″ coho, released everything else.

August 26, saw 1 moose, C caught and released 1 chum and 1 coho at Caswell Creek

August 27 at Sheep Creek Slough in less than 4 hours, saw 2 Trumpeter Swans up close, surprised the couple didn’t have cygnets.  C caught and released 15 chum and 3 coho, M caught and released 5 chum. 

Total of 46 salmon in 7 days! C 22 chum, 11 coho, 7 pink (plus at least 6 trout).  M 6 chum, 1 dolly varden and at least 24 trout. 

Note emergency order fishing restrictions including no bait in freshwater and reduced bag limits (started August 15 for Susitna and tributaries, started August 24 at Seward and Swanson). Coho fishing closed at Caswell and Sheep, but chum fishing ok if release any incidental coho without taking them from the water.