Connect with other Yukon and Southeast Alaska anglers and try out the new fishonyukon forums. The forums feature: location reports, tips and tactics, and more. Bookmark it, have your say, and come back again.
Let’s Try the Yukon Fishing Forums Again
April 24, 2012
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I cringe to think about the fact that the fishonyukon.com/forums were left alone for a year. I’m back and will try to get some discussion going.
Feel free to post to the forums and let’s see if we can build that community of like-minded anglers.
Fishing is a Good Test of One’s Parenting Skills
April 12, 2012
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Often when fishing with kids..its a group effort. Sometimes it’s (1) the pure chaos that occurs when a fish is on the line. Other times it’s (2) the lack of clarity around who was holding it, watching it, reeling it and monitoring the situation. Occasionally, it’s (3) not being able to tell the younger child for fear of tears that it was in fact his older brother’s fish. Yes, fishing is another good test of one’s parenting (or lack thereof) skills.
Such is usually the case when I ice-fish with the family. We drill a bunch of holes, set-up a bunch of rods and then start cooking hot-dogs. Inevitably the jingle of a bell alerts us to the hook set of a fish.
This was the case last weekend with a nice big rainbow we caught in Hidden Lakes, Whitehorse.
In the end, a big group picture, and they can all tell their friends that they caught it.
TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE 1930’s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and 70’s!
April 12, 2012
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First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were
pregnant.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing,
Tuna from a can and didn’t get tested for diabetes.
Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-base paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles,
Locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode
Our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads.
As infants & children,
We would ride in cars with no car seats,
No booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.
Riding in the back of a pick-up truck on a warm day
was always a special treat.
We drank water
From the garden hose and not from a bottle.
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this.
We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon.. we drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar.
And, we weren’t overweight.
WHY?
Because we were
always outside playing…that’s why!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day,
As long as we were back when the
streetlights came on.
No one was able
To reach us all day. And, we were O.K.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps
and then ride them down the hill, only to find out
We forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo’s and X-boxes.
There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable,
No video movies or DVD’s, no surround-sound or CD’s,
No cell phones, No personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms.
WE HAD FRIENDS
And we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.
We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt,
and the worms did not live in us
forever.
We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays,
made up games with sticks and tennis balls and,
Although we were told it would happen,
We did not put out very many eyes.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s house and
knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just
Walked in and talked to them.
Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team.
Those who didn’t had to learn to deal
With disappointment.
Imagine that!!
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law
Was unheard of.
They actually sided with the law!
These generations have produced some of the best
Risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever.
The past 50 years
Have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility,
and we learned how to deal with it all.
If YOU are one of them?
CONGRATULATIONS!
You might want to share this with others
who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the
lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives
for our own good .
While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know
how brave and lucky their parents were.
Kind of makes you want to run through the house
with scissors, doesn’t it
Missing My Rusty Ice Fishing Buddy
April 04, 2012
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It’s been a long, tiring, almost two years off of fishing and most other things that bring me recreational enjoyment. I am being dramatic but selling, moving, renting, buying and building a house in that time does suck some of the life out of you. Well, I can honestly say that aside from the boxes piled in my garage, it is over. My family and I are back at it, living life and loving it.
One piece of our transition was a 10 foot X 30 foot storage unit. Most of those recreational items were stored in there. Some things we pulled out seasonally and others we left. One of those was my trusty ice auger. It was firmly planted in the back of the unit and virtually inaccessible. I knew it was there and I thought of it often. People would ask how the ice-fishing is and I with a tear in my eye I would think of my poor auger in the back of the unit.
Last week we got to the end of my unit and I wasted no time to pull it out and have a good look at my long lost buddy. It was neglected in more ways than one. A relatively new auger, it was rusty. I felt horrible. How could l leave my buddy like that. Regardless of how I treated it, it started within a few good primes and pulls. We were reunited over the weekend and spent many a holes together.
I promise you Mr. Auger, I won’t leave you again. We’ll have some good times together from now on. You may be a bit beat up but I still love you.
April 26, 2012 - What’s the First Yukon Water to Open?
What is your early go to spot? Is it the Yukon River, Johnson’s Crossing, Twin Lakes, Jackson Lake or something else?
Have a look in the forum and have your say.
April 12, 2012 - Hidden Lakes Ice-Fishing Report
I’ve been out to Hidden Lakes #1 a couple of times in the last two weeks. Rather than my standard spot on the north shore, I’ve been settling into a routine of setting up in the southwest corner (closest to the Hidden #2 connector).
The ice is still thick and only now starting to get punchy. I’ve been drilling holes in what I thought was about 10-15 feet of water to realize that it is actually about 20-25. It is really misleading and important to test your line depth right away. I usually have a rod ready, drill a hole, stick on a weight and drop it down. As I pull up I count how many arm to arm lengths. If its less than two I am in a good spot…more than two I might want to keep drilling.
I’ve been working shallower and had about four holes set up for the family along a line from 20feet to 10 feet in depth. I usually like to concentrate a few holes together and set up a random tip-up somewhere else.
I’ve been using mainly small pre-sharpened and tied leaders with a touch of shrimp for bait with the odd micro-jig.
My presentation has been working relatively well as we’ve been catching a bunch of Kokanee with the shrimp only and a couple of rainbow with the jigs.
March 31, 2012 - Keeping it Simple Ice-Fishing at Pumphouse Lake
Dug out the auger, fired it up and it started right away. The last day of the fishing year - no excuse not to get out. After dinner asked the kids if they wanted to do some ice-fishing. Surprisingly extra enthusiastically they were in full support. Kept it simple, in no particular order threw the auger, fishing poles, shrimp, dog, kids, and a tackle box in the truck and drove the 10 minutes to Whitehorse’s Pumphouse Lake.
The sun still up and gently setting, I wanted to get at least an hour in before the higher alpine cold took over the sun’s rays. With a group of friendly yahoos taking over the better part of the lake I settled for spot #2. Fired up the auger, watched the kids spring into action to clear and awkwardly clean the holes (note: I forgot shovel and spoon).
Fishing Pumphouse in about 8 feet of water looking for Arctic Char, Grayling or Rainbow Trout. Only ice-fished for about an hour, didn’t catch anything but spent just enough time to realize why I don’t do this more often. 
June 02, 2011 - First Little Hidden Lakes Trip of the Year
Everything was about two weeks later this year. The ice just kept hanging on. With that the family anticipation built for the annual first soft-water fish of the season at Hidden Lakes.
Everything was about two weeks later this year. The ice just kept hanging on. With that the family anticipation built for the annual first soft-water fish of the season at Hidden Lakes.
The traditional powerbait, treble hook set-up was the method of choice. For a more detailed description of this set-up have a look at my previous post “If I were a Rainbow Trout”. The approach, quickly rig up two powerbait rods (one for each kid), cast them into productive water (away from the underwater forest) and start roasting weenies.
It wasn’t long before a nice, little rainbow took the bait. Now it was small…don’t let me kid you. The regs say 8 inches, this was 8.5-9 inches. Given it was the first of the season and it swallowed the hook hard, we took it and brought it home for the frying pan.
All in all a stellar day. 
