Pildriver Slough
Date: 6/2/2008Fish Caught: 8
Location: Pildriver Slough
Weather Condition: Sunny and in the upper 60s
We varied in Alaska on the 30th and rented a car in Anchorage. The on the 31st we drove to Fairbanks to visit family and do some fishing. I we over to the North Pole hardware store and picked up my first non-resident fishing license, and it was crazy how much they charge for a two week license. But oh well, what was I going to do? Not fish? Yeah right.
I then headed to the slough. In the main parking area there was a vehicle already there and a few kids were playing in the water. I moved to the other side of the bridge of the main road and started to work a few riffles. I spotted a bunch of fish congregated just on my side of the bridge and started to cast. It was not long before I landed my first arctic grayling in 4 years. It was a solid fish probably in the area of 14 inches or so. I continued to fish the hole and landed 6 more from the same spot. I then worked my way up the stream looking for more groups of grayling and waded about a mile upstream and did not see another fish move, which is unusual for that stretch of stream as there are large holes that usually hold numbers of fish. But it was early in the year and the fish were just making there way in from the larger rivers downstream.
I went back to my parents home and later in the evening my Father and I went back. There were definitely less fish. I hooked one and lost it and my Father caught one on the opposite side of the bridge. Good first outing.
