Aki is still sleeping as I leave the house. She must be worn out from yesterday’s berry picking adventure. It’s been a long time since she has run that far. I am off to chase silver salmon on the back side of Admiralty Island.

            Thin lines of blue sky slice through the grey cloud cover as we leave the harbor. It’s calm, so no waves ripple the reflections in the harbor water. No other boats leave with us. In a half-an-hour our boat is slamming into waves. Just ahead we will face a nasty tide rip if we try to reach Admiralty. 

            Since the fast moving silver salmon seldom pause on their way to their spawning grounds, we won’t know if pounding our way to the back side of Admiralty will gain us a chance to catch one of them. Instead we change course and head to the eastern shore of Douglas Island.

            Within minutes of sinking our baited hooks, my friend lands an ocean-bright silver. We will boat two more before we head back to the harbor. At least one eagle will fly low over the boat while we fish and more will watch while perched in shoreside spruce. But we will see no whales, orca or humpbacks.