By Mrs.
YollisThis summer, my husband and I embarked on an adventurous fishing trip to the Arctic Circle! The Arctic Circle is one of the five major lines of latitude and is approximately 66 1/2 ˚ north of the Equator.
We flew out of Los Angeles and after many hours, arrived in Kobuk, Alaska.
Kobuk, a small Native American village of 100
Inupiat Eskimos, is 25 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Many of the villagers practice a traditional subsistence lifestyle of hunting, fishing, and gathering. In fact, many of the fish we caught were given to the villagers to freeze and use over the winter.
We were very close to
Kobuk Valley National Park and
Gates of the Arctic National Park.
Every spring and fall, the largest
caribou herd in Alaska, the Western Arctic Caribou herd, migrates through this area. It would have been great to see them swim across the
Kobuk River, but since it was summer, they were already north of where we were.
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Our excellent river guide was named Alex, and he has lived in Kobuk his entire life. When Alex was a child, there were only three homes in Kobuk. Now there are over forty homes!
Alex had a lot of experience fishing, hunting, and trapping and was awarded the
Alaska Federation of Natives Hunter/Provider of the Year Award in 2006!
He knew all the best places to fish and shared many wonderful stories with us.
* * * * *
Part of the time, we were fly fishing for
Arctic grayling, a type of trout. Fly fishing uses an artificial fly to attract the fish. The fly typically looks like an insect that the fish enjoy eating.
Below is a picture of us fly fishing. We are wearing special gear called
waders which are water-proof and allow us to walk into the river.
We caught many
Arctic grayling using our fly rods. The
grayling has a red and purple dotted sail-like dorsal fin. We ate some of the fish and released the others.
Here is a photo of an Arctic
grayling.
* * * * *
Alex loaned us some Arctic gear.
At times the mosquitoes were very thick, so I wore a mosquito net over my head!
It really worked!
How do you like my camouflage? :-)
Even though we were in the Arctic, the temperatures in the summer can be in the 80s! One day it was overcast and cooler, so I put on Alex's gear to stay warm.
* * * * *
We also used spinning rods to catch
sheefish, a member of the white fish family.
Sheefish are only found in the Arctic and Sub-Arctic regions. They have a large mouth, large silver scales, and put up a fight when caught. They are very tasty!
* * * * *
Alaska is nicknamed "The Land of the Midnight Sun".
The Arctic Circle marks the southern most point of the polar day (24 hour sunlit day).
Below is a picture of me taken at midnight! Because we were so far north,
the summer sun never set!
I thought we would see lots of wildlife, but we didn't.
No eagles, no caribou, no bears.
However, we did see lots of moose!
Our adventure to the Arctic Circle was an amazing experience!
* * * * *
What adventures did you have over the summer?Please tell about something fun you did!Remember, sometimes the best adventures are had in your own backyard!
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