Like a conveyor belt of salmon: A Southeast fishing run to remember

A few weeks ago, I began receiving satellite text messages from Eric Jordan aboard the troller IGotta, with detailed reports on daily chum poundages. Could I break free from obligations in Sitka and fly down to deckhand for a bit, catch some fish?

Your skipper doesn't offer to fly you down to Ketchikan if the fish aren't biting. And, for that matter, you don't offer to leave your wife and kids unless there's poundage to be had.

I should also mention that Eric Jordan, a second-generation fisherman (third if you count the time his grandfather hand trolled one summer in an open skiff in Chatham Strait) is widely known as a chum-trolling specialist. He fishes off a 1976 custom fiberglass troller purchased from his mother. As well as having a mystical ability to coax shimmering torpedoes aboard, he has served on the Alaska Board of Fisheries, the Alaska Trollers Association Board of Directors and is a founder of the Chum Trollers Association.

Read the full story:

https://www.adn.com/alaska-life/we-alaskans/2017/08/11/conveyor-belt-of-salmon-a-southeast-fishing-run-to-remember/