DLTK's Alaska Road Trip
Day 6:
Whitehorse to Lake Creek
Fishing at Pine Lake in the Yukon
Instead of having breakfast in the RV this morning we decided to have some in the big city (Whitehorse). We drove to the Yukon Mining Co. Which mom had read was a good restaurant, it turned out to be a bar that didn’t open until noon! We found a bistro near by with a breakfast buffet so all was not lost.
After breakfast we drove to SS Klondike, a restored wooden steamboat that used to slip goods between Teslin and Whitehorse before the Alaska Highway was built. They are working on restoring it even further so they can offer rides for tourists.
As we drove out of Whitehorse we realized it was a sunny day for the first time on our vacation! So mom started sorting out where we might be able to stop and do some fishing. We settled on Pine Lake as it seemed to have fishing and a spot to park our RV and off we went.
Dad got us all up with our fishing rods and the lures and the girls began casting off the dock. No bites! After a half an hour the girls began to wonder if there was even a fish in this Lake. Mom and Ruby wandered up the trail to try to scope out a different fishing location with no luck, but we did see a mommy duck and her baby ducklings swimming away from the shore.
Just when we were about to give up a couple of boats full of people pulled up. Sure enough they were on a guided fishing tour and they had each caught a fish. We watched them unload and Dad chatted with one of the guides who ended up being an off duty conservation officer (I’m glad we had our fishing licenses).
The guide, Dan, offered to take us out on his boat for an hour to make sure the girls got the experience of catching a fish. We quickly took him up on his offer and off we went. Tasha was the first to catch a fish, a Northern Pike. Dan was quick to release it and said we’d wait for a Lake Trout to take a picture. Not long after that Tasha caught Lake Trout. Dan held it up for a photo, boy did Tasha squeal when he held it up in her face!
Mom and Kaitlyn got a few nibbles but the fish escaped. Mom decided that when the next person caught a fish Kaitlyn would get to reel it in. Tasha hooked yet another fish and Kaitlyn reeled it in. Another trout! Dan held it up and took a photo of squeamish Kaitlyn and her colorful fish.
We headed back to the shore and Dan let Tasha drive his boat. Boy was she excited! When we got back to the shore we all thanked Dan profusely. Darren offered to pay Dan for his time but he refused saying he was just happy to be apart of the girls first fishing experience.
Darren was so happy to have his goal accomplished. It had been a source of quite a bit of stress for him on the trip. He said he’d definitely recommend getting a fishing guide, despite his being against the idea of planning the trip (mom suggested it * grin *).
After all of that excitement we continued on to our campground at Lake Creek. We enjoyed our spot along a fast moving river. Tasha was in charge of the fire, and we enjoyed another one of mom’s Girl Guide meals – this time ham tackets.