MONSTER Sockeye Catch!

- The morning fog hung over the surface of Chilkat Lake as I approached the edge and looked out. Somewhere beyond the mist, this body of water was the scene of a final act in the life of a truly magnificent animal. A creature that had traveled thousands of miles. And he defied all odds of survival just to return to this same lake. The place where he was born and the same place where he would die. We finished attaching our gear to the kayaks, spread out in the water, and began crossing the lake. This was about to be one of the most daring episodes of Breaking Trail we would ever film, and there was no turning back. (intense drum music) The Alaskan wilderness is home to some of the most incredible animals in North America.

As we kayaked on Chilkat Lake, I tried to imagine life as a grizzly bear, lumbering along the water's edge and searching for my next meal. It's definitely a new bear kill. And he simply eats the back of the salmon and its innards. And you can see all the blood still on my fingers there. If there's one thing that proves you're in bear country, it's dead salmon. Alright, just be careful as we go through here. Watch your back. What if I had been born to see this wild place from an eagle's eye view: soaring above the water's surface and searching for shadows in the ripples below?

Being a bear or a bird would be fantastic. But today I am a human being. However, the crew and I were on a very similar mission for both the grizzly bear and the eagle, as our target was the same:

sockeye

salmon. We filmed this episode during the last weeks of July, which is also the heart of spawning season. Thousands of these magnificent fish migrated from the ocean, ascended the rivers and ended their incredible journey upon reaching these inland lakes. (water splashing) Okay, do you see this water coming out of the mountainside? Where that stream meets the lake, the water will be incredibly clear.

The perfect place to look for salmon. Let's go there and try to find some fish. (water splash) It is in these pockets of clear water that the females will build their nests. Here they will lay their eggs just before a courting male arrives to fertilize them. Well, it's definitely raining here at the lake. Nothing like searching for salmon in a storm. Okay, at this point we are several kilometers from the lake. There is no fish yet. But we will find them. Oh, let's find them. Chilkat Lake is just over three and a half miles long. And although there are probably thousands of salmon beneath the surface, our search would still be quite difficult.

Here, fishy, ​​fishy, ​​fishy, ​​fishy! Most of the water was murky, so our best bet for finding fish was to scan near the banks. Looking for crystal clear water from glacial melt that fell in buckets from the mountains. - Do you see any salmon? - Nothing here. - Oh! Hit a thorn in the eye. - This is exactly the kind of place we're looking for. We have water flowing from the mountainside into the lake. Unfortunately, it is a bit rough and the water is very murky and deep. If I can't see the fish, I can't

catch

them.

Let's continue climbing the mountainside and see if we can find something better. Suddenly, from across the lake I heard the unmistakable call of a bald eagle. These predatory birds of prey had one thing, and one thing only, on their minds: fish. And I immediately knew that if we followed this bird's call, there was a good chance it would lead us right to the salmon. There are about four eagles in the tree there. The eagles have taken us right to the fish because right in this cove I can see a lot of dorsal fins splashing around. There are about a hundred salmon hidden in this cove.

Sweet! Friends, we have found salmon. We've been paddling all over this lake and, lo and behold, it was the eagles that brought us to the fish. Which, of course, makes sense, because the eagles are here feeding. But we must also be careful because this is a prime place for brown bears to come down to the water and feast. Alright, we'll set up a base camp and then strategize how to

catch

one of these fish. - Friend, good place. - Pow! This was. After hours of searching in the harsh elements of Alaska, we finally found what appeared to be almost 100 salmon.

They were beautiful, their bodies shiny and crimson, slippery and streamlined as they moved back and forth beneath the surface. The excitement was in the air. We had finally found some fish. Well. This place is pretty perfect. But keep in mind that we are definitely in bearish territory right now. I gave it a quick scan, made some noise, and yelled, "Hey, bear, bear!" I applauded. (hands clapping) Hey, bear! Try to alert animals in the area that we are here now. If there are salmon, there are bears. There is nothing more stressful than setting up base camp in an area clearly traveled by bears.

And as we quietly snuck through the dense forest to sneak a peek at the salmon cove, it was obvious that the bears had exactly the same mentality as us. Wow. Do you know what that is? That's a big pile of you-know-what: bear scat. And they are still hot. What the bear did was lumber along the edge, like this, and you can see where he placed his paws, right there on the edge, waited for the fish to swim close, and then probably pounced into the water. Look at all those fish swimming down there. And that bear has the same idea as me.

Only I'm going to use a net and not my claws. Alright, let's get ready. - Okay, Coyote, there's your net. I think we're getting pretty close to being ready here with the whole team. What do you think your chances of getting the

sockeye

salmon really are? - I have a 75% chance of capturing one of these animals. - What will be your technique? - Basically I want to try to corner one of the fish. The shallower the water, the more disoriented she will be, and I think I will be able to pick her up and put her in the net.

I know there are some overhangs. And on those overhangs they can also curl up under there and feel comfortable. And then you could put the net under that. So like I said, I think there's a 75% chance of getting one of these on the first try. - Okay, well, let's do it. - Let's go catch a fish. This was it: it was time to catch a salmon. Alaska Fish and Game had given us special permission to use the primitive dip net method to catch one of these fish. They are normally caught with rod and reel. However, we wanted to stress the animal as little as possible and felt that using a net would ensure that the animal was captured without harm.

It certainly wasn't going to be easy, but I was sure that if I could corner one of these giants in shallow water I could catch it. Hopefully Mario gets the vaccine. - Mario, we are counting on you, friend. - By sitting in front with the net, Mark was able to paddle slowly towards the cove. While Mario, ridden by Austin in the other kayak, did his best to capture all the action on camera. We approached slowly, as the slightest disturbance in the water caused the salmon to dart around us from left to right. My original plan was to hang the net off the side of the kayak and have a fish swim directly toward it.

However, we quickly realized that this plan was not going to work. So it was time to switch to plan B. Coyote was entering. I carefully climbed out and entered the freezing water. He sent shivers down my spine and almost took my breath away. However, I stayed focused. We had a chance to catch a fish. And I was going to give everything I had. (water splashes) (dramatic orchestral music) I've got one! I have one! - I have one? Right here. - Here we go! There we go, we have one! Man, it's cold. It's strong, it's heavy. Recover your enthusiasm.

That's pretty good. With a huge fish in the net, Mark quickly mounted his kayak back to base camp, grabbed the main camera and raced back to the cove so we could film the scene. (Coyote shouts excitedly) Yes! Holy Cow! I can't believe I have one. Man, is that a good fish over there? I want to keep the fish as calm as I can. Do you see it there? Swimming in the water. There you go, friend. - That's a big one. - That's a big one. He played it absolutely perfect. They were running from left to right.

There was no way I could get one in deep water. I played under the embankment and that's how I was able to catch it. - Let me see it, pick it up. - Adult male. I don't think we could have caught a more perfect fish. Oh man! Yeah! I have one! - I have one, friend. That's a beautiful salmon. - Beautiful salmon. - Very good, we have our team. - Fish on the set. Check it out. That's a strong fish. Let me get my backpack out of here. (fish splashing) I want to keep the fish as comfortable as possible and stress it as little as possible.

Look at that salmon. How incredibly beautiful is that animal? Now, the way you can immediately identify him as a dominant male is that you'll notice the quintessential green head, that hooked jaw, with those huge teeth and this big crest on the upper back that develops as he These fish mature. Now you might be wondering: Does this fish have real scales? It's not. It's incredibly soft and very difficult to hold, so I'll keep it partially in the net. These fish are so fast and so strong that they leave the ocean and then go up the rivers to reach the spawning grounds.

In my opinion, probably the most beautiful species of salmon in the world. Now there is important work we must do today. I need to get this fish's biometric data for Alaska Fish and Game, and I want to do it quickly to put as little stress on the fish as possible. So I'm going to put it back in the water. There you go, friend. And shore up the network here, like this. I have a tape measure in my pocket and a scale. I want to be as precise as possible here. Tip of the snout to the right where the caudal fin connects with the body.

Wow, 24 inches! That's a two-foot salmon right there. Alright, I'm going to do this. One two three. Hang the fish. It weighs nine pounds. Nine pounds. - It's a pretty good salmon. - Quite a good size salmon. Alright, let's come... Wait, buddy, wait, wait, wait, wait. My goodness, this fish still has quite a fight. Now these fish are at the end of their life cycle. Let me show you something really interesting here. Look at the queue. Do you see how it has a much lighter color? These fish actually begin to deteriorate as they move upstream. I can see that there are some knobby areas on the back of the tail.

But what is really distinctive is the very light coloration compared to the rest of the body. It's a little gross and a little sad, but these fish almost disintegrate in the water as they age and eventually die. Now, this fish is at the end of its life cycle and when it dies, it will eventually become food for a bear or an eagle and then return to this incredible Alaskan wilderness as nutrients for the animals found here. And look at that fin. And this is a distinctive sign that we looked for when we were looking for fish.

It's just this, this dorsal fin breaking the surface. You can be several hundred feet in the water and see these fins up there doing that as they try to get closer to the mouths of these streams. We have fish splashing around us. And their natural instinct is so strong that it doesn't matter that we're here in the water right now. All of these fish continue to move upstream. If something as big as a grizzly bear doesn't stop these fish, trust me, a camera crew won't stop them. Let's take a closer look at this amazing animal. Wow!

How wonderful was this? Braving the Alaskan wilderness and catching a sockeye salmon. I'm Coyote Peterson. Be brave. Stay wild. See you on the next adventure. Alright, see you later, buddy. As the fish swam from my fingers and back to the cove, I was filled with emotions. A wave of happiness washed over me because our mission was an incredible success. A part of me felt sad knowing that this beautiful animal was at the end of its life. I found my heart overflowing with gratitude that the universe had allowed me to spend time with such a brave and well-traveled soul.

And as he slowly disappeared into the shadows, I knew this was a moment in my life I would never forget. If you thought this adventure was epic, be sure to come back and watch our journey deep into the heart of the rainforest. Where we approach a poisonous frog. And don't forget, subscribe so you can join me and the team this season of Breaking Trail. I'm pretty safe right now. I'm sure you're all watching this thinking, "Oh boy, Coyote, here you go again," handling another dangerous animal." Believe me, I'm not in danger as long as I don't lick or eat this tiny little frog (birds chirping) (coyote howling ).