- Morning fog hovered over the surface of Chilkat Lake
as I stepped to the edge and looked out.
Somewhere beyond the haze this body of water was the stage
for a final act in the life of one truly magnificent animal.
A creature that had traveled thousands of miles.
And defied all odds of survival
just to make it back to this very lake.
The place from which it was born
and the same place where it would die.
We finished strapping our gear to the kayaks,
deployed onto the water, and began to cut across 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 across Chilkat Lake,
I tried to envision life as a grizzly,
lumbering along the water's edge,
and searching for my next meal.
That is definitely a fresh bear kill right there.
And it's just eaten out 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 are in bear country
it is dead salmon.
Alright, just be careful as we're moving 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 hunting for shadows in the ripples below?
To be a bear or a bird would be awesome.
But today, I am a human.
However, the crew and I were on a very similar mission
to both the grizzly and the eagle,
as our target was one and 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
were migrating in from the ocean,
up the rivers and ending their incredible journey
as they reach these inland lakes.
(water splashing)
Okay, so you see this water
coming off the side of the mountain?
Where that stream meets the lake
the water will be incredibly clear.
The perfect place to look for some salmon.
Let's head over there and try to find ourselves some fish.
(water splashing)
It's in these clear pockets of water
where 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 out here on the lake.
Nothing like searching for salmon in a rainstorm.
That's alright, we are several miles
out on the lake at this point.
No fish yet.
But we're gonna find them.
Oh, we're gonna find them.
Chilkat Lake spans just over
three and a half miles in length.
And while there are likely thousands
of salmon beneath the surface,
our search would still be rather difficult.
Here, fishy, fishy, fishy, fishy!
Most of the water was murky,
so our best bet when it came to finding fish
was to scan near the banks.
Searching for crystal clear glacial melt water
that was pouring down from the mountains.
- [Mark] See any salmon?
- Nothing here.
- [Mark] Ouch!
Hit a spine in the eye.
- This is exactly the kind of spot that we're looking for.
We've got water flowing off the side of the mountain
and into the lake.
Unfortunately it's a bit too rough
and the water is very murky and deep.
If I can't see the fish
I can't catch 'em.
Let's keep moving up the side of the mountain
and see if we can find something better.
Suddenly, from the far side of the lake
I heard the unmistakable call of a bald eagle.
These predatory raptors had one thing,
and one thing only, on their minds: fish.
And I immediately knew if we followed the call of this bird
there was a good chance
it would lead us right to the salmon.
There are like, four eagles in the tree right there.
The eagles have led us straight to the fish
because right in this cove
I can see a bunch of dorsal fins splashing.
There are about a hundred salmon tucked back into this cove.
Sweet!
Dude, guys, we have found salmon.
We have been rowing this entire lake,
and low and behold,
it was finding eagles that brought us to the fish.
Which, of course, makes sense,
because the eagles are here feeding.
But we also have to be careful
because this is a prime spot for grizzlies
to come down to the water and feast.
Alright, we're gonna set up a base camp,
and then strategize how we're gonna catch one of these fish.
- Dude, good spot.
- Pow!
This was it.
After hours of searching in the harsh Alaskan elements
we had finally found what appeared to be nearly 100 salmon.
They were beautiful,
their brilliant, crimson bodies
slippery and streamlined as they darted back and forth
beneath the surface.
Excitement was in the air.
We had finally found some fish.
Okay.
This spot's pretty perfect.
But be aware that we are definitely
in bear territory right now.
I gave it a quick scout, made some noise,
shouted "Yo, bear, yo bear!"
Clapped my hands.
(hands clapping)
Yo bear!
Just try to alert any animals in the area
that we are now here.
If there's salmon, there are bears.
Nothing is more nerve wracking then setting base camp
in an area that is clearly trafficked by bears.
And as we quietly snuck through the dense forest
to get a stealthy look at the salmon cove
it was obvious that the bears had the exact same mindset
that we did.
Wow.
You know what that is?
That's one big pile of you know what:
bear droppings.
And they're still warm.
What the bear did
is he lumbered up along the edge, like this,
and you can see where he placed his paws,
right there on the edge,
waited for fish to swim up close
and then probably pounced down into the water.
Look at all those fish swimming down there.
And that bear's got the same idea that I have.
Only I'm gonna use a net, and not my claws.
Alright, let's go get set up.
- [Mark] Alright, Coyote, there's your net.
I think we're getting pretty close to being ready here
with all the gear.
What do you think your chances really are
of getting the sockeye?
- I have a 75% chance of actually netting
one of these animals.
- [Mark] What's gonna be your technique?
- Basically I wanna try to work one of the fish
into a corner.
The shallower the water,
the more it will kinda be disoriented,
and I think I'll be able to
scoop down and get it into the net.
I know there's some overhangs.
And those overhangs they may also hunker up underneath there
and feel comfortable.
And then I'd be able to get the net up underneath that.
So, like I said, I think about 75% chance
that I'ma land one of these on the first attempt.
- [Mark] Alright, well, let's do it.
- Let's catch a fish.
This was it:
time to catch a salmon.
We had been given special permission by Alaska Fish and Game
to use the primitive method of dip netting
to capture one of these fish.
Typically they are caught using rod and reel.
However, we wanted to put as little stress
on the animal as possible,
and felt that using a net would insure that the animal
was captured without harm.
It certainly wasn't going to be easy,
but I was confident that if I could corner
one of these giants in shallow water
I could make the catch.
Hopefully, Mario gets the shot.
- [Mark] Mario,
we're counting on you, buddy.
- By sitting up front with the net,
Mark was able to slowly row me in toward the cove.
While Mario, rode by Austin in the other kayak,
did his best to capture all of the action on camera.
We slowly crept in,
as just the slightest disturbance in the water
cause salmon to dart around us left and right.
My original plan was to hang the net
off the side of the kayak,
and to have a fish swim right into it.
However, we quickly realized that this plan
was not going to work.
So it was time that we switched to plan B.
Coyote, was going in.
I carefully stepped out and into the freezing cold water.
It sent chills up my spine
and nearly took my breath away.
Yet, I stayed focused.
We had one shot at landing a fish.
And I was going to give it everything I had.
(water splashing) (dramatic orchestral music)
Got one! Got one!
- [Mario] Got one?
Right here.
- There we go!
There we go, got one!
Man, it's cold.
It's strong, it's heavy.
Get the buzz back.
That's a pretty good one.
With an enormous fish in the net
Mark quickly rode his kayak back to base camp,
grab the main camera,
and race back to the cove so we could film the scene.
(Coyote yells excitedly)
Yes!
Holy cow!
Can't believe I got one.
Man, is that a good fish right there?
Wanna keep the fish as calm as I can.
You see it there?
Swimming down in the water.
There ya go, buddy.
- [Mark] That's a big one.
- That's a big one.
Played it absolutely perfect.
They were darting left to right.
There was no way I was going to be able
to get one in the deep water.
I played
up underneath the embankment there,
and that's how I was able to nab it.
- [Mark] Let me see it, lift it up.
- Full grown male.
I don't think we could have landed
a more perfect fish.
Oh man!
Yes!
Got one!
- Got one, dude.
That is a beautiful salmon.
- [Coyote] Beautiful salmon.
- Alright, got our gear.
- Fish on set.
Look at that.
That is
one strong fish.
Let me get my pack off here.
(fish splashing)
I wanna keep the fish as comfortable as possible
and put as little stress on it as I can.
Look at that salmon.
How unbelievably gorgeous is that animal?
Now the way that you can immediately identify this
as a dominant male is you'll notice the quintessential
green head, that hook jaw, with those massive teeth,
and this large ridge on the top of the back
which develops as these fish mature.
Now you may be wondering to yourself,
is this fish real scaly?
It's not.
It's incredibly smooth,
and very difficult to hold onto,
which is why I'm keeping it partially in the net.
These fish are so fast and so strong
the way that they make it from the ocean
and then moving up the rivers
to get to the spawning grounds.
In my opinion, probably the most beautiful salmon species
in the world.
Now there is some important work that we need to do today.
I need to get the biometrics of this fish
for Alaska Fish and Game,
and I wanna do that quickly
to put as little stress on the fish as possible.
So I'ma set it back down into the water.
There ya go, buddy.
And kinda prop the net here, like this.
I have a measuring tape in my pocket
and a scale.
I wanna be as accurate as I possibly can here.
Tip of the snout
down to right where the tail fin connects to the body.
Wow, 24 inches!
That is a two foot salmon right there.
Alright, I'm gonna do this.
One, two, three.
Hanging up the fish.
He is at
nine pounds.
Nine pounds.
- [Mark] That's a pretty good salmon.
- Pretty good size salmon.
Alright, we're gonna come--
Whoa, buddy, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Holy cow, this fish does still have
quite a bit of fight in it.
Now these fish are at the end of their life cycle.
Let me show you something really interesting here.
Look at the tail.
You see how it's much lighter in coloration?
These fish actually begin to deteriorate
as they're moving upstream.
I can see there's kinda some gnarled areas
on the back of the tail.
But really what's distinct is the very light coloration
as compared to the rest of the body.
It's kinda gross and kinda 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 does pass away it will eventually become food
for a bear or an eagle
and then return to this amazing Alaskan wilderness
in the form of nutrients for the animals that are out here.
And look at that fin.
And this is one distinct sign that we looked for
when we'd been searching for fish.
It's just this, this dorsal fin breaching on the surface.
You can be several hundred yards out in the water
and see these fins up above just doing that
as they're trying to get close
to the mouths of these streams.
We've got fish all splashing over here around us.
And their natural instinct is so strong
it doesn't matter that we're here in the water right now.
All of these fish are continuing to move up river.
If something as big as a grizzly bear
doesn't stop these fish, trust me,
a camera crew isn't gonna slow them down.
Let's take one more look at this amazing animal.
Wow!
How awesome was this?
Braving the wilds of Alaska
and actually netting a sockeye salmon.
I'm Coyote Peterson.
Be brave.
Stay wild.
We'll see ya on the next adventure.
Alright, we'll see ya later, buddy.
As the fish swam from my fingertips
and returned to the cove,
I found myself filled with emotions.
A wave of happiness blanketed my being
as our mission was an incredible success.
A part of me felt sorrow,
knowing that this beautiful animal
was at the end of its life.
I found my heart overflowing with gratitude
as the universe had allowed me to spend time
with such a brave and traveled soul.
And as he slowly disappeared into the shadows
I knew this was a moment in my life
that I would never forget.
If you thought this adventure was epic,
make sure to go back and watch our journey
deep into the heart of the rainforest.
Where we got up close
with a poison dart frog.
And don't forget,
subscribe so you can join me and the crew
on this season of Breaking Trail.
I'm pretty safe right now.
I'm sure you're all watching this thinking to yourselves,
"Oh boy, Coyote, here you go again,
"handling another dangerous animal."
Trust me, I'm in no danger as long as I don't lick
or eat this little, tiny frog.
(birds chirping) (coyote howling)