Fishing for silver Salmon within the pristine tidal zone of the Anchor River on August 13, 2006. While fishing in this secret spot, I found very little angler effort while other members of the various clans preferred to fish the more popular areas on the river. This was the day of the 2nd Annual Silver Salmon Tournament in which we compete each year on my fathers date of birth. The Papa Bear fished, while the remainder of the Bear Clan slept in, the upper part of the river, not knowing the kind of fishing that I had been having within the tidal zone of the river. Typical of the Moose he was wandering between Deep Creek and Anchor River, knowing where the fish were but not having any great success. The remainder of the Clans were somewhere, I did hear that two of the those, Little Buff and the Alpha Male Wolf were fishing the mud hole in Ship Creek while Big Buffy slept in. They were hoping to snag a silver and then enter it into the tournament as a Anchor River Fish.



After having turned lose a dozen prime Silver Salmon this particular morning, I decided to put this one on the beach and retain him for my single entry into the tournament. This particular fish was smaller than several that I turned loose, but the spirit and his fighting ability impressed me so much that I thought he was worthy of the recognition that he would receive.



This particular Silver Salmon weighing in at 15.6 pounds was the winner of the 2006 Tournament, once again the Grand Eagle has captured the top place with the largest fish being taken by members of the Clan. The 72 pound King Salmon that adorns the wall of the lodge and now the 15.6 Silver Salmon to reclaim the Golden Coins from Papa Bear, who won this tournament in 2005. In all likelihood, the coins will remain in my vault until the rivers no longer run and the Silvers return to the rivers no more. But, as Little Moose likes to tell everyone what he calls my fly rod, the "Master's Rod", he is a wise youngster, no wonder he was selected as leader of the Little Clan.