Little evening pond trip to Mile 36.6 pond on the Steese

Mayflies

Caddisflies

Stoneflies

By Troutnut on August 2nd, 2013

My wife wanted to go swimming tonight, and I never want to go swimming (at least not in Alaska), so we went to a nine-acre pond where I could kick around in a float tube and chase some fish. The Alaska Department of Fish & Game stocks the heck out of several little man-made gravel pits along the Steese Highway with grayling and infertile rainbow trout.

Our husky Taiga was eager to help out, and kept swimming back and forth between the two of us until she decided my activity was more interesting and she should orbit my float tube at close range, like a furry Panda-colored moon. I caught a couple trout like that and then figured she'd had enough exercise (who does she think she is, a labrador retriever??) and we tied her up on shore so I could fish normally for a few minutes before we had to go.

(Note: If anyone in Fairbanks reads this and considers a visit to that pond, don't go swimming.)

Photos by Troutnut from Mile 36.6 Pond in Alaska

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Helpful husky. Taiga wanted to spend the whole evening swimming in tight circles around me.

StateAlaska

LocationMile 36.6 Pond

Date TakenAug 2, 2013

Date AddedAug 3, 2013

AuthorTroutnut

CameraCanon PowerShot D10

View Full Size and Comment (2.1X larger)

Exiled dog. I fished for about twenty minutes with her swimming around and around my float tube, then finally we tied her up on shore so I could make a few casts without worrying about catching something way too big & furry.

StateAlaska

LocationMile 36.6 Pond

Date TakenAug 2, 2013

Date AddedAug 3, 2013

AuthorTroutnut

CameraNikon Coolpix P7700

View Full Size and Comment (2.8X larger)

Little stocked rainbow

StateAlaska

LocationMile 36.6 Pond

Date TakenAug 2, 2013

Date AddedAug 3, 2013

AuthorTroutnut

CameraCanon PowerShot D10

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Most recent comments on this post (latest on top)

Troutnut	August 30th, 2013, 8:24 pm
Administrator Bellevue, WA Posts: 2737	BTW been meaning to mention that your pic of that little rainbow looks an awful lot like one of similar size I caught out of Reid Lake (along with a 13" yellow perch!) and posted a pic of back in November of 2011... Interesting. I think this one's a sterile triploid. I wonder if any other physical appearance traits go along with that and might explain the similarity, or if it's purely a coincidence.
	Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D. Troutnut and salmonid ecologist

Jmd123	August 30th, 2013, 12:43 am
Oscoda, MI Posts: 2611	HAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Just read the part about Swimmer's itch and had to laugh, got my very first case (and a bad one!) in 29 years a couple of months ago after taking my Field Biology class to Foote Pond on the Au Sable River system...well, OK, I went for as snorkel afterwards and may have made it worse...while collecting fish with my 20-foot seine net we did pull up a LOT of snails of several different species and some of pretty good size (1" diameter or greater)...my previous case had been from my very first summer at the University of Michigan Biological Station at Douglas Lake, MI - which had both sizeable snail and waterfall populations. BTW been meaning to mention that your pic of that little rainbow looks an awful lot like one of similar size I caught out of Reid Lake (along with a 13" yellow perch!) and posted a pic of back in November of 2011... Jonathon
	No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...

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