At one time I had a job that allowed me to go flying in a helicopter to do maintenance on remote mountaintop radio sites. I got a call from one of my customers saying that his radio site was not working and could I go fix it. I said I would, and called my buddy at the helicopter company.

The helicopter pilot said that he could fit the trip in on the weekend but it would have to fit in with a couple of trips that he had in the same area. He said that we could fly into the site first thing in the morning and would either have to spend the day sitting on the top of the mountain and he would come an pick me up late in the afternoon, or he could drop me off at one of the camps and pick me up later.

I suggested that it would be more interesting that he would drop me on a river bank in the area and I would spend the day fishing until he picked me up in the afternoon. We decided on a plan and decided which river he was going to drop me off on.

On the day of the trip we left town early and flew about 1.5 hours to the top of the mountains and the radio site. When we landed on the mountain it was quite obvious that the site had been hit by lightning. I retrieved the radio gear for repair and took off from the mountain.

The river I was going to fish for the day was crossed by a road about 1 mile from the mouth of the river and I had decided that I would get dropped off on the bridge, spend the day fishing the river and get picked up on the beach at the mouth of the river at the end of the day.

We landed on the bridge over the river and I grabbed my fishing gear and my lunch. As the helicopter took off and disappeared out of site I reveled in the day. The weather was warm but not too hot and now in the silence I was surrounded by my paradise for the day. No phones, no barking dogs, no people. Just me and the river for the next 6 hours.

The river water was clear like a glass of water and from the bridge I could see the dark shadows of the fish cruising in the currents. I was looking forward to catching at least one of these large fish.

I grabbed my gear and proceeded to fight my way through the brush to the bank of the river. When I got to the river bank I found that there was a large pool that ran up under the bridge and in the shadows I could still see the fish. I assembled my fishing gear and cast into the dark waters of the pool.

About half way across the pool I stopped reeling and dropped my rod tip to the water to let my lure sink deeper in the pool. As soon as I started reeling again, a fish hit my lure. Hard. I lifted my rod tip and set the hook, and the fight was on. Most of the time Bull Trout are much like a log when they fight. They are not known for jumping and multiple runs. This one was no exception as he took off for the bottom of the pool and just sat there.

I was pretty sure that this was the biggest fish I had ever caught. Every time I gained line he would just go back to the bottom of the pool and sit there. After several minutes I started to gain line and eventually after several more minutes I finally got the fish to the bank. It was indeed the biggest fish I had ever caught. I weighed it at 17 pounds, took it’s picture and let it go back into the depths of the pool.

Not bad for the first cast. I continued to cast into the large pool, and caught several more fish in the 2 to 3 pound class. Almost every cast produced a fish. After about an hour of some spectacular fishing I decided I better get hiking to get to my pickup point. And there was still several pools to fish along the river. As I walked the river bank I fished several pools and picked up several fish. I was catching about 10 fish per hour and making good time on my hike to the mouth of the river.

Around lunch time I found a place under a big Spruce tree and got out my lunch and my thermos of coffee. Between bites I leaned back against the Spruce tree and I think I might have dozed off. I woke up to the sound of small rocks and gravel coming down the steep bank on the other side of the river. The sound that woke me up was the sound of the rocks rolling into the river.

The sound was being made by a Big Grizzly Bear sliding down the slope into the river. I sat there in silence and watched as he slid into the river and rolled around in the shallow water. He suddenly realized that he wasn’t alone and stopped his bath, stood up and looked right at me. He put his head down and took a drink of water and took off in a slow walk up the river. I sat there and listened as he walked up through the brush.

I was sure glad that he decided that I didn’t look like lunch. In those days I didn’t carry a gun on my fishing trips. And Bear Spray hadn’t been invented yet. I finished my lunch, gathered my gear and proceeded down the path to the mouth of the river. I also kept a close watch on the trail, the river and the other river bank for the rest of the day. I decided that I would go directly to the mouth of the river. At least there I would be able to see any bears coming for a long distance.

Fishing the mouth of the river was almost tiring. In the next couple of hours, I caught almost 50 fish. Almost all of them were in the 2 to 6 pound class. I also caught 2 that were 15 pounds which I kept for a family gathering we were having the next day.

After a couple of hours the helicopter came in and picked me up. The pilot said that he had seen the Grizzly Bear about 2 miles away digging up a slope looking for something to eat. I told him I was sure glad that he hadn’t picked me.

I asked him how his day was going and he said that his schedule had some major delays and that if I didn’t mind he would have to drop me off again, this time at a prospectors camp high in the mountains. I said that would be fine especially if there was a coffee pot. He was pretty sure there was so off we went.

As we flew in to the camp I could see that there was 5 large tents and it looked like they had been here for quite awhile. We landed on a platform that had been constructed on the side of the mountain and walked down the hill to the largest tent.

We were met at the door by a women in her mid thirties carrying a plate of fresh donuts. She turned out to be the cook/bear defender/manager of the camp and had been camped on the side of this mountain with a crew of 10 geologists. They had been here for the last 4 months without a break. The donuts were a very pleasant surprise especially since there was an endless supply of coffee to go with them.

I noticed that there was a shotgun in the corner beside the back door of the tent and the woman said that she used it almost daily to chase off the bears. The camp was at an altitude of about 6000 feet and she said that she had never seen as much game as she had here. This was in the days before cell phones and digital cameras and she said her weekly grocery order always included more film for her camera. She said she had pictures of Grizzly Bears, Black Bears, Marmots, Eagles, Mountain Sheep, Mountain Goats, Wolves, and Caribou.

The helicopter pilot had made his trips to pick up all of the geologists and the whole crew was back in camp for the night. We said our goodbyes and headed back to town.

It had been a great day. I had some great fishing, looked after a customer and got to go for coffee and fresh donuts on top of a mountain.