Alaska's Amazing Fishwheels

fish on all right fish on Fish on Fish on during the long summer days in Alaska these two words can be heard echoing across the water as thousands of fish hungry Anglers make their way back to their favorite holes Alaska truly is a Fisherman's Paradise the rich Waters Supply the world with the largest commercial Harvest of seafood of any other Coastal state went with the wrong guy every summer sport fishermen from many countries of the world and most of the lower 48 states come to Alaska to try their luck and skills in the remote Waters and streams of the great land they share a common goal is coming in a chance to land the big one [Music] the five different varieties of Pacific salmon are the most popular fish harvested by Alaskan Anglers during their long journey back to where they were spawned these pinks and Sakai have taken a rest stop before returning to fight the strong currents of the main river you need about an of weight fresh C salmon are a delicacy go bottom see boun along the bottom right there and after seeing that fine Stringer of Sakai or Reds I'm anxious to wet my line near this Beaver tree in the morning [Music] [Applause] [Music] sun well old Mr Beaver decided to run me out of this fishing hole but I was hoping I would catch something here but not going to be hi my name is Tommy pton welcome to my Alaskan fishing story it's about the darnest contraption ever invented for catching fish and it ain't no fishing pole the Alaska Fish wheel has no other purpose but to catch fish and nothing has better combined the most important invention of all time the wheel with one of the oldest pastimes fishing than the fish wheel designed for catching migrating riverfish the fish wheel is unequaled in efficiency and simplicity [Music] Alaska Remains the only state that allows private use of these wheels fish Wheels have been used a long time in Alaskan rivers to put salmon away for food for the long Winters here in Anchorage where fish Wheels presently are not being used I looked for some information about the wheels hey you know what a fish wheel is I have no idea you don't know what a fish wheel is um a wheel gets fish I something like that could you take a look at this picture and tell me what you think that is well at first I thought it might have been a fish wheel but not really sure show you this picture and you tell me what you think that is um I think it is a a fish trap thing it catches fishes in the net when it goes around wow boy now she's been doing better than a lot of people done here tonight I like your hat yes tell tell me what you think that is take a look at that picture there and tell me what you think that is always got to get the glasses out well it's uh where they catch these whales with fins on them uh in the Copper River or some place but other words we catch whales with fins in the copper they call King Salmon right yeah salmon yeah and you can tell me what that the name of that device is it's called a a fish wheel right you you got it right now I'm going to explain to you how a fish wheel catches a fish the current spins it around there's two paddles and two baskets the fish are going upstream and it Scoops them up and they shoot out into a live box or you could have a dry box and that's how a fish Wheel Works to get the fish out you can go take a nut and dip them out this state Department of fishing Wildlife wheel is used for verifying Salmon Run strength on the ENT River pink pink pink pink pink pink pink four more three more this is the nearest wheel to the large City in [Music] Alka the first Wheels used in Alaska were likely along the Yukon the Tanana and the China rivers in the interior these photos taken around 1900 show some of the first Wheels this grind of a small Shad wheel was printed in an 1880 issue of Harper's Weekly it it is thought that Marco Polo brought the idea West from China but the first Wheels used in North America are traced to the Carolina region over 150 years ago when the invention came West nowhere was it more successful than in the Columbia and other rivers of the Pacific Northwest these huge Wheels were commercial fishing machines operated only by the force of the current turning them Alaska's first River residents used plenty of salmon for dog food and people food before modern Nets and wheels they used small traps placed at the end of a wear made of sticks and skin material to catch their salmon in 1898 Gold Fever came to the Northland and with it brought a new era to the Alaska territory the legend was heard around the world that gold was just lying along the river banks waiting to be found the chance to strike it rich attracted mostly men to the gold Fields but a few Brave women came looking for their golden opportunity as well the men were tough men like Gus lungren Billy The Turk and the Deo kid small River stops like susitna TOA Tanana and Fairbanks were turning into real towns and modern technology blossomed in A Primitive Wilderness when the gold played out those that stayed behind had to become ever more resourceful some men became professional meat hunters and Trappers harvesting the rich Furs of the Interior Lynx Wolverine wolf and American Sable became their second chance to lead the north with the grub [Applause] state the growing economy along the Yukon created a demand for River passage that only steamboats of the Mississippi River type could deliver the powerful steam engines required a constant supply of fuel one of the summer jobs for Trappers was supplying large Quant ities of firewood for the giant Riverbats ever hungry steam boilers all you needed to go into business was a strong back and a sharp saw it was about this time that fish Wheels were first seen on Alaskan Rivers mail was hauled in the winter by dog team and their main food salmon was soon being supplied by industrious wheel Builders who had brought the idea with them from the northwest region selling salmon to the dog teams together with firewood cut cutting and trapping gave the Hardy man a yearr round source of wages many found wives and started their families on the susitna river a new search for gold brought growth to the settlement of susitna station a rugged man named Max shellabarger from the Columbia River area journeyed up the Susa to the sna area in search of his new life Max and his bride Bell bought the rights to the sternwheeler Lois Anne for $100 and built their Homestead from the planks it provided Max became a 20th century Mountain Man their subsistence lifestyle of hunting trapping and and fishing with their fish wheel allow them to raise a family at their Homestead on the squinter river these home movies show Max And Bell's lifestyle in the remote wilderness the sagai salmon caught in their wheel not only supplied their dogs but other teams in the area as well one young Trapper that bought salmon from the shell barers Jay Hammond would eventually become governor of the state it was settlers like the shelb barers who shared the fish wheel design with Alaska's natives building an Allwood fish wheel takes a little time and skill but only a modest set of tools are needed here a two basket wheel is going together all the material except a few nails and chicken wire or netting for the basket can be harvested close to the river in the thick Spruce Forest of the area catching fish is a family Endeavor so traditionally family and friends are part of the construction and operation team another breakup on the yentna river means it won't be long before the salmon make the way back I'm traveling up River to where word has it a family is building a new wheel I think on the same maybe make there's actually no difference in the concept from the old wheel to this one but some of the materials used now to build the wheels have become more modern oh isn't that pretty whatever materials one does use it takes an immense amount of planning dedication and grunt work to put one of these together everything cut when you taking her up River oh about an hour I imagine right after [Music] lunch we should be fishing by this [Music] afternoon new fish Wheels always have a trial and error period before they're working as their owners hope they do moving a heavy wheel against the current takes a lot of horsepower it also makes a difference to which side of the river you put a fish wheel on finding the right channel where the fish are running and the wheel turns is the main object of a fish wheel location tomorrow is opening day for the subsistence fishery on the ENT the river this wheel will be fishing at 4 a.m. morning fog blankets the [Music] channel and it's just barely light enough to see the [Music] wheel now the question is are the fish in yet all right did didn't take long for Virgil to find out [Music] there's enough the resources to to go around I mean compared to a rod reill fish reels are a lot more efficient and cost effective and that's why there should be more of them and hopefully one day there will be more of them here we are in the an the river catching fish on this fish wheel let's go out there and follow Virgil and see what he's got in the live box whoa now those are some Beauties [Music] Virgil now that's how to catch fish 300 miles to the north in the town of Nana river boats used to rain as the big wheels of the river if you need local information in Alaska the best place is the local pub said now you [Music] better just a few minutes out of town there is fish Wheels [Music] everywhere these three basket wheels are remarkably strong flexible and light due to the characteristics of the local white spruce used to build them each one of these poles represents a single young tree cut from the many islands of the Tanana Valley I find it quite interesting how straight and uniform each one of these poles are Nana is well known for its resident dog mushers and most of the salmon harvested in the wheels is destined to feed dogs to see working Wheels on the Tanana River you have to get on the water fortunately for me a local fisherman is boating down river to help set up a wheel and he has an extra seat on board pretty good little parttime job to broken after about 6 miles we find a really well-built Spruce pole wheel and its owner setting it up on a gravel [Music] beach each end of the a AEL is hung from a small chain hoist which is used to raise and lower the wheel into the water to catch salmon the baskets have to be lowered until they're just touching the bottom the diameter of a wheel is designed for the given depth that the salmon run in each River and when the wheels all the way down it should begin catching fish usually to increase the efficiency of these larger Wheels a wear or lead as it's called is placed near shore to guide fish into their baskets uh I wonder if you could pull a slack I made it up right working over water can always be dangerous and fish wheel work appears as it's no exception he's got his lead down now that lead puts down right on the inside of the of the baskets and that leads the fish right around that lead up into the wheel going to catch some fish [Music] now [Music] 200 mil farther north our next destination is the town of Tanana on the banks of the mighty Yukon River at 2,000 mil long the Yukon is Alaska's largest river and the fifth largest in North America the town of Tanana lies across the Yukon from its Confluence with the Tanana River long gone Fort Gibbon was founded here in 1898 but the region was populated for many years before by the at the Baskin represented here by 1915 photo of the Tanana Chiefs if only this building could talk now that's a mighty fine wheel we have here this is on the banks of the Yukon river at Tanana this wheel's probably close to 40 ft in diameter that catch some fish few things are more relaxing to me than watching a gray River Flow by with all of its history but I'm anxious to get out on the water and see what's around the band I'm traveling with local fish wheel expert bill furis 50 Mi up River to a place known as the rapids The Golden colors of Falls are at their peak in September here less than 100 Mil from the Arctic Circle the Rapids is where the Yukon Narrows down as it winds its way through a small mountain range we're inspecting Wheels used for catching subsistence salmon and that are also used for biological study of the runs as they pass through we put a beer on so we just knew the went off the state and federal government has partnered with local fishermen to use their wheels for ongoing work to protect the Run strength because of the depths of this water these wheels are very large down the other I know we got get this is one of the largest Wheels I have seen in use anywhere in Alaska although I didn't have a tape measure I estimated the diameter at about 35 ft the Rapids is a special place for a river man such as I here is another wheel that doubles as a subsistance wheel and a fish counter wheel so this is more or less a Hightech fish counter yeah matched with a low Tech fish wheel yeah a real low te fishing operation and and you've got all this expensive technology here you got four big deep cycle batteries down here and you're you're powering that VCR and that camera and then this is a voltage inverter right here and this is a a light sensor for one of the lights if it gets dark towards evening this thing will cause one of the lights to come on through the this voltage inverter off the batteries let you call yeah living in the out of the bars so this is where the camera takes the picture of them right down there yeah the camera's looking at this this shoot area from about Third Way up that curtain down here to this other curtain that's coming off of the fish wheel shoot that's the first one this is a what how many hour tape the video images of every fish that goes through the wheel are then imported into a computer program for the further research of the runs on the Yukon oh yeah work what shutter speed are you using at Night 2000 I use 2000 all the time I just yeah yeah yeah those those look better than mine actually I mean the focus looks the focus looks clear dogs have been a part of Alaska's culture since man first tamed the wolf Cowboy during the summer months the dogs are kept near the river as it is easier to maintain them with food and water and the mosqu Kito aren't quite as bad here also here's a winter supply of dog food I wonder what this one's thinking fish Wheels have been and will continue to be an important part of this River's culture really difficult sometime to call what they are even you know species or sex Bill calls these fish report in to the biologist office more of them as female Chums so he said that that's okay and as the fish come in in in a normal situation if the basket's passing the lead they enter the basket here if the fish comes in late where the baskets already pass the lead on a normal fish wheel this area would be blocked off because the baskets are built all the way out to the side yeah we don't want to hurt the fish you know we need the data we need to count the fish and and know what the run's doing but uh that's what this whole Project's about just to get away from handling fish fish any more than necessary I think it's a pretty slick operation here to count fish mhm yeah I wheel up at uh fish camp is on the other side of the river from camp and quiet evening you can hear every fish that gets caught the famous Copper River Valley is surrounded by four of the largest mountain ranges in the state the Alaska the chugat the TOA and the Wrangle range we're standing here on the banks of the mighty Copper River this is just a few miles up from the village of copper Center but this area in here is all fish wheel country and you don't have to go far to find Wheels in Copper Center fishermen have them right in their own backyards copper Center is a Crossroads of historic and modern culture in some places you'd think you're in a Living [Music] Museum I've been riding a jet boat from the clua river it didn't take us long to find a row of Wheels spinning in the fast current of the copper this river is extremely fast along most of its Journey to the Sea and it carries more silt than almost any Alaska River for these reasons fish Wheels Remain the most practical way for local fishermen to harvest the [Music] salmon now how long you been fishing your wheel oh we've been fishing well Mel's been fishing this here about 30 years I've been here about 20 years now 1980 I think 81 her husband and her boys built the wheel originally and and uh one of the boys put the new floats on it here all four five years ago had plywood with the styrofoam and the staro SED up water and it wasn't floating this the the uh float on this side got a leak in on the back end I pump it out about every week or 10 days whenever too little and that back Board gets down in the water then I pump it out and flow it up that's not too bad every 10 days we throw oh no no no I got a gas pump I pump G that out what are you catching in your in your wheel now Reds and Kings Reds and King CER of a red did the fish run any better in the in the rain and in the sun well it doesn't seem to make any difference they run more at night than they do in the daytime normally uh from about all usually about 10:00 at night or 9 10:00 in the morning catch catch this is about one of the smallest Wheels I've seen so far here on the Copper River it's in a good spot here the Channel's nice and deep and it's fast this one's built out of mostly man-made [Music] materials many of these wheels are unattended and this one is stuck on the bottom so I gladly help out by adjusting it into deeper water there that didn't take [Music] long chitina or as most people call it chna is as far down the Copper River as the road will take us as on the Yukon here on the cober fish Wheels have long been an important tool for the local subsistence economy during the Gold Rush steamboats chugging up the Copper from saltwater had to navigate Wood Canyon to reach chna my first stop is in the center of the old town where I hope to find a few locals willing to share their fishing stories you hear that these old men they said in the 80s what their buddies died so they created and mix him up with paint painted the fish whe with it armed with the local knowledge I crossed the bridge from chit where I found the most concentrated number of wheels of anywhere else I had been a glory hole of fish Wheels one tourist asked me if the fish went downstream no they don't go Downstream they go upstream and just as they're going Upstream this paddle goes Downstream Scoops them up got to shoot there shoot them out and sometimes they run and sometimes they don't I that's two months here one time I didn't get a fish one morning I came out and there was 200 fish in the basket oh I had fun 200 fish at one leg that's a prime filet to more efficiently put up food for the long Alaska winter is the only reason to own a fish wheel and processing a family's limit of fish is a lot of hard work and I'll uh I smoke probably 100 salmon a couple of coolers full few coolers full as gods of Plenty you know allow me to can up 10 or 12 cases the remains of Forgotten old wheels are scattered all along the Copper River some are ready to [Music] fish some Wheels have gone to the birds while other wheels are just there for spare parts or an occasional campfire and then there are those kept Just For The Memories of the past this yentna River wheel is similar to The Copper Wheels fishermen in both Rivers Target red salmon and because Reds run closer to the bank these wheels are not as large as the Yukon and Tanana Wheels where the salmon run much deeper in the river settlement of Sint local residents have developed a Cooperative use of just two wheels see one of my de well if the runs are healthy most of the local families have an opportunity to take the salmon they need during the short 2 we [Music] opening the pink salmon return on 2ear cycles and on the even years the less desirable pinks show up in large [Music] quantities here on the yna a person with a net must keep the live box from overloading with the pains get away come on get away those are nice place huh yeah good good do I put my fish up let's see I I'm G to smoke a bunch of them and we'll freeze part of that and then I'll can some I'll do some plain canning and I'll vacuum pack um probably about six seven fish in filets and freeze it discreet and in the winter but most of it I'll just do a plain can JY watch it's a big nail one of the things I've been real impressed with here is uh how the whole Community shares the wheel and uh it hasn't been any infighting has been a Cooperative effort on everybody's part to uh share the thing we only have two wheels but we probably have 20 different families working off the two and uh with their real informal scheduling we've been able to uh cooperate well and it's really been a benefit for our little Community here Paul's going to show us how to Fay a sakea salmon big fish for a small knife here get it all done at one time and get all the fish through in one bats rather than catching two or three a day and having to run them through the kitchen every day this way we can catch them all and put them in the smok house and uh get them in the caner and get our winter fish supply put away all at once there you have it two beautiful red sand that look often there are two or more families on the wheels at the same time when the live box is full of Reds extra hands make for quicker work of the dipping and cutting there a yeah I would say as fresh as you can get you take a picture of me lose one and I'll be well it wouldn't be the first everybody's lost one so far Mike yeah I know we lost some last you anybody saving eggs should have brought a dog bucket up for the heads for the dogs you want to say well we throw them in the bucket so what are you doing with the fish heads we're giving them to our dogs I got 19 dogs at home three puppies oh yeah actually we have eight and Juno SL dog yeah yeah yeah so they like the fish we didn't bring anything oh we didn't bring a bucket did we no I want the eggs you want you want the eggs to the dog yeah well throw them in there just open that up we'll throw all the keep stuff we're keeping we can sort it out when we get home 2 hours we caught what do we catch 45 about 45 and I think we lost about 5 or six so you like the fish wheel oh this fish wheel is the neatest thing since ice cream [Music] throughout the run one family after another takes their turn on the wheel there we are you're looking at it different it can almost make you dizzy standing out here you know [Music] hi you hear me all right okay how's everything here oh it's real slow and the wheel becomes a local Gathering Place for the river people I'll get a fish out there I'll go in the other part right there and go down stream you got to do it a little healthier than that they'll get away from you there we go there you go and uh we we go fishing every year and we get our we try to get our limits of kings and and Silvers the Kings we save um basically just for like uh the fs and and stuff like that for eating and then U the Reds we like to get the Reds because we smoke them and then we can the silvers so we eat a lot of uh moose meat and a lot of uh fish throughout the winter and really enjoy it uh the fish wheel I don't know I think this is our third year or second no it's our third you're on the fish wheel and I just love it nothing's more exciting than to see those fish just roll in the in the basket and and clean them and you count them and and you know you're going to eat for the winter it's just really [Music] [Laughter] great [Music] the fish wheel fames celebrate the year's catch with a Riverside picnic where everyone's invited I bring that plate right over here okay good [Music] enough was second on Michigan UP second that was fish times you can't [Music] with I love to girl taking on Michigan no matter what the weather is when the salmon are running the fish Wheels have to be turning fish not good enough to his now I'm up there Inka digging around for gold like a crazy fool to get himo and ground so cold with each new day I pray I'll St and Rich and there I'll go home and claim my love Michigan I wrote [Music] my when the schools of migrating salmon have finally pass by the last fish wheel summers in the Northland will soon be over now we had to pull the boat out of our Crick today or else tomorrow we wouldn't been any some people found other uses for the fish wheel but they all have one thing in common from the smallest to the largest they all catch [Music] fish and like all all living things they eventually returned to [Music] Nature lost forever to the fishermen they once so Faithfully worked for it was an interesting summer on the rivers of Alaska and while searching for Alaska's amazing fish Wheels I found a pallet of sights and sounds to soothe the [Music] soul and then there were tastes of Alaska that you had to try once it's a fishe and then there are those that were just better lefted pocket knife but meeting Alaska's Great River people who may have shared a tail or two or took me to their favorite fishing hole these are the memories that will be hardest to forget hey there's a beauty there huh nothing nothing they're jumping all around you you know how that works you guys need to use a fish wheel I think we do works a lot better and uh you you're probably wondering what this hat really is well it's a nice looking hat but uh it's a chick magnet chick magnet they love rubbing it okay we'll see you when the fish wheel season rolls around once again you can find me in the front row seats after the snow has fallen there's plenty of time to plan our wheels of the future [Music] for [Music] [Music] [Music] yeah beautiful fish that's going to be my winter fish this winner [Music] [Applause] y'all [Music]

Channel: Tommy Payton

Views: 64,801

Keywords: Alaska, Anchorage, Salmon, Halibut, Denali National Park And Preserve (Protected Site), Sarah Palin (Vice Presidential Nominee), Justin Bieber (icon), Miley Cyrus (icon), Grizzly Bear (Organism Classification), Arctic Wolf (Organism Classification), Jet boat, Bush Plane, super cub, Caribou (Musical Artist), Helicopter, Movie production, Sourdough, Cabin, still photography, arieal photography, Flying, actors, casting call, cinematography, Filmaking, producing, writing, Jack London, Lodges

Id: LdBlIaVFm7c

Length: 58min 36sec (3516 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 12 2014