Fascinating video out of Katmai National Park and Preserve in southern Alaska where rangers Mike Fitz and Roy Wood put felt soled shoes over their drysuits booties and waded out to Brooks Falls to explore some of the most fertile grizzly bear fishing grounds on earth.
Brooks Falls is one the best places in the world to watch grizzly bears, with visitors coming from around the world to watch these apex predators hunt and eat. The reason why this area so dependable for viewing grizzlies is it’s one of the first streams in the region where pre-spawned salmon are available to bears.
“In July, most salmon are moving through large rivers and lakes where bears cannot successfully fish. Early in the salmon run, Brooks Falls creates a temporary barrier to migrating salmon. This results in a particularly successful fishing spot for bears. Once salmon stop migrating in large numbers, Brooks Falls is no longer a good place to fish and bears quickly abandon that spot for better fishing elsewhere.”
Mike and Roy take us around place like the lip, the far pool and the jacuzzi while explaining how the grizzlies of Katmai fish for salmon.
