I bought a jet boat last October, and since then I’ve worked on it a little bit but really hadn’t taken it out much. There has been a lot of other time put into getting it titled and registered – and at least making sure the motor would run (or start anyway), but not much time actually using it. That would change on this trip to the Little Dry Island cabin.
This is partly because the first couple test runs didn’t go so well. The boat didn’t get on plane and wanted to porpoise, which was annoying and frustrating. I had tried getting more weight in the bow, but it still didn’t seem to ride well…and definitely wouldn’t get into shallow water which is the whole point.
Months after buying her I finally decided to spend some money on all the items I still needed and to get out and give her a full test. After a $1,000 bill from the hardware store I felt like I had the minimum to go out safely on my own. Flares, radio, tools, etc. were now onboard.
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our trip to the little dry island cabin
Initially this was planned as a solo trip. Little Dry Island cabin is said to require at least a 15 ft tide for access, and this weekend had 16 footers in the afternoons. My friend Lucas, who would usually be the first invite for something like this, was busy guiding a goat hunt and another friend was out of town…I still wanted to go for it.
As it turned out, they filled the goat tag on Day 2, and were back in town much earlier than expected. Even though they had just returned and were exhausted, I pitched a group outing – and the amount of people changed from 1 to 7. Part of me wanted to do it alone, a kind of test. But another part of me was definitely relieved and some of the pressure was removed.
The next day we made the roughly 30 mile drive down to the boat launch. On the drive, about two thirds of the way there, we noticed a strong smell – brakes. I didn’t think it could be mine, but when we arrived at the ramp it was obvious the front left tire on my truck was the culprit.
It seemed ok, so we launched and figured it was a problem for another day. The other group arrived and with gear and passengers loaded we shoved off. This would be the first time I had other people in my boat, and significantly more weight. Immediately there was a difference, she popped right up on step and held a plane – I was excited.
A short run of only a couple miles, we reached the slough in short order. It was a small channel that made it feel like we were doing some real jet boating. We made it to the cabin without issue, and after the gear was unloaded I still had the itch to do some more running.
Two of the other guys hopped in with me and we went back out to check out another slough on the back side of the island. I was maybe a little overconfident, and as the tide got higher the channels started to morph into a featureless lake. Which meant we didn’t have to worry about going dry, but it did mean that we were sucking in a bunch of grass over and over.
Time and again we had to cut off the motor to raise it and pull grass out of the impeller. Luckily, we made our way back to the original slough and anchored up, not wanting to push it any further.
We kept an eye on the skiffs as the tide dropped, and what was a pretty good waterway disappeared to a narrow mud canyon. The hardest part was making sure both the skiffs would set down ok (which they did with some help). Once they were dry, we were stuck…no getting out until the water came back in.
Although the Little Dry Island cabin is mostly known as a duck hunting base, we brought some rods to see if anything was running up the slough on the backside of the island. There weren’t really many other options for activities – hunting was closed and the boats were stuck.
Most of the walk over was uneventful, except for walking through a field of orb weaver spiders. By the time we got to the slough I had 2 or 3 stuck to my waders, which I wasn’t a big fan of. The water was dark and glacial but we spent some time making casts anyway. Nothing caught, but some fish did jump making it known there was something in there.
That night we had a fire before people starting tapping out for bedtime. There are two beds on the main level and a sleeping loft above. I was up in the loft as one of the first to bed, the last two opted to sleep outside on the deck instead of waking everyone up at 2 or 3am.
The next morning was slow moving, there wasn’t really a hurry to do anything and we couldn’t leave until the afternoon because of the tides. The bugs were bad, and we all were getting bit. I had some strong deet repellant that I resorted to wearing because the bugs became so obnoxious.
We walked back over to the slough, careful to avoid the spiders this time, to see if we could hook anything. Once again, there were signs of fish but nothing hooked. I did however manage to get snagged in some grass and while trying to pull it off – something I’ve done 1,000 times before with more force, my rod snapped.
This is the rod I’ve used to fish salmon and steelhead for years. It’s also the main rod I planned to bring on a float trip on Kodiak this October. It was a sad moment, and even sadder because of how it happened. That ended our fishing and we walked back to the cabin.
At this point everyone was ready to go and we were counting down the time until the boats would float again. We were packed and ready to go…just waiting. In the meantime, one of the guys did find some chicken of the woods in the surrounding area which made for some good burger toppings that night back home.
Finally we watched the water start to fill in the slough, it was like a river coming in. First a trickle, then filling the whole way across, and then floating the boats. We were good to go, and were able to get out without any problems.
It had been a successful trip other than the broken rod. The boat proved itself which was the main goal, and passed with flying colors. On the ride home though we started smelling more brakes. Again I didn’t think anything of it, but once the trailer was off and we drove through town the driver side front wheel started to smoke (which I don’t think is good).
Turns out the brakes were shot, so that was another $1,000 bill post trip. But even though it was a very expensive one night trip, it made me feel great about the boat and inspired me to get her out the next couple weekends also.
little dry island cabin Location
The Little Dry Island cabin is located on the flats at the mouth of the Stikine River. It’s only a 7 mile ride from the south end of Mitkof Island and can be accessed by shallow draft boat. The guide says it requires a 15 ft tide, but with jet boats we were able to get in at a lower tide.
The slough in front does go completely dry at low tide though.
little dry island cabin Price
Little Dry Island is $40 per night every night of the year. There is no seasonal price change.
About the cabin
The Little Dry Island cabin has a wood stove and two bunks downstairs. Upstairs is a sleeping loft although the layout is a little strange and seems to be smaller than it is.
There is a table inside and plenty of counter space. The outside has a nice wrap around deck that provides excellent views of the flats. We weren’t there for bird viewing season, but it would be fun to see the migration from Little Dry Island.