Hand Troller

About the Book

HAND TROLLER is a look into a vanishing lifestyle that many dream of but few ever experience. Join Mike and his running partner, Dick Upward, as they troll for King and Coho salmon in the icy waters of Southeast Alaska. Travel from Ketchikan to the small fishing village of Port Alexander on Baranof Island, where you will meet many interesting characters and experience day-to-day life on a small commercial salmon troller. Feel the thrill of hooking and landing King Salmon so big they shake the whole boat and the exhaustion of a fast and furious Coho bite at Cape Ommaney. Come aboard, grab a cup of coffee and let’s go fishing!

About the Author

Mike McConnell was raised in a small farming community in eastern Montana. He arrived in Southeast Alaska in 1969 where for thirty years he lived a subsistence lifestyle hunting, trapping and fishing. In addition to commercial fishing, he worked in the mining and logging industries. He now lives in Sitka with his wife, Mim. His books are about people, places, and the adventures he has experienced. “The writing is excellent and the stories riviting. It is the life of a hand troller with all of the hard work, difficulty, joy and comedy on both land and sea. Mr. McConnell is a facinating person and writes with such intelligence and humor that you feel you have some idea of what drives a person to live this life of hardship and adventure in the beauty of Alaska. I appreciated particularly that this book is never overwritten or over dramatized.” Molly Crenshaw, lifetime Alaskan