Gosh Hap, I didn't mean for my experience to rile you up so much. I stand by my statement that the bear could have had the fish if he came across the river and came after me. Maybe with your vast experience and calm demeanor around a bear chasing you could have simply had him whimpering and backing off from your knowing stare but unfortunately for me you weren't there to do that and I had no intention of trying to walk away from the bear and just stare him down as I walked.

The three times I saw the bear try to cross the river he started in very splashy, then hit a hole and current and backed out. I don't think MN woods black bears have the knowledge of water that bears feeding (and yes, I've seen video of the diving bears) and living off the water do. We had no salmon to feed on in MN rivers. I do know the year they closed the dump in Finland MN we had horrendous bear troubles for a couple of years with them breaking into cabins, stealing dog food, ripping up garbage cans because they were used to feeding on the dump food we tossed out and I've had my share of trouble with black bears on camping trips but never had one wanting to take the fish I had on a stringer before and had no intention of putting myself in a position of finding out who wanted the fish more. He wins.

If I ever had the chance to fish Alaska I'd only do it with a guide who knew the bear situation and depend on him. Just watching the bears wandering around the fisherman on TV is enough to make me nervous.