Russian River, Cooper Landing, AK
Last day of fishing the Russian, no fish, but an eagle for company.
Russian River, Cooper Landing, AK
Darren finally caught the elusive 22 inch bow to best Doug’s 21.5″ (sorry Dad, he put me up to it).
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Quartz Creek, Cooper Landing, AK
The Queen B with a pretty 19 incher.
Montana Creek, Talkeetna, AK
August was a good month (as you can see by this 24″ beauty).
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Montana Creek, Talkeetna, AK
Even Heavy D got in on the Alaskan Boz
We’re baaack. My first post in a while has been quite a headache, and I think that the fish photo sort of speaks for itself anyways. Suffice it to say that this is only the beginning of a new summer in Alaska, a new round of piscatorial conquests.
July 4th weekend promised to be a good one when Bregitte and I received the news that Grandma and Grandpa were going to rent a cabin for a couple of nights. Grandma was thrilled that we were going to go fishing while she got to watch little Rosemary. Thursday night found our little family at Paxson hours before the grandparents, so I did a little fishing. The cabins were right on the Gulkana River (we went to sleep listening to its turbulent rush soothe our souls). I had passed up the Gulkana many times in favor of the Tangle River, but I soon learned that had been a mistake. With a pink egg pattern around midnight, I was hitting greyling nearly every cast. I have no proof, but I could swear that I pulled in a feisty 20 incher! I thought at first that it might be a dolly, but it was a whale of a greyling. The next day brought around Grandpa Tony’s first experience with the fly rod. Within minutes he had a perfect cast and was catching smallish to decent greyling on the Tangle River. Grandma and Baby Mama soaked up the sun on a warm Interior summer day. Saturday, we decided to go a little ways north and check out Summit Lake, headwaters of the Gulkana. Again, the weather was hot and gorgeous. A little breeze kept the bugs off, and again we hammered the fish. Tony and I caught greyling until we were sick of it, and then caught more. Many of the fish were in the 17-18 inch range, very large for greyling. Majestic mountains looming in the distance, hot sun keeping the mood light, and plenty of fish and family fun made it one of the best Independence Day weekends we have ever had. We hope to make it tradition.
It doesn’t get better than this!
Grandpa’s first fly-fishing trip. I think he’s hooked.
One of the bigger fish.
What its all about.
My buddy (my boss, too) Matt and I decided to welcome the summer with a trip to Kepler Lake. This post would have come sooner, but my camera was in the tank, and, well here it is. We had super weather, and a few fish. Matt, Jason, Matt Jr. (Matteo), and our buddy Randy camped out Friday night, and Matt’s daughter Kaity and youngest, Jeff fished with us both Friday night and Saturday. The fish weren’t as plentiful as we had hoped, but most of us had at least a bite or two. I believe the total take was five beauties, and I hear that they tasted delicious! No trips to the emergency room, grrreat success!
Kaity goofing around
Jason and the catch
Jason, Matteo, and Randy on the hunt
Randy and I taking in the summer sunset
Sunday, June 14th we attended AWC and had the privilege of dedicating Rosmary as part of the morning service. Many local family members were present.
Monday, June 14 Gail and I headed north. We had been north up the Parks highway (Montana Creek) but we had not ventured up the Glenn Highway. So that is where we headed. Our destination was Tangle Lakes just off the Denali highway west of Paxson. The trip was just short of 300 miles but what miles they were!
This is King’s mountain just outside of Palmer.
One of the several glaciers we passed.
One of the Tangle Lakes
Grayling galore. Brent promised the grayling would be plentiful and they were. Got them on drys, midges, but mostly on the pheasant tail nymph.
He is down there somewhere.
The perfect end to a great trip. Josh, Kati and Marion meet us at the Houston, TX airport where we had a layover on the way home. It was a great trip!
June 9 – 13
Thursday, June 11 Opening Day on the Kenai and Russian Rivers
On Wednesday we received some great news. A friend of Brent’s from church had offered to take us on a cata-raft float trip on the Upper Kenai. Another dream come true! We left Montana Creek on Thursday morning and went to Brent’s in the morning.
We met up with Nate (Brent’s friend) and left Anchorage about 10:30 A.M. Unless you think that is a late start remember it never really gets dark this time of year this far north!
We parked the RV at Pastor Joes house in Cooper Landing and launched the “raft” at the ferry crossing just above the confluence of the Russian and Kenai. It was a bit crowded but not too bad.
It took a while to get used to fishing from the raft (a sixteen footer) but it is not that much different that form a boat in AR. Took a while to get the first fish but it was worth it. Brent got a 24 inch bow drifting and it was a beauty. We had actually seen a small fish jump and we thought it was the one he had but not so. I actually got the little one on.
We stopped at a good looking spot to wade and I got a bow about 18 inches and fat. Nate got a bow about as big as Brent’s.
Here is where things got interesting I have been to Alaska three times and have never targeted any kind of salmon. Well the red’s were thick and Nate had an eight weight he wanted to try on them. It was crazy. There was a deep hole full of fish and we all ended up with a limit.
You need to realize fishing for salmon after they enter the rivers is not “true” fishing. It is really snagging. After salmon enter the rivers they have only one thing on their minds –spawning. And while they can be aggravated into striking on occasion that is not how they are normally “caught.” To make it sporting to keep a fish it must be “caught, (snagged) in the mouth. Some of course some will “loathe” the idea of taking fish in such a manner. All I can say is don’t try it you might change your mind. (Gail and I just ate the fruits of our labor. Have mercy it was good!) Your opinion might also change when you see thousands of them dead after the spawn. They are not going to make it out alive either way.
Brent told me I would not believe the fight they put up. He was right. When the fish finally realized they were hooked there was no stopping them. The 6wt. XP and the stop a sub technology of the Abel were no match for these brutes. We did land a couple on the 6wts but we lost several more. The 8wt was a much better match.
We fished until 11:30 p.m. and it was still light! The last four hours on the water we didn’t see another person.
Brent and I fished the Russian Friday morning but it was crowded and the fishing was slow for bows. We managed a couple. I had planned on staying “down south” for the rest of the trip. But, Because of the crowds, which will probably not decrease because of a large run of reds, we may go back north to some areas we have not been too. May not do much more fishing.
We came back to Anchorage Friday and just took it easy today, Saturday. I have the privilege of dedicating Rosemary tomorrow at AWC. We are looking forward to it very much.
More later.
June 6 – 9 2009
Thought it was about time for another update.
We had the distinct pleasure of attending the Anchorage Wesleyan Church on Sunday, June 7th. We enjoyed the service and it was Rosemary’s first time in church since exiting the womb.
Gail and I headed out after church. We drove to the Montana Creek Campground approximately 100 miles north of Anchorage. We set up “camp” and took a leisurely stroll to the confluence of Montana Creek and the Susitna River. Lovely to say the lest. Hope to include some pics.
Out bright and early is search of the “noble” grayling and some “boz”. It was to be one of those days. Not a single taker, none, nada, zero, zip! Threw everything I could think of. Could postulate a lot of reasons but…
Tuesday would be a bit different. Started fishing just below the railroad bridge with the Pheasant Tail Nymph. Bingo, just like that it was indeed the “noble” grayling. Not a huge specimen but good enough to get the skunk off. Move back up to the bridge and got into a bit of a flurry. Ended up with two more grayling and four bows. Fished downstream a bit but did not do any good. Got one more bow at the bridge and headed in for the afternoon.
Headed back out about 3 p.m. and got a good grayling right off the bat. Met up with a gentleman (Willie) and we conversed for awhile and decided to head back up above the campground where he and his son had taken some nice bows. We were not so “lucky.” Had several looks from grayling but only ended up with one to hand.
The weather has been beautiful and the mosquitoes big, plentiful, and hungry! We have enjoyed the RV. Plan on moving to Cooper Landing Thursday and hitting opening day on the Russian River with Brent.
Don’t know when this will get posted but at least it is done.
God Bless!
Thought I would try to do some updates of our trip to Alaska.
We left Jackson on schedule at 2:15 p.m. on Monday June 1st. Arrived in Atlanta right on time and headed out to Salt Lake City. Ran into some rain and T-storms and were held up about an hour. Finally headed to Anchorage and touched down about 12:30 a.m. Tuesday morning. It was still light! I guess it will be this way our whole trip never really gets dark. June 21 is the longest “day” of the year.
We are renting an RV this year. (As mentioned in an earlier post we are here mainly for the birth of Brent and Bregitte’s first baby.) So we spent the first night in the parking lot of Great Alaska Adventures. At 8 a.m. we underwent orientation on operating our new “home” for the next little while. We are staying at the Golden Nugget rv park. It is only a couple of miles for B&B’s house and from the hospital.
We took a little excursion up to Flattop Mtn. Quite a view of Anchorage and the surrounding area. It is a beautiful day. We are going out to eat in a bit. Brent and I may go fish a local lake they stocked a couple of week ago. Will post more later.
Our fishing trip was interrupted by the news that Bregitte needed to go to the hospital! Brent and I loaded up the canoe and headed home. They quickly put their stuff together and headed out. About 12:30 a.m. the 3rd Bregitte’s due date we got the call that the baby was breech and they were going to due a c-section. We got the hospital about 1a.m. and other family members began to arrive. At 2:03 a.m. Miss Rosemary Lane was born! It was a great moment. She is a beautiful little (6lb 5oz 17 ½ inch) girl. Mother and child are doing fine. Brent did a great job and really took charge. I will try and post some pics along with this report.
June 4 – 5 Updates
Thought we would up date with a few new pics of the star of the show.
Gail and I took a few hours and headed south to Girdwood and Whittier.
Calendar says spring, but the pictures don’t.
Tito (Uncle) Alex is too good to me. He takes me fishing, gives me the flies, shows me the holes, practically does everything but put the fish on the hook. He let me use a personal pontoon this time (I gotta get one) and we hit the old river Friday morning. Alex did pretty well on spinning gear. He must have lost four or five and landed one before I even got a sniff. Fred came down later that evening and bumped a couple, but was unable to land either one. I finally brought this one in, making it a very nice day indeed. Alex and I drifted back home, and we each hit several fish on the way back, including two double hook-ups! Of course, Alex hit two or three times the number of fish that I did, but he is the master. The day was glorious, and my thanks to Fred and his mother for the hospitality (especially the ribs and good bed!) that made for a fantastic weekend.
Sorry Brandon, maybe next time.
Brandon on the Kenai
Grand Old Silver
February wasn’t quite as good as last month, but I got to hang out with another fisherman as nutty as I . Brandon Harbour trekked south to the Kenai with me, and while we didn’t see any trout, there were lots of salmon around, mostly silvers. We put the canoe in and drifted from the ice at the lake to just below the bridge, something I had not yet ventured to do. The wind wasn’t too bad, and the temperature must have been in the mid-thirties, because we had no ice build up in our guides all day. We had a killer time, especially towards the end. The wind died down for the last hour, and the sight was gorgeous. We are currently making plans to head down next month.
