Hunterbug's Trip to Alaska

gitano · September 05, 2020, 07:14:16 PM

Hunterbug visits Alaska! His primary goal ws to get some Alaskan fishing in. He did. We fished and caught fish every day he was here! HB had booked a full day of guided fishing on the Upper Kenai river for his first day. Focus species (for HB), was silver salmon and trophy Dolly Varden and rainbows, in that order. My only interest (almost) was a 24" or bigger Dolly Varden. We had our fingers crossed that the guide would be good.

HB arrived about 1430 on Monday, August 31. Since we had a guided trip that started the following morning as early as 0600, (it actually started later, but that change wasn't made until later), I picked him up at the airport in Anchorage and just continued on down to the Kenai Penninsula where we spent the night.

I had booked us in a 'lodge' right on the Kenai river. We could literally walk out of our rooms and fish in the Kenai river. And we did! We got there about 1900 and were fishing by 2000. It's a even year (2020), so it's a "pink" year. Meaning that the pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha), AKA "humpies", were running in the river. Pink salmon are very aggressive biters even in fresh water, and we had no problem getting to FISH ON! pdq. Here are pictures of HB's very first pacific salmon.

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After fishing, we had a beer and some bar snacks at the lodge's bar, and hit the sack about 2200 feeling pretty good about the morrow.

When we got up, it had been raining, and looked like it was going to rain at least for a while. Didn't matter. We were going fishing regardless of the weather.

There was literally no place to get breakfast in Soldotna other than fast food places. Everything was closed due to Covid-19. :angry: We stopped at Safeway and bought some food for lunches and 'breakfast', and headed the 45 minutes back north to Cooper Landing.

We met our guide Jason at the boat launch. A few handshakes and he gave us boots for our waders. (Both HB and I had felt-soled wading boots for our bootless waders, and felt-soled wading boots aren't allowed in Alaska.) We launched the boat and headed out. Jason gave us our rods and showed us the technique for fishing these waters. The pattern we used was "egg": A bead on the flyline leader below a strike indicator. Once we employed his instructions it was FISH ON!

I got the first fish - a Dolly about 6" long.

I wasn't concerned. I knew this river held some big fish. I think I caught another couple before HB got his first, but from that point forward, we had fish on regularly. Most were 15" or less, and probably more Dollys than rainbows, but close to the same numbers. HB wanted to get into some silvers, so the guide beached the boat in some backwater in which we could see MANY silvers. Unfortunately, after a good half hour of flailing the water, we were unable to get them to take anything we were offering. HB did have one on briefly, but that was it. He did catch a big sockeye buck:

We moved on and continued to catch 8 to 16" rainbows and Dollys consistently. At the next silver hole HB hooked into a nice silver but after playing it for about 10 minutes, it wrapped around a log and broke off. Very disappointing for HB, and the guide that was trying to get it netted. We moved on. And continued to catch fish. As the day wore on the weather improved and we started catching bigger fish. Here are pictures of my biggest fish. (We didn't bother to waste time taking pictures of the 'average' fish. We were in a drift boat, and taking pictures meant drifting downstream, so only the biggest fish got photographed.) I'm not sure which of us caught the first "photo-worthy" fish, but here are pictures of the biggest fish I caught.
This is a NICE Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma). We didn't take time to measure it, but it was probably between 22 and 24".

This was the next Dolly. Not as big as the previous one, but more brightly colored.

This is a large female Dolly. A bit skinny, but it was probably between 20 and 22".

This is the biggest rainbow (O. mykiss) I caught.

I think we are going to have to wait for HBs pictures, as they are all on his camera, and he's winging his way back to Colorado today.

There's a lot more to come, but you'll have to wait 'til I get the pics of HB's Kenai fish.

Paul

Hunterbug · September 07, 2020, 07:52:28 AM

I had a great time and can't wait to do it again. I have salmon getting ready for the smoker right now.

Jamie.270 · September 07, 2020, 08:19:14 AM

Quote from: Hunterbug;155238I had a great time and can't wait to do it again. I have salmon getting ready for the smoker right now.

Get home from the trip, get the salmon in the brine, and then unpack.
Into the smoker the next day.

:D

gitano · September 07, 2020, 10:41:30 AM

After getting off the river at about 1630, we got home about 2000. Both of us were tired so we hit the sack about 2300.

There is a "fly shop" about 3 miles from my house and I knew the people in there would know what the story was on the local streams so we had a leisurely cup of joe and wandered up there about 1100. The good news was that they were both helpful and knowledgeable. The bad news was that the recent rain had rendered all the streams north of where I live, that I had intended to take HB to, "blown out", AKA un-fishable. Literally. The water was too high and fast to safely fish. However, I had remembered a local stream that had a silver salmon (O. kisutch) run and was accessible by car. (Mostly.) I mentioned that to the guys at 3 Rivers Fly and Tackle, and they said, "Sure. If I was after salmon, I'd go to Jim creek". After purchasing some flies, we headed home to gear up and head for Jim creek.

The short version is that we spent a good hour and a half 'beating the bush' in my 4-WD Nissan, trying to get to the creek. Finally stopped by ruts several feet deep we returned to a place unfamiliar to me, but that said "Jim creek campground". (This is the "Buffalo Truck" that sakorick rode around in during the buffalo hunt. The hanger bearing had been fixed.

) One would think you could access Jim creek from a place called Jim creek campground - and you could. It wasn't a 'nice' road in, but it was 'doable' and we found the place I remembered. There were some people there already, and we saw a fellow cleaning a silver. Good sign!

We wandered our way upstream and explored several trails, but in the end, we parked what ended up being about half a mile downstream from where we ultimately fished.

HB rigged his fly gear up, and I went with spinning gear. We worked our way upstream fishing the shallow clear water. About a quarter mile upstream, we found some silvers schooled up. I slung 'hardware' at them for a while and HB briefly hooked one on fly gear. Then I saw a three kids coming downstream from a bend in the river and asked them how they did. They said "Great! We caught a bunch!" I said, "Where are your fish? They said, "Our dad and brother are still fishing. There are HUNDREDS of them! They're just around the bend." "Hundreds" sounded good to me, so I went up to have a look.

As I approached 'around the bend', I met the father and brother. They had smiles on their faces and a limit of silver salmon. They confirmed the "hundreds" comment of the boys but tempered it a bit to "bunches". I went on upstream to investigate. Sure enough, there were maybe 25 or so bunched up in a fishable spot. I landed one before HB had worked his way up. We fished 'til we each had our 2-fish limit. My phone (camera) was out of juice, and HB's was in the truck, so we didn't get any pictures until we got back to the truck.

HB's 'big one'.

And his 'stringer'.

Before anyone questions the 'freshness' of these fish because of their color, let me assure you that they were "fresh" fish. They had only been in fresh water for about 24h. The "big water" you see in the background is the ocean. (Knik Arm of Cook inlet.) "Brightness" is a function of genetics. If the fish is from a run that spawns close to the ocean, they turn copper PDQ after hitting fresh water. In this case, about 24 hours and one mile of river. Again, these were very strong fish, and when filleted, very nicely colored, firm flesh. Anyone that thinks otherwise is both ignorant and wrong.

HB is a 'fishing fool' and on the way out asked, "What time should we return tomorrow?"

I said, "As early as you feel like coming out, but dawn is too early."

When we got home I filleted the four fish, put the fillets in bags, and the bags into the freezer.

Thursday morning, we got up at a gentlemanly hour, had some coffee and headed back to Jim creek. This time we went straight to the fishin' hole. It wasn't long - maybe an hour - until we had another limit (2 per person).

HB washing the sand off of them. (I hate 'dirty fish' pictures unless it can't be avoided. Disrespectful to the fish.)

"The stringer-full"

Some 'action' shots:

Fish "art"

We were fishing downstream from Knik glacier. You can't see it very well in these pictures, but it was quite visible in 'real life'.

Fish on!

Just after we caught our last fish, people started showing up. :lipsrsealed: Word gets around fast. By the time we left the place there were about 10 people 'sharing' that spot. It was the beginning of the Labor Day weekend (even though it was Thursday), and we got out just in time before the mob showed up. Still, a 'good' day. Two days in a row of limits on silvers.

Friday was HB's last day, and as I mentioned here: http://www.thehunterslife.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20713 we went to Hatcher Pass to fish a beaver pond. The above thread discusses the details of my fish, but HB fished too. Here are his pics.

The beaver pond, with two active lodges.

Casting.

Fish On!

Lunker!

So... It was a good trip. A variety of fishing packed into five days: Day 1) Pinks on the Kenai from our hotel room; Day 2) Reds, Dollys, and rainbows from a guided boat in the Kenai Refuge; Day 3) Limit of silvers in Jim creek; Day 4) Another limit of silvers from Jim creek; Day 5) Mountain beaver pond Dolly Varden. I suppose we could have put an ocean charter in on Wednesday or Thursday for halibut and rockfish, but barring that, it's tough to pack more fishing variety into 5 days than what we did. You gotta leave something to come back for!

Paul

Jamie.270 · September 07, 2020, 01:34:40 PM

Thanks for inviting me along!

sakorick · September 08, 2020, 06:01:18 AM

When you go to Alaska you normally hit the bullseye every day!

Hunterbug · September 08, 2020, 07:32:18 AM

Next time we'll have to do the halibut and rock fish. I'll also probably come a week earlier to avoid the holiday weekend.

gitano · September 08, 2020, 08:52:06 AM

Quote from: sakorick;155243When you go to Alaska you normally hit the bullseye every day!

Waaalll... The same can be said for fishing in "Missouri" too. As long as you're at Rick's Place!

Paul

gitano · September 08, 2020, 08:53:36 AM

Quote from: Hunterbug;155244Next time we'll have to do the halibut and rock fish. I'll also probably come a week earlier to avoid the holiday weekend.

What's this "we" stuff, whiteman? You won't get me on another ocean charter. I'd end up in jail for assault and battery.

Paul

Hunterbug · September 09, 2020, 07:07:44 AM

The finished product. It came out pretty good for my first attempt.

gitano · September 09, 2020, 07:40:15 AM

Paul

Jamie.270 · September 09, 2020, 08:24:43 AM

Lookin' good HB!