The North American Fly Fishing Forum - Blogs - Hardyreels http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/blogs/hardyreels/ This fly fishing forum consists of fly fishing techniques, advice, tips, news, gear reviews and fly fishing discussions among fellow anglers. en Sat, 25 May 2013 13:58:55 GMT vBulletin 30 http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/images/misc/flyfishing_red/rss.jpg The North American Fly Fishing Forum - Blogs - Hardyreels http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/blogs/hardyreels/ Some Photographs From Out At The Cabin; http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/blogs/hardyreels/260-some-photographs-out-cabin.html Sun, 14 Apr 2013 02:38:12 GMT It took until March 18th at 2:30 AM before I saw a display of the Aurora but I was dressed and outside by 3:00 and then took the snowmachine out to the back field to get some shots.

The show lasted for hours and I made many changes of lens's and settings as I enjoyed the -14* morning air.









Shooting to the north east you see them streaming over Mt. Yenlo. When they are streaming overhead everything gets green.


After a while I drove back to the cabin and finished the night. This was taken from in front of the cabin looking north by west.


And this one looking back at the cabin silhouetted by the sky.
]]> Hardyreels http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/blogs/hardyreels/260-some-photographs-out-cabin.html <![CDATA[It Wasn't All Northern Lights;]]> http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/blogs/hardyreels/261-wasnt-all-northern-lights.html Sun, 14 Apr 2013 02:37:40 GMT In early January Nancy got herself a new Ski Doo Skandic Super Widetrack snowmachine. After riding it out she took my Tundra LT back when she went home and left me this to test out. Image: http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg406/Hardyreels/IMG_2688_zpse675545c.jpg ... In early January Nancy got herself a new Ski Doo Skandic Super Widetrack snowmachine. After riding it out she took my Tundra LT back when she went home and left me this to test out.


I was amazed at how these things will crawl through the thick woods over 4 - 5 feet of powder snow. They have a 156" long by 24" wide track under them that is like a giant snowshoe. The skies are 10.5" wide and so the skis float right on top also.

Boss and I took our share of quiet walks on the trails I had packed with the 2 machines and along the way a few pictures happened.

Snow drifts on the lake after a big wind storm;






An old twisted and gnarled spruce stump bears witness to the hard times endured by everything that lives and grows in Interior Alaska.


The sunset on this day lent itself to everything I took a second look at.




Once we hit the field just behind the cabin Boss had some fun just running through the snow. I always tell him how he's got it made getting to do all these things and I know he really enjoys being out there.


This was sunset on the same day when we got back. There were more dark & gray days than sunny but they made the sunny ones all the more special.


This last shot was taken after Nancy had returned and then rode the big fat daddy Skcandic back home. I was beginning to build my second wood pile and had my tundra back.


I just purchased that machine last October so it too is new here. Like the Skandic it has a long track but this one is 16" wide. it is longer and the machine is lighter with the same 10.5" skis up front. I can go about anywhere on this thing and haul a load if need be. ]]> Hardyreels http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/blogs/hardyreels/261-wasnt-all-northern-lights.html The Long Winters Work At The Cabin; http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/blogs/hardyreels/256-long-winters-work-cabin.html Thu, 11 Apr 2013 22:24:40 GMT Like many of the entries here this will be a multiple part story. I'll identify the pages; Part Two, and etc. until we reach the current time.
The story starts back on December 22, 2012 and I stayed out there until March 27, 2013. Over this time I did a lot of work but somehow it seems there is still so much to do that I'm not sure I'll live long enough to finish it all. I do intend to try.

Getting ready to leave home for a long trip into the Bush country is stressful, at least it is for me. The morning of the 22nd I was not really ready and I still needed a pert for the hitch on the snowmachine. By the time I had everything sorted out and got to Deshka Landing which is 38 miles from home and 75 more miles from the cabin it was after 2:00 PM and the temperature at Deshka was -27 degrees. Since I knew it would be dark by 4:30 and that the trip would take at least 3 hours or more I backed out and that was perhaps the best decision I made in all of 2012.

I stayed in touch with a friend who lives at Deshka and waited 3 long days for the weather to warm up at least to -10* and when it did on Christmas day I was ready to leave the next morning at 8:00 AM. I got to the launch area at about 9:15 and was loaded to go by 10:30. There is no need to hurry for this trip when it's -20 and you know you'll make it in daylight so I took my time and enjoyed the heater in the truck several times while packing up the sled and my snowmachine to go. I took a large container filled with emergency gear and food along with a fuel cube with 16.5 gallons of gas to grubstake me until I could get some 55 gallon drums hauled in.

By 10:30 it was light and I left Nancy and the warm truck behind. I stopped a couple miles down river from the launch and checked the binder straps on my sled to be sure things were good. With Denali and Foraker on the Northern horizon I snapped a couple pictures with fingers that could feel the bite of being out of my big leather & fur mittens and then I drove for 75 miles.



Here's a cropped shot of the big mountains;

To help put this trip into perspective, think of some town or creek that you drive to that is 75 miles away. Now consider driving a snowmachine that distance on river trails that will get very rough in some stretches for miles at a time. When you add the fact that the little sled you're pulling with your supplies & fuel has no suspension you must be very careful when you get into mogles and ice shelves. Very seldom does the river freeze in the late fall and stay that way. They freeze and breakup several times, each successive freeze forms ice ridges and shelves that can be 2 - 6 foot high. These make for a long trip.

I made it by about 2:30 in the afternoon and found the place perfectly frozen inside and out.


When I reached Hewitt lake there was very little snow out there, only 14 - 16" covered the ground and that's the least I've ever seen in December. That would all change over the next 3 months. By the time I would leave the snow would be piled up to just beneath the windows.

When I said that not leaving late on the 22nd was the best choice I made for 2012 I didn't know it until I got inside the cabin. My stove pipe cap had been torn off by wind during the summer and I had not replaced it. The first thing you do after a ride here in -25 degree weather is build a fire. When I opened the stove door to remove the ashes from the last use I knew why the decision not to leave and arrive in the dark on the 22nd was the best choice I had made in 2012.

Remember the blog post about the great flood of 2012? Well I opened the stove to find a pile of snow but that was the least of the problem. The bottom of the stove had filled with water from the endless rains of fall and was a 3" deep slab of ice. This would have been a disaster in the dark with colder air temps but it was bad enough as it was. The inside thermometer said -25 and I was a long way from a fire. With daylight wanning I had to think & move quickly. I took our little charcoal grill apart and found that the lid would fit through the stove door. I used kindling and charcoal to make fire & heat that would loosen the ice by warming the body of the stove. After removing the snow I placed my heater into the stove and waited. It took about half an hour for the ice to loosen and then I used a wood splitting maul to break it up so the pieces would fit through the door. I used the trash can to load up the ice and carry it outside.

What an incredible mess!


Almost done here.

I got my fire going and by 3:00 AM I had the place up to 45* inside and was able to sleep comfortably. All I could think of was how bad this would have been had I arrived in the dark. Anything like this is worse in the dark and when you are so cold that you're shaking from head to toes it seems even worse than it is.

I'll leave that as this entry and continue with things in the pages that follow. The weather did take a turn to the warm, too warm by the end of January but the first 2 weeks things were a steady negative reading on the thermometer. What a start that was with the ice in the stove :D

Your comments are most welcome. ]]> Hardyreels http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/blogs/hardyreels/256-long-winters-work-cabin.html Winters Work part 2; http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/blogs/hardyreels/257-winters-work-part-2.html Thu, 11 Apr 2013 22:24:13 GMT With the difficulties of my arrival behind me it then became clear that the insulation under the cabin floor has needed work for years. I spent 2 days remedying this during which time the temps never passed negative readings. Finding the offending areas was tough because the insulation had been... With the difficulties of my arrival behind me it then became clear that the insulation under the cabin floor has needed work for years. I spent 2 days remedying this during which time the temps never passed negative readings. Finding the offending areas was tough because the insulation had been installed by someone other than myself................ The bottom of the floor joists were covered by heavy plastic stapled in place and then a sort of wire mesh also stapled up to hold the rolled fiberglass in place. Inspection reveled many bare spots and fortunately I had 2 rolls of R-33 insulation each 32' long to tighten things up. For the time being I replaced the plastic and wire mesh but had 20 4 X 8 sheets of styrofoam insulation shipped out to seal things up for good this coming summer. Yes, summer will be work time too if this place is ever to improve.

Once things were sealed from below it was easy to keep the place 65* or better inside and that is the warmest we've ever had it out there. Warm & happy I began to work on framing up an 'indoor privy room', this is for a canister commode and a small wash counter with a basin for the sake of better hygiene. The idea of not visiting an outdoor toilet at -30* appeals to us greatly :)

Under way;


Ready for wiring and then sheeting with ceder boards.

I intend to wire the place for 4 overhead electric lights and a ceiling fan all the way up in the peak of the second floor ceiling. This little room is where I'll put the breaker box and on the outside wall by the door a gang of 4 switches. I knew as I worked that it will be springtime before I run the wires even though the supplies for the job are on site.

After the room was framed I went to work leveling floor joists from the loft upstairs over to the windows in the gable in front. This area was open space and although we have 2 large windows facing north we can't really sit and look out of them at the Aurora at night.

Hanging the joists on the loft side was easy but on the gable end they had to nest on the log beam that spans the front wall. This meant notching, shimming, and blocking them fast with pieces of 2 X 4 to hold them in place. Getting things level and plumb in a log cabin is not as easy as conventional construction but I'm level and plumb on everything I did.







I'm seeing a carpeted deck with 2 comfy chairs and a little table here.

After getting the bridge frame in place I finished the ceiling upstairs. It is sheeted with 3/4 X 3.5" X 8' pine boards. I cut each to square the butts with a hand saw miter box and staggered them so that butt joints are all separated by 2 or 4 runs of ceiling boards.



I'm not sure whether I'll use finish on them or not, it took over 600 boards to sheet the entire ceiling.

By the time I had done all of this it was getting cold again and time to start clearing trees from the lake shore up the slope to the cabin. I should have done a before and after picture but didn't think of that. When I was done, the day before I left in March, I had cut over 60 trees. 30 of the trees were large with the biggest being 30" at their base and over 60' tall. I cut them all into either fire wood size or 16' logs to be used for out buildings. All the cutting and hauling was done over a 4 week period and at that time we had about 4.5 feet of snow on the ground or more. Some days I wore snow shoes to work from 9:00 AM until 6 or so.

I'll show you the pictures of the work, the trees, and the finished job on the next page.

Your comments are most welcome. ]]> Hardyreels http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/blogs/hardyreels/257-winters-work-part-2.html Winter Work part 3, Clearing The Hill; http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/blogs/hardyreels/258-winter-work-part-3-clearing-hill.html Thu, 11 Apr 2013 22:23:25 GMT The adventure was all about work and some of it was as hard and heavy as any I've done in my life and I've not been shy about manual labor. The cabin looks great from the outside in the summer............... Even in the winter the outside looks good.

By the date I took this the snow had been deepening every day and the skies stayed steel gray for weeks on end.




Boss and I were so glad to see the sun when it finally came out and began climbing above the horizon in late January the change of pace was noticeable.

Between fighting off the bush every summer trying to create a good clearing and cutting firewood every winter there has never seemed to be time to get serious about the interior. Essentially our downstairs was one large room, 24 X 24' and the loft was a 24 X 16. The framing and second floor work changed the scope of work for the interior and I needed to get busy outside. Over the spring and summer I'll wire it up and install the insulation in the first floor ceilings all around and then sheet them with the twenty 4 X 8 1/4" sanded plywood I had brought in by sled. I have ordered a 12' long custom freight sled for pickup this coming fall. With one of those and the new Ski Doo Skandic Superwide we got in January I'll be able to haul in loads up to 1200 pounds safely. This will pay for itself quickly because current freight charges are .30 per pound. Every thousand pounds = $300 and the loads I had this winter cost almost 800 dollars in freight delivery fees on top of a couple thousand paid for all the materials.

All of that inside stuff went pretty quickly, then came the outdoor work. We have 650' of shoreline but it has been pretty much covered with large birch and spruce trees since the place went up. I'm talking lots of trees in the 20 - 30" base size along with plenty of small alder and willow spread among the young birch. The trees present a 2 fold problem, first they block sun & a good view of the lake, secondly they acted as a wind break from the breezes that often move over the lake. No breeze = a great environment for mosquitoes! I've traveled, camped, and fished from Newfoundland to Alaska and never have I seen so many mosquitoes! They make summer not so fun.

So I spent 5 weeks cutting trees and hauling them in either firewood size logs 22 - 24" length or taking the spruce trees in pole length between 10 & 16' logs for use as construction logs. Over the 5 weeks I cut and hauled over 50 large trees. My little Tundra 550 long track got a real workout but it hauled even the largest spruce logs up the hill to the stack. Oh, I forgot to mention that all this cutting took place on a slope / hill that leads down to the lake shore and in 4' of snow. Because of the snow much of this work was done while wearing snowshoes.

If I live long enough I want to use the cabin as a base camp for guiding fishing trips to the upper reaches of the local rivers. By starting from the cabin you can easily get yourself 100 miles from the nearest boat launch and that cuts the crowd significantly........

These pictures will help to show how the shore is now cleared. I should have done a before & after but it didn't occur to me to do that.



Each tree had to be dug out to the ground leastwise you end up with a forest of 6' stumps when the snow melts.


The saw has a 25" bar on it and for some of the trees it was not enough to make it in one cut.........


I ended up with one of the fire wood piles being 22' long - 6' high - and 10' wide. There are also a huge batch stowed under the cabin until I split them in spring along with several huge piles of camp fire wood up to 4" diameter.


I got enough pole logs to start another cabin but they will make the upright framing for the 'New & Large Woodshed' and snowmachine parking spot. I need a generator shed too...........


Here's a couple medium size down and the stumps ready to be cut out. These were among the first trees cut and the snow had not gotten real deep yet.


A stump being cut out, you use plunge cuts to take out the roots below ground level.


All this cutting is accompanied but chopping all the small limbs from the trees into pieces that can be burned so you don't leave a snarled mess of tree tops behind your work. The fire shown was when I started. I pretty much had a constant burn going for weeks at a time. The snow fell as well as the trees and when I was done I had a hole in the snow 4 feet deep with a diameter of 15 feet.


With everything cleaned up I loaded for home rigging 2 sleds in order to carry everything that needed to go with me.



By the time that March 27 rolled around the part of the hill I had cleared first was covered in fresh snow and no trace of all the work could be seen. The area I finished the day before I left shows the sawdust covering the snow.

I stopped and took this picture as I rode away from my place in the Bush Country.




I'll be glad to write something about fishing soon but this is what I was doing all that time I was away from the forum here and home. By the time I can break out a Spey rod and go fishing I will have earned it I'd guess.

Your comments are most welcome.

Ard ]]> Hardyreels http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/blogs/hardyreels/258-winter-work-part-3-clearing-hill.html Time For Some Catching Up Here............... http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/blogs/hardyreels/252-time-some-catching-up-here.html Sat, 30 Mar 2013 22:15:04 GMT As many know I was away from the forum, my home and of course this computer keyboard for the time span December 23, 2012 - March 27, 2013. Before I start writing a series of long photo filled entries about all the work and a few photo opportunities that I had over the winter at the cabin it seems... As many know I was away from the forum, my home and of course this computer keyboard for the time span December 23, 2012 - March 27, 2013. Before I start writing a series of long photo filled entries about all the work and a few photo opportunities that I had over the winter at the cabin it seems appropriate to re cap 2012. The years entries wouldn't be complete without telling you about ............

The Bear Encounter

It was August and as summer wound down the season had been pretty much a total bust for salmon. Almost every river from the Yukon in Western Alaska to here in my region was closed for the poor king salmon returns. Our Silvers were closed on many rivers as well.

During July I had became so desperate for fresh salmon I drove all the way to Chitna on the Copper River to try my hand at dip netting for sockeye. All I can tell you about this adventure is that there were 2 decisive outcomes after my 3 days camped in the never ending rain & wind that accompanied the 41* air temp on July 9, the third day. Number one; I was terrified of that river! The swiftness of the currents and the enormity of the river as it plunges down through the shear rock walls of the canyon were enough to tell me that with but one false move I would be no more. Secondly, I caught nothing although many people were hording sockeye in numbers that defied belief. The limit for a household of 2 is 40 fish with a supplemental harvest of 10. The larger the household the more fish legally kept. This was my first try at this and I didn't have a real 149.00 dollar dip net. I fashioned one from an old boat sized salmon net and an extension handle made for painting :o I figured that if there were several million fish even I could get a few, I figured wrong.

So along came August and there I was along another river that seemed full of sockeye. Problem here was that the limit was 3 fish. Now go figure? If you dip net you can take 50 - 70 fish in a day if you get into the thick of it but if you fish with a 1981 13' 9" Hardy Spey rod and a single fly you may only possess 3 per day............ Anyway, I made my way down the river until I found a spot where I could see the conga line of fish making their way upstream about 20' from the shore. Now sockeye are not the best quarry for the fly rod because it seems that only one in 30 might take a swipe at a swinging fly. With disregard to this prior knowledge I went about casting and after a while I had my first, a nice male of perhaps 5.5 pounds or so and due to my empty larder at home I killed him immediately. One down, 2 to go, things were looking up eh?

Before long I had a second, another medium size male and he too got the knife within seconds of reaching shore. I knew they were small but I could taste them already. I had spotted an old length of fly line snagged around a rock in the water and since I had no stringer for the fish I waded out and retrieved it. I strung the 2 fish and took them about a yard off shore in maybe 18" of water and tied them off placing a large flat rock on them to keep them submerged. You see, gulls or bears will spot fish either floating or near the shore and when you wander away they will quickly pilfer your prizes so I took no risk with my treasures.

I had moved down river maybe 20 yards or so and was about 150 yards above where the river took a sharp turn to my left and disappeared around the high bank that stretched from where I was at to the point where the water went outta sight. Of course Boss was with me and because I knew we were in bear country I had clipped his leash onto his collar. With the leash on he will just pick a spot and sit with no wandering up into the bushes and trees and this is what you don't want. If he were to wander off into the forest and come into a bear with cubs the momma would no doubt run him off. He would of course come strait to me with his new running mate in tow so I'm sure you get my strategy here.

So there we are my friend Boss and I, sunny day, the chance to limit out and be back at the truck before noon. Right about now I see a bear down river standing on the point of the shore where the river turns left. It's looking at us and Boss and I are looking at it. I began waving my arms and hollering with Boss backs me up with some big basey German Shepherd barking noise. With that the bruin scoots up the embankment and is gone. Still I was a little spooked and decided to go no farther downriver. After a little while and about 100 nervous glances to my sides and to the top of the high bank to my rear I began to relax and try for that third fish.

I had heard nothing and I suspect that the dog had heard nothing because he was silent. I don't know what made me look but I somehow knew to look left and there just 30 feet at maximum on the shore downstream was the bear. How the hell it got down that bank without making a sound I do not know but there it was. Just as before it was looking at us and we were looking at it! :wow:

I steadied the dog with the 'STAY' command loud & clear and looked for a place to put my rather long rod down safely. The bear came closer. I unzipped my wading jacket and hoisted it up like a sail over my head and began raising a very loud warning to this bear. All of this is supposed to make you look bigger and much more threatening to a bear. The bear came closer. Snatching up Boss's leash and my rod I began to back up the shore line while facing the bear. The bear followed. Then as I was almost up to where the hidden fish were I had to make a decision, leave them (this bear would surly spot them) or try to get them and get outta there, no way would this bear attack us over 2 small salmon when the river was full of em right?

Like Ceaser crossing the Rubicon my mind was set, I made my best stealth move into the water and grabbed the fish. Quickly I concealed them behind my back / butt, no way would this bear smell or see them, right? Again I started backing away and .............. you guessed it, the bear followed. Within seconds I kicked my left heel into a goonie the size of a small engine block and nearly went full on my ass! The bear took a couple quick bounds closing the gap to maybe the original 30' or less when it appeared I was going to surrender. I said out loud (very loud) "I know you aren't supposed to do this but lets get the hell outta here Boss" with that I turned my back and ran maybe 10 yards. The cobble along the river and the waders - rod - dog leash, all made it nearly impossible to do the old hot foot so I stopped to see what was going on to my rear. The bear was coming and was much closer.

I haven't said anything about the size of this bear. I've never shot a bear and then had it weighed so I'm not the greatest source for size estimates but about 2 weeks after this encounter I had lunch with a fellow who is 6' 2' and 350 pounds. It was at this time with him sitting directly across from me that I realized the bear had to have been at least 600 pounds!

It was time to do something! I dropped the rod and bellowed at this animal and I can make a big noise being 6'4" tall at 225 pounds with good lungs. Boss is about 85 pounds and now he's raising quite a racket as well at the end of his leash. Through all this excitement on our part the bear seems to be making up its mind about something. I brandished the fish! "Here, is this what you want dammit" with that I tried to throw the fish to the bear. My throw was underhand and clumsy. The fish landed about 2' from shore and began to float & sink in a sickening sort of rolling motion as they headed downstream.

The bear raised up its head & shoulders almost taking its front paws off the ground and stretched its nose toward the floating fish............. then it turned and faced Boss and I. My fish floated out of sight.

Now you might think I did everything wrong, maybe I did but I lived to tell about it so I'll keep telling. Now I was pissed! My fish gone, my rod and reel 20 yards downriver in the dirt, yeah I was pissed. I dropped the leash that connected me to the barking shepherd and reached into the front of my waders with both hands. With nimble thumbs that surprised me I popped the safety caps from the 2 cans of 'Counter Assault' Bear Spray and I started toward the bear bellowing the word STAY to Boss as I went. For the first time the bear stopped coming toward or following me and it began backing up. I stopped and started to back off too hoping this was over but Noooo...., it took another couple steps soon as I backed up!

With that I let loose a cloud of mustard green looking stuff at a distance of maybe 15 feet! The bear saw it coming and made a move that defied both its size and morphology. It completed a 180* turn in a millisecond and started to tear up over the steep embankment. Now I was on its ass spraying away and howling bloody murder along with a substantial string of vulgarity's that surprised even me and I'm good with vulgarities :D

With that, the bear was gone as were my hard fought sockeye but Boss and I were unscathed and good for another day. On the way back to where I had parked the truck I got one more sub standard fish and took it as the third of my limit. Next time I will show no quarter and will go after and spray the devil outta any bear that acts like it has any nefarious intentions. I now have 4 of the regular size sprays and one of the Jumbo size also. Of course a gun would be the final pull but as I learned here the bear just about s--- itself when I unleashed the gas so I'm OK with that.

So there's the story of the bear encounter, we've ran across quite a few but none that ever came at us. Lesson learned I guess. ]]> Hardyreels http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/blogs/hardyreels/252-time-some-catching-up-here.html <![CDATA[Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2013;]]> http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/blogs/hardyreels/241-merry-christmas-happy-new-year-2013.html Sun, 23 Dec 2012 09:20:15 GMT I will be away to the cabin for a couple weeks leaving Sunday the 23, and returning sometime in January. You are all a great bunch and I wish you a good new year :) Ard Image: http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg406/Hardyreels/Lightson0001.jpg Image:... I will be away to the cabin for a couple weeks leaving Sunday the 23, and returning sometime in January.

You are all a great bunch and I wish you a good new year :)

Ard





]]> Hardyreels http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/blogs/hardyreels/241-merry-christmas-happy-new-year-2013.html A Quick Note To Readers; http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/blogs/hardyreels/239-quick-note-readers.html Fri, 14 Dec 2012 02:33:32 GMT If you are not using the RSS Feed when viewing blogs here you should give it a try.

It's very easy, look to the sidebar menu at the left of the screen and click 'View RSS Feed', that's it ;)

The feed will only cover the first few pages including the current page so to travel backward through the stories and photos here you need to close the RSS and move to page 3 (for instance) then click the RSS and you're good to go. It is amazing how much better things look on a steady page feed :)

For those who are wondering when there will be some new stuff....... It'll be a long winter and I'm headed to the cabin right after Christmas. While there I'm off the grid but I generally take pictures and snowshoe the back country. There should be something to talk about when I return. :)

Ard

PS. Many don't leave comments so I haven't any idea if these postings are being enjoyed or not. If you would at least be so kind as to use the "Rate This Entry" located at the top right of each entry I would know if I should keep writing and posting pictures here.

Thank You ]]> Hardyreels http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/blogs/hardyreels/239-quick-note-readers.html How I Dealt With The Great Flood; http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/blogs/hardyreels/237-how-i-dealt-great-flood.html Thu, 13 Dec 2012 05:04:16 GMT After handling all of the disappointments between April and September I was ready for the fall fishing season. Fall in my part of Alaska is beautiful in more ways than one. The rivers and creeks are nearly deserted, all of the people who came to fish for salmon have long since went home and there... After handling all of the disappointments between April and September I was ready for the fall fishing season. Fall in my part of Alaska is beautiful in more ways than one. The rivers and creeks are nearly deserted, all of the people who came to fish for salmon have long since went home and there you are. There are still a few silvers in the rivers but most are way up to the head waters doing the work of reproducing the stock. Many of the trout that went up with and behind the salmon are beginning to drop back down with the shorter days and lowering water levels. As the days grow short the nights are cold causing the many glaciers to slow down the runoff that feeds most of our rivers. The trout seem to know when it's time to get out of the skinny water in the high country and the fishing is good. Grayling and Dolly Varden Char round out this fall triad of hungry fish.

Unlike other years I had some people coming to fish with me this past fall and I spent the first 2 weeks of September scouting my little niches to be sure the fish were present. On the thirteenth of September I made a trip to a very productive river and checked things out. It wasn't my intention to try catching all I could because the plan was to bring some folks from out of state there in 6 days. I have learned that it's best to move after I find the fish where I thought they should be rather than stinging them all with a fly then wondering why someone else can't seem to catch a thing on the same stretch of water.

I did get a few of these and they were all very healthy and strong, things were looking up.




I had spent the entire season fishing with a 1981 Hardy 13'9" spey rod that I had began to suspect I had underlined. On the 13th of September I had the big stick from Winston along and so I lined it up. As Homer Simpson would say 'Doh' what the heck had I been waiting for. I am not a master Spey caster but when you hand me a rod & reel - line combo that is matched I can make it sail and the 15' Winston is a rocket launcher by my judgment. I have put out some really long casts with the Hardy and even with my LL Bean 13' Streamlight but the Winston will reach out as far as my timing will allow and do so with very little effort. It is what I caught the trout on that day and you can take my word that catching fish was fun even though my rod was a 15' with a 875 grain long belly on it. One thing for sure, as long as the 10 pound tippet and knots held you didn't have to soft shoe any fish.


The Winston is the rather large rod & reel on the right there.

By 4:30 in the afternoon the sky's looked threatening and there had been rumors of rain that day so I decided to do a short upstream run to look around and then to head the 7 miles back to where I'd left the truck and trailer.

Looking up river;


And down;

What I didn't know and neither did anyone else was that it was going to rain and rain hard until October 5th. I really regret not venturing out to photograph the rivers and creeks at flood stage. I did go all the way to Talkeetna but never took a photo. I guess I was in shock, that's my only explanation. I had never seen so much water in the Parks Highway creeks in the 8 years I've been living here, and since it was a 100 year flood I guess that no one else had either.

All was surly lost! To punctuate the poor salmon runs and my having obligations that kept me from fishing as much as I would like during June, now my fall was a flood. Not just a flood but high water that would last until the big freeze. There would be no grayling - trout - char - or late silvers, no not a one. Then just before giving up I thought "what about the creek right down the road". Being a lake out flow it may be high but it won't be muddy.......

I was right and I was done feeling sorry for myself, Boss approved of the days we spent there also.


This little gem is a place I often sneak away to and never tell a soul. Within no time I had caught enough rainbow trout to put the stars back into alignment.








Average size for fish here is between 9 and 13 inches but 2 years back I was ambushed by one 17" long, so it can happen. In the spring time it fills with fish from the lake and some from the Inlet that spawn there. I am going to continue this in a 'Part 2 called 'The Small Streams That Saved Fall'.

Please take a look, there will be more pictures........


]]> Hardyreels http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/blogs/hardyreels/237-how-i-dealt-great-flood.html The Small Streams That Saved Fall Fishing http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/blogs/hardyreels/238-small-streams-saved-fall-fishing.html Thu, 13 Dec 2012 05:03:25 GMT Welcome to the rest of the story; I visited another little creek during the high water but didn't find as many fish there. I did however find a nice big one and I'll get to that shortly.

This creek is narrow and deep, it flows into Cook Inlet and runs rather slowly because it's so close to sea level. Because you are so close to the Inlet you can always have a shot at a steelhead here. The problem is that because it's so deep, you don't see them until they are on the hook and going crazy.


The woods and brush along the creek are very thick and with the flooding all the pot holes for a hundred yards on either side were full of water. It was rough going, even for the Boss.


I did catch a fish on the first cast but it was rather small.


I should add here that I used the same fly every day I fished on either creek. Can you guess which pattern................. OK, I'll tell. Same old same old, Jock O' Dee on a #6 Bartleet hook. I swear, between that fly and my Nine Three variants I don't hardly ever reach for anything else.

The far left row of clips, the fly on the top did all the catching.


You know something; the creeks were more than a place to catch a fish. They kinda brought me back into focus a little. It's easy to get caught up in the river boat travel out on the big waters looking for salmon and forget all about your little hideaways. I'm guilty of being a salmon chaser I guess and it took a flood to bring me home. Before moving here to Alaska small creeks made up about 80% of my fishing and I always attributed that to my success level when fishing big water like Penn's Creek down around Weikert or Cherry Springs. When you get really tuned into the 'nano' environments of the small streams you just know where to find fish even in a truly big creek. Now getting back to the present and the great Alaska flood of 2012...........

One afternoon on the creek near our house I had caught a few trout when this fish grabbed the Dee fly, it caused a little commotion but I was using ten pound leader so there were no worries. I stayed in control and brought it into the overflow without too much time passing between the grab and this picture.


That's what a late run silver looks like when they first start to darken up. Within a couple weeks that fish would be deep red and would be laying eggs. I played and landed it in I will guess, less than 90 seconds. Really, I don't mess around with fish. It's called 'catching' not 'playing'. If you stress a hen like that one she may well not deliver those precious eggs.

I caught a bunch more pretty rainbows but I did mention something about a steelhead in that other creek didn't I? You're probably expecting the hero shot right about now huh? Well......things didn't work out as well as they could have. I made a bad choice when the fish ran down the creek on me. It was no giant but when you've been catching little rainbows a 2 footer is a giant. 2 foot you say? I don't really know but it cleared the water twice and it was a lot of fish in a small place.

I don't blame my rod, I've caught a lot of big fish with it, a 6'3" Lami-Flex graphite blank.


Actually there were 2 contributing factors, the tree across the creek and.......My decision to drag the fish up the current to land it. This one wasn't gonna fit in that little Brodin net.


This business of getting older has its drawbacks! back in the glory days I would have skidded under that tree and been on that fishes butt like stink on poop........ but I tried to drag a really big trout up that current and the hook just plain pulled loose........... in my defense, if you look carefully at the picture you can see that the limbs of the tree actually were like a fence and at the stump end there just wasn't much room for a 6' 4" 225 pounder to slide under it. Anyway, I had a good close look at the fish and I figured it to be a sea run trout aka. steelhead. I was upset, I would have taken a picture and put it into this entry but all I got was a shot of where it happened, the scene of the crime.

October was finished out with fishing a few more little runs and a last Hoorah's trip down to the Anchor Point to look for those big steelhead. I could go on with more pictures of the fish but after telling about 'The One That Got Away' I'll let it go for now. I'll come back in a week or so and tell the story of my last days of 2012, the broken Spey rod, and where the pictures below was taken, we were fishing.

The beauty of fishing with Boss is that nothing really bothers him. He's always there through thick & thin, he actually likes the thick better I believe.




You can bet that before winters over I'm going to tell the story about a brown bear that put the squeeze play on Boss and I in August of 2012. I had to spray this one and in the mêlée I lost 2 really nice sockeye salmon that I had already killed and put on a stringer........... I can tell you this much now, there are no pictures. People who think about a picture at times like I ran into I believe get mauled or killed. We came through without a scratch but also a few fish light for the day.

But that's another story isn't it?

Ard



OK, one more fish...........................
]]> Hardyreels http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/blogs/hardyreels/238-small-streams-saved-fall-fishing.html Trouble In Paridise................. .. http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/blogs/hardyreels/231-trouble-paridise.html Wed, 21 Nov 2012 00:47:55 GMT Where to start?

That's what has kept me from writing for so long. It's been a long while since May and so much to tell, are you ready for a 5 part Blog entry? Good, here we go............ You may notice that some photos in Part One are a recap from a previous entry but I ran them anyway because I had no others to fill in with. The title for this series of entries is based on the premise that Alaska is indeed Fisherman's Paradise, for me it has been but there has been a troubling trend over the past couple years that I can only hope to begin to address at this time.

Things started to go sideways way back in February I guess. I thought I would be smart and take the boat down to the town of Kenai for a motor change. It was made there by ATEC Marine who build some really great riverboats right here in Alaska. My thinking was that since they built it, they were the natural choice to change out the motor from a Honda Hydro Jet 35 to a Honda 90 horse jet. In the end they did a splendid job even rebuilding the transom to accommodate the much larger motor. So what went wrong you wonder......Well, there's only 1 company who supplies the jet units for these motors and there was a part that they were currently out of stock on and machining them, this was late April! Now late April is when the rivers begin to open up from the winter ice and it is when you want to be able to trout - grayling & char fish in a bad way. The window of time is narrow, from late April until the first week or so of June. By June the glaciers begin to shed water and the main rivers start to cloud up with the silt load that is trapped in all that glacial ice & snow.

It took until june 15th before the part was delivered and I picked up the boat. Essentially I had missed about 5 - 6 weeks of fishing because without a boat for transport I am very limited in where I can go here. June started out well with some kings showing but many were small fish.



The fish in the picture was typical of what I was getting into averaging about 2 foot and maybe 8 - 9 pounds. Although small for king salmon I do not think they were jacks. A Jack is an immature salmon who has came into fresh water with the adults. Most jacks are not sexually mature and will only die without being able to reproduce. Since fish pictures are always popular I'll finish this part of the story with some more from the late start.







All the fish were healthy and bright but finding the big ones was a task. When I finally got tied up with a big one I was with Nancy and we ended up using the boat to follow the fish so I could wear it down. it was an exciting late afternoon for us because we got a couple glimpses of the fish and were sure it was a real trophy of a catch. As these things often go there was no fish to show at the end of the battle. I thought the time was right and had her put me on shore. With the rod bent into horseshoe shape I was hauling the big boy to the edge of the water when that little hook popped loose and sailed overhead with a zing. With that the day was done.

The fish below was what Nancy had caught a few hours earlier so we were aware that there were some bruisers in the river.



Even though things had gotten started way behind schedule I had high hopes but knew there were going to be obstacles along the seasons course.

First and foremost on the horizon was that my brother was to arrive on the 18th of June and stay through the 20th of July. It was great to have him here but he doesn't fish and can't swim :eek: needless to say he was a little nervous out on the big rivers with me so I kept the trips few and short. Actually bu the 26th of June the king season was closed by Emergency order by the department of fish & game so...... That's what led to my last entries here about Short Runs & Closures.

All of that may seem to be normal if you only look at the pictures and it wasn't all bad but I intend to continue writing about the season and you may begin to see a pattern develop that made this a less than banner year in Alaska.

Here are a few photographs from early June, we / I had some very beautiful days to be alive & in Alaska at the same time.



In the picture below I believe that you can pick out the salmon jumping in the shot.



One evening at a dinner stop along the Yetna River the party was ended early because of the storm you can see coming from the North West. I stayed ahead of it but only because of that new motor.



I'll go to another entry now because the pages here allow only so much text. So........head to part 2, I'll try to keep it interesting. ]]> Hardyreels http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/blogs/hardyreels/231-trouble-paridise.html Part 2, Trouble In Paradise; http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/blogs/hardyreels/234-part-2-trouble-paradise.html Wed, 21 Nov 2012 00:47:21 GMT At the mid point of June Mt brother Tom arrived from Pennsylvania and was our guest through the third week of July. Trips taken during his visit were not fishing oriented (not too much) because he doesn't fish, go figure. I tried to get him involved back in the late 60's and early 70's but he became frustrated easily. He was always a results sort while I was a little more pragmatic about what really equaled results. He quit and still holds to the story that he did so because his brother (me) seemed to be able to catch as many fish as were in the stream while he could catch none. In hindsight I must admit he went fish-less a lot, and my let's see how this might work better approach gained steam with every outing. Anyway the entry 'Short Runs and Season Closures' covers the trips and sights from the mid June till mid July period.

Back to the rest of the fishing; there were a few nice trout that I blundered into during the spring. Maybe I didn't really blunder into them because with the poor return on Kings and hardly a Sockeye to be found I was hunting for them. I fished alone most days so the pictures are few when it comes to the fish themselves but I got a few.



By the time Tom had left the Department of Fish & Game had erected a wier on my home river. The poor returns over the past couple years made it clear that my little river was in trouble and so they came.



A wier like this is a hand count device. There is a 3 person crew (mostly fisheries students) who live on the river and man the wier 24/7 during the time when it does not get dark here. They work in shifts and punch the various species of salmon into an old fashioned analog counter as each fish passes through the gate. While small fish can pass through the aluminum bars that make up this sort of dam, large species like salmon and steelhead trout can not. They have but one way to pass and as you can see they are readily visible to the F&G staff as they do.



Out there at the far side of the wier you'll notice a low point in the barrier. That is a boat gate which is controlled by a little motor and it lowers just enough to allow flat bottom river boats with jet drives to slide slowly over the wier.

Fish can go back down over this gate but due to design they don't often get over it. That dark spot out there near the boat gate was a large Chum salmon who was intent on going back down river to see his friends left behind. When they spot a downer, the fish is accounted for by skipping a passing Chum. The purpose for this particular study was to count and identify various species of salmon moving up the river. Of specific interest were pacific Silver (Coho) and Sockeye Salmon. When a silver was spotted in the bin moving through the little gate a F&G staffer would close the gate and net out a salmon for tissue samplings and measurements.

Here you see a fresh black backed Coho ready for a checkup.


It all goes quite quickly and within a short while the fish is plopped on the upstream side of the wier and on its way.


The scales are tested and can reveal the age and genetic lot of the individual it was taken from. As for accuracy of the count, I spent quite a bit of time with the staff here to the extent that they looked forward to my stopping along with Boss who gets the Rock Star treatment everywhere. What I learned was that when viewed from directly above, the backs of the fish give away their species. Coho & Sockeye are close in appearance but are still able to be differentiated. The staffers were very serious and doing a great job out there. The wier will be present until there is a clear picture of what is happening gene rationally with the rivers salmon stocks.

In case this is your first visit to these writings, this is Boss, taken on one of the trips above the wier.


On this day we had a mixed bag of chum salmon, trout and these!


You could look at that fish (like I did) and wonder, what the heck is that. Then go home and consult a book to be sure and find that you inadvertently caught a whole bunch of king Salmon Smolt headed for the sea by way of stopping for lunch. I was swinging a Jock O' Dee behind the beds of spawning kings to pick up the trout that are waiting to pillage the eggs and started getting those little cannibals.

Here's one of the chums that got hold of the same fly;


And another of the trout, I didn't catch the monster trout that haunts my dreams but I got quite a few nice ones.


That's going to wrap up this entry and I'll start Part 3 now. ]]> Hardyreels http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/blogs/hardyreels/234-part-2-trouble-paradise.html Part 3, Trouble In Paradise; http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/blogs/hardyreels/235-part-3-trouble-paradise.html Wed, 21 Nov 2012 00:46:41 GMT I spent the remainder of July and the first week of August fishing and scouting for some salmon. What I was doing was getting ready for company again, this time it was some people from this Forum! John & Pam Page, fysh & mrs. fysh, came to Alaska this year. Although I've seen better years to try to impress anyone with the fishing we all had fun and they seemed to be catching fish despite the conditions. Speaking of conditions we had wonderful weather while they were here and of that I was happy. To have foul weather and poor fishing at the same time leaves a lot to be explained. Anyway, with that new motor that took forever to get I was ready for passengers so we logged some river miles right off.

With Nancy & Boss riding point we went to find some fish.


Either John or Pam must have snapped this while we were sailing up the river. I didn't see it happen but got it in an e-mail.


Once we got to a good spot there was the ceremonial rigging of fly rods to be done and John and I were hard into it here.


Once everyone was rigged Pam went exploring the tail of the run and as you can see Boss had already decided she looked like someone who may slip him a cheese burger later. He was very busy trying to watch over everyone when we would split up. He had to run back and forth on the shore to keep tabs on the group.


John & Pam both use the Spey rods and they were pretty happy casting away everywhere we went.




In that particular run John hit pay dirt with a beautiful male sockeye taken on a swinging salmon fly!


The fish was no worse the wear after being brought to bay quickly and swam away strong.


John was the only hero on the river that day and considering the low number of fish counted at the wier at that time, he caught a very special salmon.

After a few dry runs on another river that led to this kind of behavior, we did a road trip.


Like I said the weather was good and yes, those people are napping in the boat............

On to Part 4, the road trips :) ]]> Hardyreels http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/blogs/hardyreels/235-part-3-trouble-paradise.html Part 4, Touble In Paradise; http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/blogs/hardyreels/236-part-4-touble-paradise.html Wed, 21 Nov 2012 00:44:36 GMT We did quite a bit of traveling both on the water & the roads trying hard to find the salmon who proved to be elusive this past season. While Pam did well on some char and trout we came up short on finding her a salmon.

Here's Pam sneaking up on what looked like a great place to find a steelhead in this small river.


And John upstream enjoying the river and the Fireweed in bloom.


These were good days to stop and take in the beauty because we were short of things to whoop and holler about. No one got skunked here but none of us found anything of great size either. I got into one spot and believe I caught a dozen char without shuffling my feet so it was fun for all.


We stopped and fished some bigger water as we made our way back toward home. Here are the tow of them on a stretch of the upper Kenai. Again, no one was skunked but we couldn't connect with those silvers anywhere.


John had a thing going for having spawner's slam his fly. No one was sight fishing due to depth but he kept hooking up. This is an interesting shot from Pam's camera because when I first saw it I thought, "what are they doing"? Turns out I musta tailed that one for the hot hand.


And with the sockeye, who says they don't bite. Sometimes I have trouble keeping them off the hook, this was not one of those days.


Pam kept busy when she hit a hot spot working around the point bar of the run.


This is a different fish as she moved on a little.


Then came the mystery fish, bright and strong. It could have been a stray silver or a really big rainbow but we'll never know because it came unbuckled before we could really see it. The struggle to bring it to shore lasted a couple minuets and then just ended...... There was plenty of excitement (John & I screaming out our best advice) but the lady kept her head and did everything right. I really wanted to see her drag whatever bent that big rod to the shore.


All told it was pretty fun we even got some sun the next day down there. Although it threatened rain we had it dry all the way!


We went back down there for another couple days and camped over, all through the trip we hammered the Burgers on the grill and lived pretty well. it was a lot of fun and I look forward to seeing them again or some others from here as well.

I'll post these and then take up the remainder of the season from when those guys went home until today. ]]> Hardyreels http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/blogs/hardyreels/236-part-4-touble-paradise.html