Alaska - Part II

[Monello]

So the Alaskan Adventure is ended. I spend the rest of the winter huddled down thinking about our amazing time we had in the 49th state. Then I get to thinking.... Let's do it again.

The best part about a do over is you get to tweak things that you either missed the first time or didn't quite get right. So armed with this information we plan a late August, early September trip. The sockeye run will be over by then but the coho and pinks will still be running. I'm on an Alaskan fishing forum that only serves to amp up my AK fishing frenzy.

So using the prior year's trip as a blueprint we go about with our tweaks. First thing is to use airline miles to purchase our plane tickets. We get seats for $50 each. A huge savings. We add some gear but decide to not take a bunch of other stuff. We also rented an RV that was 3 feet longer than the last one. 3 feet longer doesn't sound like a lot but when your overall length is less than 30 feet, it's significant. I also invite my 70 something year old mom to join us for the first week. Since my dad's passing, she hasn't gotten out and around all that much. She understands this is going to be geared around fishing but she's happy to go along just the same. She brings a bunch of paperback books to keep herself occupied. Since we are in different states, the plan is to fly to Texas then all of us hop on the same plane heading northwest.

I twitch and fidget until the time arrives to leave. We arrive and head out. First stop is to a river not too deep into the Kenai Peninsula. There was mention of silvers congregating in this area. The weather isn't the best as it's slightly raining. Off we go, I quickly hook up with a nice coho salmon. I actually saw it break off and hit my fly. It was pretty awesome.



Then I make more casts to the visible school of silvers but I can't get anymore interested. So I target the pink salmon in the creek. They have been in the freshwater a while and it's starting to take it's toll on them physically.



We spend the night alongside the same lake where we camped the previous year. My mom is a bit concerned about our safety. I reassure her the best I can. She also mentions bigfoot, crazed lumberjacks, grizzlies, rutting moose, etc. As you can see from the picture, it's sure a lot prettier than spending the night in a campground. After an uneventful night we head to the quaint town of Hope, AK.



We fish with hardware for pinks in Hope. Then we take in the cute little tourist town. The surrounding scenery is breathtaking.





Next stop is Seward. Seward is a proper town when compared to Hope. It's right on the bay and has a large marina for people seeking charter fishing opportunities. Since I'm retired military we stay in the campground at the Army recreation center. It's a good place for a home base while visiting Seward.

Since I can only insert 5 pictures per post, I'll continue this in another post

 

[Monello]

Seward has a walkable downtown area with plenty of shops for tourists and locals. And the views aren't bad either. They get a lot of silver salmon in the waters of Seward along with a decent amount of pinks that come into Resurrection creek to spawn. I know a lot of people malign pink salmon but I love catching them on a 5 weight. The bonus is they are always willing to bite. The silvers I target with hardware in Seward. There is a lot of water to cover and spin fishing works best for me.

Seward as seen from Lowell Point


Downtown Seward


Seward, where you can get a cup of coffee from a coffee cup


Seward silver


2 limits of cohos, saltwater daily limit is 6 fish


We do a halibut charter from Seward but don't have nearly the success we had the previous year. While I was out fishing for the day, my mom went on the whale watching cruise. She enjoyed her time on the water and made friends with the other cruisers.

We fished quite a bit in Seward. Our next destination was the town of Soldotna. The drive takes you through the town of Cooper Landing. That's where the ferry takes you over if you want to fish the Russian river. We take our time along the way and enjoy the sights. From Seward to just past Cooper Landing it's fairly mountainous. After that the land flattens out.

Soldotna is another fairly large city. Larger than Seward. They boast several tackle shops plus a lot of other stores for necessities. There is a nice welcome center just across the bridge on the Kenai river, just a stone's throw from Ken's tackle shop. The Kenai is where the world's record chinook salmon was caught.

 

[Monello]

In Soldotna we camp in the Centennial campground.



It's close to the river. The weather isn't the best and the river is up a bit. Not many fish being caught. So we wait it out. The next day the sun is out. We go to an elevated boardwalk area behind the welcome center. After years of having anglers trample the banks of the river they installed an elevated fish walk to preserve the banks. What a great idea. Only problem is if you drop something, it's going to end up in the water. A few years later the boardwalk was destroyed when the spring thaw came and an ice floe damaged the structure.

The pinks were running heavy in 2006. They cruise close to the banks and high in the water column. They are quite visible. Imagine a 4 lane highway with fish lined up from nose to tail constantly swimming by. Pinks are easy to catch, so easy that after a while there's no challenge. So we tried to cast past and under the pinks to catch the more desirable cohos.



This male is so excited to spawn


the big one


And now it's time to take mom back to the airport. Then the real fishing trip can commence.

 

[Monello]

After resupplying in Anchorage it's back down to Seward for more silvers and some pinks.

Pinks on a 5 weight are a blast




After Seward we stop in Cooper Landing. I try my luck at catching trout using a bead. I spend a good bit of time on the water with little to show for it. I finally manage to land a dolly varden. Not the best picture though. The trout and dollies follow the spawning salmon and gorge on their eggs.



Sockeye ready to spawn


Then it's off to Soldotna again for more of the same fishing as before. In 2006 our catch rate was a lot higher than the previous year. A lot of this is due to the willingness of the pink salmon to bite anything that passes past it's nose. The pinks run heavier in the even numbered years. In my opinion the silver salmon doesn't have as good a flavor as the sockeye. The trick for either species is to get them as close to the saltwater as possible. The longer they stay in the freshwater, the more they deteriorate.

In comparison to the 2 trips this was a lot more successful. Funny how that 1 year experience helped make planning and executing the next year's trip a lot easier.

In a period of 14 months I was able to fish in Alaska twice. Anyone who has fished there will understand how that place can get into your psyche and keep drawing you back.

Now my problem is where to fish next.

 

[mikechell]

Thank you for the report. Nice pictures of great fish.
Wife and I have been to all the places your visiting, but we didn't do any fishing.
Two week sight seeing trip ... it's beautiful up there, but I couldn't live there.

 

[mcnerney]

Monello
Thanks for taking the time to post your report and all those great photos, it sure brings back some fond memories!

 

[westcoast]

Do you can your catch?

 

[littledavid123]

Monello, thanks for another great post. Was glad to hear the 2nd trip was even better than the first one plus taking your mom was sweet.

Dave

 

[Ard]

That took some time to post all of that, thank you for sticking with it. Things are changing fast so if you want to do it again better not wait too long.

Great post,

Ard

 

[Monello]

Do you can your catch?

If I tell you, it will require an entirely new story.

I have smoked quite a few salmon. Or I just vacuum pack them before putting them in the freezer.

Here's an old post I did about smoking salmon. I updated the photos since Photobucket wasn't displaying them anymore.

Smoking salmon