Monello
Well-known member
I picked up my first fly rod at 13 years old. But I used it mostly to toss real worms by swing casting sideways. I caught a lot of panfish that way while my buddies offering of the same bait was ignored due to either the weight or the line. I could watch my bait slowly sink in the clear water. As it traveled deeper, the panfish would move in to inspect it. Then it was fish on.
Fast forward a few decades. Military service, marriage, kids, mortgage, school, travel all got in the way somehow. I'd spin fish occasionally. Somewhere along the line I moved towards lures and got away from the bait days of my youth.
Once during my naval service, we found ourselves overnight on Kodiak Island in Alaska. We flew in around noon and were scheduled to head out the following morning. 6 of the crew were able to rent fishing gear from the recreation people. Not the best gear, it had been abused over the years. The reels were not the smoothest. The quality of the line was debatable. But it was a take it or leave it situation. We took it. Purchased licenses and drove out where they recommended we try. At the bridge there was a gaggle of people, all pretty much on top of each other on both sides of the bridge. They seemed to synchronize their casts to avoid snagging each other. Some pink salmon were regularly being caught. I tried to worm my way in, but I just got tangled when I retrieved. I went further away from everyone else. Then I discovered why nobody was fishing were I was. Nothing was happening. I managed to land 1 fish.
Our entire group wasn't having much luck. We regrouped and walked down further to where the stream dumped into the bay. The tide was coming in. 6 abreast, we tossed out our poorly balance rigs with pixie spoons. Some of the line was so heavy as to prevent decent casts. 1 of the poles was missing it's tip. But we began to catch fish. Someone even caught a sculpin. I had 6 fish by the time it was all over.
1998 I got out of the service. Got bored and rediscovered the long pole. Luckily there was a true fly shop about 20 miles from home. The cranky owner always had time to chat. I got a dozen recommended flies. I started catching panfish and stocked trout. Life was good. My casts got longer. I developed a better 'feel' for bites. I got the vest, assortment of tippets, hemostats, floatant, landing net, more flies, fly boxes, spare leaders, strike indicators, more flies, pinch on weights, clippers, more flies, sunglasses, brimmed hat, gloves plus a bunch of other gear. My vest pockets bulged. I fell once and it took 3 other fishermen to help me back up.
Anyhow, winters in Maryland were cold. It's hard to flyfish on hard water. But they had a fly fishing show at the local university. What better way to spend a weekend when you can't fish, listening to others talk about fishing. There were all sorts of booths. Some sold gear, others sold flies. There were guides and lodges, where you could fish for exotic species at strange locations. Books & DVDs were available.
I stopped by the book booth. I was attracted to the fishing books on Alaska. I bought 2 that I thought I would enjoy. I read and reread them. Then I got sick. Who knew that by reading a book you could become so infected with a desire to yearn to revisit a place you thought you might never again get to visit. Whatever this illness is, I had it bad. All I could think about was fishing in Alaska.
The following year I purchased 2 more books. Both of these were for fishing in Yellowstone National Park. Alaska still dominated my dreams. In 2005 I put my plan in motion. A 2 week trip to Alaska, living in a rental RV. Touring around the Kenai Peninsula. Talk about being uninformed. I got on the internet and learned about salmon runs and where to go. There were so many regulations, even different regulations for the same river depending on where you are located.
I wanted this trip to be special. I booked a guided float for me and my son. I also booked a fly out for grayling with the same outfitter. I maxed out my budget but at the same time I wanted a memorable experience. I was told the float trip would be fly fishing. I made sure to ask and was told that yes it would be a fly fishing float trip.
It's the last week of June 2005. Timed to hit the red salmon run on the Russian river. We head north. Get settled in, buy licenses and regulation hooks(cohoe flies) then head south on the Seward highway. What incredible scenery. We saw a pullout and went over to take some pictures and take in the scenery.
We drive less than 3 more miles and pull over again. At this rate it will take us 10 hours to go 50 miles. The vistas aren't like what we are use to seeing on the east coast of the US.
We arrive in Cooper Landing. Putting on waders we head out in pursuit of our prey. To say there were a lot of people would be an understatement. We rigged up and got in the congo line of anglers. Not sure what to do we watched the others then imitated them. In close quarters you don't actually cast. Instead you peel off a bunch of line, toss it into the swift current then once your line has straightened out, you grab the line near the reel with your left hand while you swing your pole behind your back. The momentum of the weight carries the hook from left to right, just in time for you to drop your fly into the water and begin another drift. I can see signs of fish in the water. My son hooks up first. After a short fight we have 1 on the stringer.
Now the old man is supposed to be the fisherman of the family. But I got schooled that evening. I asked for any tips but my son said it just happened. We call it a night as we have our float trip early the next morning.
Arriving at the outfitters was an omen of things to come. The guy I spoke to on the phone, a guide and 2 anglers are there. I tell them I'm there for my trip. They don't have any idea I'm coming. I produce my screen shot of my payment for a float trip for that day. I get confused looks. So we end up that all 4 of us go out with the guide. C'est la vie. Then the guide rigs us up. Fly poles with 3 enormous split shots attached a few inches above the fly. When I say that I was told this was a fly fishing trip the reply is that this is how they fly fish up here. They refer to it as Chuck & Duck. More like casting with a flypole. Anyway it's too late to back out now. At least the river we are floating is gorgeous.
Sonny boy does it again and gets the first fish between us. He's up 2-0. I even things with a trout then get my first ever dolly varden.
I end the day with 1 more trout. Even with the split shots, the fish put up a great fight.
The rest of the trip gets better. We see moose, amazing sights and catch a late evening baseball game played without artificial lights. In some spots the bugs are really bad. We try to avoid those places.
Out of Seward we go on an all day halibut charter. It's a long but productful day. My son manages to crank up an 87 pound halibut. Fresh halibut is probably my favorite fish to eat. We vacuum packed our catch so we could bring it back home with us. The airport in Anchorage has a walk in freezer for all the fish and game that leaves the state.
Since I maxed out on photos, I'll continue this in a reply.....
Fast forward a few decades. Military service, marriage, kids, mortgage, school, travel all got in the way somehow. I'd spin fish occasionally. Somewhere along the line I moved towards lures and got away from the bait days of my youth.
Once during my naval service, we found ourselves overnight on Kodiak Island in Alaska. We flew in around noon and were scheduled to head out the following morning. 6 of the crew were able to rent fishing gear from the recreation people. Not the best gear, it had been abused over the years. The reels were not the smoothest. The quality of the line was debatable. But it was a take it or leave it situation. We took it. Purchased licenses and drove out where they recommended we try. At the bridge there was a gaggle of people, all pretty much on top of each other on both sides of the bridge. They seemed to synchronize their casts to avoid snagging each other. Some pink salmon were regularly being caught. I tried to worm my way in, but I just got tangled when I retrieved. I went further away from everyone else. Then I discovered why nobody was fishing were I was. Nothing was happening. I managed to land 1 fish.
Our entire group wasn't having much luck. We regrouped and walked down further to where the stream dumped into the bay. The tide was coming in. 6 abreast, we tossed out our poorly balance rigs with pixie spoons. Some of the line was so heavy as to prevent decent casts. 1 of the poles was missing it's tip. But we began to catch fish. Someone even caught a sculpin. I had 6 fish by the time it was all over.
1998 I got out of the service. Got bored and rediscovered the long pole. Luckily there was a true fly shop about 20 miles from home. The cranky owner always had time to chat. I got a dozen recommended flies. I started catching panfish and stocked trout. Life was good. My casts got longer. I developed a better 'feel' for bites. I got the vest, assortment of tippets, hemostats, floatant, landing net, more flies, fly boxes, spare leaders, strike indicators, more flies, pinch on weights, clippers, more flies, sunglasses, brimmed hat, gloves plus a bunch of other gear. My vest pockets bulged. I fell once and it took 3 other fishermen to help me back up.
Anyhow, winters in Maryland were cold. It's hard to flyfish on hard water. But they had a fly fishing show at the local university. What better way to spend a weekend when you can't fish, listening to others talk about fishing. There were all sorts of booths. Some sold gear, others sold flies. There were guides and lodges, where you could fish for exotic species at strange locations. Books & DVDs were available.
I stopped by the book booth. I was attracted to the fishing books on Alaska. I bought 2 that I thought I would enjoy. I read and reread them. Then I got sick. Who knew that by reading a book you could become so infected with a desire to yearn to revisit a place you thought you might never again get to visit. Whatever this illness is, I had it bad. All I could think about was fishing in Alaska.
The following year I purchased 2 more books. Both of these were for fishing in Yellowstone National Park. Alaska still dominated my dreams. In 2005 I put my plan in motion. A 2 week trip to Alaska, living in a rental RV. Touring around the Kenai Peninsula. Talk about being uninformed. I got on the internet and learned about salmon runs and where to go. There were so many regulations, even different regulations for the same river depending on where you are located.
I wanted this trip to be special. I booked a guided float for me and my son. I also booked a fly out for grayling with the same outfitter. I maxed out my budget but at the same time I wanted a memorable experience. I was told the float trip would be fly fishing. I made sure to ask and was told that yes it would be a fly fishing float trip.
It's the last week of June 2005. Timed to hit the red salmon run on the Russian river. We head north. Get settled in, buy licenses and regulation hooks(cohoe flies) then head south on the Seward highway. What incredible scenery. We saw a pullout and went over to take some pictures and take in the scenery.
We drive less than 3 more miles and pull over again. At this rate it will take us 10 hours to go 50 miles. The vistas aren't like what we are use to seeing on the east coast of the US.
We arrive in Cooper Landing. Putting on waders we head out in pursuit of our prey. To say there were a lot of people would be an understatement. We rigged up and got in the congo line of anglers. Not sure what to do we watched the others then imitated them. In close quarters you don't actually cast. Instead you peel off a bunch of line, toss it into the swift current then once your line has straightened out, you grab the line near the reel with your left hand while you swing your pole behind your back. The momentum of the weight carries the hook from left to right, just in time for you to drop your fly into the water and begin another drift. I can see signs of fish in the water. My son hooks up first. After a short fight we have 1 on the stringer.
Now the old man is supposed to be the fisherman of the family. But I got schooled that evening. I asked for any tips but my son said it just happened. We call it a night as we have our float trip early the next morning.
Arriving at the outfitters was an omen of things to come. The guy I spoke to on the phone, a guide and 2 anglers are there. I tell them I'm there for my trip. They don't have any idea I'm coming. I produce my screen shot of my payment for a float trip for that day. I get confused looks. So we end up that all 4 of us go out with the guide. C'est la vie. Then the guide rigs us up. Fly poles with 3 enormous split shots attached a few inches above the fly. When I say that I was told this was a fly fishing trip the reply is that this is how they fly fish up here. They refer to it as Chuck & Duck. More like casting with a flypole. Anyway it's too late to back out now. At least the river we are floating is gorgeous.
Sonny boy does it again and gets the first fish between us. He's up 2-0. I even things with a trout then get my first ever dolly varden.
I end the day with 1 more trout. Even with the split shots, the fish put up a great fight.
The rest of the trip gets better. We see moose, amazing sights and catch a late evening baseball game played without artificial lights. In some spots the bugs are really bad. We try to avoid those places.
Out of Seward we go on an all day halibut charter. It's a long but productful day. My son manages to crank up an 87 pound halibut. Fresh halibut is probably my favorite fish to eat. We vacuum packed our catch so we could bring it back home with us. The airport in Anchorage has a walk in freezer for all the fish and game that leaves the state.
Since I maxed out on photos, I'll continue this in a reply.....
