alaska

just got back from a float trip on the holitna river, just east of aniak, ak. went with a group of guys from my church. we went unguided, and despite raining everyday and more mosquitoes than the entire lower 48 states combined, it was awesome!!!! we managed 3 species of salmon, dolly varden and grayling. the scenery really has to be seen first hand to really get a grasp of how beautiful alaska really is. imagine, looking down the river at midnight, with snow capped mountains off in the near distance……with the sun shining like it was high noon. the one downside of the trip, i ruined my camera the 1st day trying to help a friend land a king salmon. it popped out of my pocket in the process and fell right in the river. but we will be sharing pictures, so hopefully i will have a few that i can send. if any of you we ever thinking of making a trip up there, by all means do whatever you can to get there….it is truly an outdoorsman’s paradise.

todd

You gotta love Alaska……………..even if you’ve never been there! I’m hoping to make it one day. A pilot friend of mine and I have been talking about this for a while and I think it’ll become reality within a few years anyway…………….but then again, maybe I can’t wait that long! Sounds great and thanks for sharing with us! Oh, and welcome back too! :O)

We’re waitin’ for you Rivereyes, you must have a few thoughts on the pup going to Alaska.

I went to Alaska last year. For those of you thinking about it, stop dreaming and go. It is absolutely the most scenic place I have ever been. I went in mid-may to visit relatives, do not go that early if you plan on fishing. No bugs present, but fishing was quite poor in the SE at that time. I am definately planning to go again soon, this times it will be ALL fishing. Oh ya, don’t foget to buy bear repellent spray( sort of like mace) and some bells that you put on your shoes or backpack. The bells will hopefully alert bears of your presence, so you don’t sneak up on em.

~~~~~~~alkfish

I’ve been to a town called Ninilchik just the other side of Soldatna. Whata place. Fished many of the rivers in the area and caught silvers, pinks, dollys, etc., and my buddy (Tim Deiman’s) brother who lives there took us halibut fishing every day! We will go back next year! It is beautiful up there!

Tuck

LMAO!!! Whadda DOPE! He couldn’t find a queue in a pool hall! Here’s one………………go ahead,…………….just SMACK’EM about the head, neck, and chest area ……………….wake him up a little bit. Then hand it too him and run like the dickens! He might have a flashback of when he was beatin’ down dogs in the Revolutionary and just commence to swingin’! Don’t just toss it to him either………….he doesn’t catch well with that walker in his hands! Your queue will drop right in front of him like the last one!

(there…………….that oughta get him started for ya Will B.!)

geee how can I resist?

well first I think the PUP should be provided with a special camoflage so he dont spook the salmon…. I would guess a large honey coated salmon costume should fill the bill….. the honey coating is to….. ummmmmm…. errrrrrrrrr….. ohhhh I know… it will catch the flies and skeeters… and he can use them for bait then!! yeah… thats the ticket!!!

Stillakid:

I’m a little concerned about ole Rivereyes there. He seems to have lost some of his git up and go. Looking back at the postings it seemed to happen right after he fished with James…….. That fishing all day must have been to hard on him. I guess when you get to be his age you have to limit yourself some.

Ohhh……………don’t get too fired up there Will B., he’ll get ornry soon enough. See, he’s had a taste of what this fishing stuff is all about now so he’s got the bug now…………….. or has bugs……………oh yeah! It’s bugs but when they get stuck in his teeth he calls it “pudding”! LOL! Ol’ SliverFly seems to be affected by the planet alignments and solar storms. He gets real wary about sunspots so I dot his goggles to mess with him! I think he’s just stuck in one of his “looney” (lunar) cycles. He’ll come to. :O) Ya just gotta nip his ankles with puppy teeth and he sprouts up like a springtime dandelion!

went thru ninilchik on the way to homer – we went halibut fishing the last day. bumper sticker in homer summed it all up..”homer, a quiet little drinking town with a fishing problem”

if you are up there next year, head into homer and check out the salty dawg – a truly unique experience.

Stillakid……was rivereyes prob with sunspots or liver spots..lol….

The Salty Dog…is it still decorated with dollar bills on the ceiling? Seems to me that they had some kind of a bra collection in there too. Definatly unique.

Bob

Last time in Alaska was 1981- drove the hwy across Canada and then to Anchorage. Each Province at that time had a 1 to 3 day permit and we spent AMs fishing streams with french spinners without barbs. What a blast you go up the road and the river(big creeks) are in one place and you come back and they have changed course. We took about 3 weeks other than road time and even had the priviledge of watching an indian cerimony at night. We woke up to drums(no kidding) and spent two hours huddled in the back of our camper(hatchback) wondering what the heck was going on. So if you ever fish and camp just under the Alaskan HWY bridge(don’t ask me which one)?????where it crosses the Yukon river and you hear drums – you didn’t stay out in the sun to long it is really happening!! We actually didn’t fish much in Alaska itself, to busy rock climbing and hiking. The freinds from WI we went up to meet still live there. He makes his living tying $9-25 salmon flys. Some the size of your hand. Ugly and gaudy but irritating enough to get him quite a reputation. Lawrence