Just a quick summary for now. Hopefully more later when things are slower. We arrived in Anchorage right on schedule, and were met at airport by our daughter and grandkids. We spent most of first week just hanging out and enjoying each other. Jonathan (son-in-law) and I got away 2 or 3 times for a few hours of pink salmon fishing at Bird Creek south of Anchorage on the scenic Seward Highway. From the mouth, we could see the Kenai Peninsula just begging us to cross over. Each time, we got limits (3 each), some of which we cooked and shared with wives and grandson, and some were vacuum packed and frozen for our return trip.

On Sunday, after church, Jonathan and I took off for the Kenai Peninsula. We stayed at a nice guesthouse at Sterling, which served us well as a base from which we could fish any number of places. Based on some internet advice, we started at Soldotna on Sunday evening.

For those who have never fished for Reds (sockeye salmon), once they enter fresh water, they don't eat. Rather they swim upstream opening and closing their mouths. The trick is to somehow 'snag' them in the mouth, not an easy accomplishment. (think 'super-finicky' waldo bite). Alaskans have developed a unique method of fishing called 'lining' or 'flossing' with 'Russian River' or 'Kenai Sockeye' flies which are  the only known ways to legally catch them. We were aware of this, but neither of us had ever fished this way before. So most of Sunday evening and Monday were spent learning the technique. Each day Jonathan caught one Red, OS kept practicing... On Tuesday and Wednesday, we did much better, and each of us caught limits. Except for a couple of 5 pounders, which were kept for dinner, everything was 8-10 pounds. Pictures will follow, one of these days. On Wednesday, we drove back to Anchorage so Jonathan could return to work and OS could return to 'gramps' duty. We did some sightseeing, seeing Dall Sheep, Moose, Musk Ox, and Reindeer (Caribou). Jonathan and I returned to Bird Creek a few more times to add a few limits of pinks (humpies).

Before the trip db had told me that I would see salmon spawning in every drainage ditch in Alaska. That was spot on accurate. What we found out, was that most of those drainage ditches are protected and cannot be fished. It was real fun to watch the river turn almost black with humpies, when a school came in.

This was a real learning trip for me about life and travel in Alaska. We know we plan to return next year. If you are thinking about going, PM me for some pointers. If fishing is on the agenda, all of the various salmon run on different schedules, so you will want to time things to catch your desired species. The scenary is spectacular.

We flew home with a cooler and box containing about 50 lbs of sockeye and about 15-20 lbs of pinks. I plan to smoke most of the sockeye and BBQ some pinks. Next year I hope to find silvers (coho), pinks, and chum. Chum and silvers also smoke well (if I can just figure out which end to light)...

Akula, that really looks tasty! I'll have to give it a try! FWIW, there are some good jobs open in AK. Just depends on what your vocation is. Unfortunately, there are a lot of unemployed fishing guides due to the drop in tourism because of the economy. My son-in-law hopes to get into guiding in next few years...

Old Salt wrote on Aug 9^th, 2009 at 3:50am:



I've heard that about the guides / drop in tourism with the economy. Your son-in-law shouldn't give up, all of these industries will be back to normal in due time. If I make it to Anchorage, I'll be his first client...

You guys see any grizzlies yet?

Old Salt,

That sounds like a pretty sweet trip, glad to hear you had a chance to get in some fishing while visting with the family.

Akula- that looks fantastic.