April - Baja, Mexico | May - Float Tubing | May - Raspberry Island June - Brooks River | July - Tangle River | July - Talstar Flyfishing School | August - Nome | August - Talachulitna River | September - Cordova | September - Nushagak River
Other Years' Fishing Reports: 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996
by Pudge Kleinkauf
Ten people went along with us on our incredible mid-April trip to the Baja this year. The lovely Mexican hotel where we stay and the azure-blue Sea of Cortez were as welcoming as ever. So were the fish!
Expectations were high as we headed for the boats about 7:00 a.m. that first morning, and the fish didn't disappoint. Everything from trigger fish, to bonito, to tuna, to marlin made an appearance as did Jack Cravalle and Amber-jacks. Ten weights and twelve weight rods were loaded up with sink-tip lines and Lefty's Deceiver flies, and everyone was slathered with sun-screen and protected by Polaroid glasses. We started out with a stop at the small bait-boats that worked just off shore collecting the Sardinia that prove so irresistible to the larger fish. Then, will a live-well full of these shiny little guys we headed out to the tuna-grounds and troll until we found fish. Dolphins by the thousands would greet us about 10 miles off-shore and schools of tuna would usually be accompanying them. It never fails to amaze us how the huge numbers of dolphins manage to avoid getting hooked up with so many lines in the water, but they never do. It is an amazing spectacle with dolphins splashing as far as the eye can see in a 360° radius around the boats.
One boat encountered two 100-lb marlin sleeping right on the surface of the water. Even though the captain and the deck hand tossed bait at the fish while Cindy frantically changed flies in anticipation, one fish never even moved. The other turned briefly to look at the bait, and disappeared. Other days proved more successful and Cindy finally got to land one. The huge schools of spawning manta rays were another feature of this year's trip. Even above the roar of the boat engine, we could often hear the "splat" of a ray doing a belly-flop back into the water after leaping skyward to interest the other sex. It was quite a show. Wales also joined us this year, and one day we saw at least ten spouts moving along right near the boats. The only disappointment was that no one sighted a sea turtle this year for some reason. |
Every year our trip also includes a morning ride on the ATV (4-wheelers) into the mountains behind the hotel to visit the natural springs that exist there. Riding two to a 4-wheeler, part of the group each day took off with Steve, the hotel's ATV guide for some fun exploration. Some saw the giant ficus trees, some saw the pelicans on the beach, and even an iguana or two appeared for others.
Dan and Lori, on their first saltwater fly fishing excursion, both got marlin as well as sierra mackerel (which provided the makings for some incredible ceviche for the cocktail hour one night complete with the hotel's home-made tortilla chips just warm from the oven). It was also Dan and Lori whose success made some fresh tuna available for a different evening's appetizers and part of our dinner entrée.
Susan and Jim headed out to fish the beach near the hotel a couple of afternoons after we'd returned to the hotel, and Susan couldn't get back to the hotel fast enough to tell the rest of us that she'd caught rooster fish! Then, Jim achieved the feat of being the only one of the group that caught a dorado this year. That occurred on the last day, and he won the daily prize in the hotel's fishing derby! There were so many different species of fish caught that I simply can't remember them all. Each evening over our Margaritas on the patio, everyone would be talking too fast for me to take notes. Want to come along next year? Well now is the time to start making your plans so we don't fill up before you can reserve your spots (as happened this year). We've already got our dates. They will be April 10-16, 2007. Three of the slots are already full. Don't wait - e-mail us today!
Pudge |
Donna and Lauri also doing their first saltwater fly fishing, had a great trip and lots of different fish as well. They were some of the lucky anglers getting the feisty bonito that enliven every trip as well as a marlin each. Along with John, they also kept the sierra mackerel coming to the boat. Allison, after catching her first-ever needle fish, was another successful angler with the same tuna and marlin combo that she had produced on a previous year's trip with us, and Sandi displayed her regular skill at hauling in the tuna.
by Pudge Kleinkauf
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Things are changing at one of our favorite lakes for spring float tubing with a new trail being planned into the area. Nevertheless, we made the most of our time on the water this spring. We had great weather, and a great bunch of gals who caught a bunch of great fish!
Some of our regular hang-outs in the spring paid off like they always do with lots of teen-sized rainbows and a few twenty-some fish. Just as they always do, the fish often ignored our offerings in favor of chasing each other around the shallows in an effort to mimic the spawning ritual that their cousins who can lay eggs in running water successfully complete. In great condition even after a winter under the ice, we netted some dark fish
with flaming scarlet gill plates and bright red-striped sides.
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That is what happened to Carol on one of her largest fish. “Surprise!” she said. “It’s a fish,” when, much to her delight, a nearly twenty-incher headed out into the lake with her bead-head lake leech firmly embedded in its jaw. We all watched in envy at its leaps and splashes nearly thirty or forty feet out in front of the tube. When Carol finally brought him to the net the others gathered around to admire, congratulate, and take pictures. Everyone else managed much the same thing throughout our days on the lake, however, and when we went in for dinner each evening, we knew that we’d had some wonderful fishing. Surprisingly, some of our usual spring tubing flies didn’t work very well this year. The old stand-by olive gold-ribbed-hare’s-ear wasn’t the producer that it usually is. Nor were the small white woolly buggers that we usually find success with. The lake leech beat them all hands-down.
We don’t know what the development of the trail will do to the pressure on the lake. Only time will tell. We’ll be back regardless. The fish are expecting us. They’re also expecting you, so drop me a line and come on along in 2007. Pudge |
Lennie and Carol were both old hands at tubing and helped Julie, Meredith, and
Sue to get the hang of it quickly. They netted fish, gave advice, and paddled
right along with one of the others when she’d get a fish on helping me to make
sure that no one lost a fish. by Pudge Kleinkauf
We landed early in Kodiak in beautiful weather for our inaugural fly fishing trip to Raspberry Island Remote camp. After a quick lunch we were
transported to the boat dock at Anton Larson Bay. There we were met by Lee Robbins and the Camp's fabulous 38-ft catamaran for the (usually) 45 minute trip to the camp. The water was absolutely glassy calm and, much to our delight, the whales were breaching all around us.
Both adult and juvenile humpbacks splashed, waved their flukes, and flipped their tails over and over to make sure we had plenty of opportunities to appreciate this special event. Needless to say, our trip to the camp took a little longer than usual. We also dawdled a bit at a cliff-side bird rookery absolutely teeming with kittiwakes and cormorants. Then, if that wasn't enough, the sea-otters (many floating on their backs with babies on their stomachs) bobbed along slowly right beside the boat as we navigated the "nursery" section of the water. It was way-better than being at the zoo, and we were all enthralled. Our greeting by Cilla Robbins and the staff was warm and welcoming and we were settled in our cabins in no time. With lemonade and cookies we went right to work on our first gear lesson of the trip. Soon, we were out on the beach with the eagles flying overhead for the initial casting lessons. After wine and appetizers, a great halibut lasagna greeted us in the lodge's beautiful, glassed-in dining room. The next morning saw us on the boat bright and early headed for one of the three sockeye salmon streams in the area. Seagulls were diving on salmon smolt headed down the creek and out to sea, and our hopes were high for some good Dolly Varden char fishing. Soon, however, the action ceased and not a fish was to be seen. We walked the stream and waited patiently for the tide to turn and bring fish in for us, but we waited nearly in vain. Just two small pods of sockeye arrived, but they refused to cooperate. At least we had sightings of a small herd of elk coming down a nearby hillside to bring some excitement. A great breakfast, complete with Cilla's homemade rhubarb jam for the homemade bread, got us ready for the second day. Lunches packed and rods on the boat, we took off. Cilla and I took the dingy to shore to check out the situation at one creek, but disappointedly saw nothing. It was a beautiful spot and our arms longed to cast, but we decided instead to head to another possibility. At spot number two, we anchored up the boat and Lee ferried us to shore in the dingy. We saw nothing at first, but then, as Cathy and I went to investigate a spot down river a bit from the others, char began busting on salmon smolt that were headed out to sea. We called to the others and we quickly re-rigged and got busy. After four fly changes and many casts, we had just four hits to our credit. The smolt frenzy often requires a fly that is an exact match. Too bad for us. |
As we watched, however, a small school of sockeye appeared heading up the river on the in-coming tide. Once again, we changed leaders and flies and started casting. Instead of holding in some of the quiet water as they usually do, these fish just moved right on by us. A biologist from the Ak Dept of Fish & Game, working on a weir up-river stopped by to visit and told us that Alaska's cold spring this year was resulting in late fish runs everywhere.
On the way back to the boat, we were lucky enough to see a beautiful red fox rummaging among the kelp and logs on the beach for her dinner. Sea otters in pods of twenty and thirty greeted us in the completely flat water on the return trip to the lodge. Lessons on knots and leader construction as well as tying a fly to use the next day occupied our time before and after dinner. This third morning we could see some sockeye holding right beside the bank where we could get at them. Casting with short lines and leaders and bright, visible flies, the gals learned how to drift their flies right at the fish's mouth level. "When I see the fly disappear, I should set the hook, right?" Di asked? "Yep," we told her, "the fish probably has it in its mouth." Twice that technique resulted in hook-ups for Di, but the fish broke her off. "Now you have to learn how to set the hook and then let the fish play," I said. Sue and Cathy were working on the same challenges. Finally, Sue did a great job of playing a fish and brought it to the bank for us all to admire. "Sockeye salmon are the hardest of the salmon to catch," Lee reminded them. "Don't we know it," Cathy responded.
Our trip back to Kodiak on our last day was also marked by whale sightings and lots and lots of sea otters. I'd guess that we saw over 300 otters during the course of our trip. It was hard to say farewell. Want to go along in 2007? Let us know and we'll hold a spot for you!
Pudge |
Another smolt eruption occurred just as we were leaving, but it didn't last long enough for us to work on it. Lee ferried us all back to the boat in the dinghy, and as we were pulling the anchor, two foxes appeared on the beach. This time, however, one was red and the other was a beautiful silvery black. We had a great time watching them rooting around until we got too far away.
by Pudge Kleinkauf
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Two bears in quick succession traveled the trail right behind us as we waited for our plane from Kulik Lodge to Brooks Lodge this year. It was a good thing that we got to see them there, because the usual show at Brooks didn’t happen. The sockeye refused to make a showing at this year’s trip. So, the bear did likewise. Traditionally, the sockeye show up on the Brooks about June 15th and the bears follow quickly thereafter. Not this year. Just a couple of the “early scout” bears had traveled to the area and appeared along the river and at the falls as they waited for the fish. The others stayed home-at least during the time that we were there. We didn’t stay home, however, we were
Our weather was good and the river was in perfect condition—not to high and crystal clear. As we walked over the bridge on our first morning, we could see lots of bows finning and feeding just about where they always are so we headed right to some of our favorite spots. We started at the river mouth so that everyone could work the kinks out of their cast and get the hang of delivering the fly to the fish. We saw some fish rising for small mayflies, but the majority were feeding under the surface. One of the gals hooked up right away on a black leech pattern and landed a gleaming 17-incher. We found it rather nice not to have to be constantly on the look-out for bears and just relaxed and enjoyed the river. |
When we moved to a spot near the bridge, Rita, a first-time fly fisher from Chicago hooked up routinely on a dry fly. She laughed with delight each time it happened. Even though she didn’t land the fish, she got to experience the thrill that every fly fisher feels when she fools the fish into taking her fly. Each afternoon we traditionally take off our waders and hike up to the Brooks Falls to watch the bears, and even though the sightings had been few and far between, we did that this year as well. It’s a gorgeous hike to a gorgeous place and we enjoy it no matter what the trip holds. On one trip, a man and his family alerted us to the mother humming bird feeding her chicks in a hole in a stump right next to the trail. Luckily, we got the opportunity to watch her on one of our trips. What a busy gal she was. We could hear the little ones talking to her as she fed them. We certainly hope that no one disturbed her. Pudge |
there with bells on. We didn’t let the scarcity of sockeye salmon keep us from fishing. We know that there’s still some great rainbow fishing to be had on the river in the spring, and we went for it. Besides, the sockeye were expected any minute, so we kept our hopes up.
by Pudge Kleinkauf
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I really can’t explain how the Tangle River trip just seems to get better and
better every year, but it does. This year was one of the best. The water was
only a little high, the fish were some
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“Yahoo,” she cried as her five-weight rod developed an unexpected bend and a
beautiful fourteen inch grayling sprayed water all around as he tried to shake
the hook. She proudly displayed him for the others to see. They were properly
congratulatory, but they were working on fish of their own. Pudge |
This trip is one of my absolute favorites. The scenery is spectacular, the fish
are cooperative, and the fun of learning to dry fly fish just can’t be beat.
We’ll be waiting for you to go along in 2007.
by Pudge Kleinkauf
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They arrived by float plane as we always do and raved about the swans, bears, and moose that we could see as we flew over the tundra and the myriad of ponds that dot the Susitna flats west of Anchorage. A quick boat ride deposited us at the lodge and, after a greeting from Claire, the owner of Talstar Lodge, our first casting lesson on the beach. Besides mastering the basic overhead cast, we got our lines in the water to practice the important technique of mending line and the steps in setting the hook and playing a fish on a fly rod. Four of the gorgeous leopard rainbows, for which the Talachulitna River is
famous, gave
To finish getting ready for our first salmon fishing excursion the next morning, we returned to the lodge for wine and appetizers during our initial knot-tying lesson. Thanks to the assistance of the knot-tying tool everyone receives during the school, students quickly got the hang of doing nail knots to connect leader material to fly line. Following a discussion of leader length, tapering, etc. they also mastered the blood knot for connecting monofilament to monofilament. A quick lesson on tying on the fly was all they needed to declare themselves ready to go. After the lessons, one of Talstar chef Robert’s fabulous dinners, complete with homemade dessert, and we were off to the cabins to get everything ready for our early morning start. The boat left the dock before 6:00 a.m. and someone had hooked up the first fish by about 6:15! Lots of pink salmon finned in the clear water and took our flies |
eagerly, as did some of the pink-striped chum (also called “dog” salmon because of the huge teeth they develop while spawning). Red, or sockeye, salmon were also present, but could not be retained because of low returns to the river this year. | It was the silver, or coho, salmon that we were really after, however. They are the best eating of all the salmon available to us. Students had to learn to identify the different types of salmon, however, in order to direct their fly at particular fish. Once they realized that the coho salmon could be identified by their black tails, they were much more able to hook up these beautiful and acrobatic fish. Hook-ups didn’t always translate to fish on the bank, however. Everyone also had to perfect their hook-setting skills as well as their ability to play the fish without losing it. One of the hardest things to learn was to set the hook quickly and then loosen the line so that the fish could play. Then, they also had to remember never to hold the wind-knob on the reel when the fish was running. Thankfully, the pink salmon’s eagerness to take nearly any fly we threw out resulted in lots of chances for them all to practice. Each night we’d return to the lodge for appetizers like stuffed mushrooms, spicy chicken wings, smoked salmon dip and others. Dinners of turkey & stuffing, roast beef, or salmon in philo dough just added to the delights. Our last day really proved to be the premier demonstration of all they group had learned during the school. They constructed and repaired leaders with ease, selected the right fly and cast it perfectly, played and landed fish with the skill of pros, helped each other when things got too hot and heavy for the guides to keep up with all the action, and generally had a rip-roaring good time.  Talstar Lodge always makes us welcome as do the fish. If you’re not fly fishing
yet, it’s time you learned. We’d love to have you join us in 2007 for those
beginnings. You’ll have the time of your life with a bunch of other great women
finding out just what fun fly fishing can be. E-mail us to make your reservation. Pudge |
Even when they had to get out of bed at
5:00 a.m. to hook up the salmon that were just waiting for us at the river, this
year’s students at the Talstar Lodge fly fishing school were ready for anything!
by Pudge Kleinkauf
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We got right to work the afternoon we arrived. Fishing across the river from where a small creek enters, we could see fish rising as we beached the boat. Larry and Anne, rusty from lack of recent fly fishing outings, needed a little time to get back in the groove of the drag-free drift and a cast that delivered the fly to the water before either leader or line slapped down. Jane and Tanya, however, went right to work. Even if their casts might not have been perfect at first, the grayling took pity on them all and decided to cooperate. Splashes, bent rods, and exclamations of amazement quickly resulted. It sound like almost like kids in a candy store. “I can’t get over how beautiful they are,” one
Throughout the trip we had experience after experience where as soon as they’d land a fish and cast again, they’d have another fish. It was amazing. Sometimes, when the dry fly action would taper off, we’d switch to plastic beads that imitated the salmon eggs, which thousands of pink salmon had deposited in the water earlier in the summer. Soon, we’d |
confirm that the fish hadn’t stopped eating at all. Rather, they were just gorging on eggs floating down in the current. Fish up to 21-inches were caught and carefully released regardless of whether they were taking dry flies or egg imitations. We took a break from grayling fishing for awhile one afternoon when the angle of the sun gave us perfect sight of several dozen silver salmon resting in a deep run right beside the bank. Taking turns with the two 8-weight rods that we had rigged up, Anne caught three silvers in a row. When Tanya took over the spot, she had two more in quick succession. While most silvers this far up river are usually pretty dark in color and pretty far into their spawning activities, Tanya managed to land a bright fish in and decided to take it home for dinner.
We headed up-river to fish one rainy morning as well. Right where a small creek comes out, the grayling rewarded Tanya and her husband, Larry with over fifty fish in a couple of hour period. We compared our successes and warmed our hands over a great beach fire that day before heading home for one of Fran’s super dinners. Grayling are Alaska’s premier dry fly fish, but must be treated with special care. Especially at times of great abundance, when it is easy to forget how vulnerable they are, it is still important to practice catch and release for them. As the slowest growing of all Alaska’s sport fish, the stocks can be quickly depleted with over harvesting. Want to join us in 2007? Better hurry, this trip fills up fast, so reserve your spot now! Pudge |
of them said. “Well, if you think that yours had a huge fin, just look at this one,” another responded. It went on like that all afternoon. They had doubles, and triples several times and got very good at the careful release that help assure that the fish will be there for us the next time as well.
by Pudge Kleinkauf
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The bows seemed to have lock-jaw that fist afternoon even though we tried all our usual enticements, chenille and plastic bead egg-imitation flies, large black leeches, and flies made of bunny to imitate the rotting salmon flesh from the other four types of salmon that had preceded the cohos into the river this summer. Penny finally started us off with a couple of fish and that got everyone’s hopes up. As it turned out, she was clearly the rainbow catcher of the entire trip. She got the hang of bouncing eggs quickly but didn’t stop there. She also scored with a number of other flies. Maggie, who wanted to catch a big rainbow in the worst way, finally fought and landed an 18-inch fish with the carmel colored body and big brown spots that indicate one of the Tal’s leopard rainbows. Boy, was she ever proud of herself. “I can go home now,” she said after releasing her prize. “I got what I came for.” “No, you can’t go home yet,” I told her. “We have lots more fishing to do.”
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Paul, who was accompanying his wife, Joan, who had fished with us last year, was unsuccessful at first. He had several hook-ups, but didn’t land them. Finally, when fishing a great run right next to the bank under a large cottonwood tree, he scored. Not once, but three times in quick succession. That broke the ice for him and he had two more nice fish later in the morning. The same area rewarded Elizabeth, but Nanci and Joan had to move to different territory before they succeeded. Even though it was rainbows we were after, we certainly didn’t neglect the salmon that were swimming around just begging to be caught. Early morning forays to different parts of the river offered amazing fishing. Wave after wave of fresh fish were still entering the river. We could see them emerge from the silty, glacial water into the Tal’s clear depths where I’m sure that they gave a big sigh or relief as they began cleaning their gills.
Even when the fishing on the Tal is fabulous, people never fail to remark on the thrilling and scenic float plane flight from Anchorage or on the hospitality of the lodge, but what everyone always seems to comment on the most is the food prepared by Robert, the chef at Talstar Lodge. The desserts, the homemade rolls, the “from-scratch” soups and more, it’s Robert who always turns out to be the star of our Talstar Lodge trips. We had an absolute blast, and we’ll be going back in August of 2007 to do it
again. Why not come along? Let me know, and I'll save your spot. Pudge |
The
rainbows were getting lots of pressure from other anglers this year when we
returned to the Talachulitna River for our annual late August trip. Still, we
had a great group and some great weather and we managed to land a number of the
spotted beauties that we were after. And, to make things even better, we caught
lots and lots and lots of silver (coho) salmon to boot.
We’ve found in the past that fish are particular aggressive to a fly as they are
in the process of “tasting the water” to make sure the Tal is their home stream
before heading up-river to spawn. These fish were no exception. On our first
salmon excursion everyone wanted me to give them the exact fly that Nanci had
because she was catching so many fish. Elizabeth, who wasn’t sure she could
catch such large fish, proved to be a fish-lander of the first order. Joan, also
was quietly hooking up one after the other as well as was Paul. Maggie and Penny
weren’t far behind. “This combo of rainbows and salmon is fantastic,” someone
remarked.by Pudge Kleinkauf
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Our annual trip to Cordova for silvers was a real challenge this year. Bad weather (pretty standard for the area) had been especially awful. The skies were frequently un-flyable, and the high water was made even worse by the highest tides of the season. Some of our options looked dismal. Nevertheless, this year’s group of experienced fly fishers was un-daunted. Ready for anything, they had layers upon layers of breathable fabrics, fleece, and Capilene as well as sink-tip and floating lines, huge, dumbbell-eyed flies, and more. Thankfully, we managed to get in the air and land at one of our favorite fly-out locations even though the skies were grey and the rain was intermittent throughout the day. The fish, however, were quite glad to see us. So glad that they grabbed almost any fly that we presented to them and then stripped fast to keep their interest. The wakes in the water of following fish kept our little hearts beating fast all day. We caught and released until mid-afternoon so as not to have lots of fish on the bank in such obvious bear country and then hauled them back to the beach where the plane landed to pick us up. |
Our planned excursion in the boat for the next day was canceled due to 80+ mile an hour winds so we re-grouped and headed off to fish the river near town. Although we caught a few fish, the high dirty water (even worse than the usual glacial silt that we always encounter there), coupled with bad winds made fishing very difficult. We made a couple of other half-hearted stops on the way home, but gave it up fairly early. The day’s highlight was the coyote we spotted on the way home, though. Finally the winds dropped and the boat took off into an absolutely gorgeous Prince William Sound the following day. Glaciers glistened in the distance, and the sun even blessed us with its presence. Whales got our attention both coming and going and sea otters seemed to appear everywhere. We stopped on the way home to photograph an especially tolerant mom with a cute as a button new otter pup.
Our last day we returned to one of the near-by rivers that by now had cleared somewhat. As often happens, the high water had brought in tons of fish and things got going quickly. Doubles, and triples happened over and over again. Big, gleaming fish like polished silver attacked our flies with gusto. Often we could actually cast to a specific fish and watch it respond. We deserved such a great day and we made the most of it. It’s always hard to head home from the Cordova trip because we know that our fishing for they year is about over. We’ll be taking two groups in 2007, however, so e-mail us and reserve your spot early! Pudge |
Those of us who fly fish in Alaska wait all year for the silver (coho) salmon to arrive. Even though we know that when the silvers are in the rivers, summer’s over. Yes, we have other salmon to fish for while we wait, and yes, they are all great fun on a fly rod, but there is something extra special about coho. It seems like none of these other great fish are half as acrobatic or half as aggressive to a fly as silvers.
by Pudge Kleinkauf
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We flew west from Anchorage to Dillingham, Alaska, early one cloudy morning this September and then headed into town for a great hamburger and berry milk shake while we were waiting for the
It’s been a while since we’ve traveled and fished the legendary Nushagak River in western Alaska, but it was every bit as wonderful as we remembered. Like almost everywhere in Alaska this year, the water was high due to lots and lots of rain. But the good news we got when we arrived was that the forecast was improving and the river was clearing. The bad news was that it might not clear enough for us to get all the way up to where the rainbows were hanging out. We had a “plan-B” however, and that was to fish a major Nushagak River tributary just an hour away while we waited. We settled in at Roger and Vera’s home and spent the remainder of the afternoon unpacking. Then, it was time for a delicious king-salmon dinner with vegetables fresh from the extensive garden that seems to go on forever behind the house. Vera had made a pineapple cake for dessert and we went to bed absolutely stuffed. It was foggy over the river the next morning, but the sun cleared things up quickly and we were on our way. To our delight, we spotted two bears, a sow with a yearling cub, that hurried off into the woods as they heard the boat. We stopped first at a lovely small, clear creek and fished the outlet for silver salmon, Dolly Varden Char, and Arctic grayling. The salmon were well into their spawning cycle so we didn’t spend much time with them. Instead, we went after the smaller fish hanging out around them. Several fat, pink-spotted char took the flies along the side of the outlet right away. Then, it was as if they said good-bye, and the rest of the morning the fish were all exquisite, sail-finned Arctic grayling. That afternoon, at a different creek, we encountered much the same thing. We also came upon the skinned carcass of a wolf along-side the river. Roger told us there were many, many wolf packs in the area and hunters were taking advantage. We did come upon a large pod of silver salmon and hooked several up right from the boat. A fat 20+ inch rainbow, swimming along with them, was another of our prizes. |
The fog was worse the next morning. Roger carefully picked our way up-river based on his 30 years experience in the area. This time we took off hiking up-river on one of the creeks to see what lay ahead. Wading the river at one point we spooked huge schools of grayling. So, we tied on dry flies and went to work. Wow! What fun! I’m sure we lost count several times, but we still managed to account for over two-hundred fish landed. To make the day even greater, we sighted thirty-seven eagles. We’d also begun to see a number of hawks, which we identified that night as Osprey. Roger declared that we were ready to head up-river on the Nushagak the next morning to see how far we could go in clear water. We cooled our heels a bit until the fog cleared, and then we were off. Silvers hugged the bank where we stopped for lunch, but they weren’t very cooperative. The grayling, on the other hand fell all over each other to get at our flies. The day ended with gorgeous light on the water and the trees, a super dinner of Vera’s special hunters’ stew, and a spruce-scented bonfire on a wide gravel bar.
All night the winds built and the rain came down in torrents. By morning, we were beginning to doubt that our plane would arrive to pick us up in the afternoon. So, we sat and drank coffee and tied flies until the air service called to say that it was safe to fly. We said a reluctant goodbye but certainly plan to return. Won't you come with us? Write us and let us know. Pudge
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flight from there to the village of Koliganek, which would be our home base for the trip. Although the morning wasn’t sunny, the village flight turned out to be a spectacular show of gold and russet fall colors among the patches of dark spruce and tiny lakes shining like jewels on the tundra. 
The following day again dawned bright and clear, and there were sightings of moose, river otters, beavers, eagles and Osprey before breakfast. We knew that a storm was predicted so we watched the weather as we landed grayling after grayling, after grayling that day. Sure enough by about mid-afternoon, the wind was howling. Reluctantly, we gave up our hopes of getting the rest of the way to the rainbows and started for home. Bucking an up-river wind, it took us forever with the waves building every moment. It was a real relief to see the lights of the village.
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