Alaska 2014, The Report

[adempsey]

Very cool! You're a grizzled lookin' bunch!

[fishnsled]

I couldn't see most of your pics at work for some reason. Definitely happy to see them show up at home!! Awesome report Dave, some beautiful country up your way and great fishing too! Thanks for the report.

[Skud]

Great pics Dave

[DRIFTER_016]

I couldn't see most of your pics at work for some reason. Definitely happy to see them show up at home!! Awesome report Dave, some beautiful country up your way and great fishing too! Thanks for the report.

 

Maybe your work IT guys are blocking them?

They are linked from my Facebook account.

Glad to hear you got them @ home.

 

 

Thanks again all for the comments.

[jbailey]

great photos! the bend in the rod in that one picture is insane! love the pic standing in the river with the pooch. Thanks for sharing. Cheers

[Moosebunk]

Alaska!!!

 

How can I not tell ya that I enjoyed this one Dave...

[pics]

A grizzled bunch for sure.. but then again some of the nicest people I know look just like your crew... amazing pictures...

[MJIG]

 

That fish is a male Dolly Varden (cousin to the Arctic Char) in spawning colours.

 

Feature-wise, they look like they carry a lot of similar traits to specs. Did you eat any?

[DRIFTER_016]

They are in the same family as char, brook trout, lake trout and bull trout.

This is why they look similar.

No eating of them.

There is a limit of 1 under 16" and they taste horrible @ that time of the year when feeding on eggs.

Edited November 9, 2014 by DRIFTER_016

[MJIG]

they taste horrible @ that time of the year when feeding on eggs.

 

Ah, so their beauty is skin-deep.

 

Pound-for-pound, specs give a pretty good fight - same with the Dolly's?

Edited November 9, 2014 by MJIG

[DRIFTER_016]

Yep, they pull like mad for their size.

[jace]

Those are some nice fish, Dave. Good fat 2nd run kenai silvers who got fat waiting for the tourists to leave. heh. Kenai was so high and fast while i was there that it became dangerous. A lot of people left to fish other spots. What's funny is the number of people who went all the way to Valdez which had a run failure this season while other closer places like seward had record returns, so they ended up turning around. not very funny when it's 2-3mpg through the mountains at $4-5/gallon. on second thought, that is funny. LOL.

 

I like how that one fish looks happy to be photographed while he rest appear to be in shock or indifferent to being caught..

 

I ran into 4 other deadliest catch boats this year. I'll put up photos and we'll assemble the fleet except for the Wizard which i've never seen in any year.

 

What did your friends think of the new 29" and 1 trip halibut reg? I heard about that from all sides and nobody likes it. The new rule makes it nearly impossible to justify a charter business.

 

Do you know anybody from the Chitina area ? LOL. re: alaska bush family show.

[DRIFTER_016]

Don't know any one in Chitina, j ace.

Never watched that show but most of them were charged with fraud a couple of weeks ago for falsely claiming PFD $$$$ in AK.

 

It's good when the water's high and people leave.

The fish are still there and very catchable, they just move to different spots.

When I was there in 2012 the river was so high that they closed the entire river to boat traffic for a week.

I still caught tons of fish walking in and was one of only 3 boats on the upper river the day it reopened.

 

Can't say about what my friends think about the charter regs as most of my buddies have their own boats and those regs don't apply to private boats. Still a 2 fish any size limit for the private guys.

 

The crab boats are hiding in port right now as there is a wicked storm hitting the area this weekend.

Forecast was for 100mph gusts and waves 50+ feet.

[solopaddler]

Good stuff Dave! Wish the silvers had been in that thick when I was there!

Your buddy Ed looks like a grizzly bear with a fly rod.

[Terry]

great trip and report

 

another spot for my bucket list

[Musky or Specks]

Man that is a dream trip. Whenever I get jealous of your life I just try to remember how much I hate winter.

[BillM]

Right on Dave! I dunno what I'd do more, take pics or fish

[hoops12]

awsome!!

[scuro2]

Amazing.....thanks for the pics...thoroughly enjoyed them.

[jace]

the alaska bush family show was a reality show about a sitka family that moved into the chitina. ...all fake, scripted, and staged. The remote cabin on just off the highway but they never showed it from that angle.

 

There's a new show called Edge of Alaska (or close?) that takes place the tiny town of McCarthey. I know 2 of the 50 people who live off the grid there. LOL. I'm sure it'll be a similar scenario.

 

Most of the people i know have their own boats too but a few of the have boats big/fast enough to charter people into the open gulf and business is way down because it makes no sense to pay over $300 to get on a boat and take home a 29" fish under 10lbs plus another.

 

anyways, like mine, your countdown has probably already started for next year and already thought about what you'll do differently until you get it right. ;D

Edited November 21, 2014 by j ace

[S.M.05]

WOW! .....Trout and salmon haven for sure.

Your living the good life up there.

[captpierre]

Awesome.

 

So those bows. Are they local river fish or do they live in the ocean?

[DRIFTER_016]

Awesome.

 

So those bows. Are they local river fish or do they live in the ocean?

 

They are native river fish Pierre.

There are a few ocean run steelhead that roam up the river though.

Edited December 1, 2014 by DRIFTER_016

[captpierre]

thanks Drifter.

 

pretty dark up there these days?

[DRIFTER_016]

yup.