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NORTH TO ALASKA!
By: Ron Wilson
September 26, 2005.... Dr. Quen Young and I
recently made a trip to Kodiak Island in Alaska to catch Silver
Salmon.
We boarded an Alaska Airlines jet whose
first stop would be in Seattle. Quen and I had seated between us Cheryl
Lapsley of San Francisco, a stewardess for Alaska Airlines heading to
Seattle to begin her day of work.
We quickly got acquainted and she dubbed us
double trouble right away. I guess when you got a china man and a redneck
running together you definitely have an odd pair of passengers!
We talked about fishing and I found out her
biggest salmon was a 36 pound Chinook.
Quen and Cheryl took a short nap before we
landed. In fact I think one of the reasons Quen flies is so he can catch
up on his sleep. I don’t think he missed a flight coming or going where he
didn’t take a cat nap or two.
We arrived in Kodiak just in time to grab
dinner and go to bed.
The next day we got our weeks fishing
license and headed out to the Buskin River to check it out. The tide was
low and it was a half mile to the ocean so we headed to the Olds River to
see what was happening there. The trip would be 30 miles or so.
As we passed Women's Bay I was surprised to
see that some paving had been done. As we neared Middle Bay the road was
still brand new and paved. I didn’t miss the old gravel road one bit. As
we came over the mountain into Kalsin Bay, I was happy to see that the
road was paved all the way to the Olds now.
I drove to the mouth of the river to wet a
line. I could soon see as the tide started in the silvers came with it.
They jumped and splashed as they made their way on upstream heading to the
spawning grounds.
 After
a dog and a lost silver I headed back to the bridge so Quen could play
catch and release with (chum) dogs, pinks and silvers while I looked for
the best spots to fish. I like to find honey holes where the fish hold up.
You can catch the heck out of them and wear your arms out in a hurry!
At the end of the day I had sweated up a
storm in the waders from the sudden 70 degree weather. But I had found a
spot that was promising.
I had a ball with my 9 wt. Rod and found
that a small light green fly with flash worked on silvers, pinks and dogs
up to 20 pounds. They sure put a bend in the fly rod and playing catch and
release was my idea of having a great time with no fish to be cleaned.
The next day I woke Quen at 6:00 am and we
headed to McDonalds for an early morning muffin to carry us on the 30 mile
trip from Kodiak to the Olds again.
On the way Quen informed me that this would
be a kill fish day as he had decided to take some fish home. I told him he
was ruining the trip as now we had the hassle of not only cleaning the
fish but transporting them back home to where we would just give most of
them away anyway!
I think Quen supplies his neighborhood with
fish after our trips. I guess that over the years they have come to expect
a good mess of fish after we return from one of our fishing excursions.
That day we caught early limits and headed
over to Kalsin Bay Inn for some hamburgers for lunch.
We had heard from a fellow California
fisherman that Jenny Sargent had passed on. I was happy to see Wayne
Sargent behind the grill and gave him our condolences on his moms passing.
He said what are you talking about mom is in great shape and is living in
town. Five minutes later Quen was talking to her on the phone making a
lunch date for the next day.
The next day we limited out in time for
breakfast! We put up our fish and then did some catch and release before
noon and Jenny’s arrival at the Inn. I met Guide Richard Dunmire of
Cranberry Twp.,, PA.
Richard said if I was every that way he
would take me out for some 15 pound steelhead and that all I needed was my
body as he had everything else! I don’t know if I will make it there or
not but if you do you can call him at 412-352-4922.
Jenny showed up and we had a great lunch
and reunion and Jenny was still Jenny and we had some good conversation
about what was happening and how the Kalsin Bay Inn had almost been shut
down before Wayne came back and took it over after two years of having his
former guests pretty well ran off by the management that had been there.
The accommodations are rustic but you are
close to some really good stream fishing. For more information on the Inn
and fishing in the area call Wayne at 907-481-3040.
By the 4th day we had all the fish we could
take home and went sight seeing. We started by driving down Pasagshak Road
to the Pasagshak River and the bay. We continued on to the missile sight
locate on the Narrow
Cape. Last launch was in February I think. I couldn’t help but wonder what
all the buffalo in the area thought when one of those babies blasted off!
We headed back on a dirt road as far as we
could go to Narrow Cape Lodge and met Tamara Mann general manager who
showed us around. The lodge is not open to the public yet but was built
for the personnel to stay
while working at the missile site. Lots of rooms, food, and everything
they need right there. The lodge is surrounded by a private game refuge
with yaks, elk and deer on it that I know of.
 The
next morning at 6 a.m. I woke Quen and it was another McDonalds morning
and then off to the Olds to
stick a few fish and pick up our fish to take back to town to have them
prepared to be shipped home. After a
few silvers we packed our fish and headed back to town as we had an ocean
fishing trip planned at noon.
At noon we boarded a 24 footer and headed
out towards Women’s Bay. The weather was a little nasty as we got
out in front of Middle Bay heading out toward Elephant Rock when the motor
suddenly started missing and the
captain decided to turn around and head back in.
As we tied up and got everything out of the
fridge of the boat the captain picked up an old banana and when I noticed
it I said no wonder the engine began missing. I could write a book about
all the bad luck I have seen on boats in the ocean with bananas aboard.
The skipper said that’s just superstitious
and an old wives tail as he threw the banana overboard. I chuckled to
myself well its not my boat that has an engine missing! Quen just looked
at me as we walked back up the dock to our car then said “I know what your
thinking”!
On our last day on Kodiak Island Quen said
I don’t want no 6 a.m. wake up call! So I waited until 8 a.m. and then we
had breakfast and headed off to Fort Abercrombie and then on to the end of
Monashka Creek ending our sight seeing trip for this year.
Dr. Quen and I have two roads left to
travel One to Larsen Bay and the other to Saltery Cove to complete all the
sight seeing you can do on the island other than flying over it in a small
plane.
On the trip back everything went smoothly I
guess as we luckily found a room after about 25 calls to different motels.
We watched the football game and had a room
service meal and hit the sack! The next morning Quen lost a
couple packages of fish in Anchorage airport as his fish box was a little
overweight but the ticket agent
was more than happy to take care of them for him and took two packages of
fish home for dinner!
In Seattle Cheryl just had time to met us
before she left on a flight. She thought she was going to miss us
and left a note with a flight stewardess who came up to our seats and said
you must be friends of Cheryl's.
She could not make it as she had to catch her flight. We told her we did
make connections and said hello quickly before her flight took off. This
was the end of a great vacation of catching fish, sight seeing and meeting
people.
One thing that I noticed on the trip was
that gas prices were cheaper in San Francisco than Modesto, In fact the
gas was even cheaper in Kodiak Island and I have never saw a refinery on
the island.
My advice is that if you fly our friendly
skies be sure to address those that serve you by being friendly and
greeting them with how are you doing and call them by there name! All you
have to do is look at their name tag they are wearing! It’s a lot better
being friendly than just sitting there like a bump on a log. Who knows,
you could met some new friends and if nothing else a little conversation
will make the time in the air go by quicker!
Dr. Quen and I stayed at the Shelikof Lodge
it fits our needs better than anywhere else on Kodiak Island we have
looked at so far! 907-486-4141. |
