A Week in the Chugach Mountains-Alaska-July 2008

[AZP&Y]

It's been 4 L-O-N-G years since my last visit to Alaska and when I touch down in Anchorage I begin to remember of all of the great times! The days are extended and lazy this time of year and the GPS is telling me today July 04, 2008 sunset is at 11:18 p.m. and sunrise is at 4:43a.m.

 

Plenty of time to fish until midnight and relax with a deep slumber during the day. On this trip to the Chugach we have brought along the float tubes {kick/belly boats}. The fishing was incredible catching 30-50 rainbows each per day. We release all but 4 the first day and cook them over an open fire. COOKING FISH IN BEAR COUNTRY IS AN ART!

Our choice of tackle is 3,4 and 6 weight fly-rods pitching dry flies and nymphs.

 

After 3 days of backpack camping our floatplane is there to pick us up and take us to the next lake for some arctic grayling fishing with dries with floating lines!. Alaska has many public use cabins that you can rent for $45.00 a day, which consist of 4 bunks, a small wood burning stove and a small kitchen and table with benches. This is a chance for us to dry our gear from the previous day and half of rain. With a glacier as a backdrop to the lake and small creek on the backside of the cabin, feeding the sound of the stream through the window makes for a magical evening. Alpenglow lighting and loons swimming make this almost seem unreal? What a great place to re-charge after fishing for 10 hours in the rain!

 

We had 3 seperate float-plane flights in the Chugach Mountains that allowed us to see glaciers,frozen peaks,ice waterfalls, and spectacular cornices. The Chugach in some places averages 900" of snow and at 5.6 millon arcres it is the second largest National Forest in the United States, next to the Tongass. As the pilot throttles back the Cessna 220, I take the wheel for the moment and gladly give it back...

 

A stone's throw from the cabin the feeder creek is the hot spot for Grayling and there are schools of 50 fish swimming back and forth... The rod is flexing again There is a small aluminum boat at the cabin and we drift a line and hook lots of fish (mostly in the 13-17" range).

 

For the remainder of the trip we head to the Kenai and Russian Rivers and chase the barrel-brained sockeye. While the Russian is crawling with brown bears, we hook a nice 6lb sockeye and head back to camp for lunch with Olive Oil and Rosemary and some root-beer (not).

 

It's midnight and my flight leaves in 2 hours... Still the dusk of summer is apparent and I'm not ready to return to the valley of the sun...

 

Awesome trip - Saw Lots of Bears,Moose, Marmots, Ducks, Loons- Trout -Salmon

** Thanks to Scottyboy for the Pheasant Tail feathers from MONTANA- I tied some killer flys and caught the 20" rainbow you see in these pictures! Appreciate the feathers!

 

Hope you all enjoy the pics! I shot over 600 pictures ... these are just a few!

 

AzP&Y

Doug

[Snapshot]

Man, am I envious. That sounds like a blast. Besides hunting, flyfishing is a close second favorite. Great Pics and story. Thanks for sharing. How are the bugs, I here they get pretty bad in June but are gone byt August.

[HBU]

Awsome trip, I have cousins who lived there for years and I never went to visit. Oh well my loss.

[Jimmer Negamanee]

Holy cow! I see why some people go to Alaska and never come back! Great pictures. Thanks.

[AZP&Y]

How are the bugs, I here they get pretty bad in June but are gone byt August.

 

Snapshot- We use Jungle Juice which you can buy @ REI. It contains 98% Deet so that keeps them away for the most part. Problem with DEET it can eat through fabric (like waders and windstopper fleece). We also have head nets to keep the flying critters out of your nose and mouth. It's kinda a tolerance thing where after a while you either say , "I'm OK" or you sprint like a mad-man back to the tent or cabin.

By August they do subside a bit and September/October they start to vanish!

 

Holy cow! I see why some people go to Alaska and never come back! Great pictures. Thanks

Yes, many Alaskans that I have met will never come back to the lower-48

 

Glad you like the pics!

 

Doug

[parothead]

Great pictures!!! That is nothing but Heaven right there. great trip...

 

PH

[Red Rabbit]

Doug,

Sounds like a great trip with being flown to various lakes. I can visualize those grayling slurping down your tiny dry. More pics please.

 

Doug~RR

[SunDevil]

Doug - thanks for sharing - I spent 10 summers in AK. Did you get any King fishing in on the Kenai or just Sockeye? What about halibut fishing down towards Homer? King fishing on the Kasilof is also a good time. LOTS of places to catch BIG fish on the Kenai Peninsula. The Russian river is probably my single most favorite place to fish. When the fish are in they are THICK but when they are not they are few and far between. The water is so clear that when the fishing is slow you can actually hunt the fish - kind of like spot and stalk. In all those trips to the Russian we always packed heat but never encountered a brown bear. Thanks again. Chris.

[DesertBull]

Awesome!

I am in ketchikan today. Fishing charter heads out sat.

[Kilimanjaro]

Great trip Doug!! Glad to see that those phez feathers from MT went to good use for ya!!

 

When's the fish fry?????

[AZP&Y]

Doug,

Sounds like a great trip with being flown to various lakes. I can visualize those grayling slurping down your tiny dry. More pics please.

 

Doug - You got it! - Enjoy!

 

Did you get any King fishing in on the Kenai or just Sockeye? What about halibut fishing down towards Homer

 

Chris we just went after Sockeyes. The 1st run had pretty much pushed through and the second run of Sockeyes was coming. In 2004, we did the Homer- Halibut thing and had a blast. Here are a few pics from that trip. We landed a 125lb Salmon Shark (which is a kin to the great white). I also love the Russian and have caught a 9lb rainbow there some years ago. The kenai and water is just incredible - blue like no other. My closest encounter with the Grizz was in 2001 when I went to Katmai National park(70 mile kayak trip), this bruin met us on the Brooks River @ 10 yards. I gave way

 

When's the fish fry?????

 

Scott- next time I'm down Tucson way- Dinner is on me!

 

Glad you guys are enjoying the pics!

 

Doug

[COOSEFAN]

Freakin' awesome pics and looks like it was an awesome experience! When I was there we fished almost daily, had our own boat, our own lake, could see the darn fish and never caught one! I did have a big Lake Trout bite the weights on my drop-shot rig.....I know he did that just to mock me

[SunDevil]

my parents flew out to a lake once - they were told to take frozen chicken to use as bait. they met some other fisherman who had not caught a thing - they threw out some chicken and couldn't reel them in fast enough. they started using other food - hot dogs, hamburger, etc - all the people food they used worked great.

[desertsheep]

Awesome pictures. Im not much of a fisherman but I would love to get up there and due another dall sheep hunt. I can almost see the rams in those snow covered Mtns.

[firstcoueswas80]

Doug, I'd like to see some more pictures of the Salmon Shark! That thing looks cool!