NORTH TO ALASKA Summers of 1990/1994

No, I haven't been to the supersport camps where they wake you in the morning, take you by the hand to breakfast, and carry you to the float plane or jet boat. I haven't met the guide that ties flies for you streamside in his bare hands, the gillie who tails your 30 lb. salmon, or the chef who poaches and glazes your catch in a crystal clear aspic for a regal dinner presentation. But... I have had the pleasure of fishing in Alaska!

For an Eastern angler who's only experience with salmon outside the fish market has been the great landlocks, salmo salar sabago of Maine, a trip for Pacific salmon was a unique experience to say the least. In Maine there is only one species, in Alaska there are five. You have new names to learn and different regulations to follow, not to mention different angling techniques. Northeastern angling techniques. Northeastern landlocks behave more or less like trout and can be caught in rivers and lakes all year round, whereas Pacific salmon are generally fished when they enter rivers to spawn. They are either there by the hundreds, or not there at all.

I found that there are many places to fish for salmon that are accessable by car from Anchorage. When the fish are in, any one of seven or eight creeks that cross the road between Wasila and Talkeetna will hold salmon. I have seen fish so thick in sloughs and creeks, dark greens and brilliant reds shimmering in the waters, that you'd think you could you could walk across them. I have also seen fishermen and women so thick in places you'd think a fight would break out, but never did. If you want a little more wilderness, for a few bucks you can get Mahay's Riverboat Service to take you up the river from Talkeetna in a jet boat where you can be on your own. They will pick you up whenever you wish.

Both trips I made were in late July, early August, when the weather varied in the Anchorage area from 40 degrees to 80 degrees. The Silver salmon were the most plentiful at that time, with a healthy smattering of Pinks. There were also Red salmon running in some places, namely the Russian River on the Kenai Penninsula. Down te Kenai Penninsula. Down toward Homer there were large Silvers in some of the creeks.

These fish come in hoards, and in the clear water they can be seen easily. In the silty glacial creeks such as the Susitna, you can walk among them and not know it. I was almost knocked over by a huge, spawned-out King salmon, as he struggled downstream into me, his strength sapped, colors faded and blotchy.

Ice is never a problem here. On the way to the Kenai Peninsula we stop at Portage Lake which is fed by the melting Portage Glacier at the far end. There is a boat that takes you for a close view of the glacier from the visitor's center. Large and small chunks of thousand year old ice drift down the lake toward the sea. From the shore of the lake below the parking lot, you can pick up chunks of this heavy, sharp ice and fill your cooler. It's so dense it will last for days, great for icing down a cooler of food or fish.

The days are longer, much longer, here in June, July, and August, than July, and August, than in the lower forty-eight. That's why Alaskans save everything for the summer. They go like crazy during daylight, which can be up to twenty-two hours or more in some places. We went to a softball game one night and were cooking hamburgers and dogs on the grill at eleven pm in daylight.

Alaskans love being outdoors and love outdoor toys. An example of this was the weekend we tried to go halibut fishing. There were supposed to be five of us going out on a Saturday morning off a beach south of Ninilchik on the Kenai penninsula. It was raining like hell the night before, but everyone camped on the beach, in the downpour, regardless. They hauled trailers with Zodiacs, ATVs, campers, chuck wagons, RVs, kids, dogs, and even a few neighbors, not to mention the blue tarps, (I believe they give out a blue tarp for every home purchased in Alaska, two for every trailer home. I think there must be some sort of prize given to people who have their tarps over stuff, especially in the front yard and it looks like it could be really special if some of that stuff under the tarp is actually part of your house!) and made camp for the night. We, being from outside, slept in a warm B&B. The next morning was clear, but the surf was too heavy to launch the Zodiacs into Cook Inlet, so the 'butt fishing was cancelled. They packed up all that stuff again and drove the two hundred miles home, all saying iles home, all saying what a great time they had!

If all this great fishing gets too much for you, go into Anchorage and spend an evening in Spenard, at the Fly-by-Night Club. You'll be more than entertained by Mr. Whitekeys and his production of the Whale Fat Follies. They will have you rolling on the floor laughing at the things that Alaskans laugh at. The food is great, and SPAM®, being a staple of the real Alaskan diet, is served a dozen different ways.

About the third week of August is the annual salmon derby in Seward. These Alaskans take their derby fishing seriously and anybody, man, woman, and child, who could hold a rod, was hanging something over the side in the water. The biggest Silver salmon that weekend was around 20 pounds. Who knows how big the halibut got? The cleaned out skeletons were as big as floor rugs.

Aside from the great fishing available here, there is the incredible scenery. One of the most awesome experiences I had was to sit in the stern of my brother's sailboat in Seward harbor late one August evening. Snow capped mountains and glaciers surrounded us on three sides. We had just come in from fishing and were relaxing, watching fish still breaking the surf fish still breaking the surface of the water all over the bay. We cut some fresh, raw filet into paper thin slices and dipped them in soy and wasabi and ate them with slices of ginger. Sushi on deck. I know... it's tough out here in the wild!