ALASKA FISHING ADVENTURE 2005

Fishing has been a lifetime passion of mine. My dad instilled the love for the outdoors in me at an early age, and I honed my fishing skill on the rivers of South Eastern Idaho. I have always had a dream to fish for Salmon in Alaska. My dream became a reality when my son Kelly called and said that they were planning a father and son float trip down the famous Lake Creek in Alaska. I was stoked and couldn't wait for the adventure.

The lake creek float trip stages out of Anchorage. We stowed our personal gear in the float plane and had a 45 minute flight, over some amazing country on our way to Chelatna Lake-the headwaters of Lake Creek. The lake sits 100 scenic miles northwest of Anchorage, at the base of mount McKinley. The river winds it's way through 60 miles of the Alaska wilderness.

The drop off point is a cleared out grassy area within 100 feet of the lake outlet. Excitement filled the air by the time our rafts were loaded and we pushed off for our adventure.

The first few miles were quiet and peaceful. In fact the river was barely flowing and rowing was required to make any headway into a slight breeze.
Taking advantage of the calm water, we enjoyed the panoramic views, then broke out the rods for some trout fishing. Catching and releasing several 16 inch Rainbows and Artic Grayling.

We had no idea what Lake Creek had in store for us, but the peace and serenity changed dramatically about 5 miles into our float, when the river narrowed considerably and picked up speed. Whitewater greeted us for what was the beginning of nearly continuous rapids for the remainder of the trip. We would float for most of the first day just to reach the Chinook run, which was moving up the river. We passed the time casting for trout and enjoying each others company.
After several hours of floating we entered a stretch the guides called the Rock Garden. This was fairly technical water with class 3 and 4 rapids. We were loaded heavy with gear and several times the raft ahead of us would disappear in the rapids.

Finally we floated into the run of King Salmon, pulling onto a sandbar and setting up our first nights camp. Everyone pitched in, then we sat around the fire and enjoyed a good meal, and talked about fishing strategies, rods, reels, bears, and mosquito's.

The next morning we broke camp and then floated several miles downstream. We set up a comfortable camp at the side of a promising-looking run that extended in front of our camp 150 yards. We were all rookies at fishing for King Salmon, and this was a great place to learn the art of drift fishing a corky and yarn set up. The action was steady as we learned the bottom bouncing techniques, and by the end of the day we were all a little more educated, and everyone hooked and released several King salmon. Many of the fish we landed ranged from 20 to 40 pounds. We also encountered our first Bears, two black and one grizzly. We enjoyed two days at this camp, fishing, eating, playing cards, bear watching, and then fishing some more.

Then we packed up our gear and headed down to our final camping spot. The camp was on a high bank at the side of a long run, and was my favorite campsite. The fishing was great, with several big shouldered Kings in the 40 to 50 pound range landed. The water was swift, and it was challenging to land the larger fish. Several would have us scrambling down river 100 yards or more to land. We also had a aggressive Grizzly around camp that had us a little nervous.

The float trip was spectacular. Fathers and Sons grew closer, and new friendships were made. Nature was at it's best, we saw Eagles, Black Bear, Grizzly Bear, Moose, Beaver, and survived the mosquito's. I will always have fond memories of wading into the current and casting until my right arm and lower back acked, the power in the bent rod, and the crimson red breaking the surface after a long fight. I can't wait to go back.