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#1527777 - 09/13/13 02:52 PM Alaska trip, some fishing, some hunting.... *****
Tod Osier Offline

Member

Registered: 04/13/04
Posts: 1587
Loc: Newtown, CT
I seldom post fishing stuff here and mostly post on the hunting forum (mostly since I don’t fish a lot in CT). I figured I’d put this up here since folks would probably find it interesting.

My wife and I have been wanting to do a trip to AK and last year on our trip home from Wyoming, we decided it was time. Our son is 6 this year and we felt like he was ready. I drove the truck and camper with the dogs and Jen and Gus flew to Fairbanks. Driving up was 4300 miles from CT to AK and taking it leisurely, it took 8 days (7 on the way back).

Once Jen and Gus got in to Fairbanks we loaded up with supplies and headed South. We stopped by the Klutina River for a couple days to fish for Red Salmon. We caught the tail end of a big push of Reds and although the fishing wasn’t the best, it did get us a chance to hone our technique for later in the trip, not to mention stocking up on some great eats. The Klutina River reds are one of the runs that make up the Copper River Sockeye run. The fish were just a touch blushed (not perfectly bright from the ocean), but their quality as far as table fare was beyond excellent. I will say that these fish are also the wormiest fish I’ve ever seen (gut cavity worms, not meat worms), so next time you have a nice piece of Copper River Sockeye, remember that .

My first Klutina Red (Jen’s was actually first, but we don’t have a picture, hers was also bigger).




First bag of fillets – I never got over the color of the flesh when filleting. Growing up we used to catch a lot of 4-8 pound Lake Trout at my parent’s cottage on Cayuga Lake in NY – I’ve cleaned a whole of Lakers that size and these reds were exactly that size and shape, so I was almost on autopilot filleting, but pull the fillet off and every time it was - WOW! can a fish fillet really be that color?




From there we visited McCarthy, AK. On the way we got to watch the personal use and subsistence fishery associated with the Copper River Sockeye run and that was pretty cool.

Personal use and subsistence fisheries (and hunts) were a new thing to me and it was cool to learn about them and see some of it in person. In this case the personal use fishery is open to any AK resident, they can use a net of specified size and there is a seasonal limit as well as extra fish that can be taken based on the number of family members – for this fishery I think it was 25 fish for head of household, plus 5 for each additional family member (don’t quote me, but that is close). There are some crazy deals, especially subsistence fishing and hunting for non-natives on Federal lands (including National Parks) but in my understanding you have to be a local resident (like live in this nearby town to be able to hunt this National Park).

Here is a shot of some personal use dipnetters fishing the Copper River, there were natives dipnetting nearby as well as a large number of native fish wheels further up the river.




Speaking of dipnetters…. I love signs like this, but hate those damn cooler-draining dipnetters….




Native fish wheel along the Copper River. The current makes the wheel spin and scoop the fish and then upon rotation out of the water the fish is dropped and slides into a basket.






Scenery shot of the River.




We planned to visit the Wrangell - St Elias National Park & Preserve. Nice National Park, lots of cool mountains to look at and nice rocks. To get to the park you have to drive the McCarthy Road, which is a dirt road on an old railroad bed. Road is pretty nice these days and we saw a load of nice wildlife along the road.

Black bear sow with a pair of tiny cubs crossed the road right in front of us. One of the cubs had a hard time making it up the bank and ended climbing 3’ up the tree. Momma was watching from the thicker cover.




Nice Bull Moose feeding in a pond – you can just see the antlers in the pic. Lots of waterfowl breeding in the ponds here tooo…




Copper ore processing facilities in the Park.



From there we headed for a few weeks to the Kenai Peninsula. We camped in Seward, the Russian River, Anchor River and then Homer. We did a fair bit of fishing there and it was great to see Salmon in all their forms.

We hiked out to Tonsina Point South of Seward, not a bad view of Resurrection Bay.




Spawning Chum Salmon along Tonsina Creek.




I went out on a combo Halibut and Silver salmon charter, which means fishing for chicken Halibut and mooching for Silvers. I booked late and went with a top notch operation, just wish I could have got on a Halibut only charter to catch a big one.

Couple chicken Halibut.




Nice Silver.




We hiked up Exit Glacier and that was a pretty neat experience. We were able to borrow crampons for Jen and I, but couldn’t get kid-sized, so I made hardware store crampons for him – he didn’t slide off the glacier or into a crevasse, so I guess they worked.




Gus demonstrating his gold panning technique on Resurrection Creek near Hope, AK. He actually just sloshes the water around in the pan, but he does look good doing it .




We fished the Kenai River and Russian River Runs for a few days and hit the timing just right for us. We were at the early part of the run and there were plenty of bright fish and the number of fishermen was not too bad. By the time we left the number of people fishing had doubled and over the course of the next week there were a lot more people coming in to fish.

My first limit of Reds. Photo was taken at 11pm, or so – the light all night thing is pretty great.




Small brown bear that was hanging around the lower Russian River. We had seen him eating salmon carcasses earlier in the day, but when I was on my way home at midnight he stood up on his hind legs from out of the weeds riverside. He wasn’t close enough to hit with the tip of my fishing rod, but was close, say 15 yards. He was gone so quick that I didn’t have enough time to get nervous.




Nice pile of fish from the confluence of the Russian River and the Kenai.




Gus had hooked a couple fish the first day (with some help), but wasn’t able to land anything, so the goal the next day was to get him his limit of Reds. Given the current, the depth of the water, the weight of the gear and the strength of the fish, he needed some help, but he did great.




Gus with his biggest Red Salmon, he was pretty excited….




We hiked up to the Russian River Falls and Lower Russian Lake to see the accumulation of Red Salmon trying to make it up to the lake for spawning.

Salmon stacked up below the falls.




Salmon at the lower portion of the lake after having made it above the falls…




This is a moose that we saw swimming across the Kenai River. We stopped checked it out swimming in the river and then got back in the truck and headed out. He ended up crossing the road right in front of the truck a mile or so down the road.




From the Russian River we headed to the Anchor River area and spent a few days fishing and exploring the area.

This area has a very cool system for boat launching that I’ve heard about for years and was excited to see. They use tractors (look like log skidders to me) to launch the boats. There is a large tidal fluctuation and there are no harbors in the area to build significant boat launches for big boats, so they use the tractor launch. Here is the fee is $50 for a launch, parking and pick up. The tractors can get way out there to launch and retrieve.




Bayliner in AK? At least it is a good look at the tractor.




There were some fish in the lower Anchor River, some nice dime bright Pink Salmon, which ate well fresh. Neatest was the bycatch, these Starry Founder would hit you up in the fresh water inside the river. Always neat to catch something different. I wish I’d eaten one, but they are supposed to be a little soft and I had plenty of salmon in the fridge.




In Homer we were between salmon runs, but the Pollock fishing was outstanding. To do it again, I would have kept a bunch for chowder, but I was plenty saturated with fish cleaning at that point.






Gus was more interested in starfish than Pollock fishing….




From there we worked on getting gear ready for our float trip and headed North to the North Slope of the Brooks Range. Both Jen and I had always wanted to visit the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, so we planned a float trip Caribou hunting and fishing down one of the rivers that flows North out of the Brooks Range into the Arctic Ocean. One neat thing about the North Slope is the drive there, the road is not all that bad and it travels over 400 miles through the Boreal Forest, the Brooks Range and then the Arctic Tundra all the way to the Beaufort Sea (Arctic Ocean). The road has a bad reputation for being tough on vehicles, but we had a good setup, 2 spares for truck and camper and good heavy duty tires all around. We saw only one truck with a flat and a truck with a truck camper that sheared his lugs off and needed a 200 mile tow to Fairbanks (apparently if you drive several hundred miles on rough road with loose lug nuts that is what happens).

Camp on the bluffs over the Yukon River.



Even though it was mid-August, you could really feel Fall in the air as we moved North. The Fireweed was done, which is a sure sign Fall is coming.



This is heading up into the Brooks Range.




We stopped and ate Halibut ceviche for lunch at Atigun Pass at 4,800 feet, which is WAY above tree line this far North.




Looking North at the last fingers of the Brooks Range after coming over the pass, we would hunt somewhere in there to the far right.




Last of the Bluffs before they give way to the coastal plain.




We made it to the Arctic Ocean.




For the raft trip, we were able to get all of our gear out in 2 650# flights. This included Jen, Gus, I, Pete and Skeet as well as raft and gear.

The dogs did really well (I take them everywhere), it was funny to see their faces on the take-off. A clear WTF?!?! moment for them. Once we leveled off they just calmly watched out the window like in the truck.




This is the River we floated, this is pretty much the most braided part, some of it was a single channel, but most was somewhat braided.



Coming into the mountains.



to be continued....


`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`
Tod Osier on Instagram
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#1527778 - 09/13/13 02:53 PM Re: Alaska trip, some fishing, some hunting.... part II [Re: Tod Osier]
Tod Osier Offline

Member

Registered: 04/13/04
Posts: 1587
Loc: Newtown, CT
When that plane leaves you on a river in the Arctic by yourself you are really alone. I landed at about 10:00 pm and Gus and Jen came in at 11:45 pm. I had the tent set up on a gravel bar and we were able to get Gus to bed before too long.




The next day we moved our camp to where we have good visibility of the area and some willows and topography to block the wind.




The mountains were about a mile from camp and we did some exploring in the foothills. Gus, Jen and Skeet, with camp in the distance.




Spot where a Grizzly was digging for ground squirrels.




I did find a Caribou. Given the reports we had heard before we went out and that we were seeing only a few each day, I knew I needed to kill any acceptable bull that I could.




I shot the caribou in the process of pulling camp and loading the raft in order to move downstream a few miles to a new area. After getting the bull broken down and the raft loaded, we opted to head further downstream than we had planned since the fishing was better the further down you go in this river.




Lots of grayling very willing to hit a #4 spinner. Jen was designated fisher since I was on the oars. She caught a boat load of very nice Arctic Grayling (in the Arctic, so that was cool).




I was allowed to catch a few too.




What we were really looking for was Sea Run Dolly Varden that summer in the Arctic Ocean and spawn and overwinter in the river. Gus was able to hook this nice male that put up a great fight.





Typical gravel bar camp on the way out.




This is just a shot of the raft, since we really didn’t have any good pictures. Jen and Gus had swivel seats in the front with an action packer as a table between. The dogs had a plywood platform to the side and behind the oarsman that had storage underneath and then a whole pile of dry bags to the rear. The setup worked very well and everyone was comfortable. It was 60 river miles to get to the takeout, so having a good seat was appreciated.




Around that point we had been in for plenty of time and on checking the weather forecast on the sat phone a strong front with weather in the 20s, wind and snow on its way, we decided to head for the take out. We busted our ass against a serious headwind to get out, but were really glad we did. We pulled out at midnight and the weather the next day was awful with strong wind, cold and snow, weather that would have sucked for anything but sitting around, especially since Gus was on his last pair of mittens (out of 5 pairs).

The next day we headed South and slowly made our way down the Dalton Highway.




The pass over the mountains was plowed down to gravel and we followed a grader up and over. I really did not want to have to chain up the truck since it was cold, windy and the chains were buried under a half ton of wet gear in the truck bed.




In the 2 weeks we were on the North Slope the tundra really took on a nice blush of Fall. This is just South of the mountains.




We had some time before Jena and Gus had to leave and stopped a bunch along the way South. We had a lot of gear to get dried out and the weather turned absolutely beautiful once we got South of the mountains.




Getting the Caribou quarters a little air. Everything else fit in the freezer in the camper, which was nice.




Caribou ribs anyone?




Crossing the Arctic Circle on the way South. That night we had fried Arctic Grayling, some from the Arctic and some from the sub-Arctic – they tasted the same .




Gus with an Arctic Arctic Grayling. The fish in the River were really dark, much darker than the slightly stained water would suggest.




We found a few spots with great concentrations of Grayling. Where a kid could just nail one after another, it was great.




Dinner…




We had some great berry picking. Blueberries, cranberries and crowberries, just kissed by the first frosts.




After Jen and Gus left (Gus had school the next day). I was able to get out for some Ptarmigan hunting with the dogs. This is one of the areas I was hunting so scenery was not a limiting factor.




Hunting was slow, but we did find some birds.




And after all, isn’t it all about the rainbows, or is it sunsets????



`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`
Tod Osier on Instagram
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#1527785 - 09/13/13 03:26 PM Re: Alaska trip, some fishing, some hunting.... part II [Re: Tod Osier]
chris med Offline

No REDTIDE IN PANAMA

Registered: 10/23/05
Posts: 23144
Loc: East Lyme
OH .................. MY................... GOD...................


best post on CTF EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Many thanks for taking the time to share Todd.......... what a family trip..........bowdown


Edited by chris med (09/13/13 03:29 PM)

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#1527786 - 09/13/13 03:28 PM Re: Alaska trip, some fishing, some hunting.... part II [Re: Tod Osier]
edkinct Online   content

Member

Registered: 10/11/05
Posts: 1516
Just amazing !!!!!
Thanks

I may only have one and a half legs, but I still stand tall, life goes on.
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#1527788 - 09/13/13 03:32 PM Re: Alaska trip, some fishing, some hunting.... part II [Re: Tod Osier]
MOONSHINER Offline

THEFINALTIMEOUT

Registered: 02/15/06
Posts: 12941
AWSOME TRIP Thanks for posting it up

Maine The Way Life Should Be and is going to be for me and the dogs before to long
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#1527793 - 09/13/13 03:40 PM Re: Alaska trip, some fishing, some hunting.... [Re: Tod Osier]
Wilderness_dave Offline

Member

Registered: 06/19/06
Posts: 1331
Quote:
OH .................. MY................... GOD...................


best post on CTF EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


yep, incredible trip! Just Beautiful! Thanks for sharing. A road trip,air plane trip, camping, hunting,fishing, site seeing and the whole family including the dogs to share memories for a life time...that's a epic vacation.
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#1527794 - 09/13/13 03:44 PM Re: Alaska trip, some fishing, some hunting.... part II [Re: Tod Osier]
Bo_Neato Offline
V.I.P. Member

Registered: 09/16/04
Posts: 5849
That was riveting....thanks for sharing!

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#1527795 - 09/13/13 03:47 PM Re: Alaska trip, some fishing, some hunting.... [Re: Tod Osier]
PDona Offline

P.Donna at one time

Registered: 07/31/02
Posts: 15529
Loc: Southern Ct
Great family adventure, thanks for sharing ! What a lucky kid !
What kind of camera ?

><((((º> `•.¸¸.•´¯`•...¸><((((º>


Hug your mom more ! !


Paul Dona

A "not neat" knot is a knot not needed

><((((º> `•.¸¸.•´¯`•...¸><((((º>



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#1527796 - 09/13/13 03:52 PM Re: Alaska trip, some fishing, some hunting.... [Re: Tod Osier]
The Real Iceman Offline

Member

Registered: 12/08/03
Posts: 5650
Bucket list....Amazing trip to AK.....CHECK!!

That was no dought one of the best posts I've read in a long time!! Congrats on making that happen for your family.
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#1527801 - 09/13/13 04:06 PM Re: Alaska trip, some fishing, some hunting.... [Re: Tod Osier]
Mitch P. Offline



Registered: 05/04/01
Posts: 31730
WOW! Simply amazing adventure with your family with GREAT photos! Definitely one of the best, if not the best, reports EVER!

And you drove to Alaska too?! Hardcore!

Exactly how long were you gone from time you started your drive out to the time you got home? One day I'd like to be able to take that much time off.
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