salmonchaser
Handloader
- Dec 13, 2013
- 4,984
- 4,944
Making my final preparations before heading north for my 15th season guiding on the Naknek river.
That number is a little misleading in that when I was still on the job I only guided for a month, burning all my comp time and some vacation time. This will be my forth season guiding the entire summer.
Takes a week to get everything up and running, the river opens June 8. Our first guests arrive on the 7th and typically want to fish for rainbows at 0001 hours, ugh.
I had the great good fortune to have my dad stationed at Fort WAINWRIGHT in 1959. Dad took full advantage of that post, packing us all over the state fishing and tagging along on some hunts. In 1961 I caught my first King on the Kenai.
We left Alaska in 63 so dad could get his doctorate in Engineering at Oregon State but almost every year since we came back, most often to fish sometimes to hunt.
Alaska has changed immensely in that time, but the Bristol Bay region is remote enough to still have that old Alaska feel, and excellent fishing.
Alaska gets in your blood or it doesn't. Some guys hit the perfect week, of the perfect year, catch more fish than they can.count and never come back. Others find a way, selling body parts whatever it takes to come back. My wife calls Alaska my fickle mistress.
Regardless my sincere hope is each of you make the trip at least once. Every one should visit THE GREAT LAND.
I will miss the forum very much while I'm gone, our bandwidth is too limited and the satellite feed to expensive to support my visits. I wish you all a fine summer and thank you for the help on my loading issues.
That number is a little misleading in that when I was still on the job I only guided for a month, burning all my comp time and some vacation time. This will be my forth season guiding the entire summer.
Takes a week to get everything up and running, the river opens June 8. Our first guests arrive on the 7th and typically want to fish for rainbows at 0001 hours, ugh.
I had the great good fortune to have my dad stationed at Fort WAINWRIGHT in 1959. Dad took full advantage of that post, packing us all over the state fishing and tagging along on some hunts. In 1961 I caught my first King on the Kenai.
We left Alaska in 63 so dad could get his doctorate in Engineering at Oregon State but almost every year since we came back, most often to fish sometimes to hunt.
Alaska has changed immensely in that time, but the Bristol Bay region is remote enough to still have that old Alaska feel, and excellent fishing.
Alaska gets in your blood or it doesn't. Some guys hit the perfect week, of the perfect year, catch more fish than they can.count and never come back. Others find a way, selling body parts whatever it takes to come back. My wife calls Alaska my fickle mistress.
Regardless my sincere hope is each of you make the trip at least once. Every one should visit THE GREAT LAND.
I will miss the forum very much while I'm gone, our bandwidth is too limited and the satellite feed to expensive to support my visits. I wish you all a fine summer and thank you for the help on my loading issues.
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