Last post from Alaska

Well it has been a great summer in Alaska.
I have been asked to come back next year and plan on doing it. SO if anyone is interested in Alaska get ahold of me and I will send you my video of the camp, and some of the fishiing opportunities here at Funny Moose Lodge and Ptarmigan Lodge.
It has been a great year for me personally though the fishing at times was only good. The King Salmon season was about average. The Sockeye just did not show up this year. No real idea other than cold water kept them out at sea for a longer period. With the Pink Salmon coming in the First of August, the count on the Reds has been hard to figure out.
Pink Salmon came in in HUGE numbers. I could hook / snag one on every cast at high tide. I finally learned not to set the hook. Make the cast and reel slow. If you get a bump ignore it. MAKE the fish hook itself. This cut down on the snags and increased the Silver Salmon Hook ups that I got too.
The silver salmon run seems to be good if you have the patience to deal with having to catch 50 Pink Salmon or Humpies, to get your limit of 2.. but then getting your line stretched just never seemed like a problem to me.
It was a summer of fishing firsts too even at 54.
I caught my first Rainbow and Dolly Varden on a Fly Rod. I caught my largest Red / Sockeye ever.. 11 pounds. I caught my largest Silver Salmon, over 12 pounds.. and I know I caught some big Pink Salmon, but let most of them go. Pink Salmon are not that good to eat, unless they are Sea Run, so I kept only the females and a couple of males still having sea lice on them to bring home.
No King Salmon, and no Dolly Varden.. Maybe next year.
I was snuck up on by a bear, shot video of some great dominance fighting over a salmon hole on the Aleutian Peninsula. The scenery is awesome, period.
Next month I am going to New York to Pulaski, to work at a Tackle Store and to shoot video of the Salmon run on New Yorks Salmon River.
If you want a video from the lodge, with a tour of the facilities, and my raw bear and fly out footage as a bonus, let me know. I will most likely provide it for postage and a fee to cover the DVD's.
I will be home on Tuesday, late. Will be back to work on Fishin.com immediately, though I have not stopped except for the 3 weeks I was down, when BOTH of my computers died.
Boss got me a knew one, a neat Toshiba, and I am thinking of getting another back up just in case.
My only fatality was my original camera a Canon Elura that cost $300.
It got a bit wet and the MINI DV feature died, I can still shoot pics, but I later dropped it and knocked the lense off so I will use it for charging batteries I guess. I had a back up on the Elura, an older model without a filter that will have to suffice till I get some more cash in the bank.
If any one knows of a good camera that will take some abuse and water let me know. I need to invest in one.
I am still interested in sharing some of my bounty with the faithful Fishin.com folks, if anyone knows of a place we could have a fish dinner with salmon and Halibut let me know. I will have about 70 pounds I can use to spread the joy of Alaska Salmon.
Jim Dicken
Been Around Alaska and headed home.

I would have loved to make the trip this year ,but due to current economics my fishing/hunting has been confined to local.Maybe if things improve I can make it next summer,it's been a long time dream to fish and sightsee Alaska.
Glenn P.

[QUOTE=kyfanatic;336601]I would have loved to make the trip this year ,but due to current economics my fishing/hunting has been confined to local.Maybe if things improve I can make it next summer,it's been a long time dream to fish and sightsee Alaska.
Glenn P.[/QUOTE]

Flight up is around $850 if you book in January. You can do 3 fishing trips and a week on the Kenai for around $1000 not including shipping and freezing of fish. INcludes 2 salmon and 1 Halibut trip, per person.
Total can be under $2000 per person if you scrimp.
This is an Old Time fishing camp. Cabins are plywood with comfortable beds and close to the river.
Best times are Mid July to Mid August, Good times are first of June to end of June and End of August and first week of September.

I would definitely like a dvd. Please let me know what I need to do. Thanks, Phil

Jim,
How are the bugs? Skeets, Nats.....anything nibbling or chewing on you.
Mark

[QUOTE=JoeB;336621]I would definitely like a dvd. Please let me know what I need to do. Thanks, Phil[/QUOTE]

Send your name and address to me at [email protected]
Will send video and a return envelope for donation for postage.
Sound Fair??

[QUOTE=thebassman30;336666]Jim,
How are the bugs? Skeets, Nats.....anything nibbling or chewing on you.
Mark[/QUOTE]

No real mosquitos along the river no place for them to breed. Some at the camp but not many. Temps stay in the 50's and low 60's at least this year. Only one day did I break a sweat. Lots of misty days tends to keep the bugs down. However we had a spell this year of about 10 days of nice weather and the bugs did get out. Mostly late in the day, no real night here till Mid
August. I did use bug spray on the curtain for the Picnic area cover where I checked guests in.. but never on me. Just did not feel the need for it.
Does that answer your question.??

Yes. Thanks for the info Jim.