Im back from Alaska...Amazing

I have heard stories of the last frontier and always wanted to visit. A few months ago a friend of mine Chuck who is from there invited me to come join him for an annual event he calls "fishapalooza"(a bunch of alaskans camping out and fishing on the kenai river). I kind of shrugged my shoulders at first thinking too expensive, too far, too cold....We talked a little more and I thought why not. I checked into airfare and it was half what I thought.  So the call was made and the date was set. I told Sam about the trip and asked if he would like to come along. "Hells yeah", he replied.

We arrived in Anchorage on Sat. night and had a rental car reserved for our two hour drive to the russian river campground. The first two days we fly fished the kenai river from drift boats.

 We would drift a mile or so, catch a fish, row to the bank, and catch a few more from where we landed the boat. It was at the end of the salmon run and they were actually swimming through our legs there were so many.

 Unfortunately they were in there dying stages at this time of yearand not something you target. The scenery was amazing! I immediately fell in love w the place. Sam and I both landed several Dolly Vardens and a few rainbow trout. It was an exhilirating change to what we were used to.

Day 3 we had a halibut trip planned, but we arrived in Homer only to find 30K winds and 8 foot seas. We postponed the trip to day four w hopes of better weather. With the trip cancelled, Sam made some calls and got us hooked up w a guide to show us the ropes on steelhead fishing. The guide caught a smaller one pretty quickly but we all goose egged for the rest of the day. These were hard as heck to catch, but we could see a few and man were they big.

Day 4 equaled beautiful weather and our halibut trip was on. The boat limited out pretty easy w the average fish going about 20 pounds. We didnt catch any monsters, but it was still a unique experience. I dont think Ive ever used rope for leader either. The scenery was amazing, and well worth the cost of the charter.

Day 5 we had about five hours in the morning to try one more time to catch a steelhead. We met up w Sams friend early to be the first ones on the river. It payed off! After Sam and I both lost some big fishon the fly rods, I finally landed one . It was bigger than I imagined it would be, and is definitely in the top 3 moments of my fishing career.

We headed back to the Russian River campground and had just enough time to hike a trail to the russian river falls. Sams pics are great, but even they dont do this place justice. The most beautiful view I have seen in my life.

Day 6 we were up early headed for the airport disappointed at how quickly time went by. This will now be an annual event for me. Enjoy the pics compliments of Apollo beach Sam