September: Back to Alaska... Fishing Saltery Lake on Kodiak Island

Friday: We left Springfield at 6 AM and flew to Chicago then on to Anchorage before landing on Kodiak near 5 PM ... It were a good trip; a smooth flight and I recommend Alaska Airline. We had a meal at Henry’s near the harbor and ran into Janelle on our way out.

Saturday: 7 AM Rod and I fished on U-Rascal with Chris (Captain) and Becca first mate. There were three fellows from Az? Three women from China. We caught a limit of rock fish, four small halibut, a dozen King Salmon and a few Pacific Cod. The day started calm with the wind blowing from the north in Ugak bay. We did see a couple whale and puffins. Chris kept fishing until 1830; he gave us a full day on the sea to load up on salt water fish.

Sunday: Dave contacted us and we meet him at the airport. Dave’s newly purchased Cessna has wheels embedded under the pontoons. Alanna and Dick met us at the Hotel. We made it to the lodge by 10:30 AM; in waders and on the water before everyone else arrived and before lunch. The silvers were in the lake, probably older fish and limited numbers. I managed to keep a male and released two other fish. There were a few dolly hooked and a twenty inch jack salmon, all released. The day was dry with a few clouds; it was good to get back to familiar water near Saltery Lake. I saw a mama bear and a pair of cubs on the gravel at the outflow of Lake Creek.

Monday: We started in familiar waters near the lodge. I hooked four silver salmon in the upper hole keeping one. Later, moved back to the lake where there were a few other fellows from the lodge fishing. No one was hooking silvers with a few fish seen breaking water. We hung around until lunch time, stopped at noon for a bite. After lunch, shuttled to the mouth of Rough Creek; Rough Creek now meets Saltery behind the berm, forming a Tidal lake. Most of the silvers were caught in a short time. I walked up stream to look for silvers; I did not find any in the holes or fish moving on the shoals. The day was warm with sunny skies. The forecast for the next few days indicated winds blowing out of the south, then a significant change in the weather; rain and high wind gust on Tuesday.

Tuesday: We woke to rain that lasted throughout the day, into the evening and past midnight. There was an immature eagle hanging around me most of the day while fishing, sitting on a limb nearby or flying overhead. With the storm and predicted high winds, we stayed near the lodge. I had the lake to myself; the others from the lodge fished the upper and lower holes. I managed to turn five salmon in the lake but they did not want to chase a fly. It was near lunch time and the others returned to the lodge. I walked down stream looking for silvers in the holes; there were a few silvers lying river right at the lower hole. Farther downstream in the shallow depths, only to last of spawning sockeye salmon  moving in the shallow shoals; it was too low to hold silvers. After a short wade farther downstream came to bed spring (a popular hole), a narrow, deep run holding twenty plus silvers. I was able to get two fish to shore and hiked back to the lower hole taking the ATV trail. I met Jim at the lower hole at the river's edge and Chris was in the water retrieving a lure for Jim. Chris was kind enough to take the salmon back to the lodge for me, and I was able to fish a bit longer before supper time.

Wednesday: The day was dry with partly cloudy skies; due to the recent rain not sure how the far downstream the group could fish. The lake came up 6-8 inches from yesterday’s rain. We stay near the lodge and I fished the lake until noon; I was able to catch two silvers, keeping one bright fish. I took the fish back to the lodge and had lunch the rest of the group; they had returned much earlier and they were nearly finished with lunch. The plan for the afternoon was to drive to the lower Saltery and Rough Creek. We caravan three vehicles to Rough Creek, there was twice the flow of water with some challenges crossing the creek and setting up to fish. There was no activity, or moving fish… after an hour it was decided to move to the lower Saltery River. I managed to take another silver Coho before the day of fishing came to close. I saw a beaver swimming out in front of me; it was the only time we can in eye contact for the week.

Thursday: We started at the lower Saltery River near the estuary. There were a few city fishermen already fishing and traveling the trails. Rod went below and he said there were no fish seen in the straight away. I fished above the crossing and caught a large dolly and saw one fish hanging under some bush. Matt and Elliot decided to retreat back to the lower and upper holes near the lodge, there were a few silvers caught with short time. I eventually moved to the lake and late afternoon with shadows from the nearby hill covering a small section of water. Finally, I was able to hook a few silvers, using a purple closer brought to hand eleven fish. Rod and I fished until 5 pm before calling it a day. I saw a fox on both sides of the lake; they appeared different with the markings and color. I watched the fox across from me jumping and pouncing several times, probably had a rodent cornered.

Friday: The last day to fish. It was a sunny day the lake level receded a more few inches. I decided to stay with the lake, hoping the rain from two days ago would provide a few fresh fish. I had the other side of the lake to myself with Rod fishing with me in the afternoon. We were able to foul hook a few salmon and release them. We could see the bears near Lake Creek. It was a sunny day with a light south wind. Late in the day with shadows covering the lake, a large group of silver Salmon started to move into the lake. I was able to see my fly in the water and moved it towards individual salmon; they wanted no part of it was would move to the side to avoid the fly. I have been in these situations in past years and would catch many salmon. For some reason, the salmon would not go for it. I managed to get my last salmon of the trip out of the upper hole and called it a day. Everyone else had returned to the lodge.

Saturday: This was our last day in Alaska with the all the guest flying out after breakfast. We left in groups of three. Dick, Rod and I had late flights on of Kodiak and it was decided we would go out last. So, we had time to check out the bears. Lake Creek had flowing water, with enough water for the sockeye salmon to move upstream (see video). The bears were busy running the creek, trapping fish under their paws and grabbing them with their teeth. All the bears including the cubs were working on their skill to catch fish. There were two sets of bears; one mama bear had four one year-old cubs. She had her paws full keeping everyone together, but all the bears were up on the river bank eating a fish. The other set of bears was a mama bear with two-year-old twins, occupied the mouth of Lake Creek most of the day, taking fish when the urge struck and eating throughout the day.

September: Alaska Silver Salmon Fishing on Kodiak Island

Morning fog lifting over Saltery Lake Lodge

Rod Pennington, Bill Taylor and I traveled to Alaska to fly fish for Silver Salmon. The week was filled with bear encounters, one hundred and ninety-four silver salmon caught with eighteen returning with us to Springfield and the rest released back to the water. The weather was very warm for this time of the year with four days of clear blue skies and plenty of sunshine. There was a family of eagles that nested near our cabin and we saw them soaring overhead most of the time over the water. The adults were teaching the young eagles to fly and getting them ready to fly south for the winter. Dave Magoffin and his staff were very friendly and helpful throughout the week. The meals prepared by Edie were delicious, on time with very generous servings. A big thanks to Brant our guide for the week, who netted our fish, took us to Rough Creek for a great day of fishing and kept us out of trouble with the bears. This was my sixth trip back to Saltery lake Lodge, it seems to get better each year; more fish caught, more bear sightings and a lodge that provides an excellent destination to explore Alaska.

Morning Fog: Photo taken by Rod Pennington

September 19, 2014 (Friday): We flew from Springfield to Kodiak Island. The trip was uneventful with some air turbulence over the mountains. We lost our luggage in Anchorage before flying on to Kodiak. We had to wait twenty hours before retrieving our luggage at the terminal in Kodiak. It was almost 11 pm when we settled in our rooms at the Kodiak Inn (Best Western), for a short night's sleep before going out on a boat for a deep sea fishing excursion the next day.

September 20, 2014 (Saturday): We had breakfast at the Kodiak Inn. After breakfast, (since we were without luggage), we went to Mack's sporting goods store to buy some long johns and jackets/ raincoats. We made it to the boat on time at 8 AM.  We met Chris Fiala, the captain of U-Rascal in the parking lot at the harbor.

Fishing with Capt. Chris on U-Rascal: Photo by Bill Taylor

We have been out with Chris in the past and felt confident he would find fish. The mates on board the boat were the same as three years ago with Becca and her three brothers. They spend their summers in Kodiak helping with the boats before returning to the state of Washington to continue their schooling. We left port at 8:30 AM after filling the tanks with fuel and heading out to sea and onto Ugak Bay.

Becca and her brother showing off a pair of Halibut: Photo by Bill Taylor

The day was partly cloudy and a light wind less than 10 knots. The cruise and wave action was smooth with the motion coming from the boat when moving spot to spot. Dr. Taylor did get seasick and had his head on the table when the boat was on the move. He was able to fish when the boat stopped. Chris did find fish and we took a limit of rockfish including yellow eye and Rod landed a rare tiger fish (a striped rockfish).

Rod with a Tiger (Rockfish): Photo by Rod Pennington

Bill with a Yellow Eye (Rockfish) with Chris looking on: Photo by Bill Taylor

Chris took us into Ugak Bay and we took a limit of halibut. The fish averaged 50 to 70 pounds apiece with eight to the cooler, one for each paying fishermen. The location of the fishing spot was just off the site where a blotched rocket launch occurred several weeks ago. When the rocket was on lift off, they had to abort four seconds into the launch and blew everything up including the launch pad. We were told several engineers were on the island, evacuating the launch pad to determine if the site was a total lost.

For more on the story go to:

http://m.newsminer.com/news/alaska_news/failed-rocket-launch-in-kodiak-under-investigation/article_b9a53cf0-2d5b-11e4-b24f-001a4bcf6878.html?mode=jqm

We finished the day by moving to another spot and picked up flounder. We landed many and added them to the cooler. There was probably about five hundred pounds of fish in the cooler for the day’s catch. We returned to port at Kodiak and Chris took us to Island Seafood to process and package our catch. The plan was to return to Island Seafood the following week after spending a week at Saltery Lake Lodge and take our boxed frozen fish back with us on the flight back to Springfield.

Our catch was dropped off at Island Seafoods for packaging: Photo by Bill Taylor

When we docked the boat and paid for our day of fishing, we returned to the hotel. We discovered no luggage. We had to go back to the airport and pick up our bags. The luggage was secured and locked in a closet; everything was fine with nothing missing. We finished the evening by going to Henry’s Sports Bar for a bite to eat and walking through the harbor looking at the boats moored in the harbor. We returned to the hotel and fell asleep before 10 PM.

Bill captured this photo walking through Kodiak Harbor: Photo by Bill Taylor

September 21, 2014 (Sunday): We made contact with Janelle and she met us at the Best Western about 10:30 AM. She took us to Dave Magoffin’s house, which was only a short drive from the hotel. 

Janelle making arrangements with Dave to fly us out on a float plane

We flew from Dave’s house with a water landing strip for his floatplane. Dave would fly us out on his single engine floatplane to Saltery Lake lodge. The one-way trip took about twenty minutes by air. Dave had to make four trips to get everyone to the lodge and took the entire morning getting us setup and ready to fish Saltery Lake.

Dave's float plane getting ready to make another trip back to the lodge

It was noon before I walked the shores of the lake, the staff; Geoff (guide), Brant (guide), Bryan (guide) and Edie (cook) met the plane when we arrived. Our gear was unloaded and placed in cabin #2. Rod and Bill flew in before me and they were looking over the lake and unpacking their gear. 

Our quarters for the week, cabin #2: Photo by Bill Taylor

We went to the lodge to meet the other guest. There were seven guests for the week. Frank Abramczyk was from Cincinnati OH, he has made many trips to Saltery Lake Lodge. Frank, the father of Geoff made several trips to Saltery Lake when Geoff was much younger. Geoff has guided at the lodge for the past five years. Dick Compton was from Sacramento CA, he has made several trips over the years to Saltery Lake. He enjoys steelhead fishing in California with his spey and switch rods. Dick fishes the Missouri River and told stories of the Trinity. New to the lodge is Chuck and Mary, a couple from Sacramento. They discovered Saltery Lake lodge from conversations with Dick. They are in the same California fishing club.

A young eagle near our cabin, later found the nest: Photo by Bill Taylor

After lunch, we went back to the cabins to get in our waders and set up our 8 wt. rods. Rod and Bill went to the lower hole, a favorite spot for Rod. I walked the lakeshore and started to fish above the river. The day was cloudy with an occasional light rain and a light wind from the pass (north). There was a rainbow that briefly came into view. Rod saw it at the lower hole and captured a bear, eagle and rainbow in the same frame.

The bear is in the water, the eagle is perched in the a tree with a rainbow near by:
Photo by Rod Pennington

I was fishing to the north of Rod and Bill in the lake where I saw the other end of the rainbow. The end of the rainbow was near the mouth of Lake Creek. A place where Sean's ashes were dispersed last year.

A rainbow end's at Lake Creek

It did not take very long before I hooked a silver salmon. I was using a pink/purple #4 Clouser minnow, which proved to be a good fly last year. There were brown bear sightings on the lake; a mother and cub on the west side and a two year old with fishing lure hanging from his ear. No one knows the story how the lure became attached to the bear, but it helped to identify him. We called him Bling. We would see him many more times throughout the week.

One of many bears we saw throughout the week

Geoff and Brant were on duty as guides with the guest. Bryan was at the lodge making runs with the ATV, on a return trip to the water. Bryan spotted a bear and slowed down. The bear was confused, since there were people in front of him near the river; the bear turned and ran into Bryan’s path and the bear was hit in the rear. The bear was not hurt and ran off into the brush in the other direction. We fished until 6:00 PM; the three of us managed to catch and released twenty-four silver salmon. (K14R4B6 t24)

September 22, 2014 (Monday): Breakfast was served at 8:00 AM with coffee ready to by 7:30 AM. With everyone seated at the table, Edie called out a bear on the lawn. Every one jumped from their chairs to watch the bear from the lodge. I was able to capture his presence with my IPhone and saved the video for my Grandson Desmond. 

After breakfast, Rod made the hike to the lower hole and made his way back to the lake later in the day. Bill and I fished the lake using pink/purple Clouser minnows. It was a sunny day after the fog lifted off the lake. There were a number of bear sightings with the bears walking the lakeshore looking for fishing opportunities and weak sockeye spawning in the shallow waters. Even with the bright sun, the fishing was exceptional. The three of us managed to save six silvers salmon for the ice box with a total fifty-one salmon to hand for the day. (K30R12B9 t51)

September 23, 2014 (Tuesday): The day was clear after the fog lifted. The air temperature was unseasonably warm near seventy degrees. During breakfast there was a different visitor, a red fox name Russian made his rounds about the lodge. He was not too concerned for me and I suspect he was looking for a handout. I captured a short video of him. We saw him a few more times during our stay.

Rod and Bill started the day at the lower hole. Bill was casting his 8 wt. TFO rod and the rod failed; it broke in half. He did not know why, it just fell apart in midair. Needless to say, he hiked back to the cabin to retrieve his other rod. It was almost noon, when he was fishing next to me in the lake. The fishing was good with a few good hook sets and then a hook would find a dorsal fin or tail. It can be said, a foul hooked fish can be twice as difficult getting to shore. Many of these salmon were in the 12 lb. to 15 lb. range. In years past, the salmon weighed 10 lb. to 12 lb. on average. Bill was fifty yards from me when I heard a gasp. He broke his Redington rod on a salmon. He was landing the fish without a net. The salmon was near the water’s edge and bolted for deeper water. Bill had his rod pointed up and behind, shattering the rod with the run. Bill was out of fly rods. Geoff was kind enough to loan his rod for the rest of the day. That evening, Bill rented a rod from the lodge for the rest of the week.

Twelve paces from Bling: Photo by Rod Pennington

Same event with different perspective: Photo by Bill Taylor

When Bill left to get Geoff’s rod I was on the west shore by myself. A call went out telling me a bear was on his way to greet me. I was standing in the water when Bling came up behind me. I let Bling know my location; he kept walking closer to me and stood at the water’s edge checking me out. He finally moved on; the bear came within twelve paces of me. We had another close encounter on Friday.

 Here is a YouTube video of the close encounter: http://youtu.be/morxRHOUqEs

The video was too large to upload on blog.

There was a group of fishermen that would come in from the city of Kodiak. The leader’s name was Dale; he was the guide and supplier of ATVs. He would bring out a different group of fishermen each day. On this day, a father and two sons were fishing together on the opposite side of the lake. They were throwing spinners having issues with their equipment. They hooked a few fish than one of the sons started swearing and cussing due to a fish taking all of the line from a spinning reel. It wasn’t thirty minutes that I had a fish on and noticed monofilament line had crossed my line. I released the fish and started to retrieve the line by hand, there was still a fish on the other end. I kept pulling and finally the fish came off, by the time all of the line was wrapped on my hand I figured there was 200 yards of line. It was stowed away in my pocket and later gave to Brant as a souvenir. The three of us had another good day of catching with forty-four fish caught.

(K22R16B6 t44)

Bryan netting a silver salmon for Rod: Photo by Bill Taylor

September 24, 2014 (Wednesday): We made plans the day before and it was discussed before we left for Alaska; a trip to Rough Creek. Rough Creek is on the west side of Bread loaf Mountain. Last year, Rod GPS our positions and determined the hike, day spent walking up Rough Creek to the north side of the mountain and the return trip was six miles. It was a challenging walk with waders and dressed to fish cold water. We walked across the lower reaches of Saltery Lake and hiked to Rough Creek. 

A short walk along a Beaver pond to Rough Creek: Photo by Rod Pennington

We had an encounter with two bears before reaching Bread Loaf Mountain. There was almost an impasse with us walking west along the lakeshore and the bears working the shore towards us. The bears finally took to the high ground and we were able to proceed. Rough creek was low and gin clear with silvers filling the pools. The scenery and remoteness was the reason for our return, the three of us truly enjoy and savor the time fishing Rough Creek. 

Rough Creek provides pristine scenery: Photo by Bill Taylor

The silvers we caught were in the 12 lb. range. We caught six and we were very happy with the day’s adventure. We left the river and hiked back around 4:30 pm and finished our day back at Saltery Lake and fished until 6:30 pm. We caught more salmon for our fish box. The day ended with Bling fishing the lakeshore and moving in our direction. We had five fish on a stringer and did not want the bear discover them. So, Brant took the fish across out of the path of the traveling bear. (K6R5B4 t15)

Brant and Bill posing with a bear in the background

September 25, 2014 (Thursday): Today we fished the lake until 11:30 am, and then we loaded up in the soccer mom Toyota SUV and made a trip to Ugak Bay. This is the where the Saltery River flows into the bay with a large estuary area where the buffalo roam and wild horses run free. We saw a number of buffalo on our trip to the bay. We saw fifty harbor seals in the water watching us from the brackish water of Saltery River; some of the seals came within casting distance. 

A super cub making a pass before landing next to us: Photo by Bill Taylor

Before we walked out to the seashore, a single engine super cub made a pass over us and came around and landed next to our vehicle on a short dirt/sea shell trail. The pilot landed the plane and motored back to us. He jumped out and introduced himself and his buddy. He name was Eric, a state trooper on Kodiak Island. He and his friend were out scouting buffalo with a hunt planned for the following week. They spent about thirty minutes with us before taking off, heading back to the city of Kodiak. 

Eric standing next to his Super Cub: Photo by Rod Pennington

We walked a half-mile to the seashore waded into the salt water and fished for an hour. We walked the beach looking for treasurers; only found dead crabs, scallop shells, oyster shells and sea urchins. We made it back to our vehicle only to find the rising tide filled our trail with three feet of salt water.

To pass the time for the tide to go out, we fished the brackish water from some high banks. 

Brant fishing the surf: Photo by Bill Taylor

It took an hour before the tide reversed. I waded down the trail and started to work my way up the lower Saltery River. I looked for holding pools where fresh salmon could hold. I did find a pool with a dozen or more salmon. Brant took Rod and Bill back to the lake and I stayed to fish with Brant returning an hour later. On the first cast, I hooked up and released a silver salmon. I managed to break off three more salmon with the fish taking me to brush piles that broke my leader. I caught four Dolly Varden near the salmon hole with all fish released. I saw a large bear moving in the same area a video was shot three years ago with Rod and Sean, with the bear in the same frame. The bear saw me and moved in the other direction. Brant and I fished until 6 PM, making it back in time for dinner. (K2R10B4 t16)

Rod reflecting at the estuary: Photo by Bill Taylor

September 26, 2014 (Friday): The day was overcast with a late afternoon rain that fell into the night. The wind picked up in the morning with white caps on the lake mid-afternoon. Rod and Bill started in the lower hole and finished the day with me in the lake. There were only a few fishermen coming in by AVT from the city of Kodiak. One of the fishermen was Bill Franklin, a former co-host of the lodge with Doyle Hatfield, who retired when their lease was up a few years ago. He was doing well with plans to builds cabin on 25 Acres on the opposite shore of Ugak Bay. He traded his plane in for a boat and spends plenty of time on the water fishing.

The fishing was good with a windy day and solid clouds blocking the sun. We hooked many salmon with all fish released. We filled two fifty lb. boxes of silver salmon and they returned with us on the plane trip back to Springfield.

End of our fishing, walking back to the lodge: Photo by Bill Taylor

It was a challenging day for me. I saw an eagle flying near me and went for the camera to get a picture. My camera was missing from the front pouch in the waders. I retraced my steps back to shore and saw the camera three feet under water; with a fish landing net I was able to recover the camera. Thank goodness it’s waterproof. The second mishap was falling into the water walking backwards trying to net a fish for Rod. Thank goodness the waders go high above my chest; I did not get wet inside. The third mishap was getting spooled by a fish. I was using a large arbor reel (these have less backing capacity). The salmon took off for the lodge, it was probably fouled hooked. Needless to say, the reel was picking up speed as the line ripped out. I tried to slow the fish down with a hand drag, and saw there was very little backing left. I ran down the shoreline, it did not help and all the line was lost; leader, new clear sinking line, and backing. I was spooled!!! I walked back to the cabin and exchanged rod and reels.

We watched a coast guard helicopter flying into and out of the nearby mountain passes. We found out that evening a hunter was reported missing and there was a search party out looking for him. We never did know what happened to him. I checked the local newspaper on line. Noted there was news of the missing hunter but did not read if he was found. Our last encounter with Bling was near our last hour to fish.

Bling came walking down the lakeshore. We let him know our position and he darted off to a high stone ledge near us. Ten minutes later, he walked up behind us and continued his journey walking the water’s edge looking for fish. It was he’s way to say good-bye. It was great video footage.

We finished our day and final opportunity to fish this trip by getting our last cast last fish. I was the last to leave the lake as the day passed to evening and the rain began to fall. I made it back to the lodge in time for dinner. (K18R10B6 t34)

September 27, 2014 (Saturday): After Breakfast, we gathered our gear and prepared to fly out. There was a gust of wind blowing through the pass with a chop on the water. Rod, Bill and Janelle were the first to fly out at 9:30 AM. I followed them an hour later with Dick.

Bryan, Edie and Brant bidding us farewell

Before leaving Saltery Lake, I walked to Lake Creek to bid farewell to Sean and hoped to see a bear. A bear was spotted; it was shy and stayed under cover and in the trees. I noticed the tree where the eagles often perched, a nest nearly out of sight in the summer. With the leaves falling, the nest was visible in the upper reaches of the tree. Then I realized the reason for the eagles’ always in view and constantly flying overhead. This was their summer home. With winter coming on, they will move on to places where food is available. They may even fly to Missouri to winter over… one never knows.

Fly back to Springfield, out of Kodiak with a red eye out of Anchorage: 
Photo by Bill Taylor 

Our trip back to Springfield was uneventful. The red eye flight out of Anchorage to Denver was uncomfortable with cramp quarters, no space for my legs. By the time we landed in Springfield we were exhausted. The flight back is one of a few negative aspects of the trip. We brought back five boxes of fish, many memories of large salmon and great video footage of bears. 

If you have questions or want to know more about Saltery Lake Lodge check out their web site: http://salterylakelodge.com

September: Alaska Bound

Alaska 2012

 September 21, 2012 Friday: Rod and I left Springfield for Chicago at 6 AM with no problems. Next, we took off for Seattle with less than an hour between flights. We flew and landed in Anchorage at 4 PM; it was there we found Kodiak Island was fogged in with no flights landing or taking off. They tried to fly us out at 6:30 PM and we had to wait in Homer for several hours before ERA returned us to Anchorage. We called a hotel and stayed at the Puffin Inn near the airport. We found our room and settled in at 10 PM. We woke at 4 AM to catch our fight at 5:30 AM the next day.

 September 22, 2012 Saturday: We did make it to Kodiak City on the early flight but our deep fishing trip was canceled. We took a taxi to the Best Western near the harbor in Kodak City and stowed our gear. We had breakfast while watching a college football game then strolled about the harbor taking a few photos, checked out the local fly fishing/sport shops and took in a museum. We had dinner at a restaurant named the Powerhouse. We returned to the hotel to turn in at 9 PM.

 September 23, 2012 Sunday: We check out of the hotel at 10 AM and Brent took us to Dave's place where the floatplane was moored. Dave flew us out to the lodge on Saltery Lake lodge. It was a great fight with blue skies and mountains covered in autumn foliage; Dave gave us a fly by over the lodge to get a feel of the land. The staff (Geoff, Matt and Roger) greeted us at the plane and moved our gear into cabin #2. We made it to the water before noon, Rod went to the lower hole and I started in the lake. I managed to keep a limit (2 silver salmon) and released six more. Rod caught a limit of salmon and released five more with a few Dolly Varden released. We did see a few bears moving along the water’s edge and I could see bear moving about at the mouth of Lake Creek. We finished the day at 5:00 PM and returned to the lodge for a meal prepared by Roger. After supper, Rod and I walked down to Lake Creek. The creek had plenty of water with a good flow, there were a few Red Salmon moving in the creek. That evening, we spent time watching the computer with Rod bringing the “Big Bang Theory”.

 September 24, 2012 Monday: We had breakfast at 7:30 AM and on the water by 8:30 AM. The water was clear and air temperature in low fifties. I used an 8-wt rod with large Clouser minnow pattern and fished the lake above the mouth of the river. The silver salmon were very cooperative taking the fly. I kept two silver males for the freezer and released ten more salmon for the morning. Rod and I stayed on the water through lunch; the other guest returned to the lodge for a meal. I managed eight more silvers in the afternoon for a total of twenty salmon for the day. Rod fished the lower hole and released ten silvers and a few Dolly Varden. The bears were on the move with several encounters throughout the day as the bears moved along the lake looking for fish or napping on the lakeshore in view for several hours with no concern for us. There were a few Red Salmon spawning along the shore for the bears to catch with more salmon in Lake Creek.

My Simms waders had a leak, both legs were wet with the cool mountain water, I suffered mild hypothermia... (I need to get rid of them and I did). I did have a spare neoprene wader with me, which were watertight. The neoprene waders were more comfortable and kept me dry in the cool water. The day was mostly sunny in the morning with rain in afternoon. The temperature was mild throughout the day. I did have some issues with the salmon once caught; a few raced towards me and swam between the grassy bank and me, which were only a few feet. One salmon actually went between my legs with the rod tip trying to follow, I was lucky enough to see it coming and released the tension of the rod and lifted my leg over the line. This is my fourth year fishing Alaska and all rods have remained intact… just lucky.

September 25, 2012 Tuesday: The entire day was overcastted with a light rain off and on. The temperatures continued to be mild in the mid-fifties. We returned to familiar waters with Rod starting at the upper hole and hooked into a salmon on his first cast of the day and proceeded to have the Silver Salmon hit his fly on consecutive cast. See video here: http://youtu.be/ioEiNPb1pQQ. I moved into the lower section of the lake at the mouth of Saltery River only to find rocks and broke off two flies. I decided to move back into the lake. The catching was more difficult on this day with two salmon kept and five more released. Rod kept two salmon for the freezer and released three silvers, a chum salmon and many Dolly Varden. I did have a close encounter with a bear. The bear came up behind me and I first saw him 30 yards away at the water’s edge. I talked to the bear to let him know I was near and he moved away before posing at the point and swimming across the lake.

 I would have more close encounters with this and other bears. The bears are round and full of Red Salmon; they seemed to want to keep some distance between them and the man with a stick. Another funny occurrence happened when a hooked salmon took off for the other shore, I was into the backing, and then I heard a pluck sound. My spool fell off my reel and into the water, I went to my shoulder retrieving the spool from the bottom of the lake and had to hold it between my thumb and fore finger as the salmon continued to fight. I was able to get the tension off the salmon to settle him down and reassemble the reel. I did bring him to hand and release him. It is amazing the crazy situations one can be in with stress on the rod… The general idea is to hang on and hope for the best.

 September 26, 2012 Wednesday: The day started out with brisk winds and a light rain blowing through the mountain pass and down the lake... in the afternoon the weather turned bad with gale winds and with a light rain blowing across the lake; it looked like a great mast sail of a Yankee clipper moving with a tailwind, this was somewhat unexpected but typical for Kodiak and Alaska. We fished until noon and retreated back to the lodge for lunch, to dry out and to get out of the wind. From the lodge, we could see the rain moving over the lake at 50 - 60 mpr with wind gust over 60 mpr.  The winds decreased some by 3 pm and we returned to the water. The rain continued into the night. I had another bear encounter with a bear coming out of the brush and coming into view up stream of me and within 15 yards; he entered the water to swim across the stream. I did not see the bear coming since my back was against the wind and rain. Brent was fishing downstream from me; he saw it first and kept pointing to the bear until he caught my attention. I was standing in the water waist deep and nowhere to go, so I figured take out the camera and get a picture. The bear eased into the water and swam across the stream. Rod and I both kept a limit for the freezer with rod releasing five silver salmon and I released four salmon. The weather was cool, and wet typical for this time of the year.

September 27, 2012 Thursday: Saltery Lake came up two feet from the overnight rain; the water was cloudy with visibility less than a foot. We found a few silver salmon in the sand just above the river. With the high water, there was limited access to the holes with all of us at the lodge sharing the limited water space on the lake. The upper and lower holes currents were difficult to fish with the fish probably lying low or behind structure. Not many fish taken this day, I was able to take a limit with three silvers released. Late in the day, I decided to look at the lower hole, Frank (Geoff’s father) tagged along. Rod's favorite spot was full of water but I worked my way to the river and waded into the stream. Frank was above me and he found a warm sunny spot to rest, he was comfortable and fell asleep.

After a few cast, it was proved to be nonproductive, so I retreated and made a move to fish upstream of Frank. A bear came out of the brush and stood were I was fishing only a few minutes before, Frank was still cat napping and had the sun in his eyes. All of a sudden Frank realized it was a bear only a few yards away from him and not me, I was on top of the bank overlooking the situation with Frank scrambling up the hill to join me. The bear walked the riverbank just below us and made it’s way downstream. We talked about that bear encounter for several days at the dinner table.

Rod learned while fishing, how important it is to check the hook point on your fly especially when several fish are missed. Rod was near the lower hole using a fuchsia rabbit hair flash streamer (which does a good job hiding the hook point), missing one fish after another. After his fifth missed salmon, he inspected the fly and discovered it had a broken point; there was no way to hold the fish. Yep… it happens and the moral of the story, check that fly, even after a single miss.

Here is Rod's broken point fly that lost numerous salmon;
it now  on display in his office.

September 28 Friday: Our last day to fish, the lake dropped 1.5 feet overnight and continued to drop throughout the day. I was able to fish around the cove starting on the lodge side just below the property line, covering as much water as possible to the stream then crossed to the other side fishing up to the standing rock. My first fish of the day was in front of the rock. It was mid-morning and as the day progressed I managed to pick up more silver salmon. I finished the day with fourteen released from hand. Most of the silver salmon were taken with Clouser minnows. I did manage to take the last two silvers on the lodge side at 5:30 PM, I called last cast last fish and managed to hook and release one within five minutes that was to be my last cast for silver salmon for this trip. The other guest had already called it a day with Geoff and Rod near the mouth of the stream; Geoff hooked silver salmon and he called it last cast last fish for the day. Rod continued to work the water downstream and missed two fish and finally broke off his fly; on that he decided to call it and that concluded our fishing day, week and fishing trip the Alaska.

September 29, 2012 Saturday: We did not fish this day. After breakfast, we chatted with the other guest, watched the first snowfall for the season and packed our gear. The ground was covered in white from frost, with dark clouds to the west indicating incoming snow. There were some concerns to flying out and with the ceiling dropping; Dave decided at noon it was time to get us to Kodiak City and on to the airport. The flight in the floatplane out was rough and turbulent with the windows constantly fogging over. The landing was uneventful with Dave dropping Rod and me at the airport with our gear and frozen fish. Our flight to Anchorage did not depart until 7 PM. We had to several hours before we could check in and we waited until 3 pm to check in and leave our gear. We took a taxi back to Kodiak City and ate at Henry’s near the harbor and watched some football. We returned to the airport and left Kodiak on time with the other flights back to Springfield on time without incident.

Overall, Rod and I had a great trip. We managed to catch ninety-three silver salmon, a number of Dolly Varden and a Chum Salmon. The fishing was very good on Saltery Lake and river. My best fly was a Clouser Minnow pattern in a variety of sizes. The bears may have been a little too close; it was amazing fishing with them on the lake and stream banks.  A special thanks to Geoff our guide and to Dave Magoffin for being a great host and pilot. The web site is salterylakelodge.com with an active web cam capturing photos every ten minutes can be seen at www.kodiakweather.com/webcams/salterylake.php.

you tube video: Bears, Bears and Bears http://youtu.be/JIHX08BKbbk

         Rod fighting a silver salmon in the upper hole: 

            See video here: http://youtu.be/ioEiNPb1pQQ