Jet Lagged Confessions - Alaska Style Part 3

 Well, it's been a busy fall season and now that the holidays have arrived, I am going to finish up some blogging that slipped out of my schedule a couple months back.  Let's see, where were we?  We covered my love for Arctic Char, the fun of Alaskan Rainbow Trout, so let's pick up with part 3 which is all about the Silver Salmon.....and although it is one day late, I will reiterate the words of my UK friend Wayne who said, CO HO HO Merry Christmas!  I do hope each of you had a great day with friends and family and are getting some nice down time.

Getting back to Alaska, each year we head up to the Bristol Bay region Silvers are a targeted species but more so in August than in September.  This years trip was scheduled for September so big trout were the target, but much to our surprise, when we arrived, their were still fresh runs of Silvers coming in every day.  Not wanting to miss out on this fun, we decided to give chase and hunt down these anadromous beasts that were pulsing in with each tide.  As luck would have it, they weren't hard to find and were very willing to play!

Good friend and client Bill gets on the board with an average size fish.

Bill and I had a chance to spend some good time together on the water while there in Alaska, and much to our pleasure, the fish were often times liking our presentations.  Bill is always a great comrade to fish with as he doesn't take things too seriously.  Don't misunderstand that to mean that he isn't serious about his fishing, because nothing could be further from the truth.  He is however willing to laugh at himself and others when necessary and be thankful for the grab that didn't go his way.  That being the case, we had a couple of stellar days together and this is a just a few shots from that time.

SAO Guide/Host Patrick Robinson holds a colored up Silver Salmon on Big Creek.

Bill with a nice chrome fish to take home.  Hot pink always seems to do the trick!

A nice buck Silver Salmon poses for a nice shot with Patrick.

A bad day fishing is better than a good day at work....but a good day fishing is even better!

We weren't the only guys to get out after the Silvers while there on the Naknek River system.  Whether it was us, other lodges, seals or bears, everyone had taken notice that Silvers were still pulsing in and found time to go after them.

SAO Guide/Host Ben Barger hammered a very nice buck on his day up Big Creek.

Leif was a great guy to fish with and the fish thought so too!  Many fish were caught like this one...including the seal slash (see tail area).  But we weren't picky at all.

All in all, the week or two I was there in camp the Silver fishing was surprisingly good.  In fact, it was phenomenal!  Of all the clients in camp, I don't think anyone went without catching at least a couple silvers with numerous guys catching several limits (5 fish daily) throughout the week.

It just goes to show you that these fish don't run based on the calendar month....so pay attention to your lunar/solar charts and other reports, because that could just make your "normal" week in camp look a little bit different than it normally does and that is the beauty of Alaska...there is always a surprise in store!

Next time we will look at a few different topics from fish to fowl and everything in between.  For those interested in hitting Alaska with us, we are making our return in September of next year on the same week as we have been several times previously.  We didn't make these dates public until just a few days ago via Facebook due to our high rebook rate.  If you are interested, we are heading back to Naknek River Camp for the week of September 7-14, 2012.  Email Patrick Robinson at flybum@windstream.net for more information on how you can get on the team for this awesome trip.

To see some video of past trips, go to the "Hosted Trips" page.  If that doesn't get you excited I don't know what will.

Tight Lines,

Patrick "Flybum" Robinson
Head Guide
Steelhead Alley Outfitters