Jet Lagged Confessions - Alaska Style Part 5

Point blank, the best way to say what needs said is that Alaska is a wild place.  In fact, it is known as the "last frontier," or "the land of the midnight sun," among other names.  I don't know about you, but in a wild place where the sun doesn't fully set for as many as 84 days (Barrow, AK), that is a lot of daylight in which to play.  The only down side is that at some point you have to sleep...otherwise I would hunt and fish for as many days straight as possible!

A nice Caribou shed I found hanging in a pine bough this year while wandering 
the tundra in search of the beautiful Willow Ptarmigan.

After my second trip to Alaska in 2011, I was moved deeply by the raw, wild expanse and made a proclamation.  That proclamation was this...."I swear I will never return to the great state of Alaska again without a gun!"  Don't take this to mean that I was fearful of large carnivores or the unknown of an untainted wilderness, because nothing could be further from the truth.  I am an outdoorsman at heart and knew full well that there was more than fishing to be had in Alaska thus the reason I made my proclamation.  I just couldn't settle for only fishing in Alaska...hunting must come into play!

Roughly one year later, I was curbside at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport on my way to Alaska for trip number three.  This time I had  more than just fly rods and waders!  You guessed it...This time I had a travel case complete with 12 gauge, ammunition, and duck calls and I intended to put them all to good use!

A very nice bull Moose taken just outside of camp a day before my arrival this year.  There is more to do in Alaska than any visitor has time to do!

So, since this blog series is titled "Jet Lagged Confessions," let me get to it. My confession for this last blog on my Alaska trip in 2012 is that my passion for hunting birds (both upland and waterfowl) run as deep as do my passions for fishing on the fly!  I have a feeling that many others would confess to this same love if given the chance.  It seems that bird hunting and fly fishing go together like a hand in a glove and because of this, they have received my attention for many years now.

My earliest memories with my father were in duck blinds on the great Mississippi River hunting ducks. These memories are ones I will cherish for the rest of my life and have been told in story form on many occasions and in varying formats.  I suppose that my love for bird hunting grew out of these world-class experiences and is what has drawn me back to the great sport for time with my own friends and families in recent years.

My oldest son holds his first mallards from late October 2012
just before hurricane Sandy moved through.

A hen Northern Shoveler killed a couple of weeks ago in northeast Ohio.  Cool birds for sure!

A nice bag of Black Ducks and Mallards for a three man crew earlier in the season.

Out of this love for waterfowl came my desire for upland birds and buying my first pointing breed as well.  So, you may be asking what does all this bird talk have to do with Steelhead Alley Outfitters?  Well, when I headed to Naknek River Camp in September of 2012, it was to explore not only more water, but also to explore the Alaskan world of bird hunting (both waterfowl and upland).

I am happy to say that what I found while there in the Bristol Bay region was absolutely world-class and we hope to begin sharing these experience with our Alaska clientele starting in September of 2013.

Here is a selection of photos from my time afield following my week with clients this past trip.

Willow Ptarmigan are plentiful in the area as are Spruce Grouse.  This was my
first bird taken while walking the Tundra of the Alaskan Peninsula.

I didn't get near the time I wanted to chase the upland birds but know that there are plenty around.  I have seen covey after covey of both Ptarmigan and Grouse in different areas and as long as you can walk some tundra or alder groves you are bound to find some players to put a smile on your face.  If you go to the "Hosted Trips" page and watch the Contact Creek short film, you will see a covey of Ptarmigan get flushed.

Moving onto waterfowl....this fall Ben Barger and I spent four days chasing ducks on Alaskan water.  It was an amazing time and a great, new Alaskan experience!  Here are some highlights...

Patrick "High Balls" birds at a distance to get their attention.  These birds are at the top of their migration route and thus have not seen much pressure!  That means birds are very receptive to the call which in my opinion adds to the experience!

SAO Guide Ben Barger and NRC Guide Miles Kluesing enjoy
a Saturday morning hunt from our makeshift duck blind.

My first Alaskan duck.  A drake Northern Pintail.  Most of the birds killed
were in what is called "eclipse plumage." That means that they are in the process of
losing feathers and gaining their mating plumage which is the prettiest of the year.

Another drake Northern Pintail comes to hand...this time for Ben Barger.

An American Wigeon - Northern Pintail double comes to hand on day one.

A beautiful drake American Wigeon...my first of the trip.

A day one bag of 20 birds for three of us.  That was just 4 birds shy of a bag limit.

For those who are not waterfowl hunters, this is what is called getting caught in the decoys.  I wish I had a ten dollar bill for each time one of us got pinned down by an incoming flock...Either that or when an eagle would try to steal our dead birds out of the decoys
before we could get to them....yes that happened twice while we were there.

A look at part of our decoy spread.  The hole to the upper left of the photo is where
most of our birds would decoy...it was a simple spread that did the job well!

My first Wigeon trifecta...3 shots, 3 birds down...got lucky enough to do this twice in one day.

Ben Barger hammered this Mallard on a beautiful afternoon hunt.

The crew with a full four man bag limit of ducks...32 birds.  Mixed bag of Mallards, Northern Pintails, American Wigeon, Northern Shovelers, and a couple of Green-Wing Teal.

65-70 lbs of duck....Amazingly much of this was consumed by guides and 
clients before I even had a chance to bag any for the flight home.  

Overall, the scouting trip for birds was a huge success and world-class by any definition.  That being the case, we have officially listed our 2013 dates with a "cast n' blast" option for those desiring to take advantage of two world-class opportunities while in Alaska.

OUR 2013 DATES ARE SECURED - SEPT 7-14, 2013

Join us for the fish and hunt opportunity of a lifetime!

If you have any questions pertaining to this aspect since it is a brand new offering, please don't hesitate to drop me a note at flybum@windstream.net or give me a call at 419-348-7199.  I would be more than happy to talk you through the details and share some of my experiences.  As for pricing, this is a one price fits all gig.  If you want to hunt, fish, or a combination of both, I just need to know.  In my opinion, this is a win/win for the guy/gal who enjoy both sports!

I can't wait to get back to Alaska in September of 2013, and hope to have a few bird hunters in tow!

Patrick "Flybum" Robinson

Head Guide

Steelhead Alley Outfitters

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

Jet Lagged Confessions - Alaska Style - Part 2

Alright....the next confession in this blog series is that I love the colors of Alaska.  From the sky to the water to the tundra and the trees, the state of Alaska has some really cool colors.

I have been privileged to see some really spectacular sunrises and sunsets in my time, but Alaska seems to take the cake for the most breathtaking of them all!  This photo is one I snapped at daybreak and other than cropping it, did nothing to edit it for this blog....Simply amazing colors are seen regularly!

The view from my front porch looking out across the Naknek River.

The other confession I have is one my good friend Greg would wholeheartedly agree with and that is that I have a fly fishing love affair with Char....not just Arctic Char either.  I just absolutely love Char  and love chasing them wherever they can be found!

Although I didn't spend time this year getting really good photos, we did get some that bring back some great memories.  I did get a bit of video with my GoPro too, but don't have the time to edit it down right now, so the photos will have to do.

Jim and brother Bill show a beautiful Char on their return trip to Alaska 

An Alaskan Char ninja sighted on the Ugashik Narrows.

Ken holds a colored up Char at the Narrows.

SAO guide Ben Barger cherishes a moment with his father Jim as a beautiful Arctic Char graces their presence. 

Ben Barger and Hunter Johnson take time for a snapshot.

Ken holds a really nicely kyped Arctic Char on a jewel of a creek. 

In closing I must confess that yes, there is more video, but you will need a bit of time to watch this clip as it is around 12 minutes in length.  While it isn't a total Char piece, it does have the prettiest Char I have ever photographed or filmed without a doubt!  Again, this is an excerpt from the full length piece we edited down from last year's trip, so enjoy!

Patrick "Flybum" Robinson
Head Guide
Steelhead Alley Outfitters

Jet Lagged Confessions - Alaska Style - Part 1

 Just a few short days ago, I returned from one of my favorite places on earth...that being the great state of Alaska.  My first confession has to be that I absolutely love that place.  I think I could spend the rest of my days traveling to that place and always find something new to do.  This was my third trip hosting anglers to this majestic place and yet again, I found plenty of new adventure in this awesome place.  For many others it was all brand new and so were some of the smiles!  Here are a few of the big Alaska Rainbows caught on the Naknek River.

Bill Lewis and guide Kyle show off a decent Rainbow on the Naknek

Jim Barger and guide Wes show off the big Bow of day one at Naknek River Camp

Leif Birnbaum holds a healthy Naknek Rainbow....one of many!

Host and SAO guide Ben Barger shows off what would be
considered an average size trophy fish for the fall fishery on the Naknek River.

Ken Fugate holds a slob of a Bow on the the mighty Naknek

My second confession is that I have been sitting on a lot of great film from our trip to Alaska last year.  I have been sitting on it because we had thoughts of putting something in the Fly Fishing Film Tour for the coming year, but sometimes the best of plans just need to wait for another season.  That being the case, I thought now would be as good a time as any to start breaking down some of the footage and sharing it with all of you.  So, here is the trailer we put together for the film that we shot last year entitled Tight Lines & Tundra.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we did making it!

Until my next confession, tight lines!

Patrick "Flybum" Robinson

Head Guide

Steelhead Alley Outfitters