Blast and Cast

Our new staff member “Cinder the Wonder Dog” has added a new dimension to the “Blast” part of the “Blast and Cast”. At ten months old he was bringing back every bird that fell and not taking any guff from the wounded. This past season, while nearing two years, he is following commands well and paying close attention to the job. After working with a RoBo Mallard this fall I plan on putting a RoBo goose to work next fall. Those things are amazing bringing in ducks and geese from great distances.

The fall run of Silver Salmon continues to be very reliable, coming in fresh until October 10. I added another boat on the river with allow for two to three guest to a boat. The Silvers readily hit streamer and top water flies as well as hardware. On several days during the week we fished in the morning and bird hunted in the afternoon when the tied pushed the bird in. These hunt are fun and relaxing at the same time. Not much work or huffing around the swamp.

Spring Bear Season was one of the beat in the last 20 years on the Alaska Peninsula.

The spring was late and the bears were just coming out as the season started.  We were five for six with bears being killed in three to four days of hunting. Even the one hunter that did not kill had several opportunities but ended up leaving early because of family demands. Bear killed were: Ray Bates : 8’10”, Lester Giacomini : 10’5” Chris Hoffman, Aaron Florian  both 9’5” and Mark Courchane 8’6”.

The moose season the last two years has been warmer than usual and because of this the big bulls have made us work for the success that in the past had come a bit easier. This past season we killed our biggest moose on the first days and the rest were taken slowly as the hunt moves forward. We were six for eight with five over sixty inches. 

The King Salmon was tremendous in all area rivers after being a bit slow for the last few years. The Cinder River has a tremendous run of King and Reds. The reds are always a little difficult to catch but the Kings are eager to respond to the fly on most days. If not the spin cast setups come out with a little hardware and the fun starts again. I did some fly outs to the Meshic River this past summer. The river is forty miles south of my lodge and offers a run of King Salmon a little larger than at the Cinder River. On the way down we can usually fly over Aniachack crater which is a National monument and not surprisingly, it is the least visited in the U.S. The scenery in this area is very beautiful, the trip is very beautiful and the fishing is great.