2009 News letter

Summer Fishing / Kings and Red
Our summer King Salmon fishing started June 20 and ran through July 17. My weekly groups are usually six or seven. I felt good that the fishing was booked full for the year and even had to turn a few people away. Most of Alaska has been experiencing low King returns over the last few years but Bristol Bay continues to have good King returns. I am the only lodge to fish the Cinder River. The lodge only thirteen miles away and I have the only boats on the river. Our King season went well with good Kings available all four weeks. We had many “fly only” fishers that did well in spite of the low water. We used eggs a few times to keep the fish biting when they were sluggish. We also fish the Red salmon at this time and even though they were not good bitters client limited out most days. As the season rolls along we also fished near the lodge for Kings and the abundant Arctic Char.

Fall Silver Salmon
The fall Silvers fishery is one of the best in the state. This year was no exception. The Silvers come into the river and hold in the lower part and move up very slowly. This puts a lot of fish in a small area and catching them couldn’t be easier. We started fishing on August 15 and ended on September 10. The catches on during all four weeks were great. I had one group from Germany stay for two weeks. This is the second time they have done it and have booked again for two weeks in 2011.
Bob Daly came again and brought a group of five with him. One of the younger men was a chef and he did a good job making Sushi for us…..he used a lot of paper towels in the process though. I have extended the Silver season for two more week this year. (See his new letter in the fishing section)

Alaska Peninsula Moose
This year I received permits to hunt moose on a federal area near my lodge that I had only been able to hunt bear on previously. We had hunted on state land just north of the federal land and had taken several large bulls. This year Mitch Miller passed up a sixty four on the first day much to my disappointment but a few days later he took a very nice sixty-nine inch bull. Steve Jackson came all of the way from Australia to take a sixty-five inch bull after six days of tromping through the tundra. Steve has volunteered to come back next year and pack…glutton for punishment

Alaska Peninsula Brown Bear
Fall bear season was twenty one days this fall and we used all of them to get seven bears for nine hunters. Jorg Hurschle was first to connect on my Pacific side concession with a nice nine foot boar. Jorg had hunted with me five years ago killing a very nice eight foot nine inches. He improved on that this year but still has a ways to go for that ten footer. Roger Wuest whom has been booking a lot of fishing for me wanted to try his luck at brown bear hunting so without hesitation we gave him the opportunity. Roger had several chances at large bears but nothing worked out so near the end of the hunt and after four days of wind and rain he shot and eight footer. The only other thing he had shot was a rabbit….not bad for his first time out.
Johnny Cartaya returned to get his trophy after going home empty on his spring 2008 hunt. Johnny killed on his first day out on the Pacific side with guide Wade Hopkins. A nice eight and a half footer for the wall. Then the rain started and it was four more days before they could be picked up. The river came up around where they were camped and the runway flooded. They were down to inches of clear space around their tent. When all as about lost the rain abated and the river started to drop. It was a muddy pick-up but all was plucked out in three loads.
Brandon Cooper guided by Sam Clark bagged a nine and half footer on his seventh day of his hunt. He started his hunt right after the rains ended but the rivers were still high. The high water slowed the hunt down as they could not cross the river for the first few days but in the end there efforts paid off and he took home a very nice trophy.

Fall Bird Hunting and Fishing
Gary Burk and Gardner Davis purchased my 2008 donation SCI donation for my blast and cast and opted to come this year. On this trip we fish for Silver Salmon and hunt Lesser Canada Geese with a few ducks thrown in. After many e-mails and planning they arrived on September 22 to a very nice sunny day. As the weather changed rapidly on the Peninsula, I suggested that they enjoy it. As it turned out the weather was windy some of the days but not much for precipitation. The silver fishing in always good this time of year and this year was no exception. As we went down river we had a few duck shooting opportunities and as we pulled into the first fishing hole a flock of about forty geese came in very low catching us off guard but in spite of that feathers did fall. I could see right away these guys could shoot. We got right in to the Silvers and Gary and Gardner were had a good time as they had never fished for Silvers in fresh water before. We had a few small bears come by and looked us over but they kept on going. Cinder (the Wonder Dog) maintained a look out for us and provided an early warning system. The catch of Silvers was a mix of spawning colors and silver ones with sea lice.
Day two was out to the goose flats. I did a fly over to locate the geese and then landed on the beach. We walked in from their and set up on a couple of small hills. The wind was blowing about 20 mph and the ducks and geese were moving well. It didn’t take long to limit out and after breasting out the ducks and geese we headed back to the lodge a bit early. We hunt without decoys or blinds in his area. They just are not needed. Gary and Gardner were experienced bird hunters and very good shots. They said this was some of the best bird shooting they had ever had. There next two days were a repeat of the first and the weather treated us well for the duration of the hunt. Cinder accompanied us on the fishing and hunting trips. He is a bit rusty in his retrieving skills. Not getting enough time in the field has hurt him. Maybe it is time to send him or me to school.