Two brothers fishing adventure🎣.
We had a great time, the fishing was spot on (With the exception of Muncho, that was pretty normal). The weather could not have been better and all the people we met were awesome ( not you, "grumpy *****" in the Valdez convenient store). Some things I learned on this trip; It is possible to cross into Alaska without a valid passport although its extremely rare (thanks border guard dude). Halibut are heavy. Sleeping 3 guys in a small enclosed boat after spending a hot day smashing Hali and Kings smells bad. I can change a tire on Michaels boat trailer faster than he can walk into a Taco Bell and get us Burritos. Apparently Lake Trout love Coho lures ( wow, we caught some nice fish). Building a fire around/over a flat rock to heat the rock, then cooking fresh fish on the rock works great, might I suggest topping with Chipotle mayo👍 (Pro Tip - make a broom with branches to dust off your rock before cooking). Sharp hooks pierce fish and fingers equally well (Barbless hooks hurt less coming back out🤣
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So, anyway, I kept some trip notes, while Neil drove, like a diary but less details. I think I will copy it below to give an idea of how we spent our time, it wasn't ALL fishing😎
Friday June 14
2 brothers fishing trip, Muncho, Hillgrin, Valdez, Seward, Kluane.
Day 1
Muncho lake. Fished 6hrs, no fish.
Headed to Hillgrin lake. Set camp midnight. Bed.
Day 2
Loaded boat in truck. Bounced into lake 50 min to drive about 5 miles.
Forgot pump for boat.
Left boat at lake and hotshoted back to camp. Back at lake an hour later. Rough road, lots of willows, gave my truck that nice "Alaska Pinstriped" look.
Caught many pike. Best between lakes and around islands. Top water frog lures rocked. Neil found a couple endangered toads. No ducks on lake, pike eat them. Found loon nest/egg.
All day at lake. No shoreline on any of the lakes to speak of. Deep water. Returned to camp for night.
Day 3.
Back to lake for morning fish, Neil got fish slashed hand on last fish.
Packed up and headed out.
Stopped to see Ron at Bighorn hotel.
Traveled to Sulphur lake. Small lake before Kluane lake. Set camp 2:00am.
Day 4
Drove to Kluane lake, had breakfast.
There was an RCMP stopping almost every vehicle leaving diner, waited till he had someone stopped to the south and booked it out the north exit. Looked for place to fish, but we were getting away from lake.
Made executive decision to turn around and go back. Found super ****ty spot to get off road, was jackknifing trailer around in rocky ditch. Almost turned around, looked ahead and RCMP truck was almost against my bumper. He pulls up and says "WHAT are you doing....?" As he looked at my 30' trailer jacked into the bush on the head sized boulders. I was like "um, fishing?....any suggestions for a better spot?"
Long story short, he was super nice and couldn't remember what km a particular spot was so he guided us back, 30-40 min to a great camp/fishing spot.
Fished Kluane for rest of day, I caught one nice 8lb Trout. Cloudy day with light sprinkles. Really too windy for Neil's small boat. Wicked dust storms blowing down the valley onto the lake. We camped by a boat launch at about km 1652, I think. Fished the point of an island right there.
Day 5
Showered at Kluane rest stop and headed for Alaska border.
In line at border Neil noticed his passport had expired in January😱
Pulled up to border guard, expecting the worst. Neil driving. Guard asked Neil how's things?
Neil replies not great, I just noticed my pp is expired. Guard says oh, so you're turning around? Neil says yes, if you let us? Guard takes both our passports and tells us to pull ahead so he can see our plates on vehicle/trailer. We wait.....
Guard finally comes and starts with the questions...
Where ya from, where ya going, what ya doing? Ever been a rested, ever been charged? Ext...
I knew deep down we were screwed, even though the guard was really really nice so far.
Guard leans in a little, looks Neil square in the eyes and says. We're going to forget about this, go catch a halibut and have some fun.
ARE YOU ****ING KIDDING ME.
HE LET US THROUGH.
If I'd been standing my jaw would have hit the ground, followed shortly by the rest of me.....
Back on the road.
Not sure about rules in Alaska, but we managed to find/cut/load up some nice firewood without getting shot at. Made it to Squirrel cr campground. No service there, so we backtracked a bit to a rest stop that had service, we wanted to surf for an hour and phone home before bed.
Day6
Drove to Valdez
Road absolutely trashed, lots of construction.
Found Bayside campground, walking distance "10min " from our boat dock.
Ate seafood lunch/supper.
Toured the town harbor area. Very nice small community. Met our Captian Mark who was taking us out fishing in morning.
Pallet fire at camp that night.
Early to bed (midnight), alarm set for 5am start.
Day 7
I'm tired😴
Up at 5am, fed and watered, food/drinks/gear ready and we're off to the harbor. Cool, cloudy morning walk helps wake me up.
Meet the other fisherpeople, only 2, so 4 of us fishing. That's awesome, as the boat is really nice, and 37' long, but it has a rather small fishing deck.
Found out that a combo charter is not Hali/salmon, its Hali/rockfish.
Disappointed a bit, but all good.
About 3hrs to fishing spot (27mph)
Saw, dolphins, killer whales, sea otters,
Fishing was slow to start. Neil caught a Yellow eye, I caught a couple small Hali (released).
At some point Neil wanted a break from jigging and passed his rod to me. I caught a 60# Hali.
Later, I was jigging Neil's rid again and my rod started twitching. I pointed it out to Neil, he grabbed it and eventually pulled up a 114lb Hali. Switched to Rockfishing, and had limits of those quickly.
Headed back to port.
Guy on dock cut our fish for 36$.
Packaged and flash frozen over night for 150$. 94.9lbs of Hali and Rockfish..
Good sleep on this night.
Day 8
Packed up camp, loaded up fish from blast freezer, headed to Wasilla. Beautiful drive between Glenallen and Palmer. Glaciers/Mountains and rivers.
Arrived at Michaels place about 5:30.
Day9
Drive from Wasilla to Seward
Launch and head out about 3 hrs.
Whales and sea otters.
Catch 2 nice Hali fairly quick. 37 and 25 lbs. Limit of Kings
Catch a crap load of Dogfish.
Pulled into a nice little bay for the night.
Bed at 11:00
Day 10
Up at 6:00, fishing by 7:00.
Pinks, Choho, and Humpback/Killer whales. Limit of Kings
Yellow Eye, Silvergray, Quillback Rockfish. Dogfish.
Had to change tire on boat trailer while Michael got us Taco Bell for supper.
Back at Michael s house at about 11:00
Day 11
Moose's tooth for lunch.
Bought diamond steel.
Processed fish.
Started cutting petrified wood.
White and red King Salmon taste test for supper over open fire pit.
Day 12
Biskets and Gravy for breakfast
Fix boat trailer (Guide Rail)
Cut firewood
Cut rocks (Coral)
Dump run
Pork steak, smashed potatoes, green beans, and gravy for supper.
Getting ready for Rainbow fishing tomorrow 👍
Day13
No fish, but we had a good walk in the river. I had 2 fish on briefly.
Cut up some more rock. (Agate)
Packed up for trip back to Kluane Lake for fishing derby.
Day 14
Leave Michaels at 7:30
Matanuska Glacier 9:30
Border crossing went well. Canadian border guard said Neil was very very lucky to get into Alaska. He was surprised they let us in.
Got firewood, can't take it across border with you.
Set camp at Kluane lake 10:50pm
Mike 15 min behind us.
Day 15
Fishing, testing lures and techniques for derby start at 6:00pm
Entered derby 6:00
Caught some nice lakers fishing deep with flashers and King Candy lures. Still learning this lake.
Lost a couple nice ones.
Back to camp 11:00
Dock Party, and Michael is sleeping on his boat.
Day 16
Up at 5:30
Fished all day, Talbot Arm, many fish caught. Yellow/pink Coho lure along shoreline.
Beautiful day, 27deg, calm, smoke
Derby leader 32lbs.
Fish till 1:00am.
Another Dock party, poor Michael.
Day 17
Up at 5:00
Fished all day, Talbot Arm, calm, sun, smoke.
Again caught many Lake trout. Pink and silver Coho lure.
2 shore meals, trout with Japaleno chip topping and trout with Chipotle mayo, cooked on rocks in open fire. Both were great, but next time will try to use wood other than driftwood.
29deg and bright on the water.
We are getting dialed in on fishing the Talbot Arm part of the lake.
Did not stop fishing at end of derby, as we knew we never had a winner. Stayed out till 10:00.
Derby party going strong.
Day18
Up at 7:00, packed up camp.
Looks like another fantastic day.
Headed for Watson lake to see Ron/Phyllis.
Grizzly on side of road
Phyllis making supper tonight, we are chipping in some fresh Halibut 👍
Home tomorrow, so I will end this here.
Great trip but highly exhausting , I would highly recommend it to anyone.
Fishing to Alaska and back, 19 days
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