Alaska: An Amazing Adventure with a Breathtaking View ~written by Kimberly Sanders
If you are presented with the opportunity to travel to Alaska on a fishing adventure, don’t say no! You will be rewarded with an incomparable experience in a place of stunning natural beauty. And, this adventure doesn’t have to break the budget. Many Alaskan fishing lodges come with upwards of a $7,000 price tag, but my experience was much different. I stayed in clean, comfortable accommodations, ate heartily, and caught big beautiful fish for less than half that price. Here are some details about a recent trip I took to Kasilof on the Kenai Peninsula with 5 other anglers in late October.
I flew into Anchorage and overnighted there before meeting up with the rest of the fishing party. We rented two 4x4 vehicles to transport the 6 of us plus all our gear. Before heading out, the group fueled up with a hearty and delicious breakfast at Heidi’s restaurant in Anchorage. (If you find yourself in Anchorage, even if you are not on a fishing trip, I highly recommend this place! Just yum!). After breakfast, we headed out of Anchorage and toward the Kenai Peninsula. The highway travels along the Cook Inlet with stunning vistas of the Aleutian and Alaskan Range. There are numerous pull-outs with signage about the geologic and gold rush history of the area. This is also a great place to spot beluga whales.
The drive time from Anchorage to Kasilof is about 3 hours, but the trip was broken up by stops at grocery stores for provisions, and, of course, a few fly shops for local knowledge and advice. We arrived at Kasilof Cabins (www.widespreadfishing.com) and quickly unloaded then wadered up. The Kasilof river is directly behind the cabins and the walk to the water took about a minute. Everyone practiced a few casts and pulled out fish until it was too dark to see our indicators, so back to the cabins and off to dinner at the Angry Salmon in Anchor Point. We took great care on the local highways because moose are abundant and oftentimes crossing the roadway.
The next day was a drift for steelhead on the Kasilof River. Reubin and Mark were fantastic guides and kept our crew searching out spots where steelhead are known to hold. The steelhead run had been early this year and were reportedly not as abundant as a few weeks before, but many in our group pulled in some nice specimens of steelhead, Dolly Varden, and salmon. Most, if not all, were caught on small 6 mm peach colored beads, also known as trout crack!
The following day, the group went to Deep Creek and the Anchor River to try our luck/skill. A number of Dolly Varden were brought to the net, but they were not as abundant as we had hoped for. This area, however, was gorgeous and we hiked through spots that felt remote. Yes, we all carried bear spray but it seemed like this was more of a moose habitat than bear. A small group of us took a side excursion down to the very end of the Kenai peninsula to check out Homer. We drove all the way to the end of the Homer Spit where the fishing fleet is located. It seems like this area would be hopping during high season with shops, galleries, and restaurants, but it was quiet and peaceful on our visit. It was well worth the trip to see the snow covered mountains across Kachemak Bay, and seals bobbing in the water right off the beach.
The next day, Reubin and Mark of Widespreadfishing.com took us predawn to Skilak Lake for a crossing to the Kenai river in search of rainbow trout. Their boats were comfortable and their gear was up to the task of pulling in BIG fish. One of the boats even had a propane heater to warm up chilled anglers. I had on five layers of clothes but hardly noticed when reeling in such beautiful fish. Everyone had a successful day of landing fish—most were hard-fighting rainbows between 23 and 30 inches. There were very few other boats on the river so we felt like we had the place to ourselves, sharing it only with flocks of bald headed eagles, a bear, and a few seals. We ended the day with an angler pulling in the 30 inch rainbow and high-tailed it back upriver and across the lake before the winds off the glaciers picked up creating a treacherous crossing.
Our final day was split between fishing locally right behind the cabin (more Dolly Varden) and exploring other areas farther up the Kenai river that were accessible from the roadway near Cooper Landing. Our group ended up back in Anchorage for a final meal at a local watering hole called The Bear Paw where we enjoyed halibut tacos and fish and chips. We told fish stories, recounted some memorable moments from the trip and unanimously agreed that this was worth doing again!
