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My Alaska Adventure

by C. James
Teen Reporter

My most exciting adventure was a trip to Alaska with my Mom and Dad. We had decided on a remote, rustic fishing trip and booked five days through Steve Ranney's "Fishing and Flying" of Cordova, Alaska. Steve picked us up in a small single engine plane at Valdez airport and flew us over an indescribable landscape to a remote cabin on the Katalla River.

The cabin had no electricity. Water was available but had to be carried to the cabin in containers. Cooking was done on a Coleman stove. Silver backed insulation placed between the two by fours decorated the inside of the cabin. Of course, there was a little hike to the nearest outhouse and a worry that we might run into the huge Brown bear that frequented the camp. Not exactly the Holiday Inn, but we thought it was great.

One day Steve picked us up at the cabin and flew us to another river and used the beach as a landing strip. I cast a few times to get a feel for the current of the river. Within a few minutes the water exploded and my rod bent. The silver salmon put on an acrobatic show as I tried desperately with my light action rod to make headway. Just when I thought I had won the battle, the silver streak took off upstream for the opposite shore. I made headway again, but just as I thought the silver had weakened it took off again. My line held as I finally brought the sixteen-pound silver salmon to shore.

Silvers are the most sought-after salmon in Alaska. Also known as Coho, they are the second largest of the five species of Alaska salmon and the most acrobatic - providing lightning speed runs once hooked. Once I managed to reel the beauty to shore, my Mom took a picture, and we quickly released the salmon back into the river.

We caught fish after fish ranging in size from 15 to 20 pounds. We saved a few fish for dinner and released most, holding the silvers by their tales in the current until they regained their strength.

Steve came back another day, this time with a floatplane, and flew us to Lake Martin high in the mountains, surrounded yet by higher snow peaked mountains. A place seen by only a few human inhabitants a year. For convenience, an aluminum boat is left at the lake so only a motor needed to be brought in. As we unloaded the last rod, Steve said he'd be back later in the day and lifted off from the water runway.

As the quiet stillness settled in, we realized it was just us, the lake, the fish and the wildlife and a long, long way to civilization or event to our remote cabin. At first, we thought the weather was going to cooperate. We waded in the shallow end of the lake and I soon encountered the first Sockeye salmon. The sockeye was already in its full spawning colors so we knew the meat was too soft to eat and released it back into the water.

We motored along in the boat and found a school of sockeye. We were enjoying the ballet with each fish so much that we didn't notice the clouds moving back in over us. Soon it started to rain, but that was nothing new. It had been raining all week. It rains a lot in Alaska, so if you come here expecting and prepared for cold weather and rain as we did, you'll have a great time.

We decided to try different parts of the lake and different fishing methods, which landed us several lake trout and a Dolly Varden. We kept a few fish in the event that Steve was not able to make it back and we had to spend the night at the lake.

The rain continued. The temperature dropped. Even with all of our rain gear we were beginning to get wet and cold. Mountaintops disappeared and the clouds dipped lower and lower over. The mountain tops disappeared. We realized Steve would not have enough visibility to come back. We'd be spending the night. We wished we had brought extra food, sleeping bags and dry clothes. We began to make preparations before dark. Using gas from the boat, we were able to get a fire started with the wet wood. With a fire, we knew we could survive. With the fish we would not starve. It could possibly be days before the storm lifted and Steve was able to make it back with the plane.

We were prepared to spend the night under the trees on a cold raining night. Our family was together, a little cold but happy. Later and fortunately for us, the clouds lifted. It was a relief to hear the sound of the engine's whine over the mountaintops as the floatplane ferried us back to the warmth of our remote cabin and our Lake trout supper.

We had each experience the best fishing of our lives and a special family bonding that happens when you are away from day-to-day distractions. It was with mixed emotions that we accepted the final plane ride back to civilization harboring special thoughts of a memorable trip to the outback of Alaska.

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