Alaska, wilderness and adventure are words that go together, if you want to travel to this part of the world fishing for the mighty salmon is a wonderful way to spend your hard earned vacation time.
In this article from Tag Publishing they cover some great tips on ways to catch salmon.

Image via Flickr

Hassle-Free Ways You Can Improve Your Ability To Catch Salmon …

www.tagpublishing.biz2/5/12

While there are many places you can go salmon fishing, if you really want to have an unforgettable experience you should go on an Alaskan salmon fishing trip. Alaska has some of the best preserved wilderness anywhere in …

Great vision here of a group of anglers fishing on the Kasilof River on the Kenai Peninsula, a drift only river – outboard motors are banned. It’s a wonderful relaxing place to fish for King Salmon.

What You Should Know Before You Go Salmon Fishing Worth Old …

www.wobsnet.org.uk2/5/12

Anyone that has tried salmon fishing remembers how fun it is to do; many people have tried this from British Columbia to the shores of Alaska. Salmon fishing is one of the best sports on the West Coast and can be quite an …

One of the real joys of travelling in Alaska and fishing for salmon is the feeling of being in the wilderness, close to nature and this is really well demonstrated by the beautiful photos from Patrick Endres.

Alaska King Salmon Fishing

The Kasilof River on the Kenai Peninsula is a drift-only river, so the noise and wakes of powerboats is never a problem the only sounds you will hear is an excited guide yelling “Fish On”, a chattering eagle, or the peaceful sound of a drift boat gliding down river.

Brown bear and red salmon – Alaska Photography Blog

http://www.alaskaphotographyblog.com/Jan 25

The bear had approached me while chasing fish in the river, so I grabbed a few shots before she walked back to the bank to feed her cub. This was a successful one, and I liked how it reveals the dexterous manner in which the bears can handle fish, she is holding it with her teeth by the dorsal fin.

The jangling of the telephone sliced through the darkness, shaking me to my core. It was 4:30 a.m., and in the handful of instants before Ken could pick up the phone on his side of the bed, I imagined every possible disaster in the book.

Who is it? I mouthed, unable to stand the suspense a moment longer. Northwest Airlines…. he lip synched to me in return. And so, our vacation began. For months, we had been planning it our return to Alaska after a two-year hiatus. And now, the recording on the other end of the telephone was telling us our flight had been canceled because the Duluth Airport was socked in by fog. Oh, noooooo….. I moaned into my pillow. I quickly reemerged, however. Lets get in the car, drive to Minneapolis and catch it there! I cried. We leaped out of bed and scrambled around in the darkness resolve quickly taking over for despair. Twelve hours later, we found ourselves circling over the tree-covered hills, dramatic ocean flats and snow-capped mountains surrounding Anchorage. It was like coming home again our fourth trip to a land wed grown to know and love ever since our son, Jason, first moved there to attend college in Fairbanks.

We made a quick trip to the market for supplies to replenish the pantry at the fishing lodge Jason now operates on Lake Creek, and we

Lake Creek Campsite Image Via Flikr Zoe52

arrived at Rusts Flying Service on Lake Hood shortly before 5 p.m. with our four big duffel bags and five boxes of groceries. A group of tourists who had just returned from a flight seeing trip to Mount McKinley seemed impressed by our mountain of gear. Youd think we were going out caribou hunting for weeks, wouldnt you? I commented with a grin to no one in particular. We went into the office and checked in for our float plane flight and then returned outside to await our departure. An older woman from the flight seeing group tentatively approached me and asked shyly, Are you really going caribou hunting? No, I laughed, were actually going out to our sons fishing lodge. Oh, darn! she replied, looking disappointed. I was so impressed to think that you were actually going caribou hunting!

It wasnt until the next morning, when we were finally knee-deep in the middle of Lake Creek in our hip waders that I finally began to relax and let Alaska truly began to seep under my skin and rid me of all the stress and tension of the days and weeks leading up to that moment. Before I was even ready for it, a silver salmon hit my line. Mom, mom, let him run with it! yelled Jason. And dont forget to keep your rod tip up or hell break it right off! No matter how often Ive done it before, I always seem to have that breaking in period where I forget everything Ive been taught and simply panic. And as quickly as it began, my battle with the fish was over as he broke loose and darted away. It wasnt long, however, before another one hit my line. At this time of year, the salmon are preparing to spawn, so they hit the bait more out of anger and distraction than hunger, and they put up a mighty fight when they get hooked.

My line zinged almost continually as the silver salmon made run after run with it, and finally he managed to cartwheel his entire length above the surface of the water. Man, oh, man, I yelled. This is living! Remembering at last my carefully-tutored instructions of a couple of years ago, I patiently worked the fish until I got him far enough up toward shore for Jason to ease him out of the water.

The 8-pound salmon was solid muscle and in the early throes of turning the tell-tale scarlet of the spawning season. Intending to release him, I wanted first to have my picture taken with him. I handed my digital camera to Jason, and he carefully transferred the fish into my eagerly waiting grasp. Now, Mom, Jason cautioned, be careful not to squeeze him too hard, but keep a firm grip so he doesnt get away from you….

I wrapped one hand around the base of the fishs tail and gingerly slipped the other just under its gills, keeping him low to the water. And then, as I looked up into the camera lens and turned on a dazzling smile, the fish gave one mighty twist and got away.

Part II

The bone-chilling cold of the morning was warring with the sleep-inducing warmth of the big quilt that engulfed us. The skies had cleared overnight, and the temperature had dipped below freezing, coating the grass and the front porch of our little cabin with a brittle coat of frost. Though it would have been easy to give in to the beckoning of our warm covers, the thought of the thermos of hot coffee that I knew would be waiting out front on the porch railing was too strong to resist.

I gingerly crawled into jeans that were as cold as the outside air, dragged a sweatshirt over my head and darted outside to grab the waiting thermos and the thick mug that accompanied it.

I knew that my son, Jason, probably had been up for hours already and I marveled at how all things come full circle…. Later, we walked up to the main lodge, where Jason was frying hash browns generously laced with onion on the grill in the kitchen. Off in another corner of the grill was a mountain of eggs scrambled with thick slices of sausage. Breakfast is definitely one of the high points of the day at Wilderness Place Lodge, and after one sniff of its delicious aromas, there was no turning back! We pretty much inhaled our breakfast, however eager to set out on our planned trip to a salmon creek known as Eight Mile, up the mighty Yenta and Skwentna rivers. We were soon zooming up the Yenta in one of the lodges flat-bottomed jet boats, bundled up to the eyebrows against the icy morning air. For a time, I felt as though my eye sockets were freezing until we rounded a bend in the river and were greeted by the full panorama of the Alaska Range in bold relief against the brightening morning sky. It took our collective breaths away, and we forgot all about being cold.

At last, we arrived at our destination a sand bar just at the confluence of the Skwentna and Eight Mile. We beached the boat, threw the anchor ashore and disembarked with all of our gear.

As the morning sun began to warm us, it was a day unlike few others and the silvers were biting! Silver salmon are fighting fish, and their acrobatics and reel-smoking runs make stream fishing for them as exciting as any fishing Ive ever encountered. One minute the line is casually drifting through pockets of calm water along the shoreline, and the next, the brawny fish hit with spine-tingling aggression and proceed to give you the wildest game tug-of-war youve every played!

And though we did battle with so many of them our arms were aching by the end of the morning, we only kept three of them one to eat for dinner that night and two to take back and smoke over a slow-burning alder fire in the smoker.

Before heading back to the lodge, we decided to stop and hike in from the river to the Skwentna Roadhouse for lunch in the warm, homey kitchen of the old two-story house located in a small clearing in the woods. The roadhouse, like so many others scattered across Alaska, is meant as a stopping-over place for remote travelers in the Alaskan wilderness. This particular one also once served as a wintertime boarding house for children whose families lived in areas too isolated for them to get to school every day. It also plays host to race spectators during the famous Iditarod Sled Dog race each year (the Skwentna Post Office across the river is the races first official stopover).

The couple who has owned and run the roadhouse for the past 40 years has been trying to retire for the past several years so they can fulfill their dream of living on a sailboat off the coast of Baja California. But alas they have been unable to find a buyer and so they run it still.

Part of the ritual of stopping there is sitting around the big kitchen table and shooting the breeze with them for a while before ordering your food no matter how empty your stomach is. When we mentioned we were from northern Minnesota, the husband, John, commented with a grin, Wow as if I couldnt tell from the accent! Whoo-ee, Joyce, he guffawed to his wife, maybe we should put on the Fargo tape while these folks are here…!!

Information on Wilderness Place Lodge may be found online at:

Wendy Johnson

http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-articles/an-alaska-fishing-experience-on-lake-creek-travels-in-the-village-of-skwentna-87311.html

I have had the pleasure of fishing for salmon in Alaska. It was a thrilling experience!

To see 3 feet long Silver’s in a stream surrounded by 10,000+ foot mountains is something you dream about.

If you have fished for salmon anywhere and they are spawning you know they aren’t all that easy to catch as they aren’t feeding only intent on

running up stream to their spawning spot. So it takes some patience and good timing as well as knowing where and when they are running.

But for any fisherman, this is one of the ultimate experiences!

Here are a few tips:

Your First Pole:
The most important piece of equipment is a fishing pole of course! The best place to purchase a pole is at a real pro shop or bait and tackle shop.

Pro shops usually have a generous return policy. If you get a pole that is not comfortable for you, too stiff or too flexible, too long or too short, they will generally exchange it for a pole that will work better for you.

Bottom line, they want your return business for other things like bait and tackle.

The Place:
The best place to fish for salmon is in the river when they come up to spawn. The local pro shop should be happy to provide you with the best times for fishing salmon.

Salmon spawn at different times and come up the rivers at different intervals throughout the season. So, planning is important if you want to

actually fish when the salmon are spawning. You can get alot of good information with a subscription to Alaska magazine or do a search online for the location you are interested in.

The Boat:
Best case scenario is to have a flat bottom river boat, but those are expensive. It may not be a good idea to take a regular “V” hull lake boat into the river because the depths can be too shallow and unpredictable.

Another wonderful way to experience your first salmon trip is by hiring a guide. You’ll learn more from the guide then on your own. It can be pricey, but it’s worth it. Alaska guides generally charge $200/day per person.

No boat? No worries. Fishing from shore is a wonderful way to experience this fantastic hobby as well. Get some waders and watch out for the slippery rocks!

The Bait:
Ask the Pro’s at the pro shop what works best in your area or the area you are going to fish. They will most likely suggest salmon eggs. They are cured in many different ways and everyone has their favorite.

You may wonder why you would want to use salmon eggs. It’s very simply really. After salmon spawn, the parent fish stay around the nest to protect the eggs from predators like trout.

The currents will also carry the eggs away. When this happens the parent fish gently pick the eggs in their mouth and bring them back to the nest.

So, when you dangle salmon eggs in the water after the salmon have spawned, they will see the eggs and assume that some have floated out of the nest. When they go to retrieve them, they get hooked!

The Catch:
Take along an ice chest filled with ice to keep your catch fresh. You may want to have a couple of five gallon buckets as well. One bucket for cleaning your catch. Another bucket to keep the ready-to-eat gutted and cleaned salmon in.

If you clean it before you take it home, you avoid the smelly bloody mess in your kitchen. Many rivers in Alaska, Kenai, Russian, Montana, Bird…have fish cleaning facilities.

A third bucket could be used to save salmon eggs gutted from a female. You can save the egg sack and cure it later. You can learn more about how to cure the eggs, or roe, online or talk to someone in your local pro shop for suggestions.

The Filleting:
You can cut your fish in two ways, steaks or fillets. Salmon steaks are the easiest way to cut them up. Filleting takes a little more practice. You will

probably mangle the first few you try to fillet. Don’t let that bother you. All those little mangled pieces can be smoked and turned into a salmon dip.

Mmm good!

The Cooking:
There are many ways to cook salmon. Pan fry, BBQ, roasted or even smoked. If you do decide to smoke your salmon pieces, be sure not to over dry

them.

Here’s a simple recipe for salmon dip.

One cup smoked salmon
Two 8 oz packages of cream cheese
Half cup chopped onion
Salt, pepper, garlic, to taste

Now it’s time to stop reading about it and go out there and catch some salmon!

Dan Farrell

http://www.articlesbase.com/sports-and-fitness-articles/salmon-fishing-tips-79560.html