the summer

So I haven't posted all summer I don't know why just did not take the time. Been a good summer did a lot of camping. For the Forth of July I took a solo trip to Tangle Lakes. The dog and I had a great time, that was the last time that the sun shined around here as this has been the wettest year ever. Patience and I did some dip netting on the Kaseloff River. Joe met us at Johnson lake camp ground and we where able to dip 40 fish from the river in one day. While down there Patience, Joe and I went out on a friends boat to do some halibut fishing. Patience did not have such a great time as it was vary ruff and she got sea sick. We caught some nice fish. Ended the year with Heidi's uncle Wayne and aunt Beth coming up from New Hampshire and going on a trip to Kodiak with us. Had a great trip, took the ferry from Homer and lucked out with the seas and weather. Left Homer in the rain but it cleared up as we arrived to the island, then it stayed nice the whole time we where there. The kids had a great time Wayne and I did a lot of fishing. We saw all kinds of wild life. I will post the photos at some point but for now if you want to see theme go to my photo bucket.

Lake Louise, Rabbit Hunting and Back To Louise

It has been a few weeks since I posted. Here is whet I have done. Patrick and I went to Lake Louise. We fished a few spots and had some good hits but only caught one small lake trout each. The next week i went rabbit hunting. Rabbits are off there seven year cycle now but I did shoot five and missed five. I spent the next weekend at home then i headed to Louise to spend the night. I pulled all my fishing stuff out on the lake a mile and a half after work. I thought I was going to get cold but it was nice. I think it was around 0 at night but I took a heater and a 20 LBS propane can. The ice house was in the 80 for a while so I had to leave the heater on low so it was cool enough to sleep. I got up at five the next morning to fish this seemed to be the best time. I had several strikes then caught a BB about 8 LBS. Not to long after that I had a huge strike and some line was pulled off the reel for a wile then the line broke and I lost the fish. After that one I caught five small lakers. After 10 the fishing was dead. I pulled the Auger, tent, sleeping stuff heater and 20LBS of propane onto the ice and was surprised that it was not that hard. On the way back to the can it was warmer out and I got sweaty but it was nice. looks like I will be at mom and dads this weekend so I wont go fishing till April. I needed the extension on the auger at Louise so looks like there is still lots of winter left.
I think it is smiling at you!!!!

Lake Louise Feb 20 & 21

I headed to Lake Louise with some friends last weekend. The weather was great, kind of cold in the morning but it warmed up in the afternoon to 20s. It is amazing how warm that can feel when it reflects off of a lake in your face. At one point it felt so warm I had to take my coat and hat off. The down side is that when the sun set it became a lot colder. We had some snow machines and one of the guys rented one from the lodge. So once again I had to ride doubles. We started the day at the mouth of a bay off a point. We had some good bites first thing then it slowed till Max hooked a nice Lake Trout. After that things slowed way down. Patrick and Nick chose to go off and explore the other side of the bay. They where gone for a long time when Patrick called me to say that Nick had a monster on and had been fighting it for a while. We jumped on the machines to go look at what was going on the hook. (It is the fish by the rod in the dark). Since he caught that fish there we decided to drill some holes and stay for a while. Patrick got a huge hit that broke his line off. Then I had one on for a while but lost it. Right after that I hooked into a small Burbot. We kept getting small hits after that just enough to keep us going, any way. Then I got hit hard and set the hook into a big burbot it put up a good fight and soon I had a 14 lbs fish on the ice. Not long after one of the others landed a burbot about the same size. The action slowed after that and it was nine in the evening, we thought we should check into the lodge for the night. We woke up late the next day and ate breakfast. While we ate Patrick went out and caught a nice burbot longer then mine from the same spot as the night before. After we were through eating we headed out to meet him. Things where going great we had hits now in then but no hook ups. I had one on for a while that felt big but I lost it. The other guys looked down their holes and could see fish swim by now and then. I was sitting back in my chair soaking up the sunrise when I got hit hard. This thing was dogging me, as soon as I would get it near the hole it would pull hard back to the bottom of the lake and not move. I could tell that it was big because I could not move the thing; it never went for any long runs just pulled to the bottom of the lake and stopped. I had to tighten my drag so I could pull the fish up. I though I had a monster burbot but when it came through the hole it was a huge laker. We fished there for a while longer but did not have any more action so we headed to the other side of the lake. We caught a few more small lake trout before it was time to go.

Byers lake

Heidi and I spent last weekend at Byers Lake. We had a great time skiing around the trails and on the lake. I rented cabin three witch is lest rented cabin since it is the farthest from the road. It took two sled loads to transport all the comfort items to the cabin, that included four bundles of fire wood, five gallons of water and a 20 lbs of propane for the lantern and stove. Heidi became all domesticated when arrived there and cleaned the whole place. By the time we left it looked like a new place. After we skied and hiked all day we played cards and ate dinner, been a long time since we could play games with out getting interrupted. It had been along time since ether one of us had skied and we took some video that is funny

Lake Louise

Patrick and I went to Lake Louise one more. these day trips to Louise are always an adventure. They start by getting out of bed at 430 AM. This trip like the last was full of problems. This time the jiffy ice auger would not start. I have been having problems with it since a bought it from Jiffy, I called the company and was told that if I turned some nobs on the carb that it would work butter. Unfortunately, it was -20 and by the time that I got it running the fuel in the bowl of the carb had congealed and it would not run. I put some heat in the tank than it worked fine. Now the problem was that the auger blades where so dual that I could not get it to cut. good thing that Patrick took his Eskimo Ice Auger with us. After we had the holes drilled I got the fishing pulls out to find that trip to Crosswinds was more ruff than I thought on them. one reel was broke when I got it out of the bucket and one more broke wile I was using it. This left me with only two rods one with heavy line and one with light line around 8 lbs test. We both decided to use the doc spoon since that is what I caught the two big Lakers on. Patrick caught a 30 inch Burbot right a way. Then we drilled hole and fished till we where in a bout 50 feet of water. I was a little down since my equipment would not work and I had not got a bite. Just then smack fish on. Since I had light line on the reel I let the fish run. It took line for five minuets strait before it turned a round and came back. I got it close to the hole only to have it do it once more. The long runs wore it out and it was ready to be landed. I had the drag vary loose and the battle lasted 10 minuets. I could not believe the size of the fish when I picked it up. It was a bit cool out so after fighting a fish for ten minuets with out gloves on then picking the thing up my hands where a bit cold so i took a break to warm them up. After a wile I saw Patrick's Automatic fisherman go up he ran over and it did not look like the fish was there but he was able to finessed it into taking the bait. soon he had a laker on the ice as well.
I went back to fishing and after thirty minuets the line started zinging of my reel super fast. I tightened the drag but this time there was no stopping it the line kept going. i tightened the drag down more but it did not stop. I looked down at the spool of line and was surprised to see that there was not muck line left on it, In a matter of fact I could see the manufactures name on the inside of the spoon. I cranked the drag down more and the fish came to a stop but i could not move it. Man this fish must be twice as big as the first fish. The thing pulled a few more time but it was completely wore out, as would be expected after it swam at top speed for at 300 feet. Although it was wore out, I still had a hard time getting it in. I had to move the rod up and down like I fighting a giant halibut. When I got it near the hole and watched it swim by i saw why, some how I had snagged the fish in the back fin. It was not nearly as big as we through but it was still a nice fish. this is where it get funny. I think the fish relay wanted to get caught because as i was trying to pull it through the hole back words it some how got the hook caught on the ice at the bottom of the hole. I tried to to put my hand down the hole to dislodge the hook as I did not want to loos it but I could not reach. Patrick had the idea to put the rod tip in the hole to remove the hook from the ice witch it did but at the same time the fish got off. For a while we thought i had lost it but then it was there once more only the hook was in a different part of the fish. After I let that fish go I commented that if I catch another one I think that I know whet I'm doing. Apparently that was the wrong thing to say as I did not catch another fish. I did have one on for a wile and I had a good strike but I lost them.

Crosswinds lake

Patrick, Nick and I had the chance to snow machine into Crosswinds Lake to fish for lake Trout. I have to thank Uncle Jim for this one. He was nice enough to let me use his snow machine and trailer. It a was vary interesting trip. We rented a cabin from Club Crosswinds. The owner met us at the trail head to explain how to get there and get the money. He said that it might be foggy when we get to the lake but head down the right shore of the lake looking for two ice shanty's then go between then to the other side of the lake. We loaded the sleds and machines up and headed down the trail. The snow machines worked great but we kept stopping to tighten down the stapes and move things around in the sleds we where towing. It ended up taking several hours to make to the lake. Things looked good when we got there and we started moving down the right hand shore just as he said. Then just like that the ice fog moved in and we could not see more than 30 feet. I no 30 feet of visibility doesn't sound bad but I did not tell you that Crosswinds Lake in ten miles long and five miles wide. Once that fog came in and we could not see the shore we where as disoriented as you can get. Good thing that I took the G.P.S, I turned it on and found that we where right next to the shore, could not see a tree but they where there. I Marked a way point where we thought the cabin was and headed that way. We then shot across the lake as fast as we could. I was afraid there might be over flow on the lake and did not want to get stuck. When there is that much open space, low visibility it does not take long to completely loose each other in the fog. You could be right next to each other and not know the other person was having problems. After a long time and lots of wasted gas we found the cabin. We set our things up then went out to drill holes for ice fishing. That day we did not get a bite. we tried in front of the cabin. The cabin was nice. It had a drip oil heater in it to keep us warm witch worked good. The next day it snowed and there was no fog so we where able to fish away from the cabin. We each caught lakers around 5 lbs and caught a pair of BB that where around 8 LBS. We fished hard but it was not great. The next day we cleaned the cabin up and packed the sleds for the trip back. We stopped at the spot we caught fish the day before but did not get a bite so we headed to point on the lake that was closer to the trail head. We drilled several hole and started fishing. I was getting super small nibbles. I thought it was a fish under a foot. I tried putting a small hook on with a salmon egg but this fish did not seem to want it so after a few minuets I traded back to the Doc spoon. The other guys left to drill holes farther out in the lake. I was Jigging the spoon when I got another small bite. I did not think much of it till my little Ice fishing pull almost got yanked out of my hand. The line started coming off the reel and it was like I had a whale it just pulled and pulled. I tightened the drag sown then the fish started head shaking and I new this was the big one. I pulled up on the pull a bit this seemed to make the fish mad because it started pulling out even more line. I started thinking that I might run out of line but then the fish turned and came back. Now I got Pat and Nick's attention from the hole they where drilling and they came over to see. I slowly recovered recovered more line then it turned and started running the other direction. The little ice fishing pull bent so far over it looked more like a black spaghetti noodle It did not stop till all the line that I had recovered was off the reel. He then started coming back to the hole once more. When I saw the size I could not believe it.

Lake Louise

Patrick and I went to lake Louise. It twas a trip rot with problems. First it was cold -44. We borrowed Uncle Jim's trailer so we could take a Snow machine but when we arrived there we couldn't start the snow machine. We tried every thing we could think of but it would not start. I don't know if it was due to the cold but I think it was a good thing that we did not go across the lake at that temp then not have the snow machine start and have to walk back to the car at -44. After wasting the first hour on the sled we decided to go to the state park and drill some holes to fish. the road to the park wasn't plowed and we nearly got stuck. We stopped half way then walked a long way down hill to the lake. We new it was going to be cold so we took the shanty and a careasean heater with us but had a hard time lighting the heater. We drilled several holes but the more we drilled the less the auger wanted to work. after 5 holes we had to hold the primer button down to keep it from stalling but it would not turn the blade fast enough to drill. I think the gas in the line or the carb was freezing. We put up the ice shanty and lit the heater got our lines ready than started fishing. We waited and waited jigged and jigged. It was starting to become dark when I checked one of my rods only to find all the line on the real gone. We where talking of calling it quits and walking back to the car when I saw my fishing rod almost get pulled into the lake. I rushed over and set the hook to land a nice Laker about 5 lbs, I guess the fish gods felt bad for us because as I was releasing that fish I heard the faint sound of line being pulled from a real. I told Patrick whet I head but as we looked around all the pulls looked fine. He had two automatic fisherman down but they looked fine, or we thought they did. when he checked the farthest one it was so bent over that you could not tell that he had a fish on it. unfortunately, when he went to set the hook he ended up with a birds nest in his line. He ended up fighting the fish by pulling the line up hand over hand. He set the rod on the ice behind him then turned to find the line. the fish tried to pull the rod through the hole but I caught it while Patrick got control of the line. He fought that fish for a long time than landed a nice 15 lb laker. right after he landed that one it was starting to get to dark to see the rods. I heard a tang sound that sounded like line being pulled on the ice so I ran over to check my rod and found what looked like the bite of a burbot so I set the hook and soon landed a 25 inch burbot. Right after I landed that one Patrick hoked another laker on his Automatic Fisherman. Now it was to dark to see so we thougt that we should leave. It was a lot of work pulling a ice shanty, Power auger and all the fishing stuff back up the hill. We nearly got stuck trying to make it out to the road but we did and we made it back to Anchorage with out frost bite. if you want to see an Automatic ice fisherman look at the link http://www.automaticicefisherman.com/

The bottom photo is of the sun rising, as I started to fish Saturday. I should have listened to the sailor in me that said,"red sky in the morning sailor take warning". Since I didn't listen, I stood on the ice in a foot of snow with ankle deep over flow socking my boots in the wind. Not that it was all that windy just enough to make it colder. I don't know Why I stood there on the ice all day, I just thought that If I put in the time I might be rewarded with a big fish.
Well, apparently the big fish listened to the sailor because I could not get one to bite. I didn't get skunked and one of the fish was so larg that it got all the treble hooks on the spoon in it's mouth, that huge fish must have been six inches long. I guess you could say that I got humbled by mother nature. The top photo in of the sun set on Sunday. if I cant catch a fish at least I can show you something.

first ice fishing trip

Patience and I went to 17 mile for the first ice fishing trip of the year. We had a lot of fun. We stayed warm in the ice shanty. I wanted to try some new Jigs I bought I would love to say the fishing was non stop but the truth is it was just stop as it never started. Non the less I told Patience that I was going to walk out a ways and drill a hole to give one last go at the big one then we would leave. thats when I caught this

Rabbit hunting

Saturday Jonathan and I went rabbit hunting. The strange warm weather helped make it a great trip. If you look at last years blog entries you’ll see snow and cold, unlike this year which has been balmy by last years standards; although we have had a few frosts it has not dropped cold enough to snow. The warm weather makes for good hair hunting as they are white and the back ground is brown. Jonathan hit a few in the head with the .22. Head shots are tough because of the thick brush. We started with real hunting, walking through the trees and thickets to scare up the game. After we wore our selves out crashing through the trees we cleaned the hairs we shot than decided to drive up the trail and look out the window for the white spots that indicate a rabbit. We stopped at the end of the road and did some target practicing then drove back to the other end of the trail. Total we shot fifteen rabbits and a ruffed grouse.

Oh I forgot; on the way there, when we went by Caribou Creek there where sheep by the road, I have seen them on the lion head and I have seen them on sheep mt but that is the first time I have seen them by the rd.

All Sunner

I have had several people come up to me and say that they look at my blog regularly. All these people ask me the same thing, why haven’t I updated it all year. Sorry, it took me so long; it’s not that I haven’t done anything all summer. At first I was busy then on one trip the camera was dropped in the sand and wouldn’t work any more. I could have updated without any photos but it’s just not the same without photos to back me up. As soon as PFDs came out this year I picked up a new camera so I could continue to keep you updated; as well, I borrowed some photos from friends so you could see what all we did. I will try to some it up for you.
For Memorial Day we took a bunch of Jonathan’s friends to Homer. While we were there we did some clamming, beach combing, and fishing. Joe and Karen met us there with their kids. We all had a great time. If you know Joe, you have to ask him what happens when you try to remove the primer from a shot gun shell. Joe and our wives went out of Deep Creek with one of Karen’s friends who have a boat. I suppose it is only fitting Karen caught the biggest fish. Heidi took a long nap, 12 years of marriage to me and she still hates the ocean. The next day we met Allan and Tami at Kenai river for a salmon charter, the high lights where a calf moose and a coyote. The fishing was lousy, the free halibut fishing was better. For the Fourth (do I have to say the month) we took Mariah, Jonathan’s girl friend, and her family to Kasilof to go dip netting. Maura, Mariah’s mom, has 7 kids, six of which are under 6 so she doesn’t get out much. I think they all had a blast. We dipped 85 reds and a few pinks. Somehow I gave myself a case of bursitis which hampered the rest of my summer activities. At one point my elbow was twice the size of my knee. I went to the ‘doc in the box’ who prescribed me some meds that once again I was allergic to and I ended up with a 103 degree fever. Once the fever broke I went to the chiropractor who explained how you get bursitis he then popped my arm and like that it went away. We had a great run of silvers this year in the valley which was good because the kings were a no-show. I took a few trips to Jim creek. At one point there where so many fish in the creek you could not help but hook one. I borrowed Uncle Jim’s four wheeler a few times while he was out of town. Mostly I went for a ride but I looked for a moose at the same time. Joe and I had a cardio work out while trying to navigate our way over the cliffs of Wish Bone Hill. We did jump a few cows but did not see a bull. Heidi and I went to Tangle Lakes for our anniversary trip at first the wind blew a non stop of forty MPH. I know that doesn’t seem bad but when you remember there is no shelter from the wind for miles around you it can be down right lame. I told Heidi if it didn’t stop we would pack up a leave for Chena via Richardson Hwy. While we waited we took a hike to pick blueberries. Unlike last year this year there was lots of big ripe berries for us to pick. While we where hiking a big bull caribou saw us and instead of running from us he ran to us. I think because Heidi was wearing a white sweater. Since I said we would leave if the wind did not stop, the next day it became flat calm not only that but it was warm into the 70’s, and didn’t cool off much at night. We took a canoe ride to the other side of the lake stopped where Rock creek flows in and caught some grayling. We cooked one of the fish with out any utensils over a fire that Heidi started with out any matches. It wasn’t great but you could eat it, if you had to. Since I planted the seed into Heidi’s head of going to Chena Hot Spring the next day we left. The drive was beautiful. Stopped in Fairbanks and it was eighty’ man was it nice. Played in the hot springs, took some hikes, picked berries, and ate at the resort. We found a cave in the Angle Tors, which was neat. Took lots of photos with 35 MM film but have not got them developed yet. I bought Patience a Chipmunk 22. We took it Rabbit hunting and she popped a rabbit with it. It has been a strange fall, very warm I can still take the canoe out on lakes so far I have caught a 24 & 21 rainbow as the largest. This weekend I am going to bag more Hares so I can make Jerky.

Lake Louise April 25

On Saturday Patrick and I hit Lake Louise for the last trip of the year. There is still good ice up there, almost 50 inches, I think you could fish there for the next few weeks. As for the Anchorage area, it’s warmed up quit a bit and hasn’t gotten below freezing I would not wander on to the lakes around south central area any more.
The fishing started slow. We thought we might not be able to fish as Patrick’s power auger broke. I had my hand augur but I did not think it would make it through the ice. Fortunately, it did and I think we hand augured 35 holes through 40+ inches of ice; it would have been easier if the blades where new and sharp. We started on the point of an island strait out from the lodge about a mile with no luck. After an hour we walked around to the back side of the island and drilled some holes. It was strange, looked like there had been I ice shack there perversely but was now refroze overflow. As we drilled the holes, turned out we where on overflow that had refroze; however, the area was only covered by 2” of white ice then it seemed like 15 feet of water. We tried there but felt a bit unnerved by the thin ice so we walked out past the over flow to deeper water. Soon Patrick had a Laker on. He had the luck of the day as he caught five Lake trout and the second largest of the year; we are thinking 10 lbs. I think I will let it slip this time since he drove and broke his auger, but since he used my air plane jig to catch them I will have to take a small amount of the credit. I did catch one Lake trout about five pounds I let it go as it swallowed a four inch squid jig. All and all six lakers is a good trip and I think I will fish that same spot next winter.

PS: as you can see bu the moth it was quit warm in the 50 and now my face looks scorched

Byers Lake

I think Joe is ???????????

Patrick, Joe, and I whent to Byers Lake this weekend; I wonder why I like to go there so much, seems every time I go something bad happens. Last time the wind blew the ice shanty away and the over flow was so bad my feet became wet and froze. This time was not much different. We arrived at the cabin and I walked out on the lake, it was warm and there was half a foot of water on top of the ice but I wasn’t concerned as I had rubber snow boots. Well, I stood there for a short time then I felt some cold water around my ankles and soon my whole left foot was soaked. I was a bit ticked; as I thought my feet would be fine so I walked to the cabin to check; sure enough there was a hole in my boot. The good news is that I came prepared this time with hip boots and since it was warn it was not half bad standing on the ice in them; I guess it helps they’re insulated with 900 grams of thinsulate. The other bad thing about this trip was like I said it was warm; I know that doesn’t sound bad to you; however, from an ice fishing stand point it can be bad to be too warm. Friday the ice was a bit rotted on top but after the heat of the sun Saturday I was over my knees in slush in some spots. I think it was in the 60s on the lake. This also had one other draw back, Joe borrowed a snow machine from a friend; unfortunately, the sled happened to be a short track, since it was so warm it spent most the time stuck in the snow. It took all three of us to dig it out and move it. There was five feet of snow and it was hard work, especially after the sixth time. Other than those draw backs the trip was nice. We caught a few Lakers one that was 23 inches and some small BB. I brought home a few flays of fish from one that swallowed the hook and they tasted great. The weather was wonderful, bright sunny and hot from an ice fishing stand point. I got some good shots of Denali and a good sun burn