Stranded on the Alaska’s Karluk River – Fun!

This is the third and final column in this series about my fishing adventures on Kodiac Island, Alaska.

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Our five-day rafting trip on the Karluk River on Kodiac Island with Bob Smith and Fishing Alaska Style was perhaps my greatest fishing adventure ever. Look at this salmon caught by my friend Les Priest! King salmon move up the river from the ocean to spawn, arriving in a silver color then turning red before spawning and dying.

 

 

45d031fe-30bb-43a3-8463-ef44a2e54939These Kings ranged from young jacks from 8 to 15 pounds to monsters of 40 pounds. We fished spinning rods and salmon eggs mostly (this was before I became an avid fly fisherman), and used 50 pounds of eggs during the trip. Weather was superb, but you’ll notice a lot of bugs in some photos if you look closely.

 

 

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Our first campsite was right beside a pool full of big salmon. The first night, I noticed the shadows of two big bears pass by our tent, and told Les, “Let’s let our guides deal with them!”

 

 

 

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The Karluk River is wide and shallow with holding pools of deeper water and lots of fast water. Bob cured the salmon eggs and young Jason tied them into mesh bags for us. The salmon gobbled them up.

 

 

 

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Les landed huge fish every day, and Pete Gosselin caught the first fish every day and spent the most time fishing – second only to yours truly who fished one day from 6 am to 1 am. I quit that night when my guide and protector with the rifle said, “George, I can’t see behind you anymore so you’ve got to quit fishing.” Yes, bears were a constant presence!

 

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Les’ first fish was a beauty, bringing a smile to his face. Doyle didn’t take long to reel one in, and his grandson Jason’s first fish was the largest of the day, 44 inches. There was a lot of whooping and hollering that afternoon on the river.

 

 

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Our gun-carrying guides kept the bears away (except for the one that bit into Pete’s bobber).

 

 

 

 

72d8b90b-50d1-401c-9956-b39e4c551ad4On Day 3, we moved several miles downriver, through a lot of fast water, to a new campsite. We stopped on an island where a group of Swedes were camped and, at their invitation, fished for two hours. They’d been having trouble catching fish, so we showed them how to do it, hammering the Kings in front of them. Every time we landed a fish, they applauded. I could get used to that!

 

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I held this King salmon so Les could photograph it under water – it was a big hen.

 

 

 

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Settled in to our new home at “Fire Rock,” Pete hooked a fish before I was even out of the raft. A blacktail deer waded up the opposite shore. Doyle caught this pretty 21-inch Rainbow trout. This stretch of river was full of Kings and we fished and fished and fished. A bear stole the two fish we kept to eat, though.

 

 

 

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A final cast and our last night on the Karluk was over (or so we thought). After 3 hours of fishing, we broke camp on Friday (our fifth day on the river) and headed to the bay to be picked up by a float plane.

 

 

 

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The raft trip out was fun, and both Billy and Les fell out of the raft for a complete dip in the river (Les came up smiling!).

 

 

 

 

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We passed through the weir where every salmon is manually counted as it enters the river.

 

 

 

 

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After it became apparent that we would not be picked up that day due to overcast skies, we set up camp on a bluff alongside the bay. What a view!

 

 

 

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The next morning Pete and I walked up the bay to pull 8 Sockeye salmon out of a pool for supper.

 

 

 

 

 

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The red fillets, cooked by Guide Pete Potter, were delicious. We sat and ate for 2 hours while Pete cooked. Day two at this site, we napped, fished, ate, and communed with the Eagles. We also spotted a bear across the bay. Bears ate all of the King salmon we’d kept to bring home, the first night we camped here.

 

 

 

27488ac3-10e7-4552-a82c-cd6b8b528abaDay 3, as the gang waited for the float plane which was expected, Les and I wandered down the bay to fish. “Bear!” That cry by 7 voices in unison from our campsite got our attention. A big bear had wandered down the hillside and got between Les and me and the campsite. Luckily, Bob chased it off.

 

 

 

 

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Check the photo of Bob’s hand next to the tracks left by this big brownie!

 

 

 

 

 

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The float plane got close enough so we could hear it but, because of fog outside the bay, couldn’t get in to pick us up. We gave up the tent site and moved rafts, gear, and ourselves up to the Indian village where we rented a house (hot showers, laundry, and a full kitchen – Paradise!). After 7 days on the river, that hot shower sure was nice. But after washing my jeans twice, the stains and scent of salmon eggs wouldn’t come out!

 

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The Indian village of Karluk consisted of 16 houses, a beautiful new school, airstrip, old abandoned cannery, solemn church on the high bluff, and lots of children.

 

 

 

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This dilapidated building was the store, open just one hour a day, with exorbitant prices (loaf of bread $5, and it was moldy). But we were comfortable and a pay phone in the little post office allowed us to call home and hear some welcome voices. Linda seemed skeptical every time I called to tell her we were stranded there for another day!

 

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Day 4, with nothing to do but fish, we asked Dale, our Indian guide and guru, to boat us back down the bay for an afternoon of Sockeye salmon fishing. With light fly rods and a fast water slough bull of Sockeyes, we caught dozens on red salmon flies. What a battle! I’ll bet 1000 Sockeyes swam by me that afternoon, a sight I will never forget.

 

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Day 5. Yes! Kodiak’s clouds lifted just high enough for two of Willow’s float planes to pick us up.

 

 

 

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Smiles were wide as the planes appeared, dropped, and loaded us up.

 

 

 

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We flew up the Karluk River for a long nostalgic look, then up through the tight valleys to Kodiac city, flying just under the cloud cover – an exciting flight, to say the very least!

 

 

 

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That last day of Sockeye salmon fishing was on my mind as we made our way home to Maine. Casting right, then left, as salmon moved in bunches up past me. “Fish on!”

 

 

 

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Splash, and the battle was on, the 8-wt. fly rod bent nearly in half at times.  I think, that day, I became a devoted fly fisherman.

 

 

 

 

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Gorgeous silver fish from the sea, eager to take a fly. I can close my eyes and see them still.

 

 

 

 

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Wonderful memories, with special thanks to Les Priest for taking me along on this amazing adventure.

George Smith

About George Smith

George stepped down at the end of 2010 after 18 years as the executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine to write full time. He writes a weekly editorial page column in the Kennebec Journal and Waterville Morning Sentinel, a weekly travel column in those same newspapers (with his wife Linda), monthly columns in The Maine Sportsman magazine, two outdoor news blogs (one on his website, georgesmithmaine.com, and one on the website of the Bangor Daily News), and special columns for many publications and newsletters. Islandport Press published a book of George's favorite columns, "A Life Lived Outdoors" in 2014. In 2014, George also won a Maine Press Association award for writing the state's bet sports blog. In 2016, Down East Books published George's book, Maine Sporting Camps, and Islandport Press published George and his wife Linda's travel book, Take It From ME, about their favorite Maine inns and restaurants.