I don't think there is a fisherman alive that has not dreamed of wading the pristine rivers of Alaska for Salmon. I had always heard of the insane August salmon runs where the Pink, Sockey, Chum and Silver Salmon fight their way in droves, from the ocean to the streams they were born to spawn.It is said, that in many cases they return to within a few feet of their birthplace to drop and fertilize their eggs. That type of homing instinct blows me away, considering I can barely find my way downtown and back!
Our main goal when we climbed on a plane to Anchorage was to shoot an episode of "Stihl's Reel in the Outdoors" at the Talstar and McDougall Lodges on the Talachulitna and Yetna River drainage. Well, that was was my producer Jim Kramer's main goal anyway. My goal was to fulfill a longtime dream of catching salmon on a Fly!
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The conditions were perfect throughout the week and we boated and released well over 100 Salmon with a few beautiful Rainbow Trout thrown in for as well in our 4 days of fishing. My guide, Josh Bearden, was very knowledgeable and put up with my me while I worked off the rust in my fly-rodding skills. While we didn't encounter any Alaska brown bears, it was evident they were fishing too by the huge tracks we saw in the sand nearly everywhere we went. Needless to say, I packed my 44 magnum Smith & Wesson everywhere I went.
It had taken nearly three years to coordinate our schedule to hit the water conditions and the salmon run just right, but it was definitely worth the wait!
