The first trip of the 2007 season was a reunion of friends that have fished with B.O.A. for the past few seasons. It was June on the Alaskan peninsula and everyone knew what to expect: big rainbows, weather, and a certain sense of freedom after a winter of work and not seeing ones backing nearly enough.

Arriving at the lake camp was like stepping into an old pair of waders for the first group. Gear was quickly stowed and rods put together. Folks had settled into their favorite drifts and were landing fish not long after the float planes had dropped us off. Russ and I worked on stowing the groceries and putting a hot lunch together while Jason kept the group smiling going up and down the bank landing rainbows with “the big net.”

Appetizers, cocktails and a dinner of pad Thai with Alaskan spot prawns had most of the group settled into story mode in the dining tent. They were content to catch up on the year with one another. It is a good feeling to watch a couple of friends get a few more casts in as the sky turns grey and the arctic terns and jaegers cruise the surface for smolt and insects. The water is quiet for long periods this time of the night, interrupted only by the underwater chaos of corralling predatory fish. You savor these explosions knowing that such moments are only shared by you and the fish as the rest of the world sleeps. It was good to be back on the water.

The trip was fantastic. Lots of rainbows and mackinaws and good-natured banter that comes with a group of guys that get together from all over to do a trip together once a year. We had an amazing day of dry fly fishing for rainbows and grayling on the lower river. I won the “jelly donut award” for “helping” out with fly selection for Lou, who was mastering setting the hook on dries. After fifteen minutes of watching and wondering why things weren’t working out, I stepped in to demonstrate how a professional does it. This is almost always a mistake. I had a difficult time explaining the virtues of fishing hookless and not just barbless. I later redeemed myself by taking a swim to retrieve part of Lou’s Sage rod that was heading rapidly towards the ocean.

The first trip was over before we knew it. The guests said goodbye to one another for the year and climbed onto the float plane. We all could have done another week together. Rivers aren’t always long enough.

Sockeye season was rocking as always. These few trips are usually when we take the majority of couples on our adventures. It is a great thing to see spouses enjoy wilderness together. Having women in camp is a nice balance for all of us who make our living with rods and rifles. The ladies, while quite willing and capable of roughing it, are always amazed at the luxuries of the trip.

We picked plenty of big rainbows during the day but when the order for a fresh salmon for appetizers came up in the evening, people jumped for their salmon rods. Sight-casting in shallow water for chrome silver sockeyes is a great experience. Eating them ten minutes after coming out of the water is also a wonderful experience. Each night we had fresh salmon appetizers prepared differently. All this, warm and comfortable and with a clear and happy head, along the banks of the river while watching bears and eagles. No worries of work or the weather--it will be what it will be. “Tonight I will sleep well and tomorrow the river will still be there and coffee ready for me.” There is no lodge in existence that can duplicate this experience.

As we got lower down the river we started to pick up some kings and tiger salmon. While the sockeye are generally fished by dead-drifting small nymphs, the tigers and kings will aggressively attack flies on the swing or stripped back to the angler. This is an exciting change and there is always a bit of anticipation and competition in the boats to see who will land the first of these new species. Several guests were able to get their “slam” in one day. This is quite an accomplishment. It consists of catching the following: a sockeye, king, tiger salmon, rainbow, grayling and char in a single day. A bit of good natured competition between boats is always fun.

Nearing the end of our trips we enter the “braids.” This is always like fishing thirty or so of your favorite trout streams, and a great place to camp and explore for a couple days. John and Gale landed several huge trout fishing some of the glassy dark green runs. I am always surprised I’m not seeing mice falling off the grassy banks to the tune of one a minute; still, mouse patterns can be deadly scatted along the shore and tail outs. It was great to watch Amy, who was just learning to fly fish, wade along the banks, identify a likely hideout for one of our underwater friends, make a perfect cast, then….smack. A twenty inch leopard bow came up to personally compliment her on her week’s progress.

The last trip of the season was a great “mixed bag” trip, in all senses of the phrase.

The group was comprised mostly of “good ole boys” from the south. Needless to say, it took a couple days for them to run through their repertoire of Yankee jokes, and me to stop saying “dangold”- as in “hand me that dangold fly rod.” We all got along great. They were all guests of Joe Magee and L & M Produce. None of them had done a trip of this magnitude in the wilderness, and some of them had not fished at all before. They were well outfitted with rods and all eager to learn. Josh Seaton, our Orvis-endorsed instructor was up to the task and quickly had them all surprised with fish on the end of their lines. As is often the case, it was the guys with little fly fishing experience that ended up looking like pros.

Towards the end of the braids, Joe was able to salvage what was looking like a slow day for him by landing several kings he had found lying off the end of an island. Adam and a bunch of the other guys did well sneaking around some of the shallow water and hooking up with big bows by swinging leaches and drifting beads.

The final night on the river was damp and grey. We camped on a high bank in a stand of spruce and birch. We had a big fire that night, told stories and dined on strip steaks and banana cream pie. Life was good.

Everyone had a good float out on our way to meet the float plane. There were several huge tiger salmon landed and Kenny landed a monster Char, completing his “slam” although not all in one day.

Things were busy once we got back to town. There is so much to do when you have spent the summer on the water and have to store gear on the Alaskan peninsula for the winter. Cleaning, organizing, list making and stowing took the better part of four days for Jason and me. It was time to say goodbye to King Salmon and the river for another season and gear up for the fall hunts. For me this meant the Arctic, where I outfit sheep and bear hunts, archery elk on the Vermejo ranch in Northern New Mexico, and brown bear on the Izembeck National Wildlife Refuge. Things would begin to wind down around December with elk and deer hunting in Montana.

I’d like to thank all those folks that made last season spectacular for us. It all boils down to having a good time on the water, and that we did. I wouldn’t change a thing if I could and am constantly appreciative of the opportunity to meet and fish with such good people.

Good Luck out there,

Christian Elwell

We're looking forward to making new friends and fishing with you, because that's how life should be spent. Christian Elwell Owner & Operator Borealis Outdoor Adventures