Our Trip to Alaska

The excitement was building, as we had been anticipating our trip to Alaska for a while. It was a major task just getting my husband to agree to the trip, since we didn’t want to step foot on a plane. I figured if I booked a late night trip, he could work for the day and sleep on the plane. So, we left Redmond at 8pm and go to Anchorage, Alaska at 12:30am and the fun began. Our friends picked us up about 1am, and after fueling up and getting some much needed Red Bulls, we made our way to Seward.

Our friends brother-in-law owns a fishing boat and he was taking us for the day on a fishing excursion. We arrived in Seward at 3:30am, and got changed for the trip out to see, grabbed our rain gear and a camera and we were ready. It was still dark, but everyone was ready to hit the water, we need to get going or we would all be bound to fall asleep. With the cool salty breeze on our faces, we were much revived and ready for the day ahead.

As we were headed out on Resurrection Bay, we had a otter great us, and I thought that had to be a good sign. We didn’t plan on going out to far in the open ocean because the swells were predicated to be 5-10 feet that day. The captain decided to take us to the mouth of the bay leading to the ocean. It could not have been a more perfect day. It was bit cold, but really no wind and just gorgeous views in sight. We got our pools in the water and almost immediately the silvers were fighting. One by one, each of us on board had a good tug-of -war with the strong swimming fish. It was a blast and we were having so much fun. As we were reeling in the fish one by one, we could see mountain goats on the surrounding hillsides. It was the most beautiful scenery I have ever taken in. I was just trying to get a capture these images in my mind, so I would never forget the untouched splendor of the area.

We limited out within a few hours of fishing on the silvers, and thought it would be fun to try our hand at halibut fishing. Since we were way out on the ocean, we didn’t expect to get any monster halibut, but I wanted something.

I love halibut and that was what I really wanted to bring home. I have to say halibut fishing is the most exciting fishing I have ever done, but as we were fishing we saw a whale off in the distance. I was instantly revived and ready for more fun. It was definitely hard to keep old man sleep out of my eyes as we were going on almost 30 hours of no sleep. The whale kept getting a little closer and then we got the pleasure of seeing porpoises. That was a treat in of itself. Finally, we got some bites on the poles and started reeling in the halibut. They don’t put up much of a fight, but they are heavy to reel in. I had a blast and we ended up catching six, and throwing back several rock fish the we caught too.

It was time to head back, as everyone was finally starting to lose the battle with tiredness. We saw a large group of seals on the way, and the coast guard doing practice rescues. We had some fish cleaning to do and then off to get some dinner. A big, warm meal was sounding pretty good about now, and a nice soft bed sounded pretty good too. After we got the fish cleaned, we made our way to local restaurant and had a great clam chowder and fish meal, and then headed off for some much needed sleep. We had been up for 36 hours now, and were pretty much exhausted. We fell asleep at 6:30pm and didn’t wake up until 6am the next morning. It was a little slice of heaven to get some restful sleep.

The next day we headed to the Russian river to see if we could catch any reds. We really didn’t have very good luck at that, but it was fun trying. We had lots of more days to try and we would get our chance on the Kenai in a few days at our friends house in Soldotna.

If you are ever in Soldotna you should look up Kenai River Red Lodge http://www.kenairiverredlodge.com/ had very comfortable beds and it was a great time being there with other guests from all over. It was nice to meet and hear all the stories of the other fisherman. It was also, a good central place to be able to leave and do other activities.

We were able to go claming at Deep Creek near Ninilchik, and visit Homer in just a day trip. Claming was so much fun. We went with the group from the lodge and we all had a really good time. Our bucket started to get heavier and heavier and by the end of the tide, Darren had broken his shovel. So, he was out for the day and he got to carry the bucket. Then we teamed up on shoveling and hand digging. What a great new experience we had, and oh how I can’t wait to make some yummy clam chowder.

Overall, it was the best experience I have had, and I am glad I could share it with my husband and our friends. I would highly recommend the trip if you have never done it. There were many memories made, and look for more stories to come.