Re-civilizing myself

A month has passed since my last post, and a lot has happened since then.

I returned home to Colorado on October 10th, and to be honest, I wasn’t sure what to do. I had been in Alaska since the 1st of July, and returning home was quite a …culture shock. Returning back to the “real world” after 100 days was very overwhelming.

My first morning home was spent getting in my truck and driving to Mom and Dad’s. On June 30th this was an easy task that took 15 minutes, but this was no longer the case. As I merged onto the highway and felt like I was pushing the limits of my truck as it accelerated I felt like I was 16 again. I felt like in the 100 days since I had been gone everyone in Colorado had started to speed excessively. All of the cars were flying by at the speed of light. That’s when I glanced down at my speedometer and realized I was going 50 mph…

If a plane was heard while at Icy Bay it meant supplies or guests were being flown in, and we had to drop whatever we were doing and make sure the beach in front of the lodge was clear for a landing. My second night at home was spent waking up every thirty minutes to the sound of a plane, and the anticipation of new supplies…

These are just two examples of how comical things were for me in my first week at home.

Things have returned back to normal now, but I have been keeping busy. My time has been divided between working on marketing for the lodge, and occasionally guiding fly-fisherman here in Denver. I’ve only been fishing myself a handful of times since returning home, but each time has been great. Speaking of the lodge, if you know anyone that loves to fish, tell them about Icy Bay Lodge.

My first trip was with a good friend Rod, who visited Icy Bay this Fall. We went to Spinney Mountain Reservoir and fished out of his boat for Northern Pike, hoping that we would catch at least one fish that resembled the size of the fish caught in Alaska. Luckily Rod came through, and landed a beautiful fish.

My next fishing trip was to a lake close to home for some Saugeye (a hybrid between a Walleye, and a Sauger). I felt lost making my first cast with the spinning rod, and resorted to fly fishing instead. I ended up catching quite a few fish that afternoon on the same type of fly we used for salmon in Alaska.

Two weeks ago I had some work to take care of in Breckenridge, and took the opportunity to do some fishing while I was there. Denver was blasted with two feet of snow while I was in the mountains, and although it didn’t snow as hard in the mountains, it was extremely cold. I was only able to fish a few hours each day due to the frigid temperatures, but I still managed to catch a bunch of smaller trout on the fly rod. I’m looking forward to going back to this stretch of river again, it’s beautiful.

This past weekend I went back up to Spinney again to meet up with some friends and catch some trout. At this time last year Spinney was fishing exceptionally well, but for whatever reason none of us could figure out the pattern this day. Luckily the scenery didn’t disappoint, and the camaraderie was top notch.

I’ll do my best to keep the posts coming, hopefully I’ll be able to get out and fish again soon!

Bullwinkle

Moose sightings have been a daily occurrence recently, but this mornings was a little bit unexpected. While we were sitting at the breakfast table this morning we looked out into the bay and saw a bull moose swimming to shore. The closest opposite shore line is almost a mile away! Rob and I immediately put on the rain gear and started creeping our way down the shore line to get a better look, and every 30 seconds or so Rob would do a bull call. After reaching the shore and shaking off, he paused on one of Rob’s bull calls and then trotted up to the brush and thrashed his antlers against one of the trees. Rob and I took that opportunity to sprint down the shore and get even closer. We were within about 50 yards when Rob made one last bull call, and the moose started barking back at us while he walked slowly at us. We took that as a sign it was time to get out, and hauled butt back to the safety of the lodge.

Outdoor-Z

Tom Cannon, from Outdoor-Z.com spent the last week at Icy Bay Lodge. Tom is a great fisherman, and caught a ton of big Coho Salmon while he was at the lodge. Tom writes for a website called Outdoor-Z.com. If you get a chance please take a look at his site. He has some great articles on hunting and fishing, along with some very informative reviews of outdoor gear.

http://www.outdoor-z.com

Moose on the River

I mentioned running into a moose a few times last week, and yesterday we finally managed a picture as a 2 1/2 year old crossed the river right in front of us after crashing through the timber to see what all the commotion from our boat motor was. It’s amazing how large these animals are up here. He is walking in 3 feet of water.

A Good Week

The past week and a half has been a whirlwind of activity at the lodge. We had a group from Colorado come up, along with a guide from the South Platte (Tom Whitley), a writer from FishAlaska magazine along with his photographer, and last but not least, as you already know, my good friend Rod.

Last week arrived with the group of ten from Colorado, and a big rain storm. In most circumstances we try and take rain days off because of the travel conditions on our trail, and the predominant west winds that accompany most of these storms. Casting in 40 mph winds is not easy to do, and adding rain to the picture only makes it more frustrating. Convincing a group they should enjoy the lodge for a day after spending 12 hours plus traveling up here is difficult to do, so we headed out into the rain, and on to the 2 hour adventure that eventually ends at the Yahtse River. We lease land on the Yahtse that gives us access to some incredible fishing, and makes that 4 wheeler trip all the more worth it. Travel time is cut in half when it isn’t raining…

On our way to the river we had a small (1400lb, 6′ tall at the shoulders) moose in the trail, and at first glance it started to leave, and then as soon as it heard the rev of my 4 wheeler he decided to turn around and stare me down. He looked like he had been in a fight, and only had one side of his antlers. After what seemed like an eternity I finally won the 60 ft staring contest, and he turned around and went on his way.

One of the guys from the group hooked up on his first cast, and in about an hours time everyone had caught a few fish, but I could see the frustration mounting, and recommended we start heading back before the storm worsens (if that was even possible). That was my way of telling the group, “I know you are freezing cold, I’m freezing cold, let’s get the hell out of here”.

The rest of the week was spent guiding at a few different locations, and watching well over 300 fish get caught. I am still in disbelief about how incredible the fishing is. I do my best to sneak in a few casts each day just to feel the tug.

Rod’s arrival brought some much needed sanity back to the lodge. I had a blast fishing with him, and I’m glad he was able to experience how incredible the fishing was, and the breathtaking beauty of Icy Bay.

Towards the end of the week we brought the group out to the Yahtse. It was cold and rainy, but people toughed it out and caught fish once again. During the course of the day I saw 2 bears along the trail, and the same moose I had seen earlier in the week. Lucky for us he is gathering his harem right on our trail, and this time he was not very happy about it. I’m glad Rod was there to experience it, and I’m sure he will be telling stories about the various reactions in the group.

This is our last group of clients for the year, and this weekend we will start to prepare the lodge and cabins for the Winter. We have had a hard frost the past few mornings, and I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before the rain turns to snow.

A few pictures from the week:

Crab Cakes, Shrimp, and freshly caught Salmon for shore lunch?? Sure why not.