AKnook
Well-Known Member
It must be June in AK as droves of sockeye salmon make their way to their natal streams to spawn. This time of year marks a few expeditions with family and friends to harvest what is called the best salmon in the world from the Copper River Basin.
My family and I made the beautiful 3 hour drive to fish the Klutina river. This is a trip I do every year with friends but have never taken my wife and kids although they have accompanied me to other rivers. I was pretty excited to have them there and share this special place with them.
The fishing can be phenomenol at this river and easy limits can be had in a half hour or so. This has been the norm in years past but not this year. The water levels were low forcing the sockeye in the deeper water of the main channel. These fish prefer being close to the bank as they swim up river but they were not that close this year. Tactics were changed and the limit of three per day were had but one had to work for them.
It was pretty awesome fighting a fish in front of my boys and seeing them excited as I fought the fish to the bank.
My boys really enjoy eating salmon as my wife and I do. It was rewarding for me to show them at a young age what all entails to get the salmon on the plate.
What made this trip even more rewarding was helping out a few militatry wives harvest some fish as their husbands were deployed in Afghanistan. We helped our friend's wife and her friends tie knots, get techniques down and actually land fish! Filleting the catch was also taught and they did great. It was a pleasure helping them out and seeing them land a fish more then actually landing my own fish.
All in all, this trip has never dissapointed.
PS: Having a German Shepherd who absolutley loves eating salmon I opted to keep the carcasses to bake for him. The meat on the carcass is cooked and added to his kibbel. The bones, fins and head get baked until it is crispy and brittle. He goes nuts for it. The fish harvested on this trip was completely used. The flesh feeds me and my family and the rest feeds our dog. Good eating for all of us!
Enjoy some pictures,
My family and I made the beautiful 3 hour drive to fish the Klutina river. This is a trip I do every year with friends but have never taken my wife and kids although they have accompanied me to other rivers. I was pretty excited to have them there and share this special place with them.
The fishing can be phenomenol at this river and easy limits can be had in a half hour or so. This has been the norm in years past but not this year. The water levels were low forcing the sockeye in the deeper water of the main channel. These fish prefer being close to the bank as they swim up river but they were not that close this year. Tactics were changed and the limit of three per day were had but one had to work for them.
It was pretty awesome fighting a fish in front of my boys and seeing them excited as I fought the fish to the bank.
My boys really enjoy eating salmon as my wife and I do. It was rewarding for me to show them at a young age what all entails to get the salmon on the plate.
What made this trip even more rewarding was helping out a few militatry wives harvest some fish as their husbands were deployed in Afghanistan. We helped our friend's wife and her friends tie knots, get techniques down and actually land fish! Filleting the catch was also taught and they did great. It was a pleasure helping them out and seeing them land a fish more then actually landing my own fish.
All in all, this trip has never dissapointed.
PS: Having a German Shepherd who absolutley loves eating salmon I opted to keep the carcasses to bake for him. The meat on the carcass is cooked and added to his kibbel. The bones, fins and head get baked until it is crispy and brittle. He goes nuts for it. The fish harvested on this trip was completely used. The flesh feeds me and my family and the rest feeds our dog. Good eating for all of us!
Enjoy some pictures,
