Fly Fishing in Alaska Sept. 2008

While attending BYU in Provo, Utah I had a roomate that was an avid fly fisherman. Clint Sanderson was his name. Clint was born and raised in Afton / Star Valley, Wyoming, where him and his Dad spent countless hours fly fishing on the Salt River. Clint frequently spoke of large Brown Trout landed with a 5wt fly rod and 6x tippet.

One day I asked Clint if he would mind teaching me how to cast a fly rod on the Provo river. Many days thereafter Clint and I spent time on the Provo and other surrounding rivers trying to land the big trout that we knew were waiting to be had. Since those days on the rivers with Clint I have had a passion for the sport of flyfishing. The beauty of the sport and the surroundings that almost always accompany it, are un-parraleled in any other sport.

It has long been my dream to take my passion for fly fishing to the outdoors of Alaska. This fall (with Tamsen's blessing) Brett Olson, Nate Bell, Dad Bell and myself headed out for Southeastern Alaska to take on the great Coho Salmon on the Italio, Middle Italio, Back and Akwee river's.

We spent 5 days casting and wading in pursuit of Coho's that were making their way to their spawning grounds. We spent hours in airports, road 4 wheelers through swollen creeks, drank Crystal Light made from water from an outdoor well, and most importanly caught copious amounts of Silver Coho Salmon. Brett and I each brought about 40 Salmon Fillets home to Arizona, and Nate and Dad Bell each brought home plenty to feed their clan.

The brown bear were along with us for the trip, but fortunately did not bother us one bit. Rowing across the Italio River to the Akwee, Back, Italio bay was loads of fun, but all in all only 2 fish were caught in the bay. It was the beautifull, meandering Middle Italio that yielded the greatest catch. On one afternoon alone we brought over 20 fish back to camp, weighing between 10-15lbs.

All in all the weather cooperated, the food was tastey (Dad Bell did the majority of the cooking), the fishing was great, and the company was AWESOME!!! The scenery was . . . well it was Alaska, and a great time was had by all. The Girls held down the fort and didn't seem to miss Dad at All! Enjoy the Pics.