Alaska 2010

AFISHUNT Charters, with John Baker, was our guide for our Alaskan adventure. Here we are standing by our daily haul of halibut. Although this day didn't produce any large fish, they were certainly fun to catch. A bad storm caught us on our way off the fishing grounds, and made for a long, bumpy ride back to shore.
John with one of his big Kings.
Now THAT's a lot of bull!
Fresh roe from one of Kris's fish. The river guides cure it and use it for bait.
Kris with one of his big Kings.
Kris and Jon had good success for King Salmon on the Kasilof River this spring. Check out these 2 big 'uns! These and more were caught while fishing out of a drift boat. The quiet beauty of the river was so relaxing. We stayed and fished 4 days, spending 2 days out for halibut. Those are hard work, but the reward in fillets is well worth it. We brought back about 126 pounds of fish to stock the freezers with. One day we'll have to return and go after Silvers in Seward's Resurrection Bay. I figured this would be my final Alaska trip, but we'll see what happens.

"Fish Lake" lives up to its name!

Jon poses here with a mess of nice fish!

Fish Lake in January was really hot for us! Jon and I, and his cousin Chris, made a weekend trip to ice fish until we dropped. Which is about what we did! These splake trout, a hybrid between a lake trout and a brook trout, are very aggressive eaters and fighters. Their average size was about 17". Fish Lake is full of such fine fish. Including lake trout, none of which we caught on this trip.


We managed to find schools of perch both days we fished, and were also able to catch rainbow and splake trout along with them. This pile of nice perch went to the fillet table. We fished along the weed line in about 25 feet of water, and the fish were stacked in like cord wood. We threw back a lot more fish than we kept, too. What a trip!

First ice trip of the season 2009-10

Jon's beautifully colored rainbow trout was the prettiest fish of the day on this trip to Scofield Reservoir. He took some pictures for the Big Fish Tackle ice fishing contest.

We literally walked on water this day, as slick as the ice was. Good thing we had our ice cleats on our boots! The reflections made it look wet, but it was 6 inches of hard clear ice. It was popping and zinging all day. Jon figures we caught about 100 trout in 5 hours, which sounds about right. We were busy continually.
What a great way to start the season!

It's getting closer . . .

Kris, Jon, and I are planning a fishing adventure to Alaska in June of 2010!!! We'll be on the Kenai Pensula, fishing in the areas of Soldotna, Ninilchik, and Cook Inlet. Our target fish: king salmon and halibut.

Bear Lake trip for Jon

Jon took the boat and made a run to Bear Lake, where he met up with this nice lake trout. ~11 pounds and 31 inches, with a 17" girth. Made enough fillets for Sunday dinner, and it was delicious. Jon continues to have a hot streak for the BIG fish lately. As you can see, Paxton is growing and is interested in Dad's fine catch.

More Willard Action

I managed to scratch out one 18 inch wiper on a Friday evening outing. Jon continued his big fish tactics with a nice 20 inch, 5 pound walleye! They sure were delicious on the dinner table for Sunday dinner! He caught a couple of wipers himself to make for an exciting trip.

Jon Off to a Big Spring Start

Jon has really been onto the big fish since last fall. First he caught a big Kokanee Salmon at the Gorge. Then a monster cutthroat trout, 26" and 6+ pounds. Now this spring he's already gotten 2 more big guys! A 20", 5 pound Wiper from Willard (below), and a huge catfish of close to 10 pounds from Utah Lake (above).
Check 'em out!!!