The Adventures of Lance DeShaw
Re•mote [ri-moht] -mot·er, -mot·est, –adjective far apart; far distant in space; situated at some distance away
Story and Photos by Melissa Norris
A goal for some anglers is to get away from the crowds to fish, enjoying the solitude the outdoors can bring and all that comes with it. Unfortunately, the chase for solitude can get pretty spendy in Alaska.
In search of something that fits both bills – offering both remote access and affordability – Fish Alaska staff undertook a quest to find the answer in a day-trip fly-out, scheduling an overnight trip to the Kustatan River. The glacially-influenced Kustatan flows off the western side of Cook Inlet at the base of the Alaska Range, just a 20-minute flight from Soldotna. On site is a tent camp run by TC Guide Service. [emember_protected custom_msg=’This content is available for subscribers only.’]
At arrival, murky glacial water covertly hides the green backs of feisty Alaska silver salmon. This is one of southcentral Alaska’s most productive silver runs, although it’s already the third week of August. We’ve rescheduled the trip because of the heavy rains the weeks before. Traditionally, the best time to fish the Kustatan for silvers is mid-July through the end of August, which is when TC Guide Service owner Lance DeShaw has camp erected.
Lance made the right choice rescheduling. It’s raining in spotty intervals, but water levels have started to return to normal. My husband Wayne and I had driven down that morning from Anchorage to Soldotna. We arrived at Talon Air on Mackey Lake, donned waders, carried gear and were off in just minutes.
The flight in the Dehavilland Otter was short and the landing was one I’ll never forget as the owner/pilot Alan Helfer took us down quick and planted us in a little puddle of water as though he were a college Beer Pong Champion aiming for a tall, frosty glass. All jokes aside, it was evident he’s an expert at flying . . . and landing (www.talonair.com, 907-262-8899).
Lance met us in his jetboat and off we were to the camp. Since we had arrived in waders it was a few minutes to drop dry bags, pickup coffee, rig a few rods and roll out to Lance’s go-to spot on the river. “I brought a bunch of spinners,” I told Lance.
“Okay,” he said, “try those and then I’ll rig you up with some eggs.”
After several tosses of just about every spinner color, make and model for silver-sized salmon, Lance got his hands gobbed up with cured salmon eggs and talked to us about the technique he uses to help clients catch fish.
“First you cast that big weight out into the middle of the river. See where the water changes color. Aim near that seam. Let it drift until the weight sinks and the line tightens. It’ll sit there a while so the bait can put out some scent. You’ll know a silver has your bait in its mouth when you see your line moving upriver and if you feel some gentle tugging. Set the hook and bring him in.”
We mastered that in no time. However, as is frequently the case in much of Alaska, the bait would sometimes get robbed by Dollies, so if we didn’t feel a silver within about 10 minutes, we’d do a bait check. After not too long we had our limits.
Another boat came up later on with day-anglers who had flown out with a local flight service and their guide. Turned out their guide is Lance’s son, so Wayne and I hung out and took photos as we watched Lance and his son help these clients get silvers.
We enjoyed the time just being together. A lot of people think that since Wayne and I work together we see each other all the time, but that’s not actually the case. We have to maximize the number of trips the magazine editorial staff can take each year so this overnight was literally the only trip in 2010 where I went with my husband. We decided then and there to expand that for 2011.
That evening our camp cook barbecued some fresh silvers and steaks for the group and we hung out in the main tent for a while listening to Lance and his friends tell stories of their remote wilderness adventures from many years of living in Alaska.
We had planned to take a side trip the next morning to an unknown tributary that Lance has fished before . . . a little creek, really, that held nice Dollies and rainbows, so after breakfast we took a boat ride. Some masterful steering brought us to this little slough. Everyone caught fish on light fly tackle. It was really fun and a nice addition to the trip. That afternoon we were picked up by Talon Air and returned safely to Soldotna for our drive back to Anchorage.
For the Kustatan you can fly out for a day-trip or stay up to ten nights in their tent camp, featuring heavy-duty wall tents that each sleep up to four people. Camp also has the main dining tent, heated shower and toilet facility. It’s rustic but it works in this remote wilderness area and provides comfort for up to 12 guests per night. While we did not see any bears on this particular trip, camp is surrounded by bear fencing for added safety.
And in the spirit of affordability, Lance only charges $1550 per person for five days and five nights of fishing for the 2011 season, which includes a roundtrip flight, guided fishing, meals and accommodations.
In addition to his adventures on the Kustatan for silver salmon, Lance also offers trips around Alaska including the Nushagak River for kings, sockeye and silvers, on Big River Lakes for silvers, and for rainbows and kings on Lake Creek. Learn more at www.tcguideservice.com or call 907-355-6205.
###
Melissa Norris is publisher of Fish Alaska and Hunt Alaska magazines. [/emember_protected] [emember_protected scope=”not_logged_in_users_only”]
- Need to subscribe? Now’s a good time! Check out our current subscription specials!
- Already a subscriber? Login below to access all of our online articles and content!