February 2019

Description

February 2019
2019 Best Alaska Destinations

Departments
Traveler 6
Creel 10
Gear Bag 12
Online 14
Fishing for a Compliment 16
Salmon Sense 18
Fly 20
Boats 22
Saltwater 30
Stillwater 34
Recipe 70
Advertiser Index 73
Final Drift 74

Davis’s Awesome Adventure
by Marcus Weiner 36

Ask most anglers from whom they learned to fish, and the usual answer is their fathers. A special bond often forms from childhood fishing trips, especially trips that last a few days. Publisher Marcus Weiner took his son, Davis, to the Nush this year to fish for Chinook.

How to Plan a Remote Float Trip
by Fish Alaska Staff 42

An Alaskan float trip can provide the absolute best that North America can offer regarding angling, wilderness, scenery and adventure. However, float trips are not something to be approached without considerable planning. Our staff, contributors and float-trip experts share some of their experience with you to help you plan a float trip, whether it’s your first or your 15th.

Alpine Fishing Adventures
by Andrew Cremata 50

Reaching the best Alaska fishing holes requires a little extra effort. Most anglers equate Alaska fishing with fishing close to sea level. However, like the lower 48, Alaska has alpine fishing opportunities for lake trout, grayling and even brook trout. Cremata even tells of a nearly two-foot-long brookie . . .

Discovering Real Alaska
by Scott Haugen 58

Flying into remote parts of Alaska, whether for a day trip or a week-long float, puts you into places with big, unpressured fish, incredible scenery and often abundant wildlife. In this piece, Scott paints a picture of what you can expect from a typical fly out by describing two of his recent fly-out trips.

Abundance at Every Corner—Alaska’s Kwethluk River
by Troy Buzalsky 64

Troy Buzalsky spent 11 days this summer floating the Kwethluk River near Bethel. Challenged by grayling, silvers, rainbows, sweepers and braids. In hindsight, he said the Kwethluk took him on the trip of a lifetime.

COVER / Our good buddy Scott Stamper of The Yakutat Lodge, showing off the rewards of a fine day catching coho on the Akwe River. © Brian Woobank