BACK TO THE EGEGIK

THE EGEGIK DIARIES

AN ANGLER’S ODE TO HIS FAVORITE ALASKA COHO RIVER AND LODGE FIELD

BY SCOTT HAUGEN

After more than an hour of watching friends catch coho after coho, I felt the urge to cast. The action had been red-hot, yielding salmon on just about every cast. Then the bite stopped, as it often does when salmon move out of a hole.

I walked a short distance upstream, where I’d been seeing dorsal fins splitting the surface of the calmly flowing Egegik River. I baited my hook with freshly cured eggs, and no sooner had the cluster hit the water than a hard-fighting coho attacked.

The same results came on the next cast, and the next. Twenty-one casts saw me landing 21 coho, keeping four that were hooked too deep to release. I kept my fifth and final salmon a few casts later.

Author Scott Haugen has been fishing the Egegik River for 15 years, and he ranks it atop his favorite rivers in Alaska, for many reasons. Maybe this summer you can join him at his favorite Egegik

FIELD

Ti any Haugen knows what to do with a freshly caught salmon: smoke it. Smoked fish can be kept in your refrigerator for more than a week when you vacuum-seal it until ready for serving. (TIFFANY HAUGEN)

THANK YOU FOR SMOKING

BY TIFFANY HAUGEN

There’s nothing like the taste of a deliciously seasoned, perfectly textured bite of smoked fish. Whether enjoyed warm, straight from the smoker or out of a vacuum-sealed bag several days later, smoked fish is a treat for everyone.

Since fresh fish has a relatively short shelf life, smoking it will preserve it for up to a week under refrigeration and even longer if vacuum-packed. Freezing smoked fish will extend storage even further and makes a great add-in to soups, chowders, pasta dishes, crab cakes and more.

Fish is an incredibly versatile protein, as its quick cooking allows for simple, fast meals on the grill, in the oven or fried up in a skillet.

When smoking fish there are many options. Use it as a simple salt/sugar wet or dry brine for hot or cold smoking, or season fish for baking and setting a smoker to higher temperatures in order to both infuse smoke flavors and speed up cooking time.

Smoking fish not only adds a layer of flavor in the choice of chips you use – alder, apple, cherry, hickory or mesquite, to name a few – it changes the texture of the meat, too. If you desire a moist end product, fish can be smoked at a lower temperature for a longer period of time.

Some folks like a drier, chewier fish and may choose a hotter smoking temperature. Smoked fish can even be “candied” and served as an appetizer or used as a topping like bacon bits. Beyond the smoke flavor, both wet and dry brines can add incredible diversity to smoked fish. When feeling creative, be sure to take good notes on the changes you make to favorite recipes. Once you develop that perfect recipe, you want to be able to recreate it.

FISH SMOKING TIPS

1. Get to know your smoker and read manufacturer instructions, read company blogs, watch product videos, and be aware of the difference in the performance of propane, electric and pellet smokers. 2. Take ambient temperature conditions into consideration. In colder climates and seasons, smoking times can increase, while smokers may run hotter on summer days. 3. Wet brines work better on fresh fish and dry brines are better for previously frozen fish. 4. When adding extra spices and flavorings to brined fish, be sure they are salt-free. 5. If the smoker isn’t full, add vegetables like onions and peppers, as these will benefit from time in the smoker, making a flavorful addition to salsas, soups and stews. 6. If your smoker can reach temps of 250 to 450 degrees, think about using it as an oven to make a quick fish dinner or even a smokey casserole or side dish. 7. With many smokers, cold smoking is also an option. Once chips are smoking, turn off the heat source and smoke cheese, hardboiled eggs, seafood or even chocolate. 8. If your smoked fish is overcooked or over-salted, dice it up and use it as a topper in place of bacon bits.

Editor’s note: For signed copies of Tiffany’s popular book, Cooking Seafood, and other best-selling titles, visit tiffanyhaugen.com.

FIELD

I FIRST LEARNED OF Alaska’s Egegik River 15 years ago. Having fished throughout the Last Frontier for three decades, and penning the top-selling book, A Flyfisher’s Guide To Alaska, the Egegik is my favorite coho river in the state.

I first fished with Becharof Lodge in 2008. In 2019 the lodge sold to two men who are equal partners; George Joy, a longtime fishing and hunting guide I’ve known for years, and Mark Korpi, a building contractor from Oregon. These two are a great team and I love the changes they’re making.

The name was changed to Becharof Lodge On The Egegik River (becharoflodgefishing.com), and the team wasted no time erecting multiple cabins, which replaced the tents used for years. They installed more flush toilets and showers and continue improving upon the amenities at the lodge, including expanding the electricity.

Last August I spent the entire season at the lodge. The new owners and their staff were simply wonderful. Clients came and went, and the positive spirits of most everyone were contagious. It was a happy place all season long, for everyone – men, women, couples, kids and families.

We spent mornings taking in the sunrise with a hot cup of coffee or cocoa. Big breakfasts were the norm and dinner menus were incredible, with no shortage of food. The friendly, comfortable atmosphere made it easy for people to help themselves to as much as they liked, including cookies that were baked fresh from scratch each day. No one went hungry, ever.

WHILE THE COMFORTS OF camp play a big

part in pleasing many people, it’s the salmon fishing that brought them here. Many serious anglers wake up early and have their coffee and breakfast downed in time to be catching fish before the sun crests the tundra horizon.

There are also those who sleep in, appreciating the freedom to do what they want on their vacation. They catch fish, too – a lot of fish. An average angler can expect to catch 20 coho a day; veteran anglers often catch and release over 75 salmon a day, sometimes more.

Last season thousands of coho held close to shore right in front of the lodge. After dinner for nearly half the season, anglers caught salmon after salmon adjacent to the lodge from the bank.

And I was surprised at the number of folks who were happy fishing only in the morning. They’d return to camp after catching their five-coho daily limit, enjoy a hot shower and lunch, take a nap, read, then sit atop the viewing platform overlooking the river and expansive tundra. There they’d watch the local wildlife – brown bears, wolves, red fox and birds – until the lodge’s appetizers were served.

THE FISHING HERE IS simple, and the gravel,

Becharof Lodge On The Egegik River has been upgraded under new ownership, and the world-class coho fishing is right out the front door. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

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Lodge guest Leslie is all smiles over this Arctic char she caught while on a flyout to a remote stream, one of many trips you can take from your Egegik base. If you want to experience ultimate Alaska, consider a flyout adventure in this part of the state. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

gently sloping banks easy for anyone to negotiate. If you can’t walk, you can sit in a chair and fish from the shoreline.

The Egegik River is wide and shallow, and very little weight is needed to get presentations into the strike zone. Eggs, jigs, beads and lures are all great for catching coho here.

This is also a great place to fish topwater with a spinning or fly rod. Many anglers use only a fly rod all week long, stripping streamers, moving wogs, and swinging surface poppers. Spey rod anglers love the vast amount of prime, open water to be fished.

But the true beauty of Becharof Lodge On The Egegik River is its proximity to even more remote places in Alaska. Flyouts take you to captivating streams, where the pursuit of trophy-class Arctic char and grayling, along with rainbow trout, captures the essence of fishing in Alaska.

If you want to experience brown bear viewing at famed Brooks Falls, that’s only a 25-minute floatplane flight from the lodge. Watching 1,500-pound bears gorge themselves on sockeye salmon is a sight to behold, something that brings back many anglers year after year.

THE MORE TIME I spend at Becharof Lodge, the less important catching high numbers of coho becomes. Maybe it’s because I’ve grown more aware of all the other things this magical place has to offer. Maybe it’s because I find myself getting more pleasure watching others catch fish. Then again, maybe it’s because I know I’llbe back next year, and the year after that.

There are few places I keep going back to in Alaska, as there’s so much to discover in this state. But the Egegik River is an exception. Each year the coho run gets me excited, and the tranquility of this place continually captures my mind. Simply put, it’s the best Alaskan fishing experience I know, and I’ve covered much of the state.

Who knows? Maybe you can join me this coming season, as I’ll be up there most of August to enjoy all that this amazing place has to offer, for I simply can’t get enough of it. ASJ

Editor’s note: To book your trip on the Egegik River and maybe fish with longtime Alaska Sporting Journal columnist Scott Haugen, drop him an email at sthaugen@yahoo.com for details.