Alaska Sporting Journal - June 2023

PUBLISHER

James R. Baker

GENERAL MANAGER

John Rusnak

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Andy Walgamott EDITOR

Chris Cocoles

WRITERS

Dave Agness, Scott Haugen, Tiffany Haugen, Cal Kellogg

SALES MANAGER

Paul Yarnold

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

Lucas Hoene, Mike Smith, Zachary Wheeler

DESIGNER

Lesley-Anne Slisko-Cooper

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT

Kelly Baker

WEB DEVELOPMENT/INBOUND MARKETING

Jon Hines

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT

Katie Aumann

INFORMATION SERVICES MANAGER

Lois Sanborn

ADVERTISING INQUIRIES

media@media-inc.com

MEDIA INDEX PUBLISHING GROUP 941 Powell Ave SW, Suite 120 Renton, WA 98057 (206) 382-9220 • Fax (206) 382-9437 media@media-inc.com • www.media-inc.com

ON THE COVER

Lindsay Agness and her husband Dave are based in Rochester, New York, and love the fly fishing opportunities the Great Lakes region offers. But almost nothing can match their memories of catching trout in Alaska. Check out an excerpt from their new book this month. (DAVE AGNESS)

CORRESPONDENCE

Twitter @AKSportJourn

Facebook.com/alaskasportingjournal Email ccocoles@media-inc.com

LAST FRONTIER LOVE AFFAIR

Lindsay and Dave Agness are fly fishing fanatics (and authors) based in Rochester, New York. And while they love their Great Lakes fisheries, the ’bow-catching beaus have a special affinity for Alaska. In an excerpt from their latest book, Dave recaps a memorable 2021 salmon, trout and Arctic char adventure – and stick around for our interview with him!

FEATURES

37 CATCH IT, CLEAN IT, COOK IT

Summer and catching trout go hand in hand. But what about cooking up your catch on your campfire stove or backyard grill? Scott and Tiffany Haugen’s latest From Field to Fire feature shows you how to handle and then clean your prize to ensure the best taste from that filet. Need a recipe idea for your fish? Try Tiffany’s trout dip appetizer!

49 HOMER’S HALIBUT TOURNAMENT REBOOT

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

9 The Editor’s Note

11 The Alaska Beat: Alaskans get behind embattled Southeast trollers

For 34 years, the Homer Jackpot Halibut Derby was an institution in this fishing-crazed Kenai Peninsula port. But after the tournament run ended following 2019’s event, the Homer Chamber of Commerce planned to stage a smaller shindig that celebrated one of Alaska’s best halibut fisheries. After Covid delays and other factors, the city is finally ready for its reboot. We preview the month-long Homer Halibut Tournament.

54

LINGS AND THINGS

The Gulf of Alaska can be an unforgiving body of water, but the depths of the sea holds some hard-fighting lingcod and other bottomfish species that will test your stamina – and tempt your taste buds. Our California-based Cal Kellogg has been a regular visitor in the Last Frontier to battle these big, bad bruisers and provides some tips for those hearty souls who also want to take on the challenge.

(DAVE AGNESS)

Ikind of figured that as my lengthy  interview with fly fishing book author Dave Agness unfolded, we’d go offtopic a couple times. Indeed, between discussing he and his wife Lindsay’s Alaska adventures, we mused about his love of the NFL’s Green Bay Packers, Atlantic salmon fishing in the Canadian region of Labrador and his personal bout with prostate cancer.

But we also discovered a shared background of working in the newspaper industry. Like me, Agness got his college degree in journalism and worked at publications around his hometown of Rochester, New York. For a time he even worked jobs at two local newspapers, barely making enough money to survive. We shared stories about making little money at our earliest jobs in the industry. Then again, most of us in journalism likely didn’t pursue these careers to get rich.

“Right out of college I got a job for a weekly newspaper. It was a single-section newspaper and, of course, I was writing everything from crime to politics to wedding announcements, and especially

EDITOR’S NOTE

sports,” Agness told me (see my full interview with him as well as his book excerpt starting on page 18). It wasn’t too far away from my first job, where I was a one-man sports department at a six-daya-week community paper in California’s San Joaquin Valley.

I’m a little younger than Agness, who was born in the 1950s, so I was part of the generation that transitioned from traditional print newspapers with no online presence at all, to the new age of websites, subscriber-only paywalls, instant news posted online and the dreaded murky depths of the social media cesspool.

And while I’m as guilty as anyone of utilizing the internet for work-related information – not to mention staring at that tiny little screen just for fun – I terribly miss fall Sundays and picking up my newspaper off the front porch and physically reading stories about the

previous day’s college football games.

Even years before I ever dived –perhaps foolishly? – into a career as a print scribe, my earliest newspaper memory probably isn’t reading the comics but the weekly fishing report written by famed California outdoors writer Tom Stienstra in the respected afternoon San Francisco Examiner. Now, I rarely if ever throw a few quarters into a machine to read what has mostly become watered-down editions with skeleton crews trying to keep the slow-dying print industry afloat.

As for Agness, he eventually left the news industry for a long career at EastmanKodak. And while he had reverence for his jack-of-all-trades assignments he covered during his news and sports reporter gigs in western New York, we both scoffed at not just the layoffs and reduced newsrooms, but also the partisan politics that define the business nowadays.

“I do miss (those days),” he told me. I agree.

But I will say that talking with Dave offered us both a nostalgic trip down our own memory lanes. -Chris Cocoles

Longtime

fly angler and author Dave Agness was once like the editor, a low-paid newspaper scribe still proud of getting the news out to readers. (DAVE AGNESS)

ALASKANS GET BEHIND EMBATTLED SOUTHEAST TROLLERS IN LAWSUIT

When a federal judge earlier this spring upheld an order to shut down the Southeast Alaska commercial Chinook troll fishery, many local organizations came to the defense of the region’s fishers.

“The court’s decision is disappointing, not only because it puts the future of Alaska’s small-boat fishing families in jeopardy, but it distracts from the larger, more urgent issues that are causing the continued decline of the Pacific Northwest’s Chinook and orca populations,” said Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association director Linda Behnken.

“The science and data clearly shows that habitat loss, dams, climate change, water pollution, and urbanization are harming salmon and orcas in the Northwest – not our hook-and-line fishery that operates almost 1,000 miles away and has done so sustainably for over 100 years.”

The remarks were in reference to Washington state-based Wild Fish Conservancy’s lawsuit against the federal government over its alleged mismanagement of Panhandle Chinook fisheries. The organization argued harvest there diminished Puget Sound returns, impacting local Chinook-dependent orcas known as southern resident killer whales.

SalmonState also came to the defense of Alaska fishermen, with executive director Tim Bristol referring to Wild Fish Conservancy’s suit as “misguided, irresponsible litigation – which in all probability won’t save a single endangered killer whale, but will ruin the livelihoods of thousands of Southeast Alaska’s most committed.”

SalmonState’s position is that reduced Chinook harvests from the fleet in recent years haven’t had any effect on either orcas or salmon from Washington waters. Instead, the decreasing numbers of fish are linked to “habitat destruction, dams, climate change, and contamination that are the driving problems feeding their continued decline.”

As for orcas, SalmonState said, “Killer whale populations in other parts of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, including in Southeast Alaska, have increased in recent years, and a recent study found that inbreeding is a factor in southern resident killer whale decline.”

Bristol added that saving wild salmon should be a collaborative effort between environmental groups and those who want to see wild salmon thrive along the West Coast.

“Instead of reaching out to trollers, or to others they target through their frequent lawsuits, the Wild Fish Conservancy is racing down a low road that will make it harder to save endangered salmon runs and threatens the people who rely most on wild salmon,” Bristol said. “The Wild Fish Conservancy’s approach to environmentalism is fatally flawed, and we condemn it in the strongest possible terms. This fight is far from over.”

For its part, a Wild Fish Conservancy lashed out at the National Oceanic and

AL ASKA BEAT TWEET OF THE MONTH

We should all be thinking of our dads as we celebrate Father’s Day on June 18. Here’s hoping this family gets to enjoy some more Alaska outdoor bliss with Dad.

Some communities embrace a local dog and cat as a four-legged critter that wins over hearts. On Anchorage’s Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, it’s Betty, a blind black bear that locals want to take photos with.

“She’s almost the celebrity on the base,” James Wendland, chief officer with the JBER Conservation Law Enforcement Office, told Alaska’s News Source

“Everybody that knows of her wants to take a look and see her and get good pictures.”

Washington Chinook are at the center of a contentious lawsuit from that state’s Wild Fish Conservancy that will shut down the Southeast Alaska winter and summer commercial troll fishery unless a stay is granted. Alaska orgs like SalmonState are defending the fishing fleet. (OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK)

Atmospheric Administration “for consistently approving unsustainable harvest plans that have failed fishers, wild salmon, and southern resident killer whales.”

The suit was filed over NOAA’s 2019 Southeast Alaska Biological Opinion, or biop, which provided federal Endangered Species Act coverage for fisheries there.

“Beyond the harm to Alaskan fishers, by allowing the overharvest and interception of Chinook from rivers throughout the coast to occur over so many decades, NOAA’s management has impacted and harmed many other tribal, First Nation, and coastal communities in British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon whose local Chinook are being harvested far from home,” Wild Fish Conservancy said.

“In many cases, these communities have been forced to disproportionately shoulder the burden of wild salmon and orca recovery, while sacrificing their own cultural, social, and economic relationship with wild salmon. The Court’s decision is finally addressing this historic inequity and restoring control to communities coastwide over the destiny of salmon recovery in their home watersheds.”

NOTABLE NUMBER

$1,000

Whoever catches the largest halibut in this month’s Valdez Fish Derbies Halibut Hullabaloo (June 2-11) takes home 1,000 bucks. The ongoing Valdez Halibut Derby runs through Sept. 3. See the Outdoor Calendar on page 13 for more information.

““Our traditional economies are deeply rooted in the quality of our ecosystems and the food they provide, and Donlin gold mining operation puts our lifestyle at perpetual risk. Despite numerous chances to uphold their commitments to environmental sustainability and Indigenous peoples’ rights, Barrick has already failed to keep their promises by choosing the hazardous wet tailings impoundment over the considerably safer dry-stacking technique for mine tailings.”

FROM THE ASJ ARCHIVES – JUNE 2020 AN ODE TO ANTHONY: DAD COPES WITH SON’S HEALTH ISSUES

Now that I’m a husband and a father of two small children, I understand there is more to life than self-gratification, and I make it a point to put their needs before mine and will do everything in my power to keep my family safe.

And now that Anthony has diabetes, we are realizing that his condition makes him vulnerable to variables that would never have concerned us before he was diagnosed.

What’s hard for me to accept during this pandemic is there are things in this world that I can’t protect my family from, and now I have to rely on other people to do the right thing, or else something bad can happen. That’s why it’s disappointing to see so many good people acting responsibly and all of their efforts could be suddenly wiped out because there are a handful of selfish jerks who are willing to throw away months of hard work.

I know everyone is anxious to have life go back to normal, but trying to normalize it too early can set us back to where it all started. If you want to roll the dice with your health or possibly your life, that’s your decision. But there is

more at stake. When you put someone else’s life in jeopardy – my family’s lives –I have a real problem with that.

You want to talk about what’s unfair? I should be standing knee-deep in a world-famous steelhead stream, brawling with ocean-run rainbows that just came in on the morning tide. Instead, I’m learning how to calculate and administer life-sustaining insulin doses for a 9-year-old boy.

And even with this lifelong obstacle my family just started to confront, I am fully aware that there are thousands of families worse off than mine who are suffering, and some who have lost loved ones from this pandemic. I also realize there will be more cases, more sadness and, unfortunately, more deaths. That is the real injustice, and that is why I plan on doing my part by staying put until the restrictions start to ease up.

We need to look at the big picture and do what we can in our power to help stop the spread, rather than satisfying our immediate needs. We have to keep telling ourselves this will be over –hopefully sooner than later – and that life will start to go back to normal.

Anthony Ensalaco’s 2020 diabetes diagnosis put the Covid pandemic and a lot of other issues in perspective for his father Tony, who is a regular contributor to this magazine. Anthony is doing really well these days. (TONY ENSALACO)

”Personally, I know in my heart that Anthony will be back on the pitcher’s mound “chucking bullets” or skating across the blue line “deking benders” and “lighting the lamp” in the near future. Just like the hunters will be invading the woods or storming the fields, while the fishermen will be pummeling the water from sunrise to sundown. And that I’ll get back to Alaska next spring and do battle with a chromebright steelhead. -Tony Ensalaco

–Sophie Swope, Orutsararmiut Tribal citizen and director of Mother Kuskokwim Tribal Coalition, in urging company Barrick Gold to withdraw its interest in the Donlin open pit gold mine operation that could threaten the headwaters of the Kuskokwim River in Southwest Alaska.

OUTDOOR CALENDAR

TROLLING MOTOR MOUNT

Now thru Sept. 3 Valdez Halibut Derby (valdezfishderbies .com/halibut-derby)

June 1-30 1st Annual Homer Halibut Derby and Homer Halibut Festival (homerhalibuttournament.com)

June 2-11 Valdez Halibut Hullabaloo (valdezfishderbies.com/ halibut-derby/halibut-hullaballoo)

June 15 Brown bear hunting season ends in several units

June 30 Black bear hunting season ends in several units

July 1 2023-24 hunting regulations go into effect

July 4 Mount Marathon Race, Seward (mountmarathon.com)

July 22 Valdez Kids’ Pink Salmon Derby (valdezfishderbies .com/kids-derby)

July 22-Sept. 3 Valdez Silver Salmon Derby (valdezfishderbies .com/silver-derby)

July 28 Valdez Big Prize Friday (valdezfishderbies.com/ silver-derby/big-prize-friday)

Aug. 11-Sept. 3 Valdez Tagged Fish Contest (valdezfishderbies .com/tagged-fish-contest)

Aug. 12 Valdez Women’s Silver Salmon Derby (valdezfishderbies.com/womens-derby)

Aug. 13-21 Seward Silver Salmon Derby (seward.com/ event/67th-annual-silver-salmon-derby/10)

Aug. 23-25 Ted Stevens Kenai River Classic (krsa.com/events/ ted-stevens-kenai-river-classic)

Sept. 1 Valdez Big Prize Friday (valdezfishderbies.com/ silver-derby/big-prize-friday)

For more information and season dates for Alaska hunts, go to adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=hunting.main.

The #MK02 Trolling Motor Mount accommodates some Minn-Kota, Garmin, and Lowrance bow mount trolling motor’s installation in any of the LeeLock Quick Change Bases. Simply slide your Motor Mount on the base and lock it in with the pin. The #MK-02 Motor Mount will fit in the LeeLock #QB-01 Quick Change Base, the #QBR-01 Quick Change Bow Roller Base or either of the bases that are sold with the Large Anchor Can Assemblies (#LCA-02 and #LCA-03

LEELOCK CRAB CRACKER

This new tool from Leelock will allow you to measure your Dungeness crabs to determine which ones are legal to keep. Then use the Crab Cracker to crack them in half, separating the two clusters from the shell and guts.

The Crab Cracker has been designed so that it sits nicely on top of a 5-gallon bucket, perfect for when you clean crabs. The bucket gives you a stable base, which makes it easier to clean – the guts and shell go into the bucket, making cleanup a snap. Crabs cleaned this way take up half as much space as whole crabs, so you can cook twice as many in your kettle.

The Crab Cracker is a unique tool made from solid aluminum, and comes in handy for cleaning Dungeness crabs.

360-380-1864 www.leelock.com

The Valdez Halibut Hullabaloo derby is set for June 2-11. See the website below for more info. (VALDEZ FISH DERBIES)

DESTINATION CANADA HUNT • FISH • TRAVEL

Events Calendar

JUNE 11-18

Excellent lake trout & walleye fishing. For details visit nradventures.com

JULY 9-16

Perfect fishing for the “Grand Slam of the Rockies” (lake trout, pike, walleye, rainbow trout, bull trout & Arctic grayling). For details visit nradventures.com

AUGUST 6-13

Prime fly fishing (rainbow trout, bull trout & Arctic grayling). Excellent pike fishing. For details visit nradventures.com

AUGUST 22-26

6th Annual Charity Fishing Derby For details visit joessalmonlodge.com

NORTH RIVER OUTFITTING

NORTHERN ROCKIES ADVENTURES

WESTVIEW MARINA

JOE’S SALMON LODGE

MILLERS NORTH OUTFITTING

Premium BC Fly-in Fishing Trips

The Grand Slam of the Rockies, your next B.C. fishing trip…

Looking for a new B.C. fishing trip this or next season? The province’s hidden gem, the Muskwa Kechika and Northern Rockies, harbour some of the best freshwater fishing in North America. Monster 30+ lbs Lake Trout and 4ft Northern Pike rival any salmon; the best part is freshwater catch rates are way higher! And where is this Muskwa-Kechika? Well, it’s quietly tucked away in the top eastern corner of British Columbia, this massive ecologically protected area covers roughly 46,000 sq. miles of pristine nature. An absolute fishing paradise, only fully accessible via floatplane!

Let’s say you join us for an exclusive fly-in fishing trip in June or July, what’s an angler to expect? You’d be fishing in Prime spincasting season for wild native fish. Trolling for Big Lakers, Northern Pike and Walleye (yep Walleye in BC!). In our remote mountain lakes, you’ll barely keep the fish off your hook. Rising for the first hatches and eager to feed are wild Rainbow Trout, Bull Trout and Arctic Grayling, fish ever keen to take a spoon or fly. Looking to catch the Grand Slam of the Rockies? The sweet spot is right from early June into the late July, all six trophy B.C. Freshwater species in one trip! Coupled with unparalleled scenery, hospitality, premium all-inclusive roundtrip fishing packages from Vancouver, Northern Rockies Adventures gives you even more reasons

Looking forward to fishing with you!

Urs Schildknecht Guide, Bushpilot, Operator

FALLING IN LOVE WITH LAST FRONTIER FISH

BY DAVE AGNESS

Dave Agness and his wife Lindsay are constantly leaving their home in Rochester, New York, to fish around the world (think the Seychelles Islands off the east coast of Africa, Central America’s Belize, and Canada). But in the couple’s 2019 debut book, Fishing Adventures on the Fly with Dave and Lindsay Agness, they devoted three chapters to their angler experiences in the Last Frontier. And Dave Agness captured why in one simple declaration.

“I said this in my first book: ‘I know there’s never going to be a McDonald’s or a Burger King or an apartment building in any direction in which I am looking,’” he says. “That’s how wild it is.”

In this second edition of the book, the Agnesses decided to put some of their knowledge of fly fishing techniques into how-to sections. But mostly, Dave and Lindsay are sharing adventures everywhere from their home in the Northeastern U.S. to exotic locations around the globe and, of course, one of their favorite destinations, Alaska (just one chapter covers their most recent adventure in the 49th state, where even with the salmon runs completed, the rainbows, grayling and especially pumpkin-colored Arctic char were biting like mad demons).

“We immediately fell in love with the place, and that’s why we’ve been going back there for the last 20 years,” Dave notes.

The following is excerpted with permission from Fishing Adventures on The Fly Techniques and Tactics, by Dave Agness, and is published by Palmetto Publishing.

Fishing couple Lindsay and Dave Agness have become regular visitors to Alaska to experience some outstanding fishing. Their 2021 trip to the Last Frontier is featured in their updated book, Fishing Adventures on The Fly Techniques and Tactics (DAVE AGNESS)

Justin guided the sled to a tiny island in the middle of the run. Downstream was a bigger island where the Naknek River raced around both sides. This was the same spot our guide Gray had pleaded with me the day before to make a last stand at the end of a long day.  I did get out of the boat and swung this spot, and after countless casts to which I had a couple half-hearted pulls from a fish, we called it a day. Yesterday had been sunny but very cold in the morning, and the water temps were frigid, slowing down the grabbiness of the migratory rainbows. My wife Lindsay had scored a nice fish, but I wasn’t as fortunate. It was impossible to pass on Gray’s excitement for this last stand, though, so I had obliged and cast-stepped down the run, with a big zero finding a player. Gray, who is as passionate as any guide

I’ve ever fished with, was still in shock at dinner Wednesday night about our slow day. I bought him a few cocktails to ease his pain.

So here we were again. Same run, steady rain soon turning to snow. Justin gave us a lay of the land, explaining the series of slots that ran to the big island. Where we stood in ankle-deep pea gravel, further out there were dips and slots in the gravel where these Naknek ’bows would ambush their prey.

Still, after yesterday’s “no-hitter,” I was a bit skeptical. I got to be the lead down the run (likely because I was fishless the day before), with Linds 20 yards behind me. She was fishing a patented flesh fly and I had the staple black and white Dolly Lama knotted to my tippet.

There was one element that was different this time. With the rain system

rolling into King Salmon, Alaska, and instead of a clear night and temps down into the teens like the day before, it was mid-40s with a warm rain.

Probably about six casts in, a fish came to the fly with commitment rather than the plucky teases of the day before, and I was locked up on a screaming fish. Just as I turned to look back at Lindsay because I knew she’d be excited to see me hooked up, her rod was also bent double with her own player (of course) and we had our famous “Agness Double.” We both coaxed our fish over to the boat, where Justin deftly netted the pair and our day, while only just beginning, was also already a huge success.

IN 2019, LINDSAY WENT to King Salmon with some girlfriends on a fishing trip. I was on our annual trip to (New York’s)

It would be Lindsay (here with guide Ryan) who caught the most colorful fish of the trip on the Ugashik River, this pumpkin-orange Arctic char. (DAVE AGNESS)

Q&A WITH AUTHOR DAVE AGNESS

ASJ editor Chris Cocoles caught up with Dave Agness, the author of Fishing Adventures on the Fly Techniques and Tactics, to talk about some of his Alaska adventures, some favorite worldwide destinations and how he and his wife Lindsay try to give back to the sport of fishing. (This interview has been edited for clarity.)

Chris Cocoles The chapter in your book on Alaska says you and your wife Lindsay have been regular visitors to the Last Frontier. Tell us about this particular trip and how it came about.

Dave Agness My first book was published in 2019 and we were going to get back to Alaska in 2020, and, of course, Covid hit. So that threw a monkey wrench in all kinds of things and we didn’t get out to

the Naknek and Bristol Bay until 2021.

CC Has Alaska been the same epic experiences for you as for so many other people I’ve encountered?

DA We consider it our second home. If we didn’t have four daughters and six grandkids all living in the same city yearround, it would be hard to not spend some more time there. But we have a pretty close-knit family and that is anchored here in Rochester [New York].

CC What was your first Alaska experience like?

DA I was a charter boat captain – part time – and I had a 43-year career at the Eastman-Kodak Company. I was writing for magazines and was the editor of a New York outdoors magazine for seven

years. And I had read and written about fly fishing and fishing in general around the world. But Alaska had always piqued my interest. My dad was stationed in Alaska when he was in the service, and he had so many great stories about that.

My first trip [1998] was out to the Alagnak River and Bristol Bay. When I got there at the airport in King Salmon, back then the airport was about as big as my living room. There was myself and a bunch of other guys who had gone moose hunting and they had their moose racks taped to their duffle bags to ship them back home. A guy came by, looked at me and asked, “Is this your first time?” I said, “Yeah.” And he said, “No one ever comes to Alaska once.” And he was right, because we’ve been a dozen times. Friends ask me about where to take a trip, and we’ve literally fished around the world, and sure, they can go to the Montanas, the Wyomings and the Utahs, and they’re wonderful trips. But if you want to go to a place like no other in North America, and maybe on the planet, you have to go to Alaska.

CC In reading your Alaska chapter, it seemed to me like catching those colorful pumpkin char made for a special moment for you. Was that indeed a fish of a lifetime?

DA Oh yeah. We love char. We chase steelhead here in the Great Lakes and we spend a lot of time swinging two-handed rods, and a lot of our fishing here is with spey rods catching steelhead on swung streamers. So we knew we were going to do that in Alaska. But the one fish that we went there for was the Arctic char. That was our bucket-list fish.

I had caught some Arctic char in the Alagnak that were maybe 4 or 5 pounds – small ones. But I’d never caught a big Arctic char.  The pumpkin char were just exquisite, including Lindsay’s [brightorange fish]. And we caught several that were almost that color. And the thing people don’t realize is that when you get into a fish like an Arctic char, they’re tremendous fighters. They’ll scream line off just like a salmon. And while they won’t do much jumping, they get into the current and use their girth to put a lot of pressure on your rod. They were really a great adversary on a fly rod.

“But the one fish that we went there for was the Arctic char. That was our bucket-list fish,” says Dave Agness, who caught this beauty that was close to the elusive bright-orange char they were hoping for. (DAVE AGNESS)

CC Having savored your time in Bristol Bay, is it easy to understand how dedicated the locals and others are to protecting that region from the Pebble Mine?

DA Totally. We signed every petition out there that we can sign to keep mining away from that area. I’m deeply involved in conservation, so we’ve always been against any kind of mining in [Bristol Bay]. Kate and Justin [Crump, lodge owners who hosted the Agnesses in Bristol Bay] are on several different committees up in that area to fight the mine and get petitions signed.

CC How did you become such a fly fishing/outdoors fanatic in your western New York roots?

DA I came the route as how many guys and gals [got into fishing]. My grandfather and my father were tremendous fishermen and hunters. I shot my first clay pigeons at 8 years old. And I’ve been fishing since I can remember. And we were mostly panfishing and bass fishing. I was born in the 1950s and it wasn’t until the 1960s when Dr. [Howard] Tanner started putting trout and Pacific salmon in the Great Lakes. When that program got started my dad and I were some of the first anglers to start trolling for Pacific salmon in Lake Ontario, and I fell in love with that. By the age of 24, I had my United States Coast Guard guiding license and charter boat.

When my grandfather passed away

when I was 13 years old, my grandfather gave me a fly rod – a bamboo rod and a reel. It was probably one of those Ted Williams rods that were made by the thousands. So I taught myself how to fly fish. My dad wasn’t a fly fisherman and I didn’t know that my grandfather was. And, of course, now it’s exploded all over the world.

CC Is there a part of Alaska you haven’t been to and want to get to?

DA I’ve never fished in Southeast Alaska and want to go there and get in on the coho run. So there are some places there I’d like to try. And I’ve got to be honest with you: The cost of these trips now has gotten crazy.

Dave carefully releases one of his trophy catches in Alaska. (DAVE AGNESS)

Catching brightly colored rainbows on a fly rod is something that always fascinated Dave. As a youngster he received a fly rod that belonged to his late grandfather and he was soon hooked on being a fly angler. (DAVE AGNESS)

CC And speaking of the cost of fishing trips around the world, do you and Lindsay have another bucket-list destination on your radar?

DA I would love to go to Norway for salmon there. I’ve always been interested in New Zealand or Australia for trout fishing there. But I wouldn’t mind going back to Belize [for tarpon]. And I want to go to Baja. So that’s the next place.

CC Has it been great to be able to experience all this outstanding fishing with Lindsay?

DA Lindsay and I worked at EastmanKodak together. The first project we ever worked on together, she came down to my office and I wasn’t there at the time. And in my office I had tons of pictures from my charter boat fishing, as well as fly fishing pictures. One morning I came back to work and she was sitting in my office. I said, “Hey; what’s going on?” She mentioned she had seen all the fishing pictures and said, “I see that you fly fish.” And she didn’t say, “I want you to teach me to fly fish.” “You’re gonna teach me how to fly fish.” And she’s got a picture of a halibut that she caught when she was

20 years old that she got in Sitka, Alaska. She had a friend in Sitka and he had a sea kayak. He gave her a jigging rod, jumped in the sea kayak and paddled out into the Gulf of Alaska, jigged up a 40-pound halibut, paddled back to the harbor and then fed the whole dock.

I started teaching her how to fly fish and I’ve got to say, I’ve taught dozens of people how to do it, and no one’s ever learned how to fly fish faster than she did. And she’s currently a fly fishing guide. She loves to travel and she fishes like the dickens and outfishes most of the guys. There’s a story in the book about how she’s a “pickpocket.” If you put her ahead of you when going down a river, she’ll catch fish. And if you put her behind you, she’ll make you look stupid and catch fish behind you. We’ve been together for 18 years and it seems like we’ve been fishing every minute of that. When we’re not with our families, we’re fishing.

CC You also try to give back through your fishing. What has that meant to you?  DA We guide for Project Healing Waters and also for Casting for Recovery

for women who have breast cancer. Lindsay’s first guiding job was with a soldier who had been wounded and was medically retired from the service. And his wife was in the service too. We became good friends and Lindsay got to teach his wife how to fly fish. She did four or five tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. She wanted Lindsay to take her steelhead fishing before her deployment and she caught a beautiful steelhead. She wanted a picture of her steelhead and one of her kids in her locker in Afghanistan. Lindsay developed a fly that’s red, white and blue, and it’s also got purple in it for a Purple Heart, and named it after her.

And then a few years later for Casting for Recovery, she designed a fly that’s black and pink, and we started catching all these steelhead with it, so I told Lindsay, “You have to name this fly.” She said, “I don’t know what to name it.” So we had a contest on Facebook with the picture of the fly and had everyone send in a name and pick one. We got like 200 entries, with one calling it Lady Hope. We’ve been so fortunate and we’ve been able to volunteer our time and help. -ASJ

Long Island Sound off Watch Hill with a couple buddies. She would text me a picture or two of rainbows and steelhead she was swinging up with her twohander, but when I picked her up at the airport, she showed me a picture that sealed the deal. A double-digit – weightwise –  pumpkin-colored Arctic char.

We weren’t out of the parking lot at the airport before I said, “We are going back!” I called outfitter owners Kate and Justin Crump of Frigate Travel (frigatetravel .com; thelodgeat58north.com) and picked out a late-September/early-October 2020 return. The timing was all planned around getting after those char, with the bonus of dime-bright Naknek migratory rainbows on the bill; swinging streamers is, of course, our forte.

Then the world was blindsided by Covid-19, and our 2020 trip was put on hold until 2021. It’s agonizing to be put on hold. I usually start planning on a big trip many months before departure by gathering the gear we’ll need, and start to tie flies, but as March 2020 rolled in, the world was in a state of shock and awe as something was happening that hadn’t happened in over 100 years – a pandemic, with science caught off guard and people dying by the tens of thousands worldwide every day.

Pandemic air travel is not necessarily difficult, but it is antagonizing. We had the quick hop from Rochester to Chicago, a short layover and then the six-and-ahalf-hour ride to Ted Stevens Airport in Anchorage, with masks on. That wasn’t exactly relaxing. I hadn’t flown anywhere since pre-pandemic 2019, so things had changed. In-flight movies were now streamed to your phone or iPad. Since we don’t have or carry an iPad, I watched a couple movies on my phone, and that wasn’t nearly as enjoyable, but hey, it’s the price you have to pay to travel to fish these days.

We had a day-and-a-half layover in Anchorage before flying to Bristol Bay, so we rented a car to run down to the Kenai Peninsula, which we’ve fished on our own many times in the past. After picking up the truck, as is tradition when we get to Anchorage we drove to our favorite gin mill in a strip mall called the Blue Fox, and settled in with the natives for a couple ice-cold Alaskan Ambers.

Their experiences fishing Bristol Bay’s Naknek and Ugashik Rivers have convinced Lindsay and Dave that the salmon and other fish that swim in these waters should be protected from the Pebble Mine and similar projects. “We signed every petition out there that we can sign to keep mining away from

ON SUNDAY MORNING, UNDER a foggy, cloudy sky, we headed out after a hearty breakfast. As mentioned in past stories, the ride down through Turnagain Arm on the Sterling Highway is a day adventure in and of itself. We pulled over to watch beluga whales hunting along the shallow bars at low tide. Eagles soared overhead, against a snow-capped mountain range.

What we hadn’t planned for was the 4 inches of snow in the area two days before, with morning temps hovering just under freezing. As we crossed the first bridge over a small river, the SUV started sliding sideways, and as I got control we realized that as we climbed up into the mountains the roadway and bridges would be pure ice. I pulled over and locked the truck into four-by-four and proceeded cautiously.

The ride going only half- to threequarters the speed limit took us an extra 45 minutes to an hour, but we finally

arrived at our first spot, Ptarmigan Creek. The creek was low, but a more important factor was the sockeye salmon run was over, and only a few old zombies remained. We geared up, but after fishing for less than a half hour, knew the rainbows and char that would otherwise be congregating behind the salmon had moved on up to the lake for the winter.

Our next play was to run down to the Russian River, where we expected the same fate of the sockeye run, but there is a manmade walkway all the way down to the confluence of the Russian and Kenai Rivers. Now, we’ve had a few encounters with brown bears along the Russian, and if the salmon were gone, the bears would be turning to berries and other forms of nutrition. Not that I think bears intentionally seek to eat human flesh; I think they attack to maul simply because we are a nuisance and in their way.

that area,” Dave says. (DAVE AGNESS)

We stopped at the Troutfitters fly shop to pick up a couple things. I asked the guy handling the counter how the bears were along the Russian, and he simply said, “They're there!” He happened to have a spare can of bear spray and loaned it to me. I promised to bring it back before closing, and in my thoughts I hoped that would be the case.

We geared up in the lowest parking lot, “Grayling,” and jumped on the metal walkway down to the Kenai. Halfway down, sure enough, there was a pile of fresh bear scat loaded with berries on the walkway. We had been “hey bear”-ing all the way down and stopped to scan the area to make sure Mr. Bear had moved on, and found our way to the main river.

The Kenai runs pretty strong, but we found good footing and in a short while each of us hooked a couple leopard ’bows. There was a sizable island just below us, with a hard frothy run that slowed to a

beautiful tailout below. Lindsay waded over and climbed up on the island. I did as well and we found a small path to the front of the island. We stopped to get our bearings and I noticed we were in a giant berry patch. In 10 more steps we came across a huge fresh pile of scat covered in berries. The tailout was 50 yards through thick brush on a game trail – meaning a bear trail. I said, ”OK, we are out of here.”

There were no sockeye for the bears to eat – only berries – and we were standing in the middle of the berry grocery store. Time to move; and we did, retreating to the previous spot. Shortly after, we broke down our rods, “hey bear”-ed our way back to the truck, dropped the bear spray off at the fly shop and headed to the Kingfisher Roadhouse for a delicious dinner of fresh halibut and more Alaskan Amber.

Flying into King Salmon at midafternoon the next day, we were greeted by

our outfitter couple Justin and Kate Crump and the rest of our party, which  turned out to include a friend of Lindsay’s, Heather Hodson, the founder of United Women On The Fly, with her husband Eric, a sales rep for Simms. Heather’s dad Bob, two fly shop and outfitter owners from Oregon, Scott and Travis, and a husband-andwife team from Bozeman – Nick who also worked at Simms, and his wife Chelsey, who is an OR nurse – rounded out the rods in camp. It turned out to be a wonderful warm mix of experienced anglers who all knew each other, and who welcomed Lindsay and I into the group.

THE QUEST FOR CHAR

Sure; I wanted to swing for those Naknek migratory ’bows, but I was here for the char. On Monday evening, Kate and Justin gathered us together. Kate rattled off the options for fly-outs and wanted to schedule flights for those who wanted

to fly. She knew we wanted a ride to the Ugashik, a river running between two huge lakes out in Bristol Bay. She introduced us to our guide Ryan, who would handle the char trip. He said the Arctic char were in and the fishing had been good. The next day, with good weather, would be the time to go, so we decided to get after our bucket-list fish on day one.

Tuesday dawned cold because the night sky had been filled with stars. We got to the airplane base early, and had to wait a bit for our pilot to warm up the de Havilland Beaver. A Beaver is my favorite bush plane to ride in. We’ve been in many different bush planes and they aren’t the fastest, but they are powerful, sturdy machines.

We had an hour-long flight, and at

1,200 feet we crossed the tundra with its many small streams and potholes, then out over the ocean to where we started to pick up the mountain ranges that run down the Aleutian chain. The Ugashik is bordered by a few volcanoes, and as we swung down to the lake to land, they rose up out of the sea like the gates of a fortress – huge, snow-covered flattops seemingly reaching to the fluffy clouds hovering above.

Once down and out of the plane, Ryan surveyed the situation. There was another group of fishermen who’d arrived minutes before us and we had to assess where they were setting up. We had a long, open run to ourselves and hiked up about a quarter-mile to the top of the run to get started. The water

was gin-clear, and right away Linds and I knew how we’d be fishing.

The river bottom was covered with red salmon. Sockeye still in good spawning shape had ascended the river, and we knew the char would be on a major egg feed. So, as is traditional in many parts of Alaska, Ryan hooked us up with a bead that resembled a sockeye egg and an indicator, and we began to fish.

On my first trip to Alaska some 25 years before, I had insisted I fish my Goo Bug egg pattern for the rainbows of the Alagnak River in Bristol Bay. But after nearly mortally wounding a couple beautiful rainbows because they took the fly deep, I learned the value of using beads to save the fish.

A few casts in,  my indicator dropped and I set the hook on a heavy fish. Lindsay had told me these Arctic char were hard fighters, and as line screamed off my old Hardy, I found myself stumbling over the uneven tundra, falling once but keeping the rod high and maintaining the hookup.

I told Ryan I had to get in the water, finally found a spot to step in, and chased the fish down the bank. This big fish used the stiff current to her advantage and we proceeded to have a tug of war for several minutes.

Finally, we found a soft little bay off the main flow and I managed to steer her in to where Ryan netted the big doubledigit-pound char. You have to love it when 20 minutes into your quest for a certain fish species, you’ve scored.

For the first couple hours I was the hot rod, landing several nice char, including a colored-up fish that was an almost-infull-spawning-bloom male. Lindsay was scoring some fish, and Ryan concentrated on getting her a trophy. He saw a fish tail behind some sockeye, and pointed it out. Linds made the perfect cast and the fish jetted over and ate it hard.

The water exploded and her reel hissed as the fish tore off. A few minutes into the fight Ryan announced Linds had hooked a silver. The fish was dogging her in the current, making short, fast runs away from the bank. She finally moved the fish to the net and landed a coho of probably 12 to 13 pounds. I followed up with a coho of my own, so we now had two species on our scorecards.

Ryan had seen a few fish dimple the

Lindsay met her future husband while they worked together at Eastman-Kodak in Rochester, New York. And she gives Dave competition for the best angler in the duo. “She fishes like the dickens and outfishes most of the guys,” Dave says.

(DAVE AGNESS)

surface and told me they were grayling. I had some dry flies on me and I spent about a half hour trying to raise one without any success.

Ryan moved us down the run to a hard, fast tailout, and as soon as we got there Lindsay set up hard on a fish that dashed off down the run. She chased him a bit and finally turned him.

As Ryan netted the fish, we could both see this was the treasure, a fully pumpkin-colored Arctic char: the fish of a lifetime.

We completed the Ugashik slam by each catching a few Dolly Varden. The wind had picked up and we were now close to where the pilot had dropped us off; however, with the stiff breeze, the lake had started to swell with whitecaps and rollers, so we had to hike the length of the river run to the upper lake to be picked up.

We had caught what we came for; our quest for big Arctic char was checked off on day one. This day was bright with

sunshine and the temperature had risen into the 50s. Just a perfect first day.

We got to the top of the lake above just as our ride circled around for a landing. Lindsay and I have been fortunate enough to have many rides back to camp after a successful day of fishing. This might have been the very best ride. Two years of waiting out the pandemic to hopefully get a shot at these majestic char, and we had pulled it off.

Back at the lodge, we switched from Alaskan Amber to Manhattans to toast our guide and thank him for his hard work and diligence to make this dream come true.

BACK TO OUR THIRD day of fishing and day two on the Nak. Now, anyone who decides to swing streamers in rivers while stalking migratory rainbows also signs the waiver to expect some tough days of fishing. The day before dawned cold but sunny, and by the middle of the day, it was delightful. The temperature

was probably hovering near 50 degrees, yet run after run, cast after cast, produced just one nice rainbow for Lindsay and a couple half-hearted plucks for me. Our guide Gray is a tall, sturdy man who would be a textbook tight end on any NFL team. Gray lives to swing flies at big trout and salmon. He’s also an excellent caster.

While Linds and I are very proficient two-hand casters, we can always learn from folks who do it for a living. And as hard as we fished and grinded away for eight-plus hours, by the end of the day poor Gray was beside himself, and at dinner Wednesday night he was distraught that we hadn’t had a better day. We shrug that stuff off as just a tough day.

So on Thursday, in the pouring rain, Lindsay and I were both on the board in the first 10 minutes. Justin had radioed Gray that we were already successful –probably to cheer him up.

I reset up at the top of the run, with Linds stepping in behind me again. Once again, halfway down the run I locked up another

“We consider it our second home,” Dave says of Alaska, where the couple has traveled to regularly. “If we didn’t have four daughters and six grandkids all living in the same city year-round, it would be hard to not spend some more time there.”

(DAVE AGNESS)

track star, and as the Mark Shamburg click and pawl diamond-of-a-benchmade reel screamed with excitement, I again angled out of the harder current and landed another dime-bright ’bow.

Lindsay hooked up again and the fish rocketed out of the water, making greyhound leaps across the run. As she does, she deftly applied side pressure up- and downstream to gain leverage and led a dime-bright coho still covered in sea lice into the waiting net.

At the top of the run, again I had a quick grab but didn’t sink the iron. Three-quarters down the run my rod and reel exploded with a thunderous grab, and a fish well past the 36-inch size range tumbled nose to tail three times across the river, locked in his turbo and was immediately 200 feet into my backing. Two more launches into the rainy atmosphere and he was now down below the big island.

Justin brought the boat over and I hopped on the bow, sat down and cranked like hell as Justin started to push the boat downstream after the fish. This was new. Never had I chased a big ’bow

while sitting on a jet sled. I regained all the line and got the shooting head back on the reel. We saw the fish swaying, seemingly tuckered out in the flow. Justin grabbed the net. Twenty feet out, this true Naknek trophy was almost mine … I could envision the oohs and ahhs from friends of the picture soon to be snapped.

The fish found one last burst of energy and threw the hook. Now, we’ve all been through this. The immediate reaction is probably to yell and curse, but maybe after all these years I’ve matured a bit, and so I was quiet; so was Justin, other than the “ahh, so close, you did a great job” routine.

Justin dragged the boat back up to its anchor, with me standing in the front of the boat like George Washington crossing the Delaware. We had gone around the bend, so Linds didn’t see the escape. She looked for confirmation, and I slowly shook my head and shrugged my shoulders. This fish would have sat at my personal trophy banquet table, right next to my two big char I’d caught a couple days before.

But there was no time for hurt feelings,

and as determined as ever, I marched back up to the top of the run against the rushing current. Two casts in another shoulder-shuddering take and I was right back to watching the fly line and backing melt off my reel. But I had a better angle on this fish and, after a solid fight, led her into the waiting net. This fish, while not as big as the escapee, was a splendid specimen of pure silver and muscle.

The rain had changed to big flakes of snow. The wind was calm, so the fluffy snow gently fell on our shoulders as Justin and I sat in the boat. Only a couple hours in, I had landed three big ’bows and played a mid-30s-inch fish of a lifetime. Linds had a couple great fish in the net as well. Justin is maybe the calmest, kindest, most encouraging guide we’ve ever had the pleasure to fish with. He is also constantly trying to learn.

So he and I jumped into the state of steelhead in the U.S. He was extremely interested in what was happening with steelhead in the Great Lakes, as he has watched the West Coast fishery collapse. Meanwhile, Linds kept fishing as we dove deep into steelhead in a full-out winter

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wonderland. It was the kind of gentle, pretty snowfall where you’d expect to hear Christmas carols in the background.

Linds completed the drop and Justin offered that since we were so close to their lodge and marina, how about going back there, drying out, building a fire in the wood stove and having a late lunch? Linds climbed aboard and we raced back to the lodge. Justin put a fire in the stove and we sat down at a table with hot soup and sandwiches and continued our discussion about steelhead fishing in the U.S. Justin offered to throw our gloves and hats into the dryer since they’d been damp for hours.

We sat back and enjoyed the conversation and the warm fire. Lindsay and I are all about a quality experience in a day of fishing, never quantity anymore. We had both landed enough fish to make our day a success. The snow kept gaining strength and she and I unanimously decided to end the day on this warm, cozy note. Justin gave us a lift back to the King Salmon Lodge, where we had long hot showers and a relaxing last part of the day before dinner.

OUR LAST DAY WAS a plane ride to American Creek. The target was leopard spotted rainbows and char. On this day we finally got to fish with Justin’s better half, Kate. Kate was again rocking the Crump style – a kind, gentle, nurturing persona. What was different about this plane ride is that after we landed at the mouth of the creek, the pilot used the plane as a jet sled to run up the stream for what seemed like a halfmile to the boats waiting on shore.

The creek was busy that day, with more planes, guides and sports arriving, filling their boats and roaring off to find spots to fish. First stop: Lindsay waded upstream and down- and started swinging streamers. Once again, a few casts in I got the pull and was into a nice fish. Turning to get approval from my lovely wife, she was busy with her own player. Almost to the net my ’bow bid me farewell and Linds landed a beautiful leopard. That’s kind of how the day went. I got a few but dropped more, while Lindsay kept Kate busy with the net. It was also cold with angry gray skies and a stiff breeze up from the sea, so Kate built a fire and we embraced its warmth, again

with hot soup and sandwiches.

I did cross off another box, landing a Dolly Varden on a streamer. To that point, I’d spent 25 years catching Dollies only on beads. Lindsay locked another player on the swing and Kate had a big smile on her face (maybe secretly cheering on the girl power that day). She yelled out, “Lindsay, you are one fishy lady.” I had to laugh, ’cause she was spot on.

ON CHANGE-OUT DAY, WE packed up, ate a hearty breakfast and sipped some coffee. Kate arrived to take us to the airport and we planned to leave early enough so we could stop by the local tavern for one last Alaskan Amber and a hot lunch.

We climbed aboard the aircraft and jetted out of King Salmon on a sunny afternoon, with the mountains shimmering in snow.

It took two years to seal the deal on this adventure, and it was worth every minute of the wait. Till next time, Alaska. ASJ

Editor’s note: Order Fishing Adventures on the Fly Techniques and Tactics, by Dave Agness at amazon.com.

2.8L

The

Nearly

ALL ABOUT CLEANING TROUT

HOW TO PREPARE YOUR CATCH FOR THE PAN, OVEN OR OTHER COOKING METHODS

BY SCOTT HAUGEN

Summer is here, and with it comes the trout fishing season. Trout are mild to the taste, which is one reason so many people enjoy eating them.

If you’re new to trout fishing, know that there are many ways to clean trout and even more ways to cook them. Keep in mind that how you cook trout often comes down to how you clean them, so plan ahead.

FIRST THINGS FIRST

To get the most from your trout, deliver a quick blow to the top of the head between the eyes. Immediately break a couple gill rakes to bleed out the fish; if in a boat, hold the trout over the water to do this.

Once bled, place trout in a cooler with ice to chill as soon as possible. Don’t try to keep the fish alive on a stringer, as it

stresses them and compromises the overall meat quality.

Some folks like cooking trout with the scales on, and some like scaling them. Scaling a trout can be done with a knife, but a quick and easy way is with a garden hose. Line up your trout in the grass –heads facing away – and use the jet of the nozzle to remove the scales. It’s quick and easy, and cleans the fish of slime, too.

How you want to cook trout often dictates how you’ll clean them, and they can be cleaned many ways. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

TAKE A DIP WITH YOUR TROUT

BY TIFFANY HAUGEN

Trout is one of the most versatile fish to cook, but sometimes presents issues when served whole due to the tiny pin bones. While it may not have the “wow” factor that a beautifully cooked filet of salmon has, mild trout can be prepared in many ways.

Whether tossed into soups, pastas and dips, care should be taken to remove all the bones prior to adding trout to the dish. If grabbing a trout from the freezer, smoking or baking the fish will yield a firmer meat that’s easy to add to a quick appetizer or main dish.

When defrosting fish, always do so in the refrigerator to prevent the fragile meat from getting mushy. The slower that a fish thaws out, the better the quality of the meat will be.

Speaking of quality trout meat: With summer finally here, warm water temperatures will ensue in some shallow ponds – even streams. If the fish feels warm and has a thick slime layer, we like scaling and removing all the slime with a garden hose or the back of a filet knife, which is quick and easy to do.

2 cups cooked trout, bones removed and flaked

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup Greek yogurt or sour cream

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon fresh dill

1 tablespoon fresh herbs of choice (basil, chives and/or parsley)

2 teaspoons spicy mustard

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic

Additional fresh herbs for garnish

In a medium bowl, whisk mayonnaise, yogurt or sour cream, lemon juice and zest, herbs, mustard, pepper and granulated garlic until thoroughly combined. Gently fold in trout and mix until just coated. Serve immediately with crackers or keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Editor’s note: To order signed copies of Tiffany Haugen's popular book, Cooking Seafood, visit scotthaugen.com for this and other titles.

Rainbow trout can be used to create a great appetizer dip. (TIFFANY HAUGEN)

FIELD

Scaling trout with a garden hose is quick and easy, and it also removes the slime. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

GO WITH THE GUT

To gut a trout, place the fish on its side on a cutting board or hold it upside down in one hand. Insert the tip of a filet knife into the vent while sliding and lifting as you cut to the throat. Place the fish on its side and run the knife behind the gill plate until it hits the spine atop the back of the fish, right behind the top of the head. Cut down alongside the fish right under the pectoral fin and behind the gill plate. Flip the fish over and repeat the same cut on the other side.

With the skin cut all the way around the head and gill plate, grab the trout in one hand, head in the other hand and break the neck at the cut, forcing the head toward the body cavity. The head, pectoral fins and all entrails are removed in one piece

Next, clean out the kidney – that long, dark purple organ running the length of the backbone on the inside of the fish. It’s encased by a subcutaneous membrane that holds it tight to the spine. Cut down the center from head to tail end and scoop out the kidney. Force any remaining blood from the vessels and thoroughly rinse fish inside and out. You may choose to filet away the rib bones at this time.

COOKING PREP

With the trout cleaned, it’s time to prepare for cooking. Some folks like peeling off the skin and others like the skin on; try each to see what you enjoy.

Cooking a whole trout is one option, and many people like this because once

cooked, the meat easily peels away from the skeleton. There will be some small pin bones remaining, which run perpendicular to the lateral line, and these can be eaten or removed once cooked. Trying to remove pin bones prior to cooking can separate the delicate meat.

You can also filet a trout. With the fish on one side, insert the knife at the base of the neck and, keeping the blade tight to the spine, slide it all the way to the tail. You’ll feel the blade cutting through pin bones as you go. Remove the entire filet, flip fish over and repeat. If you’ve not yet removed the ribs, it’s easily done by cutting underneath them with a sharp filet knife, or, again, they can be removed once cooked.

Trout can also be cut into steaks. Remove all remaining fins, position trout

FIELD

on one side and cut through the skin and meat all the way to the spine, leaving 11/2 inches between cuts. Turn the fish over and continue the cuts, meeting prior cuts atop the back. With a sharp knife, cut through the spine at each cut, cleanly removing each steak.

No matter how you clean trout, they can be fried, smoked, baked, poached or grilled, and so much can be done with the meat once it’s cooked. Cooking time varies based on the size and thickness of cuts.

IT’S ALL IN THE TASTE

Be it in streams, rivers, ponds or lakes, with spinners, worms or flies, there are many places and many ways to pursue trout this time of year. There’s more than one way to clean them too, which ultimately reveals just how tasty trout can truly be for all to enjoy. ASJ

Editor’s note: For signed copies of Scott Haugen's popular book, Bank Fishing For Salmon & Steelhead, visit scotthaugen.com. Follow Scott on Instagram and Facebook.

When cutting trout into steaks, slicing through the skin and meat all the way around the fish before cutting through the spine ensures the tender meat won’t be compromised. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

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AFTER COVID AND OTHER DELAYS, NEW-LOOK HOMER HALIBUT FESTIVAL SET FOR JUNE

BY CHRIS COCOLES

Bad luck and bad timing both delayed the debut of Homer’s newlook halibut tournament. But all this month the Kenai Peninsula community will finally host the event and showcase some expected great fishing.

A fixture around Homer for 34 years, the summerlong Homer Jackpot Halibut Derby ended its run in 2019.

“Protecting the (halibut) resources and dwindling interest led to that de-

After the 34-year run of the Homer Jackpot Halibut Derby ended in 2019 and Covid affected the launch of a new event, the new-look Homer Halibut Festival will finally run throughout the month of June.

“As Homer is the ‘Halibut Fishing Capital of the World,’ we wanted to try a different approach, so this year we will have a month-long derby,” says Brad Anderson of the Homer Chamber of Commerce and Visitor’s Center. (DAVID ZOBY)

cision,” says Brad Anderson, executive director of the Homer Chamber of Commerce and Visitor’s Center.

Still, the smashing success of the annual Homer Winter King Salmon Tournament (Alaska Sporting Journal, March 2023) was reason enough to try and host another fishing-related event in Homer. But then Covid hit in 2020, which prompted Homer to cancel all of its fishing events, including the Homer Winter King Tournament.

“In 2021, we tried to launch a two-day halibut tournament, but we could not generate enough interest for it, especially because the tourism season took off very quickly in 2021 due to all the cancellations the year before, and locals were just too busy,” Anderson says.

“As Homer is the ‘Halibut Fishing Capital of the World,’ we wanted to try a

different approach, so this year we will have a month-long derby,” he adds.

Indeed, what’s now known as the first annual Homer Halibut Derby, coinciding with the Homer Halibut Festival, will run all the way through the month of June, concluding with a grand prize awarded June 30 to the ticket-buying angler who catches the largest halibut.

But as Anderson explains, the fishing is just part of the festivities.

“We certainly hope that the month of June can become a key time to celebrate the importance of halibut to our community.  There will actually be three different events happening in June as part of our Homer Halibut Festival,” he says. “The derby will run from June 1-30 and we will have a Big ’But Ball dance on June 3 and a Summer Solstice Festival on June 21, with live music, deckhand skills compe-

tition, food trucks and more.”

BIG FISH, BIG PRIZES

First things first. Anglers wanting to participate need to purchase a $25 daily derby ticket at homerhalibuttournament .com. To be eligible to fish on each specific day, entries must be registered by 8 a.m. The daily weigh-in is at Homer’s Buttwackers Fillet Company, which is located at the top of Ramp 1 behind the Salty Dawg Saloon.

Besides the daily prizes, the lucky angler who brings back one of those famed barn door flatfish will be in line for the big payout. The number of entries will determine the total awarded.

“We also have a prize for a released fish category. If someone catches a halibut measuring 48 inches or more and wants to release it, they can docu-

The success of Homer’s popular winter king salmon derby will hopefully be replicated this month as the fishing-crazed port hosts not only the Halibut Festival, but the Big ’But Ball dance on June 3. “We hope these new events around the Homer Halibut Festival will also be a fun way for our local Alaska residents to have a great time in Homer,” Anderson states. (DAVID ZOBY)

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ment the catch and release with a timestamped photo and (have it) witnessed by the boat captain,” Anderson says. “At the end of the month, we will select one of those entries for a $2,000 prize.”

HIGH HOPES FOR GOOD FISHING

Alaska’s halibut season opened on March 10 with the following regulations for charter boat fishing in Southcentral Alaska:

“There is a daily bag limit of two halibut, but one fish must be no greater than 28 inches. All Wednesdays are closed to halibut retention,” NOAA Fisheries Alaska announced in a press release. “Nine Tuesdays (June 20, June 27, July 4, July 11, July 18, July 25, August 1, August 8, August 15) are closed to halibut retention. Charter halibut permits and charter halibut vessels are only authorized to retain halibut on one trip per day.”

And as summer approaches, Anderson is hopeful the month will bring some big bottomfish into the boats.

“Halibut fishing seemed to be improving slightly last year and we hope that continues into this season,” he says. “June is an ideal time to fish for halibut, as there are more openings on fishing charters and the returning migrating fish will be in larger numbers by that time.”

And while more fish will be welcomed, after the Covid cancellations and the ensuing years of events being postponed as things got back to normal, the Homer community hopes this revised halibut celebration can have a positive effect like the winter king salmon event. June isn’t traditionally as busy as the Homer area will be later in the summer, but if the weather is good and the halibut are biting, it could be a great month of fishing and fun.

“We really hope that we can welcome more people to Homer during June, as our peak summer months of July and August have almost all our fishing charters and lodging members at capacity,” Anderson says.  “We hope these new events around the Homer Halibut Festival will also be a fun way for our local Alaska residents to have a great time in Homer.” ASJ

Editor’s note: For more on the Homer Chamber of Commerce and Visitor’s Center, go to homeralaska.org

In addition to the grand prize for the angler who catches the biggest halibut of the month, those participants who purchase a ticket and document their released flatfish of 48 or more inches can win a $2,000 prize. (DAVID ZOBY)

CHASING ALASKA’S (B) LING BOUNTY

THE MONSTER BOTTOMFISH OF THE GULF OF ALASKA

BY CAL KELLOGG

Picture the scene. We are in the middle of nowhere, a vast marine wilderness in the Gulf of Alaska. The sea, capable of great violence, is –for the moment – calm and dark under an overcast sky.

A mile to the west the steep slopes of an uninhabited island climb out of the saltwater. The tidal zone is a mix of dark sand beaches and rock covered by a thick blanket of mussels. Beyond the rocks are emerald-green pastures, ultimately giving way to dark timber

covering the upper half of the island.

Bears live on the island; you’ve seen their round black forms on the beaches and on the grass-covered slopes. They are always eating; always on the move. It’s a stark land with an eat-or-be-eaten economy – both on the steep sloping islands and beneath the water’s surface.

A thousand yards from the boat there is another much smaller island. This one features no beaches and no grass. It’s just a nasty black dagger of lava wearing a cap of dense spruce trees.

Beneath the ocean’s surface a long ridge connects the two islands. If it were not covered with water, you’d see a craggy swayback ridge connecting two rugged peaks. Massive predators patrol the swayback, looking to eat anything smaller and slower than themselves.

Capt. Steve Smith of Captain Steve’s Fishing Lodge is a master at positioning the boat to drift over the swayback. The longer the Alumaweld lingers over the reef, the better the chance of tempting a real trophy. Steve fires a huge jig 150 feet

ALASKA’S BOUNTY

The puzzle of islands dotting the Gulf of Alaska beyond the Cook Inlet provide an awe-inspiring backdrop for some of the richest bottomfishing grounds in North America. (CAL KELLOGG)

Huge lingcod like this are apex predators that will attack anything smaller than themselves if the mood strikes them. Heading to the treacherous waters of the Gulf of Alaska is a challenge, but with these monsters as the reward, it’s fulfilling. (CAL KELLOGG)

from the boat, engages the reel and hands off the rod to the angler in front of me.

“Swim it; don’t bounce it,” Steve instructs and reaches for my rod to make a long cast.

He’s too late. I’ve already hurled the massive white grub, pinned on a 1-pound jighead upcurrent. My blood is up; I’ve just put a 36-pounder in the box. The jig splashes down 100 feet away. Steve gives me a narrow-eyed look. I’ve broken the rules. He tells us he does the casting and we do the jigging, but I’m not worried. I’ve been fishing with his family for much of my life, and I don’t backlash the reel.

Just then the angler in front of me hooks up. His jig rod is bucking and he’s working the reel hard.

“That’s it; crank on him and work your way around the transom to the downhill side,” Steve instructs.

I feel my jig tick a rock. I pump the bait up off the snag-rich bottom and start slow-rolling it. The adrenaline is flowing. I’m tense. The deckhand just gaffed the fish caught in front of me and I can hear it thrashing wildly on the deck. In my peripheral vision I catch a flash of crimson. It’s a big yelloweye rockfish.

The strike isn’t violent or fast. Instead, it’s subtle – just a feeling of pressure. My brain screams set the hook! But I hesitate for a nanosecond; I’m hedging and trying to ensure the fish has the jig securely.

Steve sees the strike. Steve sees everything. “Set the hook, Cal. Set it now and reel,” he commands.

The spell is broken. I hammer back on the rod and crank hard. I’m into something big. Maybe it’s a halibut. We

pull them off the rocks sometimes. The fish feels huge, but it’s compliant. I work my way around the port corner and past the twin outboards, and presently I’m on the downhill rail, where the current is pushing the fish beyond the boat. Still, the fish keeps coming up.

DON’T FORGET THE BLACK ATTACK

No trip to Alaska’s lingcod grounds is complete without an inshore drift or two in search of black rockfish. Blacks are beautiful fish with large eyes and a mottled black and silver appearance. On light jigging gear they put up a determined fight and their filets are white and wonderful. You haven’t lived until you’ve cooked up a mess of fish and chips from Alaskan black cod filets.

Black rockfish are typically found in 20 to 40 feet of water lurking amongst the kelp. You hook them on striper-size tackle while working 3- to 4-ounce metal jigs. The average Alaskan black goes 4 pounds, and they range up to 8 or more.

Generally, all you have to do to hook them is drop the jig down 20 or 30 feet and start slowly reeling it up to the surface.  These fish will think it’s a small baitfish running for its life and boom! CK

When the fish realizes it’s in danger it takes a savage run for the bottom. The drag on the jigging reel is set übertight, but my unseen adversary rips braid off the spool with no problem, as if I’m fishing with a trout rod.

Somewhere short of the bottom, the big fish stops and bursts into a violent series of headshakes as it tries to rid itself of the jig. The thrashing is transmitted up the heavy braid directly to my soul.

Please, please, please don’t spit the hook, I plead in silence while working the reel.

Ten seconds drag by. Time moves slowly at such times, and the fish finally calms down. I haven’t won the fight yet, but I’m gaining. The fish is grudgingly rising in the water column.

It first materializes three rod lengths from the boat as a brown mass; the white jig is showing brightly in the clear, dark water.

I’ve got tunnel vision now. It’s the

Author Cal Kellogg was surprised to land this amazing tiger rockfish while jigging for lingcod in the gulf. The fish now resides in his office as a treasured wall mount. (CAL KELLOGG)

lingcod of a lifetime: a huge head, sinister eyes and dinner-plate-sized pectoral fins flared, resisting to the end. Steve brushes around me. He grabs the double line with his left hand and drives the steel home with his right. The gaff sinks deeply into the huge ling’s head. Steve times the movement of the boat perfectly. When the boat starts up on a low swell, he lifts the big fish over the rail with a smoothness honed from countless repetitions.

Steve quickly shakes my hand and goes back to work. The words are unsaid, but the understanding is complete. I’ve just landed the fish I traveled to Alaska to chase.

I’d caught a long list of gamefish –many of them certifiably huge – but that big Alaskan lingcod sits atop my personal angling resume. Back at the lodge, the lingcod registers 61 pounds on a certified scale. Catching a fish like that is a memory everyone should experience.

ALASKA’S INCREDIBLE BOTTOMFISHING

For saltwater anglers traveling to the Last Frontier, hard-fighting salmon and “barn door” Pacific halibut (Alaska Sporting Journal, May 2023) typically dominate their fishing fantasies. Those species are definitely exciting, but for the experienced Alaskan saltwater junkie they only represent two of the three marquee saltwater fishing opportunities.

Anglers in the know reflect fondly on lingcod, yelloweye rockfish and black rockfish. All of these fish are great battlers, offer excellent table fare and reach gargantuan proportions in the state’s rich, cold and lightly fished northern waters.

These fish grow slowly and the key to catching trophies is fishing waters few anglers visit. One of Steve’s clients, 20-year-old Robbie Hammond, caught the current world-record lingcod on the same reef where I caught my personal

best. Hammond’s incredible ling weighed a massive 82.6 pounds and measured just over 55 inches long.

I saw Robbie’s fish the day after he caught it in Steve’s walk-in freezer. The ling was so freakishly big it didn’t look real. On that trip, the weather never permitted me to get out to Steve’s lingcod grounds. I had to wait until the following year.

Using proper technique is a crucial part of the Alaskan bottomfishing puzzle, but weather is the real common denominator. The best fishing takes place far from boat launches in the archipelago of islands beyond Cook Inlet in the Gulf of Alaska’s treacherous waters.

When the weather is good, these waters are the nirvana of lingcod fishing. When the weather is bad – massive swells and ripping current – fishing isn’t possible, and you could well lose your life trying to navigate these unforgiving

The lingcod grounds in the Gulf of Alaska are a full 70-mile run from boat launches in the Cook Inlet. When the weather is right, and you head out at dawn knowing you’ll be battling lingcod in the 40- to 60-pound class. the excitement level doesn’t get any higher. (CAL KELLOGG)

bone-chilling waters in smaller crafts.

Poseidon controls the temper of the sea. If luck is on your side, you’ll make it out to the lingcod grounds. If it’s not, you’ll have to content yourself with chasing halibut and salmon inside the sheltered waters of Cook Inlet. Yet when the window of opportunity opens and allows you to make the 70-plus-mile runs to the world’s best lingcod reefs, you want to be ready to make the most of it. This means you’ll need to know what to expect, and you need to be prepared to employ proper techniques.

TARGETING LINGCOD THE ALASKA WAY

If you’ve chased lings in California,

Oregon or Washington, you might feel confident in terms of technique, but you shouldn’t! I’m a California native and I’ve been chasing Golden State lings for decades. I’ve got fish over 30 pounds, more plus-20s than I can remember, and I’ve literally won thousands of dollars in charter boat jackpots for the big lings I’ve landed. I can tell you from experience, lingcod fishing in Alaska is nothing like lingcod fishing in the Lower 48. If you’re an accomplished Pacific Coast lingcod angler, the best thing you can do when going on an Alaskan trophy hunt is forget everything you know in terms of homewater technique.

Current is the obstacle that sets

Alaskan lingcod fishing apart. Even when the current is calm in the ocean off the 49th state,  it’s many times stronger than the current experienced along much of the Pacific Coast in the Lower 48.

Down south we like to yo-yo jigs along the bottom and mooch with large live and dead baits. If you try employing those techniques in the ripping Alaskan current, you’ll spend most of your time snagging and breaking off gear.

Speaking of gear, your pet jigging rod is a toy by Alaskan standards and isn’t up to the task. You’ll be using stiff jig sticks spooled with 65-pound-test braid and 3 feet of double line on the business end. The metal bar-style jigs we are so fond of in the south don’t get much play in Alaska because they are very snagprone. Baitfish- and octopus-imitating swimbaits are king when it comes to hooking big Alaskan lings.

The technique is simple yet alien to most experienced lingcodders. When working rocks in Alaska you don’t want your jig making contact with the bottom. The mussel-studded reefs are extremely sticky and love grabbing tackle. Remember, you are a long way from port and your fishing time is limited. The less time you spend snagged up, the more time you spend fishing and the more fish you are ultimately going to catch.

What you want to do is swim the jig over the rocks. To me, the technique is more like fishing a rainbow-trout-pattern swimbait for monster bass in a California reservoir than what I traditionally view as “lingcod technique.” You simply want to swim your jig through the strike zone and let the lings do the rest.

Sometimes the strike is savage, but usually it’s subtle. All you’re going to feel is a tap, some weight or a bit of pressure. When you feel anything out of the ordinary, swing and reel, because the lings will spit the jig when they sense it’s artificial. Notice I said swing and reel. Don’t hesitate reeling, because if you do hook a fish and it gets slack, it will often headshake and toss the jig.

When some anglers fight a big ling, they like to pump the rod upward and reel down. This method certainly works, but I prefer to keep the rod tip elevated at about 45 degrees and smoothly crank the reel. This approach ensures the line

Huge and colorful trophyclass yelloweye rockfish are an incredible bycatch often encountered by Alaskan lingcod enthusiasts. (CAL KELLOGG)

stays tight. With the pump-and-reel approach it’s too easy to give the fish slack, and when slack develops, the fish has a good opportunity to toss the lure.

BONUS BOTTOM DWELLERS

While lingcod are 100 percent the target when working jumbo swimbaits, you will likely cross paths with some other exciting gamefish. Pacific halibut are always a possibility at the lingcod grounds. They aren’t as thick around the rocks as they are on the sandbars and gravel flats inside Cook Inlet, but when you tempt a halibut out here, they are often big fish weighing 50-plus pounds.

The other glamour species lurking among the rocks are yelloweye rockfish. These long-lived bottom dwellers are bright red in color and provide snowwhite filets. A decent yelloweye runs 10 to 12 pounds, while a big one tops 20 and a trophy exceeds 25.

Tiger rockfish are often present on the ling grounds too. These crimsonred battlers accented with vertical black bands don’t get as large as yelloweyes, but they are a special kind of cool. I’d dreamed of landing a good-sized tiger for years, and now a beautiful 12-pounder I pulled out of the gulf resides on the wall of my office.

Whether it’s colorful yelloweye, feisty tiger rockfish or gigantic lings, the Gulf of Alaska’s deep-sea bounty will test and thrill anglers. “The landscape is raw and unpolluted, dangerous and remote,” Kellogg writes. “If you love the sea and feel the pull of wilderness, you should visit the Gulf of Alaska at least once.” (CAL KELLOGG)

THE GULF IS GREAT

Alaska is an amazing land of mountains and rivers, meadows and dense timber, calm bays and violent seas. The Alaskan wilderness is awe-inspiring, to be sure.

The islands of the gulf where you seek out lings are indeed a special place. They feature beaches seldom walked by humans, where black bears that have never been hunted beachcomb for their

next meal.

The landscape is raw and unpolluted, dangerous and remote. If you love the sea and feel the pull of wilderness, you should visit the Gulf of Alaska at least once. It’s a place guaranteed to inspire your imagination and make you feel small and insignificant. And catching some massive bottomfish adds to the special experience.  ASJ

Trent Slate made the trip to Alaska to hunt trophy lingcod with Capt. Steve Smith and busted this 70-plus-pound beast. (CAL KELLOGG)