AK Sporting Journal by Media Index Publishing Group

FISHING • HUNTING • ADVENTURE

AKSPORTINGJOURNAL.COM

U xaHBEIGy01370tz]v+:=

The Xtreme Defender is based on the popular Xtreme Penetrator product line. The XD ammunition has an optimized nose flute, total weight, and velocity to achieve a penetration depth up to 18 inches* with a permanent wound cavity (PWC) that is just simply enormous; no other expanding hollowpoint comes close to achieving anywhere near this diameter and volume. Not only is the PWC over 100% larger than any other expanding bullet, expansion is achieved despite being shot through barriers. The solid copper body ensures that wallboard, sheet metal, and automotive glass will have no effect on the PWC.

5730 Bottom Rd. Sparta, Illinois 62286

*Falling within FBI guidelines This round offers: A permanent Wound Cavity (PWC) that is 2 times greater than any expanding bullet reduced recoil. CNC machined from solid copper to overcome barriers to penetration Radial flutes that force the hydraulic energy inward to build pressure Minimal surface area to increase the force at the point of contact and sharp cutting edges that defeat barriers.

Call us: (618) 965-2109 www.underwoodammo.com

ABOUT MORNINGS LIKE THIS. THEY WRITE COUNTRY SONGS THEY WRITE COUNTRY SONGS THEY WRITE COUNTRY THEY WRITE COUNTRY SONGS ABOUT MORNINGS LIKESONGS THIS. ABOUT MORNINGS LIKE THIS. ABOUT MORNINGS LIKE THIS. ABOUT MORNINGS LIKE THIS.

BUT AT 70 MPH YOU CAN’T HEAR THEM. BUT AT 70 MPH YOU BUT AT 70 MPH YOU BUT ATAT 7070 MPH YOU BUT MPH YOU CAN’T HEAR THEM. CAN’T HEAR THEM. CAN’T HEAR THEM. CAN’T HEAR THEM. It’s a glorious sunrise, viewed in fast forward thanks to the power of your 250 ProXS. Because you need to get there while the fish are still eating breakfast.

CONNECTICUT

Learn more atsunrise, mercurymarine.com visit your local today. It’s a glorious viewed in fast or forward thanks todealer, the power of your 250 ProXS. It’s a glorious sunrise, viewed fast forward thanks the power of your 250 ProXS. Because you need to get thereinwhile the fish are stillto eating breakfast. It’s aIt’s glorious sunrise, in fast forward thanks to thetobreakfast. power of your 250 ProXS. ayou glorious viewed inthe fast forward thanks the power of your 250 ProXS. Because need tosunrise, getviewed there while fish are still eating Learn more mercurymarine.com or local dealer, today. Because youat need to gettothere whilewhile thevisit fish are breakfast. Because you need get there theyour fishstill areeating still eating breakfast. Learn more at mercurymarine.com or visit your local dealer, today. Learn more at mercurymarine.com orObsession visit your locallocal dealer, today. Learn more at mercurymarine.com or visit your dealer, today. Boats Captain Bub’s Marine Inc. NEW HAMPSHIRE

East Falmouth, MA Lakeville, MA capecodboatcenter.com captainbubsmarine.com Dover Marine Connor’s and O’Brien Marina Dover, NH Pawcatuck, CT Obsession Boats Captain Bub’s Marine Inc. NEW HAMPSHIRE CONNECTICUT Portside Marine Doug Russell Marine dovermarine.com connorsandobrien.com East Falmouth, Lakeville, MA Marine Inc. Obsession BoatsMA Captain Bub’s NEW HAMPSHIRE CONNECTICUT Danvers, MA Worcester, MA capecodboatcenter.com captainbubsmarine.com Dover Marine Connor’s and Marina East Falmouth, MABoats Lakeville, MA Bub’s Obsession Boats Captain Bub’s MarineMarine Inc. Inc. N E WN HEAWMH PA SH CONN TNIO’Brien Obsession Captain MIPRSEH I R E CE OC N ECCUTTI C UT portsidemarine.us WorcesterBoating.com Winnisquam Marine Defender Industries Inc. Dover,Marine NH Pawcatuck, capecodboatcenter.com captainbubsmarine.com East Falmouth, MA MA Lakeville, MA MA Dover Connor’s andCT O’Brien Marina East Falmouth, Lakeville, Belmont, NH Waterford, CT Portside Marine Doug Russell Marine dovermarine.com connorsandobrien.com capecodboatcenter.com captainbubsmarine.com Dover, Pawcatuck, CT O’Brien DoverNH MarineMarine Connor’s and MarinaMarina capecodboatcenter.com Dover Connor’s and O’Brien Riverfront Marine Sports Inc. Essex captainbubsmarine.com Marina LLC. winnisquammarine.com defender.com Danvers, MA Worcester, MA Portside Marine Doug Russell Marine dovermarine.com connorsandobrien.com Dover,Dover, NH NH Pawcatuck, CT Pawcatuck, CT Salisbury, MA Essex, MA portsidemarine.us WorcesterBoating.com Winnisquam Marine Defender Industries Inc. Danvers, MA Worcester, MA Portside MarineMarine Doug Russell MarineMarine dovermarine.com connorsandobrien.com Portside Doug Russell dovermarine.com connorsandobrien.com riverfrontmarine.com essexmarinallc.com RHODE ISLAND O’Hara’s Landing Belmont, NHMarine Waterford, CT portsidemarine.us WorcesterBoating.com Danvers, MA MA Worcester, MA MA Winnisquam Defender Industries Inc. Danvers, Worcester, Salisbury, CT Riverfront Marine Sports Inc. Essex Marina LLC. winnisquammarine.com defender.com portsidemarine.us WorcesterBoating.com Belmont, NH MarineMarine Waterford, CT Winnisquam Defender Industries Inc. Inc. WorcesterBoating.com Winnisquam Defender Industries South portsidemarine.us Attleboro Marine McLellan Brothers Inc. Billington Cove Marina Inc. oharaslanding.com CRAIG KETCHIKAN Riverfront WRANGELL Salisbury, MA Essex, MA Marine Sports Inc. Essex Marina LLC. winnisquammarine.com defender.com Belmont, NH NH Waterford, CT Belmont, Waterford, CT North Attleboro, MA Everett, MA Wakefield, RI The Bay Company The Bay Company The Bay Company riverfrontmarine.com essexmarinallc.com R H O D E I SLAND O’Hara’s Landing Salisbury, MA Essex, Riverfront MarineMarine SportsSports Inc. Inc. EssexMA MarinaMarina LLC. LLC. winnisquammarine.com defender.com Riverfront Essex winnisquammarine.com www.sammarine.com mclellanbrosinc.com bcoveyc.com M A S defender.com S AC H U S E T T S Salisbury, CT 1250 Hill Top Drive 636 Stedman riverfrontmarine.com Street 431 Front Street R H O D E I S L A N D essexmarinallc.com Salisbury, MA MA Essex, MA MA O’Hara’s Landing Salisbury, Essex, Attleboro Marine McLellan Brothers Inc. Billington Inc. oharaslanding.com riverfrontmarine.com essexmarinallc.com Salisbury, CT RHOD ICove SDLEAMarina O’Hara’s Landing riverfrontmarine.com essexmarinallc.com RE HO INSD LAN D (907) (907) 225-3342South (907) 874-3340 Wareham Boat Yard Merrimac Marine Supply Jamestown Distributors ActionO’Hara’s Marine &Landing Watersports Inc.826-3341 NorthAttleboro Attleboro,Marine MA Everett, MA Wakefield,Cove RI Marina Inc. South McLellan Brothers Inc. Billington oharaslanding.com Salisbury, CT Salisbury, CT www.baycompany.com www.baycompany.com W. Wareham, MA www.baycompany.com Methuen, MA Bristol, RI Holyoke, MA www.sammarine.com mclellanbrosinc.com bcoveyc.com M A S oharaslanding.com S AC H U S E T T S North MA Everett, MABrothers SouthAttleboro, Attleboro MarineMarine McLellan Inc. Inc. Wakefield, RI Billington Cove Marina Inc. Inc. oharaslanding.com South Attleboro McLellan Brothers Billington Cove Marina wareham-boatyard-marina.com merrimacmarine.com jamestowndistributors.com actionmarineholyoke.com www.sammarine.com mclellanbrosinc.com North North Attleboro, MA MA Everett, MA MA bcoveyc.com M A S S AC H U S E T T S Wakefield, RI Attleboro, Everett, Wakefield, RI Wareham Boat Yard Merrimac Marine Supply Jamestown Distributors Action &SWatersports www.sammarine.com mclellanbrosinc.com bcoveyc.com M A SM SMarine AC E SE T T SInc. www.sammarine.com bcoveyc.com A SH SU AC HTUTS Nausetmclellanbrosinc.com Marine-Orleans Bill’s Outboard Motor Service W. Wareham, Methuen, Marine MA Bristol, RI Distributors Holyoke, MA & Watersports Inc. Wareham BoatMA Yard Merrimac Supply Jamestown Action Marine Orleans, MA Hingham, MA wareham-boatyard-marina.com merrimacmarine.com jamestowndistributors.com actionmarineholyoke.com W. Wareham, MAYard MA Wareham Boat Merrimac MarineMarine SupplySupply Bristol, RI Holyoke, MA Marine Jamestown Distributors ActionAction Marine & Watersports Inc. Inc. Methuen, Wareham Boat Yard Merrimac Jamestown Distributors & Watersports nausetmarine.com billsoutboard.com wareham-boatyard-marina.com merrimacmarine.com W. Wareham, MA MA Methuen, MA MA jamestowndistributors.com actionmarineholyoke.com Bristol,Bristol, RI Holyoke, MA MA W. Wareham, Methuen, RI Holyoke, Nauset Marine-Orleans Bill’s Outboard Motor Service wareham-boatyard-marina.com merrimacmarine.com jamestowndistributors.com actionmarineholyoke.com wareham-boatyard-marina.com merrimacmarine.com jamestowndistributors.com actionmarineholyoke.com Orleans, MA Hingham, MA Motor Service Nauset Marine-Orleans Bill’s Outboard nausetmarine.com billsoutboard.com Orleans, MA Marine-Orleans NausetNauset Marine-Orleans Hingham, MAOutboard Bill’s Outboard Motor Motor Service Bill’s Service nausetmarine.com Orleans, MA MA billsoutboard.com Hingham, MA MA Orleans, Hingham, nausetmarine.com billsoutboard.com nausetmarine.com billsoutboard.com

ALASKA

aksportingjournal.com | JULY 2019

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

CLOSEST SEAPORT TO PORTLAND, OR!

Volume 11 • Issue 2 www.aksportingjournal.com PUBLISHER James R. Baker GENERAL MANAGER John Rusnak EXECUTIVE EDITOR Andy Walgamott EDITOR Chris Cocoles WRITERS Paul D. Atkins, Randall Bonner, Tony Ensalaco, Scott Haugen, Tiffany Haugen, Larry Hatter

The Port of Garibaldi encompasses three coastal towns, including Bay City, Garibaldi and Rockaway Beach. Besides housing RV parks and lodging, restaurants, seafood processing, a lumber mill, and commercial and charter fishing, the Port’s harbor has moorage for 277 vessels. The Port’s property also features the Lion’s Club Lumbermen’s Park and an antique train display. A walking path is also a popular draw for locals as well as visitors to Garibaldi.

SALES MANAGER Katie Higgins ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Mamie Griffin, Mike Smith, Paul Yarnold DESIGNERS Celina Martin, Jake Weipert

WEB DEVELOPMENT/INBOUND MARKETING Jon Hines PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS Kelly Baker, McKenna Boulet ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Katie Aumann INFORMATION SERVICES MANAGER Lois Sanborn ADVERTISING INQUIRIES media@media-inc.com ON THE COVER Elyse Saugstad grew up skiing in the mountains around Girdwood and became a professional freeride skier. Now based in California, she hasn’t forgotten her Alaska roots and returns frequently to fish as well as ski. (ELYSE SAUGSTAD) MEDIA INDEX PUBLISHING GROUP WASHINGTON OFFICE 14240 Interurban Ave South • Suite 190 Tukwila, WA 98168 (206) 382-9220 • Fax (206) 382-9437 media@media-inc.com www.media-inc.com CORRESPONDENCE Twitter @AKSportJourn Facebook.com/alaskasportingjournal Email ccocoles@media-inc.com

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

JULY 2019 | aksportingjournal.com

CONTENTS

VOLUME 11 • ISSUE 2

FEATURES 47

THE ROAD TO ALASKA From fishing to bears and even fish being eaten by bears, you can expect a little of everything out of a trip to Alaska. For Idaho resident Larry Hatter, he made an even more daunting pilgrimage from the Lower 48: Hatter and his crew towed their boat up the Alcan Highway through British Columbia and the Yukon Territory and into the Last Frontier. The reward at the end of this long road trip was some awesome fishing in Prince William Sound, plus some bears.

KEEPING THE MEMORIES ALIVE From taking great photos to writing journals and having taxidermy mounts made, Paul Atkins tries to make the most of his hunting and fishing adventures in Alaska. Our Arctic sportsman offers up all of his checklist items to ensure you’ll have plenty of memories to look back on while hunting or fishing in the 49th state.

THE SCOUTING CIRCUIT As Alaska basks in long summer days and a lot of fish to be caught, savvy hunters are getting ready for big game seasons in the coming months. Scott Haugen loves to hunt Sitka blacktails and shares some of his surefire scouting tips to look for bucks while counting down the days until you can fill that tag. And Tiffany Haugen has a yummy venison burger recipe to make good use of your grill.

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE 17 33 58 91

The Editor’s Note Outdoor Calendar The young gun and the old hand: 2 steelheaders from different worlds share a boat on the Situk The Gear Guy: Hunting apparel choices

SHE SKIS, SHE FISHES

After honing her world-class downhill skiing skills around Girdwood, Alaskan Elyse Saugstad headed south to turn professional as one of the world’s premier freeride skiers. Saugstad and her husband, fellow professional skier Cody Townsend, are based in northern California, but she hasn’t forgotten her Alaska roots and a love of fishing. Meet this slayer of fresh pow and chrome salmon. (ELYSE SAUGSTAD) Alaska Sporting Journal is published monthly. Call Media Inc. Publishing Group for a current rate card. Discounts for frequency advertising. All submitted materials become the property of Media Inc. Publishing Group and will not be returned. Annual subscriptions are $29.95 (12 issues) or $49.95 (24 issues). Send check or money order to Media Inc. Publishing Group, 14240 Interurban Ave South, Suite 190, Tukwila, WA 98168 or call (206) 382-9220 with VISA or M/C. Back issues may be ordered at Media Inc. Publishing Group, subject to availability, at the cost of $5 plus shipping. Copyright © 2019 Media Inc. Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be copied by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording by any information storage or retrieval system, without the express written permission of the publisher. Printed in U.S.A. 12

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

JULY 2019 | aksportingjournal.com

LIGHTWEIGHT. LIGHTWEIGHT. The lightest 200-hp four stroke The lightest 200-hp four stroke on the market on the market

POWERFUL. POWERFUL.

2.8L displacement and Variable Camshaft 2.8Lgive displacement Variable Camshaft Timing it the best and power-to-weight ratio Timing give it the best power-to-weight ratio of any 200-hp four stroke of any 200-hp four stroke

COMPACT. COMPACT.

Nearly 120 pounds lighter than our Nearly 120 pounds lighter than our four-stroke V6 F200 four-stroke V6 F200

THE ALL-NEW F200 IN-LINE FOUR. THE ALL-NEW F200 IN-LINE FOUR.

FORWARD FORWARD THINKING. THINKING.

Show the water who’s boss with the new F200 In-Line Four. Incredibly light, responsive and fuel efficient, theup water who’s boss with the new F200aIn-Line Incredibly responsive andalternator fuel efficient, itShow serves plenty of muscle to handily propel varietyFour. of boats. On toplight, of that, its 50-amp offers it serves up plenty of muscle to handily propel a variety of boats. On top of that, its 50-amp alternator the power to add a range of electronics, and its 26-inch mounting centers and compatibility with eitheroffers the power tooradd a range of electronics, and its 26-inch mounting centers compatibility withExperience either mechanical digital controls give you the flexibility to easily upgrade your and outboard or rigging. mechanical or digital controls give you the flexibility to easily upgrade your outboard or rigging. Experience legendary Yamaha reliability and the freedom of forward thinking, with the all-new F200 In-Line Four. legendary Yamaha reliability and the freedom of forward thinking, with the all-new F200 In-Line Four. ALASKA

WASHINGTON

ANCHORAGE Alaska Mining & Diving Supply 3222 Commericial Dr. (907) 277-1741 www.akmining.com

KETCHIKAN The Bay Company 636 Stedman Street (907) 225-3342 www.baycompany.com

CRAIG The Bay Company 1250 Hill Top Drive (907) 826-3341 www.baycompany.com

PETERSBURG Rocky’s Marine Inc 245 Mitkof Hwy (907) 772-3949 www.rockysmarine.com

YamahaOutboards.com/F200InLine YamahaOutboards.com/F200InLine

WRANGELL The Bay Company 431 Front Street (907) 874-3340 www.baycompany.com

Follow Yamaha on Facebook® and Twitter™ Follow Yamaha on Facebook® and Twitter™ REMEMBER to always observe all applicable boating laws. Never drink and drive. Dress properly with a USCG-approved personal REMEMBER to always observe all applicable boating laws. Never drink and drive. Dress properly with a USCG-approved personal

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

JULY 2019 | aksportingjournal.com

OLYMPIA US Marine Sales & Service 3525 Pacific Ave. SE (360) 455-0788 www.usmarinesales.com

The editor makes sure on his fishing trips these days to get pictures of the big moments. (CHRIS COCOLES)

EDITOR’S NOTE

ow that I’m a bit of a nomadic world traveler, I’ve learned about the value of capturing the places and things I’ve experienced with a camera (granted, these days it helps that a phone, internet conduit and camera are combined in the same hand-held device). As our Paul Atkins writes this issue about the meticulous way he keeps track of all the images and moments from his various hunting and fishing trips across Alaska (page 69), I think back to days on the water when I didn’t bother to produce photographic evidence that I was there, let alone caught fish. I guess back in the day before the “pics or it didn’t happen” era it just didn’t dawn on me to make sure I had a camera with me to snap a couple grip-and-grins of fish that buddies and I caught. Maybe we were just too busy having fun and enjoying the scenery or smack-talking each other as we landed trout from the lake or river. But I’ve changed since then. No longer do I go the frugal route and use one of those disposable grocery-store cameras. I actually have a camera – OK, an iPhone – that will zoom in if needed. Making sure I have a photographic gadget to chronicle every bass, trout or salmon I manage to coax a bite out of and get back to the boat or shore is now a lot easier, and has become more of a necessity. Maybe it’s sentimentality, but as Atkins writes in his story, “Capturing these moments may seem irrelevant at times, but they become keepsakes.” Someone – hockey icon Wayne Gretzky, basketball legend Michael Jordan seem to get the most references – claimed to have said that you miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take. Except in this context I’m not referring to pucks in the net or jumpers through the hoop. -Chris Cocoles

aksportingjournal.com | JULY 2019

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

ALASKA ANCHORAGE Anchorage Yamaha Suzuki Marine 3919 Spenard Rd (907) 243-8343 www.anchorageyamaha.com FAIRBANKS Northern Power Sports 1980 Van Horn Rd (907) 452-2762 www.northernpowersports.com

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

JULY 2019 | aksportingjournal.com

SPEED ON THE SLOPES

ALASKAN ELYSE SAUGSTAD FINDS SUCCESS, ADVENTURE AS A PRO FREERIDE SKIER, FUN ON THE WATER FISHING FOR SALMON, TROUT BY CHRIS COCOLES

n her line of work, Elyse Saugstad is grateful for plenty of snow, quality ski equipment and frequent-flier mileage plans. As an always-working, constantly-on-the-move professional freeskier, ski film star and defacto ambassador for her sport, Saugstad is rarely not packed for another flight to a mountain – from Sun Valley to Sundance. So while it behooves her to be in a somewhat central location – northern California’s Lake Tahoe to shorten some of the travel distances between ski destinations – there’s no doubt that she’d just as well be back home in her native Alaska. It’s there that she’d be content to rip it up on all those powder-filled slopes, as well as fish the waters below for salmon and trout with her immediate family.

Elyse Saugstad has become one of the most popular and successful freestyle skiers in the U.S. But she hasn’t forgotten her Alaska roots. (JEFF CRICCO PHOTOGRAPHY/ ELYSE SAUGSTAD)

aksportingjournal.com | JULY 2019

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

says. “I was feeling like I wanted to be a skier. Kids want to be astronauts or firemen, but I wanted to be a skier. I didn’t know what that meant in terms of having a career or anything. But that was just my moment that I can look back at.” The lady knew her destiny.

ELYSE SAUGSTAD IS A ski tiger, someone

Saugstad was not only a fan of skiing, she excelled at it. “For me, I can’t even really point a finger where I fell in love with the mountains because I fell in love so young,” she says. “I was feeling like I wanted to be a skier.” (TAL ROBERTS PHOTOGRAPHY)

The irony is, Alaska offers some of the planet’s most challenging freeride skiing slopes (more on that later). Saugstad goes so far as calling the Last Frontier her sport’s “Mecca” locale. But it’s also Alaska, so of course it’s a bit of a logistical conundrum when the job requires so much travel. “If you’re based in Alaska, you’re just tagging on an extra three-and-a-half- to four-hour flight. So it makes a lot more sense to be based here where you can travel much easier,” she says, admitting too of an unconditional love for her home state. “Alaska is amazing. It made me who I am because of the way I grew up and what I was exposed to. That being said, because all my family is still there and it’s so accessible, for me I don’t feel like I’m completely cut off.” For Saugstad, Alaska will always be there. So will the mountains. So will the fish. So will her parents and siblings. And there are adventures to be had both close to her current home and beyond. But now 40 and married to a fellow professional action skier with a similar obsession with skiing fast and furious down the steepest and baddest terrain, Saugstad will never forget how (or from where) she got here. “For me, I can’t even really point a finger where I fell in love with the mountains because I fell in love so young,” she 22

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

JULY 2019 | aksportingjournal.com

who can match the skills of her male brethren while making heartstopping descents down steep peaks. Her eventual specialty, freeride skiing, is more of a daredevil sport than the traditional skiing you’ll watch in the Winter Olympics, a level that Saugstad once was on a realistic path to. But she was willing to trade the chance to win a gold medal for tearing down some of the most breathtaking routes in the world and getting filmed and paid to do it. “For me, I always just sum it up as it’s the coolest way to get down the mountain. So it’s essentially the mountain and using the mountains as a blank canvas and going down it in the way that you want to – fast,” says Cody Townsend, 36, Saugstad’s husband, fellow freeride skier and filmmaker. “Whether that’s slow and controlled, whether that’s jumping off cliffs – whatever it is, freeride is truly a free form of skiing. There are no rules to it other than the rules that you set yourself.” And both he and his wife embrace the idea of putting the “free” in freeride. Saugstad’s resume is full of accolades and honors: Freeskier Magazine’s female skier of the year award (2018); an ESPN poll ranking her as one of the top 50 women in action sports (2014); a 2008 freeride world tour championship. (She’s also been a guest speaker at TEDx Talk conventions and spoken at length to groups about surviving a 2012 avalanche that killed three friends in backcountry Washington state.) And where did her love for winter sports begin? On the ski slopes and peaks of Alaska. Born in Anchorage, Saugstad and her family moved to Girdwood, where Alyeska Resort ski area became a second home. “When we were in Anchorage, I remember my parents coming to school and pulling me out of school for a powder day. It happened a couple times and I just

Saugstad and her husband, fellow pro freeskier Cody Townsend, have inspired each other to get more passionate about fishing. Townsend has gotten his wife hooked on fly fishing. (ELYSE SAUGSTAD)

thought, ‘Oh my gosh. This is the coolest thing ever,’” she says. “So there were just so many fond memories of being a child and creating these senses. Skiing represented freedom for me in so many ways.” When she was 7, her parents allowed her to ski on her own with friends, which Saugstad now refers to as another “a-ha” moment that living in Alaska allowed: the perks of independence and enjoying the outdoors – complete with companionship and a set of skis, poles, boots and a helmet. It probably didn’t hurt that the kid was damn good at what she did. Athletic and skilled enough on skates to also show promise as a competitive figure skater before finally focusing on ski racing full time, it didn’t take long to realize that the sport could become more than just a recreational hobby and an avenue to ditch school for the ski lift. Remember that when Saugstad was coming up, Alaskans had recently become Olympic heroes. Fellow Alyeska products like Tommy Moe (Alaska Sporting Journal, December 2013) and Hilary Lindh were both Olympic medalists in the 1990s in the downhill and served as built-in role models for Saugstad and other aspiring skiers instate. One of her first races was a precursor to what would become a dedication to the downhill and Super-G, ski racing’s glamour speed events. 24

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

“I was so young. But afterwards I got this trophy and my parents were like, ‘You had the fastest time.’ But all of a sudden I was skiing with other fast skiers, because I guess I was good enough,” Saugstad says. “But then, of course, when you’re at that young age and win something, you think, ‘This is cool. I like winning stuff.’ So then I got into Mighty Mites and did very well and did well in high school. At 15 and 16 I was ranked in the Super G for my age.” The Winter Olympics became a possibility to attain when she was a teenager. “I was on the fringe (of the national team) and was on the regional team. But I got pretty burned out on ski racing when I was 17 and 18. I moved on,” she says. “And it was for the better because if I continued to race in college, I would have really burned out myself on skiing as a whole. Instead, when I got to college and started anew, it was when the free ski thing all of a sudden started to become prominent and there was this cool new thing (to try).” Finishing her college studies at the University of Nevada, Reno also fortuitously put Saugstad in the heart of the growing freestyle skiing and snowboarding hub at nearby Lake Tahoe. Her soon-to-be husband Townsend was also based there (though they met at a winter sports trade show in Las Vegas). One of their first dates was – you

JULY 2019 | aksportingjournal.com

guessed it – skiing with Cody, as well as some of his buddies who just happened to be freestyle community icons (J.T. Holmes and the late Shane McConkey). Both husband and wife love to share the story about that day. “(We) went down a challenging run and she was just on my ass the whole time. And I thought, ‘Oh, she can ski,’” Townsend recalls. “And then we went up to this other run and I felt like I was going to show off a little bit and show her what I can do. I hit it and perfectly landed. And Elyse was midair off the exact same cliff and stomps it, skis up to me and said, ‘That was fun.’ Oh my god. I did not expect this. It was kind of instant love for me. We started hanging out and Elyse joined my little rat pack of buddies. And she was the girl of the group who was outskiing most of the guys.” And they hadn’t even started fishing together yet.

FOR BOTH SAUGSTAD AND Townsend, fish-

ing was almost an afterthought before their worlds merged. And it’s understandable, given how much time they spent outdoors – in winter skiing weather. “My parents worked so much that we didn’t going fishing that much as a kid. My dad was in construction and my mom was an electrician. All the jobs would be in small towns and more remote areas. And so that’s when they

aksportingjournal.com | JULY 2019

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

on one such outing, she too was enlightened by an experience she’d rarely had. “I had only known about going out and catching salmon – big fish that you took home to eat. And you don’t go out there and flounder around with flies and throw a fish back in the water,” Saugstad says. “And at first I was really like, ‘Why are you trying to catch a fish that’s only like 6 inches? That doesn’t sound exciting.’ And I would go to set my hook and I would flip a couple of tiny little fish right out of the water; because I tried to set so much harder, I would lose the fish immediately. But I didn’t understand the subtleties and the idea of catching really small fish and being really excited about it.” Now when the couple migrates to Alaska to spend time with Saugstad’s family, they’re just as likely to break out the fly rods and cast for a few trout as they are to have the salmon gear out during the spawning run. But some of the Alaska trips can be a bit bittersweet for these two. As much fun as they have skiing back home in the mountains surrounding Lake Tahoe, Alaska has even bigger mountains. And more to conquer.

Catching salmon has been part of Saugstad’s life since she was a kid when she joined her parents and siblings on fishing trips. (ELYSE SAUGSTAD)

would work their butts off all summer,” Saugstad says of the limited opportunities they had to fish as a family. It really wasn’t until she left Alaska, met Townsend and started going back to visit the family with her boyfriend and then husband in tow that they both figured out that this fishing thing was a pretty cool getaway from the rigors of their ski careers. And while Saugstad did enjoy getting out to fish during Alaska’s salmon runs, she had to get her California beach community and weekend ski bum significant other interested in fishing. “I remember (fishing) once or twice in the ocean thinking it was the single most boring thing, and I wondered why anyone would fish,” Townsend says with 26

a laugh. “It really was not that fun and I thought it was not that very interesting.” “But when I went to Alaska and we were catching that first salmon, you felt like, ‘Oh my god! This is amazing.’ That surge … the actual fight, and, especially when it comes to salmon, just being able to harvest them, is pretty special. That’s where it hooked me. I remember coming home and trying to figure out how I can keep doing this. I want to keep fishing.” But even Townsend had an impact on Saugstad when it came to the two inspiring each other from a fishing standpoint. Some in Townsend’s circle of friends hail from Montana and took him fly fishing on remote creeks in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains. When Saugstad joined her husband

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL JULY 2019 | aksportingjournal.com

THEY ARE QUITE THE photogenic pair, including when on skis while slicing down some edge-of-your-seat mountaintops. Such a partnership is a match made in film, and both have appeared in several of the skiing adventure flicks made famous by the legendary filmmaker Warren Miller, who influenced both Saugstad and Townsend in their younger days. (Townsend appears in two Warren Miller Entertainment productions, Playground and Impact.) “I think Warren Miller is responsible for multiple generations of skiers. For me, it was the coolest thing in skiing,” Townsend says. ”It was the most fun thing in the world to do. It was so badass and I don’t even know if we truly understand how important and impactful those films were on skiers.” Both he and Saugstad have their own YouTube channels, which include some epic videos of the couple’s ski trips. A two-part production titled Backcountry Skiing has between 92,000 and 95,000 views each. It’s a blend of spectacular skiing and some comedy mixed in.

aksportingjournal.com | JULY 2019

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

“Alaska is amazing,” Saugstad says. “It made me who I am because of the way I grew up and what I was exposed to.” (ELYSE SAUGSTAD)

C t

And it’s the kind of footage that most of us – even those who are as hardcore and experienced weekend skiers on the intermediate hills at popular resorts – can only dream of experiencing on their own. But watching others accomplish the impossible on film and then excelling in the sport themselves is how they got here. The sponsorships, the trips to find new powder to beat and the overall have-backpack-ready-to-travel lifestyle is a hectic one. But it’s a journey Saugstad – she once pondered law school – wouldn’t trade. 28

“I was putting off law school to be a ski bum. And then I met Cody. He had just started to break in himself and just broke through in a film with Warren Miller and had filmed with Matchstick Productions,” Saugstad says. “And it wasn’t that I was seeking it out per se, but Cody was definitely urging me to – I don’t know – put some effort into being a pro skier and at least compete and see how I like it. He thought I was definitely good enough, so with his encouragement I did. And now law school is a thing of many, many years ago.”

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL JULY 2019 | aksportingjournal.com

So too were those days burning up the slopes around Girdwood, and while Saugstad has skied all over the world. There’s always fish to catch and more snow-covered peaks to shred back home. “The mountains are endless in Alaska,” she says, “and I feel like I’ve just barely touched it.” ASJ Editor’s note: For more on Elyse Saugstad, go to elysesaugstad.com and follow on Instagram and Twitter (@elysesaugstad). Check out Cody Townsend’s website at codytownsend.com.

VALDEZ Call us to hook up with the right charter for you!

Saltwater Charter Reservations! CALL NOW! (907) 835-4208

Proud Sponsor of the Valdez Women’s Silver Salmon Derby!

We know who’s CATCHING fish!

EASY FREEZE Inc

R.I.P. JoJo ~ Forever in our hearts.

YOU CATCH’EM, WE PACK’EM!

CUSTOM FISH PROCESSING & SHIPPING 204 Chitina Dr. • Valdez, Alaska 99686

www.valdezsaltwatercharters.com • www.easyfreezeinc.com info@easyfreezeinc.com • valdezsaltwatercharters@gmail.com

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

JULY 2019 | aksportingjournal.com

Tuff Trailer is the premier provider of maintenance-free boat trailers for recreational, commercial, and government use.

• 5 year warranty w/ unlimited mileage on the bearings

Tuff Trailers come with the best warranty in the industry.

• 5 year limited warranty on tires

• 5 year limited warranty on the disc brakes • 5 year warranty on our torsion axles • Lifetime warranty on our LED lights

• Lifetime warranty on wheels against manufacturers defect • 1 year replacement protection on tires

YOUR BEST SOURCE FOR BOAT TRAILERS IN THE N.W.

Serving the Northwest from Alaska, Canada, Washington & Oregon 6742 Portal Way, Ferndale, WA 98248

360-398-0300 • sales@tufftrailer.com • tufftrailer.com

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

JULY 2019 | aksportingjournal.com

OUTDOOR CALENDAR

Call 435-764-1310 WWW.PETERSBURGSPORTFISHING.COM

FISHING

GUIDED & SELF GUIDED LODGING We offer excellent accommodations for your weekly stay as well as amazing home cooked meals. During your stay you will find the Lodge is full of comfort and accommodations. Only a few minutes from town, it provides easy access to Petersburg’s many quaint Norwegian shops. With a washer and dryer, excellent cuisine and a comfortable quiet night’s sleep this will round out what will prove to be an exceptional Alaska vacation. The Ketchikan CHARR King Salmon Derby is a popular event that’s scheduled to start on Aug. 17. (MICHAEL BRIGGS/KETCHIKAN CHARR DERBY)

July 4 Mount Marathon Race, Seward; mmr.seward.com July 20–Sept. 1 Valdez Silver Salmon Derby; valdezfishderbies.com July 20 Valdez Kids Silver Salmon Derby; valdezfishderbies.com July 26 First Valdez Big Prize Friday King Salmon Tournament; valdezfishderbies.com/ silver-derby/big-prize-fridays Aug. 1 Buck deer season opener in most of Game Management Unit 1 (Southeast Mainland) Aug. 1 Buck deer season opener in GMU 2 (POW Island) Aug. 1 Buck deer season opener in GMU 4 (Admiralty, Baranof and Chicagof Islands) Aug. 1 Buck deer season opener in GMU 6 (North Gulf Coast and Prince William Sound) Aug. 1 Buck deer season opener in GMU 8 (Kodiak, Shelikof Islands) Aug. 10 Valdez Women’s Salmon Derby; valdezfishderbies.com/womens-derby Aug. 16–18 Golden North Salmon Derby, Juneau; goldennorthsalmonderby.com Aug. 17–18 First weekend of Ketchikan CHARR King Salmon Tournament; ketchikancharrsalmonderby.com Aug. 21–23 Kenai River Classic; krsa.com/events/kenai-river-classic

Shrimp & Crab Gear Complete Supply Source Quality McKay Qwik-Pot Shrimp & Crab Pots Gasoline & Electric Pot Pullers Rope Pole Buoys Davits Capstans In Stock

“Crabs love our pots. Once in they never leave.”

(360) 900-9439

www.mckayshrimpandcrabgear.com 306362 Hwy101 • Brinnon, WA 98320 aksportingjournal.com | JULY 2019

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

HOMER, ALASKA

1 4

KEY

1. Alaska Adventure Cabins www.alaskaadventurecabins.com 2. Bay Avenue Bed & Breakfast www.bayavebb.com 3. Bob’s Trophy Charters www.bobstrophycharters.com 4. Homer Bed & Breakfast Association www.homerbedbreakfast.com 5. Swoboda Charters www.swobodacharters.com

HOMER

swoboda charters Sitka Blacktail Deer Hunts & Alaska Black Bear Hunts Fishing Charters – Halibut / Salmon / Rockfish / Lingcod Day Charters & Overnight Multi-day Charters

he On t

Hom

pit er S

19 8 0

e Sinc

Lets Fish Together & Have Some Fun! Halibut and or Salmon, Lingcod or Rockfish Charters Available! Experienced, Friendly Staff Accommodations and Packages Available Full Day or Half Day Charters; Vessel Based-Hunts

Free Fish Filleting If you’re a “Bob” mention this ad for a $5.00 charter discount!

www.bobstrophycharters.com

907-235-1230

1-907-235-6544 • 1-800-770-6400 PO Box 1775 • Homer, Alaska 99603

swobodacharters.com 34

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

JULY 2019 | aksportingjournal.com

Bay Avenue Bed & Breakfast Homer, Alaska

Stay with us

FIND YOUR PERFECT STAY WITH US!

Check availability in more than 20 unique properties Find our best recommendations for adventuring, fishing, dining, shopping & more

BAY AVE B&B IS IDEALLY LOCATED FOR: • Flight seeing • Farmers Market • Bear viewing • Local restaurants & breweries • Fishing charters • Water taxi to Kachemak Bay St. Park

o re For m

Breakfast always i nclude

& information

reservations cont act:

Enjoy unmatched hospitality, personal service & the highest standards for quality & cleanliness

www.homerbedbreakfast.com

907-235-3757 Relax@BayAveBB.com BayAveBB.com

aksportingjournal.com | JUNE 2019

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

KENAI PENINSULA KENAI SOLDOTNA 4 Located in the Heart of Soldotna, Alaska on the World Famous Kenai River! *Kenai Riverfront Suites *Full kitchens, 2 bedrooms *Jacuzzi Suite *Private River access for Fishing *Open year round

3 5

COOPER LANDING SEWARD

kenairiversuites@gmail.com

HOMER

www.kenairiversuites.com | (907)262-1992

• Kenai Riverfront Cabins • Bank Fishing • Over 700 ft. of River Frontage

907-260-FISH (3474) kingsalmondeaux33126@gmail.com www.kingsalmondeauxlodge.com

ALASKAN FISHING AT ITS FINEST! At Big Sky we take pride in being a full-service fishing and lodging operation, with a family atmosphere and a special, personal touch.

KEY 1. Alaska Canoe & Campground www.alaskacanoetrips.com 2. Big Sky Charters www.kenaiguide.com 3. Denise Lake Lodge www.deniselakelodge.com 4. Kenai River Suites www.kenairiversuites.com 5. King Salmondeaux Lodge www.kingsalmondeauxlodge.com 36

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

JULY 2019 | aksportingjournal.com

Visit our website for more information and book your reservation today. 877-536-2425 907-398-1360

K E N A I G U I D E.CO M FOR CALLS IN ALASKA

LODGE SHOWCASE

aksportingjournal.com | JULY 2019

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

LODGE SHOWCASE

Fish for kings with us! All full for 2019, now taking reservations for the 2020 season, inquire about early booking discounts!

NEW tent camp located on the world famous Nushagak River, premium location in tidewater for chrome kings, â&#x20AC;&#x153;glampingâ&#x20AC;? at its finest!

Please inquire about access to our main tent lodge on the Alagnak River for even more options from our home base, in its 26th season.

6 guests max with durations of 3-7 days Access to our main lodge location and world class Alagnak River via a 20 minute float plane ride In addition to the best king salmon run, we have the some of the finest trout and grayling fishing available. We specialize in fly fishing for kings as well as utilizing conventional tackle.

www.AnglersAlibi.com | John@AnglersAlibi.com | 561.222.9416

LODGE SHOWCASE

TOAD RIVER LODGE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA CABINS & RV CAMPGROUND ON THE ALASKA HIGHWAY Toad River Lodge is open every day of the year on the Alaska Highway, Mile 422. Relax at our campground & in our new cabins, right on Reflection Lake. Our world famous hat collection right above while you eat delicious comfort food. Gorgeous scenery at every turn.

toadriverlodge.com | 250-232-5401 | travel@toadriverlodge.com

LODGE SHOWCASE

THE PERFECT DESTINATION FOR YOUR ALASKAN ADVENTURE

WELCOME TO THE YAKUTAT LODGE One of Alaska’s finest world-class fishing destinations, we offer affordable vacations where you can tailor a trip to your “taste and budget.” Easy access, with daily jet service right to the lodge door, river and ocean guides, a full-service restaurant and cocktail lounge, and comfortable yet rustic to downright fancy lodging accommodations in rooms or cabins, at our airport facility, or on the bay. We also have a tackle and gift shop. Let our staff welcome you home, and our professional and experienced guides and captains “Share Alaska with you!”

1-800-925-8828 yakutatlodge.com

Home, Shop & Cabins $360K - Naukati Bay

Repo Duplex & Studios $125K - Thorne Bay

Float House & Shop $45K - Thorne Bay

Log Cabin in the Woods $149K - Harris River

R&R Lodge $265K - Harris River

Lots, all sizes & locations $19K to $205K

Hilltop Home (Two Unit) $425K - Hollis

Restaurant $65K - Klawock

N-Side View Home $370K - Ketchikan

BROKER,

PRINCE OF WALES ISLAND REALTY LLC CELL 219-781-1825 | OFFICE & FAX 907-826-6600 EMAIL chucksrealestate@yahoo.com

www.alaskaislandrealty.com

Author Larry Hatter and his wife Jessica had a productive fishing day in Valdez Harbor, but getting there from their Idaho home was half the fun of a road trip via the Alaska Highway. (LARRY HATTER)

THE LONG ROAD NORTH A LOWER 48 ANGLER TAKES THE DRIVE FOR ALASKAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S BEAUTY, SALMON BY LAWRENCE E. HATTER

s the thick blanket of fog begins to lift from the icy gray waters of Prince William Sound, anticipation starts to build. With our lines out off the downriggers, the rods arch intently toward the depths. For a brief moment all is quiet, save for a distant waterfall maneuvering its way between moss-covered rock outcroppings before cascading towards the sea. There is barely enough time to warm my hands in my jacket pockets before the starboard rod strikes pay dirt and the ocean erupts in brilliant flashes of chrome! I move swiftly toward the helm as my brother Miles attempts to corral the writhing silver, which has engulfed a herring and is now fighting with reckless abandon. As it makes a run toward aksportingjournal.com | JULY 2019

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

the stern, I do my best to swing the bow in the direction of the fish in hopes of avoiding entangling line in the prop. After rising twice more in all-out attempts to rid itself of the firmly imbedded hook, the fish now begins to tire. As Miles maneuvers the salmon midship, our deckhand Wyatt smoothly drops his net into the water and brings the first coho of our northern journey safely on deck. Emboldened by our swift success, we quickly outfit the line with the secret sauce and bring the boat about in an attempt to retrace our steps through the same general area. It doesn’t take long before the Okuma sings its tune once again, and Wyatt desperately hangs onto another chromer that puts on an acrobatic show at the end of his line. A valiant battle of tug of war ensues, but ultimately there must be a victor in every fight, and soon our second victim is securely in the box. We rebait the line with a fresh herring and enjoy celebratory high fives. Now it seems like a good time to reflect upon how far we have traveled just to feel the cool, salty sea breeze upon our faces. We’ve come 2,500 miles – more or less – across multiple states and territories and through what seems like an endless labyrinth of rivers and mountain ranges. It is a daunting challenge, to say the least,

The gang made a quick refueling stop at Haines Junction in the Yukon Territory before hitting the United States/ Canada border. (LARRY HATTER)

All those miles behind the wheel are worth what you might experience in Alaska, including watching bears enjoy some of the same fishing waters, in this case Prince William Sound. (LARRY HATTER)

The highway north leads through great albeit lonely scenery, so be prepared with emergency supplies and extra fuel. (LARRY HATTER) 48

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

JULY 2019 | aksportingjournal.com

aksportingjournal.com | JULY 2019

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

Hatter (center), his brother Miles (right) and deckhand Wyatt with their first silver salmon double of the trip. (LARRY HATTER)

but for anyone with enough determination to bring their own boat north for Alaska’s annual salmon run, the rewards are many.

AS THE LONG DAYS of summer begin to

wane, the annual cycle of life and death is at its peak in “The Great Land.” Copious amounts of salmon, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, have traveled inland seeking the streams of their birth. By this time, the tattered carcasses of those that have already spawned the next generation are beginning to litter the creek banks. Now, they are easy pickings for the lumbering bears that relentlessly stalk the shorelines. They are also watching Mother Nature’s annual clock. Each salmon belly consumed is another valuable addition to the fat reserves that will see them through another seemingly endless winter. With so many fish, the prospective angler has a veritable cornucopia of options during late summer in Alaska. All five species of salmon are available at different locations, as well as a full slate of bottomfish if one so chooses. Having

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

JULY 2019 | aksportingjournal.com

ALASKA FISHING & RAFT ADVENTURES

ALASKAN WILDERNESS FLOAT TRIPS! We are Interior Alaska’s prime year-round summer and winter fishing and wilderness adventure guide service! We specialize in small group and private first-class guided fly fishing and float fishing trips for Arctic grayling and Interior Alaskan salmon and Northern pike. Rain and shine, snow and ice, we provide fishing guide services in all 12 months of the year. You can choose from our selection and combinations of float fishing trips, wildlife viewing & photography tours, ice fishing, snowmobile, aurora viewing tours, and wilderness dog mushing tours in Fairbanks and the wild Interior and remote Alaskan wilderness! We have the top guides and instructors for fly fishing, spin fishing, ice fishing, and wildlife viewing adventures. We permit and provide access to Fairbanks’ and Interior Alaska’s most beautiful and productive rivers, including the Chena and Chatanika Rivers, Delta Clearwater Creek, as well as numerous local lakes such as Quartz Lake, Birch Lake, Chena Lakes, Fielding Lake, etc. We offer fully outfitted half-, full-day, and overnight camping float and hike-in fishing tours and wilderness viewing tours. Alaska Fishing & Raft Adventures’ programs will take you to fishing grounds off the beaten path and wilderness settings you have always hoped to experience. By providing our guests with the quality equipment and highly personable and experienced resident guides, we have defined ourselves as one of the high-quality operators in the Alaskan outdoor industry. Contact us today and reserve dates for your once-ina-lifetime fishing adventure!

1-800-819-0737 • www.akrivertours.com

aksportingjournal.com | JULY 2019

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

white cousin, the Dall sheep, suits your fancy, viewing opportunities abound on the shale-covered slopes north of Haines Junction. An imposing bull bison dusting itself in the Yukon deserves a photo, as do the mountain caribou that frequent the muskeg between the river bottoms and tall mountain peaks. If you are lucky, you may even get a glimpse of a grizzly rooting out a marmot on a distant hillside as you pass the towering peaks of the Wrangell Mountains.

A ROAD TRIP LIKE this can be incredibly re-

The fishing vessel Cornelia Marie, one of the crabbing ships on the Discovery Channel series Deadliest Catch, was docked in Valdez Harbor. (LARRY HATTER)

your own boat and vehicle will provide the necessary flexibility to travel to different locations to target multiple species. It also gives you the unique ability to slow down your trip and take in the season. It’s a time of feast or famine and, along with incredible fishing opportunities, you can get a glimpse into nature’s primal struggle for life. Of course, hauling

in an ocean-fresh silver while surrounded by glacier-packed mountain valleys is the ultimate goal, but what you observe while traveling the Alaska Highway will form lasting memories as well. How many opportunities will you get in your life to see the great stone sheep sunning themselves on the breaks of the fabled Profit River country? If their snow-

warding, but it requires careful planning many months in advance. Passports, licenses, gear, tools, etc., all take time to prepare and secure. I must stress that when putting together a tool/gear list, always have a backup for your most important items, and I’m not just talking about fishing rods but an extra prop and fuel cans, as well as additional socket sets and bearing grease. Redundancy will prevent potential problems and even save lives, as we discovered. On multiple occasions, we loaned fuel to unprepared motorists who had misjudged the distance between gas stations. I recommend carrying two ex-

Seeing this coastal glacier near Prince William Sound is reason enough to hit the road to the Last Frontier. “Sometimes we may lose sight of the most important reason we come to Alaska,” Hatter writes. “It reminds us how insignificant we are in a much, much larger world.” (LARRY HATTER)

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

JULY 2019 | aksportingjournal.com

HOLCOMB’S MARINE (360) 864-6406 • Specializing in Outboard Jets • REPAIR / REPLACE

• 115 ELPT Jet . . . . . . . . . . • 8hp Hi-Thrust ELPT . . . . . . . • 9.9 Hi-Thrust EL . . . . . . . . • 25hp M Tiller . . . . . . . . .

. . . .

$5,950 $2,450 $1,650 $2,850

• ‘05 50hp EL Tiller . . . . . • 50hp ELPT 4-Stroke . . . . • 8hp 4 Stroke Long . . . . . • 15hp Long 2 Stroke . . . . . • 115hp Long 2 Stroke Jet . . • 6hp Short . . . . . . . . . • 8hp ML 4-Stroke Kicker . .

. . . . . . .

$4,950 $6,950 $1,450 $1,450 $5,950 $950 $2,250

Dissimilar Trades Accepted - RVs, Travel Trailers, Ski Boats, ATVs, Harleys, Trucks, Autos Accepted

• 15hp Long P Trim . . . . • 8hp Short . . . . . . . . • 10hp Short . . . . . . . • 10hp Long . . . . . . . . • 8hp Long . . . . . . . .

. . . . .

$2,850 $1,850 $1,450 $1,450 $1,450

REPOWERED TAKE OUT MOTORS MOST MODELS ON HAND

ON THE COWLITZ RIVER NEAR BLUE CREEK • 1307 Spencer Rd, Toledo, WA 98591

holcombmarine@msn.com • www.holcombmarine.com

Model WCH 1000 DECK WINCH For anchor or trap retrieval

Model EPGW5 GAS POWERED PORTABLE WINCH WITH A CAPSTAN HEAD

Model ETUG2-FL1 PORTABLE 12 VOLT CAPSTAN WINCH

Advantages are portability and capstan design

Fits to pickup trucks, SUVs, ATVs, SBS

Model EDMW-12SS STAINLESS STEEL DRUM WINCH For anchor or trap retrieval

With the capstan design, which allows unlimited line length in pulling (versus a drum winch that is generally 35 to 50 feet of cable), and mounts to all 2 inch hitch receivers for trucks or ATV, you can pull your moose from a mile away!

AFFORDABLE, QUALITY DESIGNED MARINE PRODUCTS

604-535-0669 | info@endurance-marine.com

endurance-marine.com

aksportingjournal.com | JULY 2019

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

tra 5-gallon cans of fuel at all times. The Alaska Highway is incredible, but also incredibly remote. Be prepared to fix potential issues on your own. And most importantly, bring a device capable of contacting home or emergency services where cell service is not available. My preference is the Garmin inReach. It’s capable of acquiring service anywhere with satellite exposure and will send preset or individually specific text messages with an exact location to family or friends. It is an absolute must.

WITH THE SHADOWS OF the craggy peaks

Emphasis on Quality Accent on Innovation

We specialize exclusively in vacuum packers / sealers since 1984. We are a complete center with repairs, supplies, sales of both home style vacuum sealers and commercial industrial vacuum packers. www.vacupack.com and www.vacupack.ca Phone Toll Free 1-800-227-3769 54

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

JULY 2019 | aksportingjournal.com

growing long that evening, we retrieve our lines and set course for port. We haven’t quite caught our limit but we’ve come tantalizingly close. Still, it’s a significant accomplishment for a bunch of landlubbers long on theoretical deep-sea fishing knowledge and short on actual experience under our own steam. As we make our way back to the docks, we pass the legendary Cornelia Marie on her way out to open water. In the moment I realize something: No matter how many trips I make to this enchanted land, the surreal moments will never cease to surprise me. Sometimes we may lose sight of the most important reason we come to Alaska. It’s not always a limit of fish or alder-stained antlers that dictate a memorable trip. In my opinion, the most important reason is the opportunity to spend a brief moment in a cycle of life that is infinitely more powerful and enduring than ourselves. It reminds us how insignificant we are in a much, much larger world. There is no doubt that this type of trek is quite an undertaking, but with proper preparation and a positive attitude, the possibility of a full fish box and countless memories of Alaska are within your grasp. ASJ

Editor’s note: Author Larry Hatter and his brother Miles run guided trips for Miles High Outfitters in Grangeville, Idaho, outside Lewiston. They offer big game hunts for elk, mule and whitetail deer and predators. For more, check out mileshighoutfitters.com or call (208) 739-0526.

Kenai River

DRIFT BOAT RENTALS Located in Sterling and in Cooper Landing 16 & 21 ft Drift Boats $175 / Rafts $125

Canoes/Kayaks $34 Deluxe Cabins & Kitchenettes $110-$175 Full Service Campground $30 Shuttle Services Start at $35

907-262-2331 / alaskacanoetrips.com

Custom Boat Trailers Reliable Quality Service & Craftsmanship For Over 50 Years!

• NMMA Certiﬁed • All Steel Weld Frame, Fenders & Bunks • 2 YEAR WARRANTY

343 Thain Rd., Lewiston, Idaho • www.gateway-materials.com • 208-743-0720 aksportingjournal.com | JULY 2019

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

Taking You Where Tires Can’t Go!

100% Made in USA • Great For Use on Ice or Snow • Easy Bolt-On Install • Nearly Maintenance Free • Satisfaction Guaranteed this ad Mention $300 e and sav fore Order Be 9 01 Dec. 31, 2

AmericanTrackTruck.com 1-800-900-0995

TRAVEL ALASKA Barrow/Utqiaġvik

Nome

KEY Fairbanks

Bethel

1 Kenai

Anchorage

1. Alaska Family Motorhome Rentals 5737 Old Seward Hwy Anchorage, AK 99518 (907) 223-9351 alaskafamilymotorhomes.net 2. Alaska’s Anvik River Lodge Anvik, AK (866) 885-0020 remotealaska.com

Valdez

Dillingham

Juneau Sitka Ketchikan

aksportingjournal.com | JULY 2019

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

THE STEELHEAD BY RANDALL BONNER

lot of what I’ve learned in the way of advanced techniques for steelhead has come from reading magazine articles. However, placing yourself in a targetrich environment like the Situk River provides a control to the hypotheses of a wide range of concepts that can be deployed to trigger a strike. It speeds up research and development, which fosters a scenario for efficient scientific testing. With that being said, the science of being a steelheader can sometimes humble even the most cutting-edge anglers, who are constantly trying to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to the nuances of innovation. When I brought some of these new concepts into practice, I found that the real control to my complex set of fishing styles was in the simplicity of an oldschool angler, one whose foundation was built on the basics. Tony Ensalaco, a Great Lakes-trained

angler from Chicago, was the control to my experimentation. His old-fashioned techniques earned him the nickname “Uncle Tony” over the course of a week this spring, as we took turns rowing and fishing while exchanging wisecracks about the intricacies of modern steelheaders compared to his affinity for stone-aged gear and how it still works.

THE REAL HIGHLIGHTS FROM traveling to a world-class fishery are the connections made between people who share a common passion for the water. Making the connection with a fellow writer also passionate about his craft made the experience all the more interesting. Be it luck or fate, Tony’s fishing buddy couldn’t make the trip, and since I showed up solo, the logistics of our situations drew us together. After just a short time of being in the boat, it was clear that our schools of thought were indeed opposing forces. The inevitable comparisons would test ourselves as anglers and develop an interesting

companionship. “Your generation is too concerned with the science of things,” said Tony as he handed me a piece of plywood with a fitting for a rod holder and a vise clamp attached to it. You gotta hand it to him for the MacGyver tactics in a lodge boat with no rod holders. It paid off early in the morning when fish higher in the river seemed a little pressured by the passing of the flotilla. With most of those fish being bucks, having the advantage of plugs worked when nothing else would. The resourcefulness of people who can’t just drive to the store and simply “pick up a new one” of everything is amazing to me. Being in Yakutat, a community dependent on the arrival of the freighter for many goods, is like a trip back to when stuff came in bins instead of blister packs. That stuff was made of wood and metal instead of plastic. Say what you will about the baby boomers, their culture of simpler times often rivals the modern concepts of

BY TONY ENSALACO

he scene was reminiscent of a classic spaghetti Western screenplay.

Two men cautiously approached one another from opposite ends of the desolate arena. The sound of a rattlesnake’s tail buzzing, or the sight of a rolling tumbleweed sweeping across the backdrop would be befitting if this showdown had taken place somewhere in the old West, rather than a lodge’s parking lot in the panhandle of Southeast Alaska. The young gun appeared to be battered and his pace was noticeably constrained – common afflictions after engaging in multiple days of hardcore steelheading. The wily old veteran’s gait was restricted due to a poor night of sleep caused from indigestion. The two finally met face to face and squared off, shooting icy glares at one another for several moments in dead silence. Then the younger one extended his hand to the other man and said quietly, “You can call me Randy.” discovered that we had one thing in common: We had both come to Yakutat I had never met Randall Bonner, but alone. And since neither of us had he wasn’t a stranger to me. I ran across anyone to fish with, I was happy to invite his story documenting his first adventure him to share my boat with me. I thought to the Last Frontier in the April 2019 that there was a chance that we would issue of Alaska Sporting Journal. I could be compatible, but I could not have tell from studying his article that he predicted how well our partnership was was an accomplished fisherman. But about to work out for the both of us. truthfully, the reason why I was able to It also didn’t take very long after our identify him was because he was with initial meeting to figure out that Randy his dog Wrangler, whom he mentioned was a cerebral dude, someone who takes a few times in his story. a philosophical approach to steelheading. After briefly talking to him, we

SUMMIT

It was obvious that he plays the game very seriously and spends a lot of time and effort perfecting his craft. As we were getting to know one another during the 20-minute commute to the river, Randy mentioned something that instantly caught my attention. “Since we are going to be fishing in a target-rich environment like the Situk,” he said, “it is going to be a great way to test a wide range of concepts that can be deployed to trigger a strike.” Once I was able to process the statement, I completely agreed with him, even though I had never heard steelheading described in such an analytical way like that before. I will usually say something slightly different to anglers who I meet, like, “There is a s#@& load of fish in the system, and almost anything you throw at them will catch fish.” Then I would wrap things up with a “good luck” and a “go get ’em, buddy” before ending the conversation. And even though it was obvious that our intensity levels were somewhat different, I had a feeling that we were

TWO ANGLERS BECOME FAST FRIENDS, FISH TOGETHER AND TAKE ON ALASKA’S SITUK RIVER

Tony Ensalaco, a grizzled steelhead veteran (above, left), and young gun Randall Bonner come from completely different backgrounds and don’t share a lot of the same steelhead fishing principles. But this mismatched pair fished together for several days on the Situk River near Yakutat and learned a lot from each other. (RANDALL BONNER/TONY ENSALACO) aksportingjournal.com | JULY 2019

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

Of Ensalaco, Bonner writes, “Tony was the wise elder and I the young whippersnapper … What I didn’t expect was the humble pie that Tony had in the oven for me on this trip.” (RANDALL BONNER)

going to find out that we were more alike than it first appeared. What connected me to Randy was how passionate he is about the sport. He reminded me of myself before coaching baseball and reviewing third grade homework assignments inundated me. I miss the days when all that mattered was hooking up the drift boat and jamming a week’s worth of equipment into a vehicle before heading off to the river. Randy is living the life that I used to lead and I was a little envious. It was refreshing to listen to Randy pontificate his complex views and theories, which were a welcome change from the same regurgitated opinions and ideas that have been repeated by my regular fishing partners, and I felt that he was dead on 60

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

about most of the issues. However, I did have to draw the line when the word science came up in the discussion. That’s when I told Randy that the words steelheading and science should never be used in the same sentence, unless the phrase, “There is no science to ...” precedes the word steelheading. That’s because I believe that steelhead are instinctual critters that don’t possess any intellectual abilities. I know that it’s human nature to find satisfaction outwitting adversaries, even when the opponent has a brain smaller than the bait we use to catch them. Randy and I would spend the next few days debating and defending our opposing viewpoints, before finally agreeing we’d let the fish decide.

JULY 2019 | aksportingjournal.com

I THINK RANDY’S INITIAL impression of me was that I was stuck in a time warp. The phrase he actually used to describe me was stone-aged, even though I am only 14 years older than he is. He instantly referred to me as “Uncle Tony,” because I still relied on using old-school methods and that I wasn’t stockpiled with all the modern gadgets that the new-age fishermen are lugging around the rivers. The first piece of tackle Randy questioned was my choice of bobbers. I have adopted a certain type that was used by a handful of Michigan steelheaders well before the bobber revolution exploded onto the steelie scene. I have been fishing with the Carlisle bobbers since the early 1980s, because I find them easy to read when they are traveling along the current. They are inexpensive compared to most of the floats marketed for steelhead, so I don’t mind losing them. I have fished with guys who use expensive bobbers. I would end up spending part of the day zigzagging across the river trying to retrieve them out of the snags. I told Randy if someone needs to use a specialized float to catch a steelhead, then that person probably should choose another hobby. A competent fisherman could jury-rig a Styrofoam coffee cup as a flotation device and should still be able to detect a takedown when a fish hits. Another reason why he thought my methods were outdated was that I favored using jigs instead of beads, which most steelheaders are choosing to use these days. It seems strange to believe that something that was so popular roughly 10 to 15 years ago can be considered ancient by today’s standards. I understand technology becoming obsolete in that time frame, but not when it comes to fishing for a creature that has been creeping up the evolution ladder for thousands of years. I thought Randy’s impression of me was amusing. I welcomed the challenge of comparing his cutting-edge style against my years of experience. I also didn’t have the heart to tell him that I was catching fish on beads while he was still sleeping in a crib. Since then, I have found other things that work better for me. Of course, they weren’t called beads back then; they were plastic

simple living and sustainability. In May 2019, Tony authored an ASJ article headlined, “The Great Debate,” which told a tale of two steelheaders sitting on barstools arguing about the productivity of jigs versus beads. Ironically, we met in the bar at Glacier Bear Lodge (866-425-6343; glacierbearlodge .com), and it wasn’t long before we found ourselves engaged in this very debate. It would be difficult at first glance for anyone to ignore our opposing personalities: Tony hailing from the Windy City, me from rural Alabama. Tony was the wise elder and I the young whippersnapper. Tony was the jig guru; I was the bead slinger. Oddly enough and in spite of ourselves, we seemed to complement each other well. If we had anything in common, it was being stubborn. What I didn’t expect was the humble pie that Tony had in the oven for me on this trip.

is deadly when fish are stacked in a hole and suspended. They rarely snag up and when they do, the size 7 snap usually fails so you don’t lose everything else. The fish crush it when they hit. A G.Loomis IMX 1084C paired with a Shimano Curado K reel was the perfect balance of delicate sensitivity to feel the drift and detect strikes with

THE BEAD BITE SEEMED to be less effective

than usual this season. I got most of my bites either drifting worms or fishing them on a jighead under a Hawken Fishing AF1 Float. However, I raved about the success of the wacky rig I had dreamed up prior to my trip that still incorporated beads. It accounted for a majority of the bites when the going got tough. It’s a modernized drift presentation that fishes similar to the design of the classic Aeropuff, the most common lure of choice with local guides in the area for years. Start with a 1/0 hook on 18- to 24-inch leader of 15-pound Maxima flourocarbon. Then run a BnR Tackle T-stop down the hook and thread a Thirsty Beads 10mm bead over it. Cut the first two to three ribs off a Western Fishing Operations worm and thread it wacky-rigged style with a Pro Cure Worm Threader. Space the bead just a hair above the hook – about half the distance of a gap you would run for any other bead to give the hook a little more room to hinge and grab – but not too far from the worm in case they grab it by the tail. Use the smallest Dave’s Tangle Free weight you can get away with on a No. 7 Pucci rolling drop swivel. The resistance from the wacky-rigged worm and the lift from the buoyancy of the Thirsty Bead

“Randy is always trying to outsmart the fish by staying one step ahead of them,” Ensalaco writes about Bonner. “It’s a chess game for him.” (TONY ENSALACO)

enough backbone to bring countless steelies to hand. Even with the success I had on that rigging, Tony was consistently catching just as many fish – if not more – and most certainly bigger. I was very skeptical of the setup Tony was using when I first hopped in the boat. He pours and powder coats his own jigheads and

The bald eagles got in on some of the action on the Situk, near Yakutat. The river is one of Southeast Alaska’s better steelie fisheries. (RANDALL BONNER)

eggs that came in a glass jar. Instead of being pegged on the line, the imitation egg was impaled on a tiny hook. I had already lived through the original bead craze that took place on numerous Great Lakes tributaries, and this “new discovery” is actually going through a renaissance that happened decades ago in the Midwest. Another reason why I don’t fish beads very often is because I’m looking to tussle with the biggest, baddest hombre in the creek, so I want to throw something that visually screams at the most dominant steelhead in the hole and challenges that fish to a fight. I know that beads will catch a lot of everything – big and small – but overall they are not very threatening to a territorial creature. Plus, I really don’t have any interest in drifting a 10-millimeter booger that attracts every resident rainbow trout and Dolly Varden in the immediate vicinity. I know that beads have accounted for some huge specimens and will continue to do so, but I think most fishermen will agree that there are much better alternatives to targeting larger fish than beads.

DESPITE ALL OF OUR differences, Randy and I fished really well together. I started out on the oars every morning while he stood on point in front of the driftboat to cover any likely holding water. I didn’t have to give him any verbal instructions. He was picking up what I was putting down by the way I would control the driftboat. I would pull back on one of the oars, which caused the 62

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

nose of the boat to offset and Randy would automatically start working the brush line on that side of the river. When Randy felt the boat thrust forward, he knew that we were done covering that section and we were about to move downstream. If I slowed down the boat, Randy knew there was something that I wanted him to fish, and he would detect it. Then, he would drop a perfect cast into the spot without taking any directions. When it was my turn to fish from the bow, Randy reciprocated by expertly maneuvering the driftboat like one of the resident guides. He put the boat into the right positions where I could make easy casts and flawless drifts. And every time my mind would start to wander and he thought I was going to miss a spot, Randy would calmly remind me in his pleasant Alabamian tone to refocus my attention to the task at hand. I’m usually the driftboat pilot who constantly has to remind the others to keep their baits in the water, so I thought it was amusing to be the one being chastised for not fishing hard. In my defense, I am fairly familiar with the river and know when to choose my spots, even though I don’t think Randy bought my feeble excuse. We did fairly well early, but like most days the bite would turn off for a while. There isn’t an angler on the planet who wishes for the action to slow down. But being with Randy made the midday doldrums more bearable. It was a blast trading contrasting

JULY 2019 | aksportingjournal.com

concepts while occasionally sharing similar views with one another. It wasn’t like we are polar opposites; I just think that we attribute our piscatorial conquests to different factors. Randy is always trying to outsmart the fish by staying one step ahead of them. It’s a chess game for him, while I believe steelhead do not intellectually evolve and what has worked in the past will produce in the future. The only caveat to my thinking is when the fish have been subjected to heavy fishing pressure, and showing them something different might be the only way to trigger a response.

AFTER PERSEVERING THROUGH THE tough

midday bite, we were rewarded with the mind-blowing action that all anglers expect to receive when they book their trip to the Last Frontier. By early evening, the shadows would extend over the stream and the boat traffic would disperse – and that’s when the party started. We started hooking chrome steelhead out of every place we dared to cast. Randy’s plastic worms caught just as many fish as my marabou jigs. To be honest, whatever presentation tracked along the correct current seam got bit. You know you are experiencing outstanding fishing when guys can’t quantify the number of steelhead that they have just scrapped with over a threehour span. After landing a double, I asked Randy how many fish he thought we had caught, and all he could say was, “I dunno. A lot?” It was a pretty accurate indicator that things were going well for us.

ties his jigs with only a small amount of marabou in two colors. Tony fished a light mono leader to a swivel and a split shot to get the jig into the zone in the deeper holes. The float wobbled like a drunken duck drowning on the surface of the water. The movement of that float was so utterly ridiculous, I could never tell when he got a bite while I was on the oars. As I would later find out, there was some science to the success in this rigging. Tony hooked a fish on this rig within the first few minutes of our float the first day, before I even had a line in the water. After the morning bite died, he would hook several more on the same presentation, as well as drifting yarn. I vaguely recall him seeing me catch a fish on a bead at one point, and switching over to the bead for a few minutes. I asked him how he liked to peg his beads. “With a toothpick!” he said. I then harped about how toothpicks damage flourocarbon and listed my favorite brands and styles of silicone bead pegs and their various applications. Seeming bored of my jargon, he quickly went back to the jig and started catching fish again. Things were pretty even in terms of our catches – until we got toward

the lower end of the float. A group of anglers were having some cold ones on the shoreline. We asked if we could cast at the hole in front of them since they weren’t fishing it. They obliged us the opportunity, and that’s when Tony put on a clinic. He hooked six fish in eight casts and landed all of them. I tried fishing some of the rabbit fur jigs I had in my box, but the fish weren’t interested. By the time he hooked his next fish, the other anglers had turned green with envy, grabbed their rods and started edging towards the water, hinting at us that maybe it was time for us to leave. After a few more casts and a couple more fish, Tony tossed them a few of his jigs and thanked them for letting us fish through. Tony would end up hooking over a half-dozen fish in that hole every day that we worked it. In fact, at one point on the second day I said, “I give up; gimme one of those damn things!” I tried fishing the jig myself in the same hole, but to no avail. As we pushed on towards the end of the float, I finally got a fish on a jig, which was actually the first fish I have ever landed on a jig. I fished with them for years, but mostly when I first began targeting steelhead and wasn’t using quality equipment or line or setting my drag too high. I probably left a couple dozen jigs in

fishes’ mouths during the period that I grew a distaste for fishing with them. This fish was the smallest I would hook on my trip, but it was still pretty special. While we were cleaning out the boat, on the floor I found one of Tony’s jigs with a mangled, bent-out hook and chipped powder coating. I bent the hook back, threaded the tail end of a Western Fishing Operations worm on it, and proceeded to catch several more fish on it the next day in the same stretch during a solo mission. I even caught a fish on a jig I had tied myself with way too much marabou and a bead tied into the construction of the jig, just because I’m stubborn like that.

THE LAST DAY OF our trip was when things

really came full circle. A 36-inch buck bit a jig Tony had tied on his vise and took him for a ride on the Michigan-style rod he built himself. After it went into a logjam, I back-rowed to the shore and pulled it out of the jam, then dropped anchor on a tree limb just as the fish turned and burned. While trying to untangle the rope from the limb, Tony jumped out and ran down the shore to pick up line. After I got out of the boat, the fish made a run straight at me as I was trying to get the net ready and jumped at my crotch, which needless to say was a little horrifying. In all the mayhem and muddy water

Bonner did a fine job maneuvering the drift boat, putting his new friend and fishing partner in good positions to entice bites from steelhead. (TONY ENSALACO)

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

JULY 2019 | aksportingjournal.com

aksportingjournal.com | JULY 2019

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

Bonner with fish of the trip, a 38-incher caught on one of his jigs on the last day of the trip. (RANDALL BONNER)

near the shore, we lost sight of the fish and it lost sight of us. It wandered through the cloudy water, bumped into my legs and freaked out, then ran between my legs. Tony opened the bail and gave it slack. It swam at me again and I gave it the sneak attack. That fish would end up being a close second to the 38-inch monster he landed on one of his jigs earlier that morning. Later in the float, I landed my biggest fish of the trip as well, on a BnR Tackle Holey Worm. When the fish came in close, we brought it into a calm side channel to get it out of the current. Tony left his rod hanging off the bow of the boat and sitting on anchor. But the fish ran through it, catching his line. Then he ran between us back and forth like a pingpong ball, and danced circles around us. It’s always interesting how fish fight in that shallow slack water with no current and being corralled. He almost got away, but almost only counts with 66

It was like we had the Midas touch – except everything we came in contact with was silver. But our trip was quickly coming to an end and we decided to pull over and try a spot that had held a number of bright steelies the day before. As the run was in close proximity to the saltwater, we swore that we could hear the faint sound of waves crashing along the beaches of the Gulf of Alaska. And like any good journalist, Randy penned his best accolade into the final chapter of the story. As his bobber drifted into the honey bucket, it instantly drained. When he set the hook, the fish immediately tore off downstream – maybe 40 yards – before it stopped and then reversed itself. The fish came shooting back upstream and started to circle us. In the meantime, I made the mistake of setting my rod in the boat while leaving my rig unsecured and dangling over the bow. The fish momentarily got caught in the line before I was able to defuse that catastrophe. Randy couldn’t tell how big the fish was, but I got a good look at it, which made me more nervous than he was. After several nerve-wracking minutes, Randy worked the fish out of the current

and into a slack area. Unfortunately, the water was cloudy because our feet had kicked up the streambed. Thank goodness the fish gods were on our side that day, though. Somehow Randy managed to get the beast to swim through the net’s hoop and into the bottom of the rubber mesh basket. The chromed-out buck stretched the tape to 37 inches, a great fish anywhere in the world and a personal-best Alaskan steelhead for Randy. What a way to end a successful trip.

MY 2019 SPRING STEELHEAD adventure turned out to be one of my all-time favorites. Not only was the fishing pretty spectacular, but I got to make a good friend. One of the things I enjoy about traveling is meeting people from all corners of the planet and learning about their cultures and backstories. Being exposed to the different tricks and tactics that fishermen have developed on their home rivers and then brought to Alaska can definitely open your eyes and improve your fishing. I know that I left Yakutat a better angler and I owe that to my new partner. Thanks, Randy: Uncle Tony can’t wait to fish with you again! ASJ

horseshoes and hand grenades. I was happy that we could convince the fish to pose for some photos.

WORMS AND JIGS WOULD end up catching

a majority of our fish this trip, which was humbling for an avid bead angler like myself. While I may have scoffed at Tony’s set-up earlier in our joint adventure, after a few days I started to apply the science to his technique. It helped me better understand that the old-fashioned Carlisle wooden stem float actually makes the jig dance underwater when it’s doing its drunken duck wobble on the surface. This is what I attributed his success on dated gear to. We learned a lot from one another during that week and developed a mutual respect from the comparisons and differences that we couldn’t help but notice about each other. Maybe if our political leaders all just went fishing instead of having debates, we’d be more at peace. ASJ

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL JULY 2019 | aksportingjournal.com

“We learned a lot from one another during that week,” Bonner writes, “and developed a mutual respect from the comparisons and differences that we couldn’t help but notice about each other.” (RANDALL BONNER)

aksportingjournal.com | JULY 2019

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

JULY 2019 | aksportingjournal.com

KEEPING THE HUNT ALIVE FOREVER

WHETHER YOU WRITE ABOUT IT, RECORD IT OR PHOTOGRAPH IT, DOCUMENTING YOUR ADVENTURES HELPS YOU CHERISH THEM ALL THE MORE BY PAUL D. ATKINS

he bear’s wet hide and piercing eyes are still burned into my memory. The way he rushed us only to stop just a few feet away is a constant reminder of how close we really came to having a “big” problem. Then there was the way he tore our raft apart the night before, leaving ragged pieces of rubber scattered on the

gravel bar in front of our camp. What great memories of an incredible hunt on the Wulik River! When I reflect on it through my journal, photos and eventually the taxidermy work, it helps me reminisce about this particular hunt each year. But I cherish every one.

THERE ARE A LOT of ways to remember

your hunt or any adventure, for that matter. But nothing captures it better than

writing it down, taking a few pics or the ultimate – and if it’s worthy in the hunter’s mind – a piece of art placed upon the wall. Like most young boys in the 1970s, my dad was a huge influence in my life – he still is, actually – when it came to the outdoors and being in it. Dad was a hunter – literally a hunter. He grew up on a farm where they didn’t have much, so hunting played a huge role in putting meat on the table. Well, as time passed

A seven-day hunt that produced this big caribou bull is one of many experiences author Paul Atkins has documented. Remembering the details and savoring them are important to him. (PAUL D. ATKINS)

aksportingjournal.com | JULY 2019

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

Journaling the key points from the hunt is fun, and you don’t have to be an English teacher to do it. Atkins has kept journals most of his life, especially while he’s lived in Alaska. (PAUL D. ATKINS)

and things got better my father ventured away from home and went west to the Rocky Mountains, where he pursued mule deer and elk. Eventually he headed to Alaska for caribou. I was present on many of those early hunts and remember them vaguely,

though not clearly. I wish I could recall them. There are a few photos laying around of those glorious days, plus a couple heads on the wall. But there just isn’t enough to properly tell the whole story, especially considering nothing was written down. One thing my dad did take along was a tape recorder, a big old honking thing that probably weighed a ton and took up a lot of space in the gear bag. The stories that took place inside the walls of those tents and around the campfire each night were and still are solid gold. These were glorious tales of what it was like in the good old days out west and up north. I just wish he would have scribbled down a few words to go with it. Anyway, if you’re like me this stuff is close to the heart. And if you’re also like me and your plans include an adventure in Alaska this fall – or anywhere, for that matter – then here are a few things that can and will make it a much more memorable and fun experience. Remember that in the end memories are all we’re going to have anyway.

WRITTEN MEMORIES Keeping a journal of your hunt, whether through writing or photographs, has al-

It doesn’t always have to include taking a big bull to make it a great memory. Fellow ASJ correspondent Scott Haugen (right) and Atkins take a moment during a ptarmigan hunt on Adak Island, one of the world’s most incredible places. (CORY KITTLE)

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

JULY 2019 | aksportingjournal.com

ways been popular. Long after the shot, when the freezer is empty and the head on the wall has gathered dust, memories sometimes get blurred and details are lost. Capturing those memories while in the field is a great way to catalog the hunt for generations to come. It also provides great material for a story or an article that you might want to submit to a magazine or a web page. Journaling may sound quite simple, but most don’t do it, even though years later they wish they would have. Bringing along a notebook, a writing utensil and then recording your thoughts is easy and will be worth their weight in gold years later. Each night before you crawl into your bag make it a habit to write down the events of the day since they’re fresh in your mind. Maybe nothing of interest happened, but in the end it’s the little things that make certain hunts special. It will help the hunter relate the story when they return home or maybe help in planning for a future or similar hunt next year. Small stenographer notebooks are ideal. I have stacks of notebooks from years’ past. Each time I open one up I can remember details that I may have forgotten years later. It also provides me

Some of the best times out hunting are shared around the campfire, whether after a long day spent afield or gathered around a perking coffee pot in the morning. “Capturing these moments may seem irrelevant at times, but they become keepsakes,” notes Atkins. (PAUL D. ATKINS)

with information about a particular hunt – what gear we packed, what we needed or didn’t need and maybe even what the weather conditions were like that particular week. These details will not only help me be more successful next time, but for sure to make the hunt more enjoyable.

PRESS RECORD AND SPEAK As I mentioned, another method is to tape record your thoughts rather than physically put them from pen to paper. Unlike the monster my father carried, these small hand-held devices fit easily in your pack and are simple to use. Each night – whether in your tent or walking around camp – just press record and talk about the good, the bad and the ugly; just make sure you have extra batteries for longer trips. Like I said, my father recorded his hunting experiences in the old days, something I’m so glad he did. When I listen to them now, I can go back in time to those days with him and also cherish them with my son Eli. 72

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

Sometimes we get so caught up in the pursuit or taking of an animal – something we’ve all done and is great in its own right – that we forget the minor details. Some of those details could be the weather or the colors you saw or maybe how the river froze overnight and you couldn’t fish. Those details are so critical that years later you and your grandkids will really appreciate them. Notebooks and recorders are not the only way to store memories these days.

JULY 2019 | aksportingjournal.com

Laptops and smartphones are showing up more and more in Alaska camps. With the constant advancement in technology, hunters are able to see, hear and produce on the spot. Battery life is a huge concern, of course, but with the availability of solar power kits, recharging during the day is easy.

PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE Last but not least is a photo journal. Bringing along a good quality camera

Before and after never looked so good. This mountain goat is the pinnacle of Atkins’ hunting career so far, so he figured, why not capture the memory with a full-size mount depicting the billy in its Kodiak Island habitat? (PAUL D. ATKINS)

should be as important as taking your rifle or bow. Being able to capture the moment or moments will enhance your experience days, months and years later. There are a lot of great cameras out there, but it takes more than a great camera. It takes some creativity and imagination. There’s no end to what you

can produce while in the field. Point-and-shoot cameras are a big winner. They fit easily into your pocket or pack and can be accessed at an instant. One of my favorites is to take photos of camp and events that surround a hunt. Capturing these moments may seem irrelevant at times, but they become

keepsakes. Photos of coffee boiling on a fire or a skillet full of bear steaks cooking in their own grease may seem simple, but they’re great reminders of the times you spent on that river in Alaska. It will also make you wish you were still there. For many of us the experience is just as important as the harvest. And if you’re re-

FIVE TAXIDERMY TIPS TO REMEMBER

ot all taxidermists are created equal, but here are a few tips for choosing the right one to produce something very close to what you witnessed that day in the field: 1) Use somebody who is familiar with the animal itself. Most taxidermists are hunters themselves, and if they have actually hunted the animal you harvested, this is a big plus too. They know what the eyes and nose should look like on a bear or sheep, the way the ears should be set on a moose. Remember, you wouldn’t take a caribou to somebody who only does birds or fish; it could be a big mistake. 2) Location is another important factor. If you take an animal in Alaska and time and money permits, I would have it done by somebody in the state. Again, good taxidermists will know the finer details of what the animal should look like and make it as real as possible. I had to learn the hard way. Long before I moved to Alaska, I came up here to hunt. On my first outing I got

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

lucky and took a pretty nice caribou bull. I wanted to have it mounted, so I took it back to the Lower 48 and had the local guy mount it. It looks like a Jersey cow. 3) Price can be a big factor and should be considered before making your final decision. This is often the most limiting factor for us hunters. Some taxidermy work can be very expensive, depending on what you choose. Taxidermy as a whole is pretty much a business. But you usually get what you pay for in the end. There are bargains out there, but make sure you do your research before you decide who to use. 4) The reputation of the person doing the work also has to be considered. Any good taxidermist will have a good reputation for producing quality mounts. But how do you make sure? Usually they will have a website that tells a little about their business and some pictures of their work, so check there first. If you like what you see, give them a call and schedule a visit. Being able to see a finished product or one in progress could be a deciding factor in your decision.

JULY 2019 | aksportingjournal.com

5) Ask a lot of questions. It’s your money and your animal that is involved, so you have every right to ask as many questions as you want. Several that come to mind include, Do you have insurance in case something happens to my mount while in your shop? Do you guarantee your work? How long have you been doing this? Lastly, you need to ask about the time frame. Good taxidermists are usually backlogged and good work usually takes some time. I have seen it anywhere from six months to one year, but you still need to ask. I once had a blacktail deer mounted that took almost three years to get back. If not for my constant contact with the guy, I would have probably never received it. In the end, if you’re satisfied with their answers use them. If not, look elsewhere. Remember, choose a taxidermist that has the ability to make your animal look the way it did the day you took it. It’s an investment and even though he or she will only have it for a short time, you will have it forever. PA

aksportingjournal.com | JULY 2019

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

Take the time to take good photos. For Atkins it’s the essence of any adventure when you can capture the moment as it happens or happened. Remember, the photo you didn’t take is the one you should have for your album. (CORY KITTLE)

ally into preserving those memories, you probably have a tub full of camera gear like I do. GoPros, digital SLRs and camcorders are a must on every excursion. Though cumbersome to haul around I’m glad I have them, especially after I return home. Remember, the picture you don’t take is the one you should have. Smartphones are also a great way to take and store photos, video and just about anything else you want to in the world of capturing an event. I’ve actually 76

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

JULY 2019 | aksportingjournal.com

filmed entire hunts, taken all my photos and then used them not only on social media pages, but also produced them for entire articles and books. We’ve come a long way, baby!

STUFF IT Last but not least is taxidermy. I’ve written about this before, but nothing compares to capturing the entirety of an event as a good piece of art hanging on your wall. It’s more than a memento; it’s a re-

aksportingjournal.com | JULY 2019

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

Pistol Bullets and Ammunition Zero Bullet Company, Inc.

ZER

P.O. Box 1188 Cullman, AL 35056 Tel: 256-739-1606 Fax: 256-739-4683 Toll Free: 800-545-9376 www.zerobullets.com

As a writer Atkins feels blessed with the opportunity to have so many of his trips published. It hasn’t been easy, but it has been fun. (PAUL D. ATKINS)

minder of the time spent pursuing an animal of your choosing, the sweat, effort, time and money and sometimes danger involved in its taking. Most hunters remember each of their adventures afield like it was yesterday. Certain details are etched in our minds to never be forgotten. The head hanging on the wall above the fireplace, in your cabin or in your office will be that reminder of a time you were hunting in the great Last Frontier, and choosing the right taxidermist will play a big part in that memory. Years ago, taxidermy was not nearly as good as it is today; not even close. Back in those days one local guy did the work and whatever he produced was about as good as it got, and whether you liked it or not you pretty much had to accept it. Taxidermy has become an art form, with the mounts produced being so lifelike that some are almost hard to believe. Just take a walk through one of the bigger sporting goods stores and you can see exactly what I’m talking about.

THAT BEAR DIDN’T GRAB us that cold rainy day, but he got close and I have the video to prove it. Now the bear is a rug on my floor, but the photos and memories, which fill my laptop and notebooks, are what I cherish the most. ASJ Editor’s note: Paul Atkins is an outdoor writer and author from Kotzebue, Alaska. He has written hundreds of articles on big game hunting and fishing throughout North America and Africa, plus surviving in the Arctic. Paul is a monthly contributor to Alaska Sporting Journal. 78

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

JULY 2019 | aksportingjournal.com

World Class C olor-Phase Black Bear Hu n with Hounds o ts r Bait

High Success Mountain Lion Elk Rut Hunts

www.mileshighoutfitters.com 208-697-3521 // 208-739-0526

G AL L E RY

GUNS & ACCESSORIES BEST OF THE WEST Mountain Scout Package See us on page 82

CDNN SPORTS

Ruger 10/22 Target .22 LR with stainless bull barrel and laminate stock See us on page 80

aksportingjournal.com | JULY 2019

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

SCOUTING FOR SITKAS

FIELD

SUMMERTIME RECON WORK CAN PAY OFF WITH FALL BLACKTAILS BY SCOTT HAUGEN

ot many people think of scouting for Sitka blacktails, but if you’re a resident of Alaska and will be hunting deer close to home, now is the time to find this season’s bucks. While the Fourth of July marks the celebration of our nation’s independence, it also marks prime time to start searching for blacktails. The velvet tissues of Sitka deer antlers are engorged with blood and very sensitive this time of year. Because of this, the bucks can often be seen in open habitat. Staying in open terrain – away from dense brush and trees – ensures a buck won’t damage its valued headgear. Antlers are used to ward off predators, fight for dominance and breeding rights, plus they are a status symbol that hopefully deters a confrontation during the rut, when fatal injuries can occur. Due to the fact that deer are actively feeding much of the day this time of year, and continually repositioning themselves in their beds as the sun shifts and warms their body, the odds of spotting a buck greatly increases.

SUMMER RECON WORK Physically getting afield is the best way to cover ground and see where bucks might be feeding, bedding and traveling. When blacktail bucks are in velvet, their routines can be very predictable. This makes July and August the best times to

July is prime time when it comes to scouting for Sitka blacktails. Author Scott Haugen spotted this bachelor herd of mature bucks one July 4 morning near Petersburg. (SCOTT HAUGEN) aksportingjournal.com | JULY 2019

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

FIELD

Summer grill fodder doesn’t have to just be traditional meats available at your local grocery store. If you still have wild game in your freezer, get it ground and create a seasoned burger packed with flavor. If it doesn’t already include ground pork, Tiffany Haugen says to add some for even more deliciousness. (TIFFANY HAUGEN)

PUT SOME BIG GAME IN YOUR BURGER BY TIFFANY HAUGEN

ummertime is grilling time! But before you go tossing a package of hot dogs on the barbecue, look in your freezer and defrost some of your wild game. If it’s already ground, great. If not, get out the grinder and get ready for the burger of your life! For a juicier wild game burger add a handful of ground pork to the mix (unless you already had fat ground in during processing). When trimming up the meat to grind, get rid of any silverskin. Use the medium grinder plate, as this is small enough to keep your burger together but big enough to give it a light texture. Feel free to add seasoning to the grind before or after making patties, but hold off on the salt. Adding salt to ground meat or even salting patties before putting them on the grill affects the quality of the patty due to the chemical changes that take

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

place when meat mixes with salt. Don’t neglect the fixin’s, as these tasty offerings can create some winning combinations. From grilled onions to butter-sautéed mushrooms, fresh avocado and gourmet cheese, the sky’s the limit. The buns can be equally important; while some people prefer a soft white one, others want more flavor. It’s nice to have a few choices onhand, including whole-grain options, brioche buns or ciabatta rolls. All buns taste better when lightly buttered or brushed with olive oil and browned before serving. SEASONED WILD GAME BURGER 1 pound ground venison (deer, moose or caribou) ¼ pound ground pork 1 teaspoon granulated onion ½ teaspoon granulated garlic ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper In a small bowl mix dry seasonings. Af-

JULY 2019 | aksportingjournal.com

ter grinding meat, sprinkle seasonings on the meat and gently mix before forming into patties. Place patties on well-lubricated grill grates in a preheated medium-hot grill. Do not flip patties until burgers have started to caramelize and release from the grates. Cook to desired doneness or an internal temperature of 155 degrees. Editor’s note: For signed copies of Tiffany Haugen’s best-selling cookbook, Cooking Big Game, send a check for $20 (free S&H) to Haugen Enterprises, P.O. Box 275, Walterville, OR 97489, or order online at scotthaugen.com. Follow Tiffany on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and watch for her on the online series Cook With Cabela’s, The Sporting Chef TV show, and The Hunt on Amazon Prime.

FIELD

The Novagrade digiscoping adapter is rugged, stable and allows you to capture unmatched clarity, making it a very valuable tool for big game hunters. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

pattern the movement of Sitka blacktails. Once the velvet is stripped, daily routines can quickly shift, but bucks will be in the same area early in the hunting season. Invest in the best binoculars and spotting scope you can afford, since it’s common to glass from daylight to dark on these summer scouting sessions. You want glass that’s clear and won’t cause eyestrain. For scouting and hunting, I rely on Swarovski’s EL Range Binoculars in a 10x42 (swarovskioptik.com). I like ranging landmarks when scouting, noting them for hunting season. I also rely on a pair of 15x56 binoculars, which I can mount on a tripod. My spotting scope of choice for scouting is a Swarovski ATX with a 95mm objective lens. If I’m hiking and covering a lot of ground in the high country, I’ll go to a smaller objective lens to eliminate some weight. When spending so much time looking through glass, have a sturdy tripod, which eliminates movement in the wind and on unsteady ground. The more relaxed and comfortable your eyes, the longer and more efficiently you’ll be able to glass. 86

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

TECHNOLOGY ESSENTIALS One of the best scouting tools you can have is an adapter that allows a smartphone to be mounted to a spotting scope or binocular. The best quality digiscoping adapter I’ve used, with no close second, is the Novagrade (novagrade.com). Novagrade adapters are engineered, machined and assembled in America. They are constructed of the highest-grade products available. They are key tools for our country’s military and are excellent for hunters spending time in demanding, rugged country. The Novagrade allows you to video and take photos of game with your phone at great distances with unmatched clarity. You can snap photos of animals at astounding ranges through a high-powered spotting scope, then look at them closely on a computer or even phone screen. Not only will you be able to count tines on a buck’s rack, you’ll be able to see in great detail where that deer lives.

YOU OUGHT TO BE IN PICTURES Many of the animals located on sum-

JULY 2019 | aksportingjournal.com

mer scouting missions will be in the same place come hunting season. This means setting up trail cameras now can pay big rewards later. Trails used by deer to access feeding and bedding areas are ideal places to set up trail cameras. By spending time in the woods this summer, the odds of locating several blacktail bucks greatly increases. Because bucks are in the open and visible this time of year, it’s common to see more in a single day of summer scouting than you might see throughout an entire hunting season. Having the confidence in knowing where a buck is during the season raises your odds of filling a tag. When it’s hunting season, don’t waste time scouting. If you can do your scouting prior to the season, that means you can concentrate on hunting when the season opens, and that’s how tags are efficiently and consistently filled. ASJ Editor’s note: For Scott Haugen’s popular DVD, Field Dressing, Skinning & Caping Big Game, visit scotthaugen.com. Follow Scott on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Cumberland’s Northwest Trappers Supply, Inc. Cumberland’s Northwest Trappers Supply is your one-stop trapping supply headquarters, featuring one of the largest inventories in the U.S. We are factory direct distributors on all brands of traps and equipment which allows us to offer competitive prices. Give us a try. Our fast, friendly service will keep you coming back. Over 50 Years Of Service To The Trap & Fur Industry

Request A Catalog Or Place An Order By Phone, Mail Or On Our Website If you get in the area, visit our store!

We are the new home of “Trappers Hide Tanning Formula” in the bright orange bottle. Retail & dealer inquiries are welcome.

P.O. Box 408, Owatonna, Minnesota 55060 • (507) 451-7607 trapper@nwtrappers.com • www.nwtrappers.com

Hair On and Leather Tanning • Taxidermy

Englewood, Colorado • (303) 293-2882 • www.rockymountaintanners.com 88

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

JULY 2019 | aksportingjournal.com

aksportingjournal.com | JULY 2019

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

Hand & Forearm Protection that prevents nearly any injury!! 100% Guaranteed to Work!!!

Arm Chaps

• Comfortably Protects Hands, Wrists, and Forearms • Allows Total Dexterity of Your Fingers • Durable, Yet Soft Cowhide Leather Contours to Hand & Arm • Helps Prevent Cuts, Scratches, Bruises, Abrasions, and Burns • Provides “Adjustable” Warmth and Air-Flow

- Bow & Gun Hunting - Wrist Support for Fishing - Clearing Brush 100s of Uses! - Sheet Metal Workers Here’s just a few! - Many Industrial Uses - Wood & Metal Fabricators

www.Armchaps.com

- Mechanic Work - Tree Service & Logging - Gardening & Landscaping - All Construction Work - Farmers & Ranchers - Vet & Animal Control

651-492-4830

STAY DRY, COMFORTABLE WITH THIS OUTDOOR APPAREL BY PAUL D. ATKINS • ILLUSTRATION BY JOSEPH FRUEAUF

t was pouring rain and I was soaked to the bone. I not only had nothing to protect myself from the elements, but the cotton clothes were the worst possible thing I could’ve worn. It was the most miserable three days of my hunting career. That was 24 years ago when I first arrived in the Alaskan Arctic. I was green – a novice, if you will – and still had so much to learn about weather and how to dress for it. Nowadays things are much

different and hunting gear fashion is far more technologically advanced. I just wish they had had this stuff back in those days and I had known about it. If you’re planning on hunting Alaska this fall, there is one thing I can promise: it will rain. And you’ll get wet if you’re not prepared. Rain gear is a must and believe me when I say that if you’re dry, then you will have a much better time. I’ve tried just about everything out

there since my cotton days – some good and some not so good. It comes in all kinds of price ranges. The saying, you get what you pay for can be applied here as well. Let’s first start with some of the cheaper stuff that works and go from there.

CABELA’S DRY PLUS I’ve used this stuff for years and have no complaints. It has kept me dry for the most part in all conditions, from down-

The Gear Guy wears Sitka brand apparel afield these days. “It has never failed me, like on this hunt, where I wore the same rain gear for seven days in the mountains,” Paul Atkins says. (PAUL D. ATKINS) aksportingjournal.com | JULY 2019

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

pours to those slow misting days that are common up north. The price tag isn’t bad either. My best bet has been to combine the Dry Plus bibs with the jacket. It has served me well on many successful hunts.

BADLANDS The Badlands line has come a long way. Their new camo helps, but the important part – the rain-defying part – is even better. They keep you dry and repel water like nobody’s business. They fit well too, allowing the hunter to go long days afield in all kinds of conditions. Just make sure of your size when ordering.

SITKA GEAR

Sitka’s Stormfront jacket (left) is built for enduring brutal weather in the world’s most dynamic and wet climates. A pinnacle of durability, the jacket as well as matching pants feature incredibly tough and abrasion-resistant Gore-Tex laminate, ideal for extended hunts ranging from Asia to the wettest lowlands of Alaska. Badlands’ packable, lightweight, protective and comforting Exo Jacket (center) was designed to stealthily ride along in your pack without you even knowing it’s there – until you need it most, that is. When that time comes, as it always does, unpack it, throw it on, stay dry, go further and hunt longer. It will be like your second skin, only it will never get wrinkled or saggy. When other hunters are calling it quits, the waterproof membrane of Cabela’s Men’s Dry Plus Bibs (right) locks out any and all moisture without sacrificing breathability, keeping you bone dry in the wettest weather. (SITKA GEAR; BADLANDS; CABELA’S)

My choice for most of my hunts is Sitka Gear. The price tag is steep, but like I said earlier, you get what you pay for. The material is the best of the best and it does exactly what it says it will do. It keeps rain out, it keeps you warm and is as tough as nails. I’ve used Sitka Gear everywhere from the far northern Arctic to Kodiak to Southeast Alaska and it has never failed me. If you have the money and want to invest in quality gear, it's the way to go. ASJ Editor’s note: Follow Gear Guy Paul Atkins on Twitter (@AKtrophyhunter).

Get a legendary chain saw

for under $300 for under $300

Get a legendary chain saw

for under $300

HAINES

Canal Marine Co. 10 Front St

(907) 766-2437 www.canalmarinecompany.com

JOIN US.

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL

JULY 2019 | aksportingjournal.com

aksportingjournal.com | JULY 2019

ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL