Gone Fishing!

[Al Hansen]

School was out and I was free as a bird. Normally my summer routine was filled with a number of different activities but not this one. I found myself awake at least by 4:00AM, put my fly rod into the Bronco, made sure that the hand tied flies were in my tackle box, and headed out the door for the Russian River on the Kenai peninsula.

All of my life I have enjoyed the outdoors in one form or another and this one fit right in. What could be better than fishing all day long? Nothing, I thought.

It was a 112 mile drive one way to get to the Russian River Campground. I made that trip seven days a week all during the salmon run. There was one part of the road that was still gravel and that was down by Portage Glacier where 15 mph seemed too fast. When the earthquake hit this part of the road had received some damage. Never once did I stop to think about the gas mileage (22 mpg on the 67 Bronco), cost of the daily trip, and or if I was hungry! Back then it seemed that a Snicker’s candy bar would suffice----and it did! When I needed to fill my canteen with water, all I did was walk upstream on the Russian and fill it up. I guess that it must have been pretty clean because it was 44 years ago when I did that. When the sockeyes (Reds) were running, nothing, I mean, nothing in this world would stop me from this new found passion.

One of my best friends, Carl Clemson, had shown me this spot and we sure had our fair share of fun there. When Carl and his wife were busy with other things to do during the summer, I knew what to do. My rod was an 8 ½ foot Fenwick, three piece, that weighed a whopping 4.5 ounces. I went hog wild when I started searching through my sportsman’s bible called “Herters” which was located in Waseca, Minnesota. Back in the 60's, I could buy patches of polar bear hair. Some of it was natural white while others were dyed in the most brilliant of colors. It always seemed like Christmas when a package from Herters arrived at my house in Anchorage.

Each morning at the campground I could get on the cable barge and be taken over to the other side of the Kenai River so that I could do some serious fishing. If you have never had the opportunity to fish for fresh sea run salmon on the Kenai River, it might be one of those things you put on that “to do” list in your mind. Just try and visualize a five pound red (sockeye), tail walking across the Kenai. Everyone around you is clearing out of your way as you yell, “Fish On”----“Fish On”! The action is fast and furious. The strength of the surging Kenai sometimes seems to give that fish the upper hand. My fly rod looked like it could snap at any time but it never did. Constantly running through my mind were little tangibles like; did I tie that fly on just right, will my leader be strong enough, was the hook set properly, and for gosh sakes, make each step that I take a careful one as I walked back and forth in the river. I didn’t want to stumble and fall in. I quickly learned to keep my hip boots dry because glacier filled streams tend to be cold!

Last night, Bev and I watched the movie, “A River Runs Through It” and while watching the Presbyterian minister using his fly rod with the ultimate of skill, it sure brought back some marvelous memories.
Al

 

[Luke Berkey]

Thanks for the story Al. I think those questions of leader strength, propper not tying and foot placement run through every fishermens mind while fighting a good fish. I have never fished a glacial river but sea water in December pouring over your chest waders as a wave hits you is never any fun either. Now you have me thinking of the surf fishing to come this fall. Luke

 

[Tom Scholberg]

Al, Been there done that, only about 30 years ago. That Russian River ferry was quite the deal, when we were there it was being run by some ol hippies but probably the same boat. Thanks for the memories. BTW was there a salmon sanctuary just upstream from the ferry when you were there? Puts new meaning to the phrase" combat fishing"

 

[Mark Spolarich]

Thanks for the story Al!

 

[ira]

I lived in Sterling for a summer, so the spot you refer to was just right up the road. I fished all up and down the Kenai and RR. It was a great time of my life, fresh out of vet sschool and not a care or commitment in the world! We would fish the confluence at midnight as all of the blue hairs and rookies would be gone. The drawback were the bears though. They gave us some serious scares all along the river in the wee hours of the morning.....

Those fresh run reds sure are some primo eating, arent they?

Ira

 

[Al Hansen]

Thanks for the story Al. I think those questions of leader strength, propper not tying and foot placement run through every fishermens mind while fighting a good fish. I have never fished a glacial river but sea water in December pouring over your chest waders as a wave hits you is never any fun either. Now you have me thinking of the surf fishing to come this fall. Luke

Well, Luke, I am glad to know that someone besides me has experienced sucking in air when the cold water hits your crotch!
Glad I got your mind working overtime.
Al

 

[Al Hansen]

Al, Been there done that, only about 30 years ago. That Russian River ferry was quite the deal, when we were there it was being run by some ol hippies but probably the same boat. Thanks for the memories. BTW was there a salmon sanctuary just upstream from the ferry when you were there? Puts new meaning to the phrase" combat fishing"

Tom, when I was there, I don't remember them having a sanctuary on the Russian River. Those memories sure are special!
Al

 

[Al Hansen]

Thanks for the story Al!

Mark,
You are more than welcome!
Al

 

[Al Hansen]

I lived in Sterling for a summer, so the spot you refer to was just right up the road. I fished all up and down the Kenai and RR. It was a great time of my life, fresh out of vet sschool and not a care or commitment in the world! We would fish the confluence at midnight as all of the blue hairs and rookies would be gone. The drawback were the bears though. They gave us some serious scares all along the river in the wee hours of the morning.....

Those fresh run reds sure are some primo eating, arent they?

Ira

Ira, you sure brought back a ton more memories. I'll have to write a story about the 9 1/2 foot brownie that chased a cow and her twins out from the small island where the Russian flowed into the Kenai.
As for fishing all night, I started doing that when the state allowed snagging. My gosh, I never hated something so much in my life as that. Many a night I was the only one there fishing only because I was not prepared to accept that method of fishing. I never minded the animals because I tried to stay out of their way. They normally have their favorite spots to fish, just like we do, so common sense tells one to stay away from them.
The mountain range on the left side of the Russian River is where I shot my very first Rocky Mtn. goat, then 4 days later shot my first Dall ram, and finally at Cooper's Landing, up in Slaughter's Gulch, shot my first bull moose. It was a great 10 day run!
Al

 

[Paul Meisenheimer]

A great story Al! Thanks for sharing. I would love to fish that area some day.

I am looking forward to heading out moose hunting late next week. Bow season starts on the 17th.

 

[Al Hansen]

A great story Al! Thanks for sharing. I would love to fish that area some day.

I am looking forward to heading out moose hunting late next week. Bow season starts on the 17th.

I'll bet that some day you will.
I for one, will look forward to hearing all about moose camp and what took place. Best of luck to you, Paul. Our early teal season begins on the same date as your bow season.
Al

 

[Chris Finch]

that was a great story but the timing wasn't
this is the second week of my senior year at college and i am just done with it, physiscs isn't helping my mood either
i completly understand when you say you made the trip every day no matter what my buddy and i used to go fishing 7 days a week and duck hunting after school when we could and all day satruday,getting 8mpg in his truck and 15ish in my jeep never stopped us, but his girlfriend sure did (only went out fishing 8 times this year with him)

 

[Al Hansen]

that was a great story but the timing wasn't
this is the second week of my senior year at college and i am just done with it, physiscs isn't helping my mood either
i completly understand when you say you made the trip every day no matter what my buddy and i used to go fishing 7 days a week and duck hunting after school when we could and all day satruday,getting 8mpg in his truck and 15ish in my jeep never stopped us, but his girlfriend sure did (only went out fishing 8 times this year with him)

Isn't it amazing what hormones will do? I almost flunked out of college because of duck and pheasant hunting.
Al

 

[Paul Meisenheimer]

These stories are stirring memories of October mornings long ago. When I was in high school I would either drift a few miles of river in the morning for ducks or fish for salmon. If I went duck hunting my history teacher would comment on not seeing me while fishing as he was just as dedicated as I was. I eased up during my university years simply because I was in a city and getting out was a lot tougher. It was weekends only.

Al, every year I head to moose camp my goal is to repeat the trifecta I accomplished a few years ago. I took a bull moose, a boar black bear and a buck whitetail with my compound bow in a two week period. I doubt I will ever do it again so I don't really push for it. We have two moose tags between four guys this year and our first goal is to get Steve Jr. his first moose. It is "party hunting" so anyone can fill the tags but we will actually work to set up the young fellow for success.

 

[Al Hansen]

These stories are stirring memories of October mornings long ago. When I was in high school I would either drift a few miles of river in the morning for ducks or fish for salmon. If I went duck hunting my history teacher would comment on not seeing me while fishing as he was just as dedicated as I was. I eased up during my university years simply because I was in a city and getting out was a lot tougher. It was weekends only.

Al, every year I head to moose camp my goal is to repeat the trifecta I accomplished a few years ago. I took a bull moose, a boar black bear and a buck whitetail with my compound bow in a two week period. I doubt I will ever do it again so I don't really push for it. We have two moose tags between four guys this year and our first goal is to get Steve Jr. his first moose. It is "party hunting" so anyone can fill the tags but we will actually work to set up the young fellow for success.


Paul,
That is terrific what you succeeded to do with the bow. I'm curious as to what your partners were beginning to think/say about that "lucky" guy!
Al

 

[Paul Meisenheimer]

My long time hunting partner Steve set me up for the shot on the bull by calling him in over a two hour period. I took a 35 yard shot at the bull while he was quartering away looking at Steve calling from the other side of the river. The moose circled behind me and died about 15 yards from where I was positioned. It was planned that I was the shooter so it was not luck. The plan came together exactly the way it was supposed to.

The bear was a different story. It was two days later and it was snowing and blowing. It was a really nasty day. We were looking for a second bull and Steve and I were glassing a treeline that was about 3 miles from the ridge we were on. A large dark object could be seen moving along the edge of the meadow just inside the trees. Checking the wind we set up a plan to hike down to a spot that would intersect the treeline and with luck the animal would pass within range. The plan was for Steve to be the shooter. At this point we weren't sure if the animal was a moose or a bear as it hadn't cleared the trees and it was a really long way away. All we had to look through was a crappy pair of binoculars as Steve had dropped my good ones in the lake the day before. It took us about an hour to cover the distance and on the way Steve said that before he left home his wife Joanne told him not to do anything stupid. He sure hoped stocking a wild animal on foot with a bow while dressed in full camo wasn't stupid. After all, we usually picked our spot and set up, calling the animal to us. I just laughed. Little did I know what was going to happen. We found our spot and set up with Steve lining up a clear 40 yd shot to the trees. Tucking behind some six foot pines we waited. It wasn't long and a male black bear came ambling along turning over logs looking for grubs. When it came to the spot we had lined up it suddenly stopped and stared right at the spot Steve was hiding. He suddenly started running at Steve with his head down, swaying and "woofing". I picked my spot and when the bear was just six paces from Steve I shot it. The bear spun around, bellowed and ran like the wind for about 4 seconds. It died running and tumbled into the blueberry bushes. Steve looked at me and said "what did you do that for"? I asked him what he was waiting for. He answered that he was waiting to see how close it would come. My shot was about 18 feet and the bear was even closer to Steve. All Steve had to look at was the head coming straight at him.

The Buck was shot the following week. Again Steve and I were out together and set up a couple of hundred yards away from each other. Steve had the preferred stand on the edge of a small meadow but mine wasn't too bad either, right along the side of a creek that the deer followed. It wasn't any more than a half hour after daylight when a doe with two fawns came wandering past my post. A few minutes later I heard the buck coming on the chase, trotting along right on her trail. I shot him at about 5 yards and he dropped pretty much right in his tracks. Steve heard the clamor and saw the doe go by so he pretty much knew what had happened. It was early October and I was done bow hunting for the season. He had to wait until Christmas Eve for his giant buck.

Al, the bear was pure luck on my part - the right place at the right time. The other two animals were part of the plan. Steve was just thrilled to be there. A fellow couldn't ask for a better friend. We have been hunting and fishing together for just about 40 years.