NDR - Alaska 2018 - NDR

Kris Winiarski said:
Awesome!

Were folks talking about the lack of red salmon when you were up there? Was just reading this story the other day.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/21/dining/red-salmon-alaska.html
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It was a summer of closures... lots of talk of it. They didn't affect us much and we may have benefited just due to happenstance. Sadly it seems like the status quo as salmon stocks decline. They closed or modified a lot of the road accessible King rivers early in the season all over the state. The Copper River Sockeye commercial fishery was closed more than normal as well as personal use, subsistence and sport at times.

The Kenai run we fished (the late run) was not predicted to be stellar, but good enough for us. At the time we were there there was a commercial closure to let fish through and there was a big push into the river that could have yielded great fishing for us if the fish came straight upriver, but they didn't. Seasons closed right after we left since they were not predicting the escapement numbers they wanted. There was talk of the fish being late, since that was the case for a lot of runs this year. The run turned out to meet the goals from what I can tell - they did reopen sport fishing. I have salmon about to go in the smoker - so I don't have to feel guilty bonking the last one.
 
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Tod

You have posted some wonderful photos from your family vacations in the past but this one looks like the best yet. I can't imagine the hours spent planning and preparing for your adventure but no doubt it will long be remembered and I know one day Gus will talk of the great trips he made to Alaska growing up.

Well done my friend, well done.

Eric
 
Todd, did you just do the kenai or did you go up north also? I haven't been up in eight years, miss the fishing. Buddy lives in Eagle River and fishes the Kenai. Fished the Russian River once, didn't enjoy the combat fishing and moved down stream.
Looks as if you all had a great trip and Gus will have a lot to tell his friends.
 
Todd,
These are some of the best pictures of Alaska I have ever seen. Thank you for taking us along. Your son is one blessed boy.
Larry
 
Eric Patterson said:
Tod

You have posted some wonderful photos from your family vacations in the past but this one looks like the best yet. I can't imagine the hours spent planning and preparing for your adventure but no doubt it will long be remembered and I know one day Gus will talk of the great trips he made to Alaska growing up.

Well done my friend, well done.

Eric
Click to expand...

Thanks Eric, this was a great trip for us. Gus really grew a lot as a sportsman on this trip. The King Salmon he caught was tough fishing and he did it 100% by himself. I was about 100 yards away and heard the classic "Dad... net... I got something... Dad..." of a big fish on. We were planning on trips every 5 years to AK, but on this trip we decided that this is going to be the thing to do the next several years, so we are going to go more frequently while he is still young.

I enjoy the planning, but there are parts that I need to do better - it is like a second job (really the first job and the paying job is the second job). I do a lot of the big picture planning, but I can't overemphasize the role Jen plays when we are travelling - it really is a team effort. Having the time to go slow makes it a lot easier to find off the beaten path adventures. We are lucky.
 
jode hillman said:
Oh man, all awesome pics , but that sockeye chowder has my mouth watering!!! What a great way to live a season!
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Thanks Jode, the eating fish on this trip was a major goal (as well as bringing a bunch home). I'm like Forrest Gump with his shrimp, but with salmon...

Spice crusted salmon...
v8ppyZJ.jpg


Salmon Seviche...
8lFhlyU.jpg


Smoked salmon...
WjL4e8K.jpg

 
Todd, We made the trip in 89 and will never forget it. We drove a '72 Chev pickup with a slide in camper that got lots of comments and questions. We were gone 6 weeks and that was a good time. This year my sister and brother in law drove it also, they really appreciated your pics. We may make that one again some time but will drive up and come home on the ferry.
 
Tod,
Thanks for sharing your trip, brought back many memories. Yes you need to do a repeat trip, several.

I made a similar trip in '08 but went solo. My biggest fear was finding myself stuck between a cow moose and her calf/calves while fishing. Luckily, that did not happen although there were two separate times a bear came well within casting distance of me. They (the bears) at least in the more popular areas, seem to have a routine for grabbing a meal, all while avoiding those pesky intruders with their long sticks and silly waders.

It appeared you took your own raft? Did you work with a local outfitter for a shuttle? I took along a kayak but only used it in several lakes where I could paddle back to my campsite.

For a future trip, you should consider a fishing charter for Halibut. The place I used was a small family run operation. It was interesting to see and experience the beach launching, as well as the fishing. I'm including a photo just because it has the name of the charter service.

View attachment 80lb and 30lb.jpg

I'd also recommend a hike on, in and around a glacier or two. I brought along a pair of ice fishing cleats (you will want something if you do a hike) and went off on my own, rather than with a guided group. That may not have been a very wise decision safety wise, but it was neat to get away from the crowd be alone on a big big hunk of melting ice.

Looks like you and your family had a wonderful trip. Makes me feel like an internet grandpa to see some of the youngsters grow up in photos over the years. Some of those youngsters are no longer youngsters. Wonder how that can be when I don't feel as I have aged (at least on some days). Again, thanks for taking us along.

PS; I trade you one, 45" Muskie release, for one skillet of sizzling King Salmon fillets. [w00t]
 
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Tom Scholberg said:
Todd, We made the trip in 89 and will never forget it. We drove a '72 Chev pickup with a slide in camper that got lots of comments and questions. We were gone 6 weeks and that was a good time. This year my sister and brother in law drove it also, they really appreciated your pics. We may make that one again some time but will drive up and come home on the ferry.
Click to expand...

I bet you wouldn?t recognize the route up from 89! I drove it in 2013 and there was a lot of changes in just 5 years. I have to hand it to you driving it back in the old days, that must have been a real adventure.
 
Huntindave McCann said:
Tod,
Thanks for sharing your trip, brought back many memories. Yes you need to do a repeat trip, several.

I made a similar trip in '08 but went solo. My biggest fear was finding myself stuck between a cow moose and her calf/calves while fishing. Luckily, that did not happen although there were two separate times a bear came well within casting distance of me. They (the bears) at least in the more popular areas, seem to have a routine for grabbing a meal, all while avoiding those pesky intruders with their long sticks and silly waders.

It appeared you took your own raft? Did you work with a local outfitter for a shuttle? I took along a kayak but only used it in several lakes where I could paddle back to my campsite.

For a future trip, you should consider a fishing charter for Halibut. The place I used was a small family run operation. It was interesting to see and experience the beach launching, as well as the fishing. I'm including a photo just because it has the name of the charter service.



I'd also recommend a hike on, in and around a glacier or two. I brought along a pair of ice fishing cleats (you will want something if you do a hike) and went off on my own, rather than with a guided group. That may not have been a very wise decision safety wise, but it was neat to get away from the crowd be alone on a big big hunk of melting ice.

Looks like you and your family had a wonderful trip. Makes me feel like an internet grandpa to see some of the youngsters grow up in photos over the years. Some of those youngsters are no longer youngsters. Wonder how that can be when I don't feel as I have aged (at least on some days). Again, thanks for taking us along.

PS; I trade you one, 45" Muskie release, for one skillet of sizzling King Salmon fillets. [w00t]
Click to expand...

Thanks Dave, I would have dropped off some fillets on the way through had I known. As far as the Muskie, I hadn?t really thought about fishing for them much, but we went through jen?s Dad?s box with his old lures from when he was a kid and fished northern Wisconsin for Muskie. Kinda got me interested.

When we were there in 2013 we did a bunch of the stuff you suggested, glacier hike with crampons, halibut charter... we did more hiking this time now that Gus is older. Next time halibut for sure, the gear is a little big for Gus, especially if he got a decent one and he would have been pissed had I went alone like last time. I have to laugh about you ice fishing cleats on a glacier, jen and I had real mountaineering crampons, but we couldn?t find them for Gus (he was 6 then). I made him some for him with para cord, sheet metal and self tapping screws. That was a bit if a pucker factor worrying about loosing him down a crevasse. We tethered him on steep spots...We really moved slowly on this trip and concentrated on the areas we were rather than doing a grand tour. Hard to think about what to leave out next time. There are a couple roads we have not driven. We need to get back to the north slope too.

We did bring our raft, we have been doing more rafting these days. It works really good for a family. We did get a shuttle on that float, which sure beat hitching a ride. We were traveling heavy with the raft, camping gear and freezer in a 1/2 ton. We will be getting a 3/4 ton for the next trip too.
 
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Tod,

I completely forgot you had made an earlier trip. I should have made provision to take along a freezer. I air shipped fish home as I went. ($$$$$ but WTH) How big of a generator did you need for the freezer? (I assume you used a generator) How many hours out of the day did you need to run the freezer between non-run time? how big a freezer? Do you think a cargo rack on a receiver hitch would handle both your freezer and a generator and a fuel can? Just wondering if I could do something like that and not pull a trailer. OR possibly have the option of pulling a boat as well, with an extended hitch.
 
Huntindave McCann said:
Tod,

I completely forgot you had made an earlier trip. I should have made provision to take along a freezer. I air shipped fish home as I went. ($$$$$ but WTH) How big of a generator did you need for the freezer? (I assume you used a generator) How many hours out of the day did you need to run the freezer between non-run time? how big a freezer? Do you think a cargo rack on a receiver hitch would handle both your freezer and a generator and a fuel can? Just wondering if I could do something like that and not pull a trailer. OR possibly have the option of pulling a boat as well, with an extended hitch.
Click to expand...

I?ve found that a freezer doesn?t need more hours of running per day to keep frozen than you need to sleep if you strap it closed on the road (so the lid doesn?t open on bumps). We ran the freezer at night and Fish was rock solid at the end of a day with no power and freezer was not running in the morning after being plugged in (indicating it had chilled fully). We kept fish in storage on the Kenai and then into the freezer for the ride home. On the way home we stayed in campgrounds with electric (which is rare for us to go night after night plugged in). A small freezer can fit an ungodly amount of weight in fish (roughly 40-50 pounds of fish per cubic foot). I see no reason a hitch rack couldn?t handle a small freezer. For next time I?m putting a temp probe in the freezer to see how much I can push it. We had our good chamber vac to seal fish.

I?d like to know if you can run a generator with freezer when on the road (if the components woul handle the bouncing).
 
tod osier said:
Huntindave McCann said:
Tod,

I completely forgot you had made an earlier trip. I should have made provision to take along a freezer. I air shipped fish home as I went. ($$$$$ but WTH) How big of a generator did you need for the freezer? (I assume you used a generator) How many hours out of the day did you need to run the freezer between non-run time? how big a freezer? Do you think a cargo rack on a receiver hitch would handle both your freezer and a generator and a fuel can? Just wondering if I could do something like that and not pull a trailer. OR possibly have the option of pulling a boat as well, with an extended hitch.
Click to expand...

I?ve found that a freezer doesn?t need more hours of running per day to keep frozen than you need to sleep if you strap it closed on the road (so the lid doesn?t open on bumps). We ran the freezer at night and Fish was rock solid at the end of a day with no power and freezer was not running in the morning after being plugged in (indicating it had chilled fully). We kept fish in storage on the Kenai and then into the freezer for the ride home. On the way home we stayed in campgrounds with electric (which is rare for us to go night after night plugged in). A small freezer can fit an ungodly amount of weight in fish (roughly 40-50 pounds of fish per cubic foot). I see no reason a hitch rack couldn?t handle a small freezer. For next time I?m putting a temp probe in the freezer to see how much I can push it. We had our good chamber vac to seal fish.

I?d like to know if you can run a generator with freezer when on the road (if the components woul handle the bouncing).
Click to expand...

Probably not the best idea when driving. That's why I was asking about run time verses down time. It would be great to have the generator noise behind you while on the road. I suspect the generator would be OK but wonder about the freezer components.
 
tod osier said:
jode hillman said:
Oh man, all awesome pics , but that sockeye chowder has my mouth watering!!! What a great way to live a season!
Click to expand...

Thanks Jode, the eating fish on this trip was a major goal (as well as bringing a bunch home). I'm like Forrest Gump with his shrimp, but with salmon...

Spice crusted salmon...
[.img]https://i.imgur.com/v8ppyZJ.jpg[/img]

Salmon Seviche...
[.img]https://i.imgur.com/8lFhlyU.jpg[/img]

Smoked salmon...
[.img]https://i.imgur.com/WjL4e8K.jpg[/img]
Click to expand...


Love , love , love it!!!!

I'm that way with crabs! Lol

View attachment 94FC7E0A-68BE-4EE2-B8DC-5632C436C8BC.jpg
 
Huntindave McCann said:
Probably not the best idea when driving. That's why I was asking about run time verses down time. It would be great to have the generator noise behind you while on the road. I suspect the generator would be OK but wonder about the freezer components.
Click to expand...

I've read that the compressors are not built for use when moving, but I've also read that a lot of guys run a generator and freezer on a trailer. I also have the option of getting a few hours of running during the day with an inverter since we have big batteries on the tongue of the camper and solar on the camper. I haven't done the math, but driving out west on sunny days, I'm wasting a lot of potential collected sunlight if I could run a freezer on an inverter when driving. Lots of stuff to figgure out. I was going to research running a freezer on the road this winter and see if I could find some sort fo engineer that would know the answer.
 
Great stuff Tod, envious of your camping getaways. Times Gus is not old enough to realize the value of. Kudu's to you all.
 
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