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We flew from Anchorage and arrived in the village of Unalakleet mid-afternoon on Sunday, September 3. We were met by Sally & Jeff Appel, owners of Unalakleet River Lodge. We then were transferred to the lodge via boat and we spent the balance of the day settling into our cabin and getting our gear ready for fishing the next day. We enjoyed the evening with our fellow anglers. We knew two of the anglers, Tom & Rich, because we fished with them at URL two years ago. The other 10 anglers were a great bunch of guys who have fished together for many years and they made the rest of us feel like we were part of the gang too.
Monday, September 4: We spent our Labor Day enjoying a great day of fishing. Our guide for the week was Ian Crabtree. Ian is both an excellent angler and guide. He’s also an excellent photographer and we have Ian to thank for great shots of fish being hooked and/or fighting in mid-air. We headed downstream and began casting some special flies that Ed tied specifically for silvers on 7 wt. rods in likely holding spots for silver salmon. We caught an amazing number of fish! We cast primarily from the boat and had four doubles (each of us with a fish on the line). It was a beautiful day and the great start to our trip.
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The setting |
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Lindy and Ian with her early morning catch |
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Ed with one of these beautiful salmon on the line |
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Fish in action (Thanks to Ian!) |
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The fish is still at it! |
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Yet, another jump!! |
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Ian with Ed's salmon |
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Relaxing at the bar at day's
end (Owner Jeff Appel is opposite Lindy and the bartender is Steve Appel) |
Tuesday, September 5: Well, we thought we caught a lot of fish yesterday but today was simply amazing! We spent from 9AM until 3PM in the same spot and one or both of us had a fish on the line constantly. We actually had 8 doubles too! Then, Ed was the first one to land a beautiful 30” silver salmon. What an incredible treat as these monster fish are great fighters and tons of fun to catch and release.
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Ed and Ian with a great start to the day |
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Ed and Ian with another beauty |
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Lindy and Ian with one of her salmon |
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Fishing from the shore |
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A bear print next to Ian's
boot (obviously, we weren't the only ones who fished at this spot) |
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The beauty of the day!! Ed and Ian with Ed's 30" salmon. WOW!! |
Wednesday, September 6: Today the fish weren’t as cooperate as our first two days so we had to move to several spots. We didn’t mind, however, as it gave us an opportunity to enjoy different areas of the Unalakleet River. Also, we did manage to land a fish or two at every location. At noon we enjoyed a group shore luncheon. Salmon burgers were the fare for the day and they were delicious. After lunch we continued fishing and we caught some nice silvers.
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Ed and Ian with a morning salmon |
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A couple of moose traveling the shore |
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Jeff and Sally Appel, our
hosts, preparing their signature salmon burger lunch. Yumm!!! |
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Ed and Ian with another beauty |
Thursday, September 7: We encountered some nasty weather today as the pictures will attest. It’s the first time ever in our fishing at URL that we actually returned to the lodge for lunch. We all needed to warm up and Sally had a wonderful treat of chicken & dumplings. Yum, yum! After the rain subsided a bit, we decided to continue fishing in the afternoon while several of the anglers called it quits for the day. It was an excellent decision as the afternoon fishing was terrific. We fished all afternoon from the share basically in one spot. The highlight of the afternoon was Lindy’s 31” x 20” silver salmon. It was the biggest fish landed at the lodge the entire week. A wonderful reward for sticking it out in tough conditions in Alaska.
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Lindy and Ian with a healthy salmon |
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Ed and Ian with a beauty |
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Ian with his own salmon after we insisted he take a cast |
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Lindy and Ian with Lindy's 31" x 20" trophy!! |
Friday, September 8: This was our final day of fishing (this year) at Unalakleet River Lodge. Again, we caught some great fish and enjoyed a leisurely day catching & releasing salmon, grayling and dolly varden.
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Sunrise on our last morning
at Unalakleet River Lodge |
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A State Trooper stops in for coffee |
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Ed and Ian with Ed's dolly varden |
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Ed taking the
"buggy" from the dock up to the main lodge |
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"Rabbit" getting the
barbeque ready for a send-off feast of King Crab |
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