Alaskan Adventures Issue #04 SPRING 2021

Alaskan Adventures Issue #04 SPRING 2021

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Pike on the Holitna Pike: a large elongate long-snouted freshwater bony fish (Esox lucius) valued for food and sport and widely distributed in cooler parts of the northern hemisphere — called also northern, northern pike Alaskan Adventures sits on the banks of the Holitna River 237 miles west of Anchorage in the heart of bush country Alaska. We have a main lodge and several cabins on the banks of the Holitna River. Pike are literally a cast away from your front porch. The Holitna River has an overabundance a Northern Pike.

Targeting them either with gear or on the fly Alaskan Adventures knows where, how and what to use and do to make it happen to constantly put fish over 40” on the end of your line.

Our favorite time of the year is late spring and early summer when the Pike are hungry. They are just coming out of a long winter and the warm waters are heating up their metabolism forcing these toothy predators to put on the feed bag.

This time of the year the water levels are high, enough to the point that our oxbow lakes and adjoining river are full and high.

During this time Pike are found in the shallow’s way up under the flooded trees looking for frogs, baby ducks and even full-grown ducks.

Yes, they are that aggressive.

Fishing these oxbow lakes your guide will gently row the edges of the lake keeping you within casting distance of the shore. It’s not uncommon to have several pike chase your offering right to edge of boat. It’s also not uncommon to have large aggressive pike take your offering once it has left the water at the edge of the boat. yes, they are that aggressive!

During this time of year Pike are willing to take almost anything you throw at them however our favorite to throw at them is almost anything that is on the surface.

From buzz baits to poppers anything that makes a splash or disturbs the water surface really rings the dinner bell for these fish. We have seen pike come to attack from as far as 20 yards away and we have seen pike literally attack each other to beat out the competition before grabbing a popper.

When fishing a fly, we fish sometimes flies that are close to 12” long with a very large profile. While the guide rows you down the shoreline it’s best to slap your fly on the water’s surface as hard as you possibly can and make the biggest splash you can and then strip it as hard as you can three or four times. If anyone is home, they usually will come to pounce once the water has been disturbed.

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When we are fishing poppers, we use the biggest fly poppers we can find. Big fish like big baits and even the little ones will grab a fly twice their size.

As summer progresses the oxbow lakes either dry up or become too warm for the fish and they move to the main river. Pike are not like a salmon, trout or even a sheefish.

Pike like almost dead water. Water that is almost barely moving or they like to hold in areas with very little current. During summer months our river system grows long expansive weed beds in the slacker waters of the river. This is a great place to target and find pike. Although you can still catch them on top-water we typically start using spinners, spoons and sinking flies.

Pike are still very aggressive this time of the year and as a matter of fact this past season we seen a small 20” immature king salmon in the throat of about a 30” Northern Pike. It seems like if they can get their lips on it then it goes into the belly. Fly fishing for Pike in the summer is still a great time as we transition from top-water to a little bit heavier fly.

Flies that can get down in the water column to roughly 2-4’. Anything that looks like it’s alive. Pike don’t care as they will eat anything, and I mean ANYTHING! Put some movement on it and make it flashy and it will get destroyed!

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GEAR vs FLY Alaskan Adventures lodge is an equal opportunity fishing lodge. What I mean is we will help you catch fish however you’d like to fish for them. If it’s fly you’d like to use we are on it. If it’s gear, then we got you covered.

One of our farm hands was a big fly fisherman. When I was 11 years old, he invited me to go to Potter County Pennsylvania to try my hand at fly fishing. At this age I can remember I was just beyond excited to go explore and do something I’ve never done before. However, I needed to learn how to cast a fy rod first.

That being said, this article is about my (Dan Paull’s) opinion. My opinion is my own and that is it. What I say is not meant to sway anyone into any type of personal thought or direction. Please feel free to read this and make your own opinion.

At the age of eleven, I took what little money I made from working at the farm and purchased my first fly rod. It was at K-mart that I found one I was able to afford. If I remember correctly, it was a Diawa 6wt.

When I was a young guy probably five years old or so I recall picking up my first fishing rod. I think my mom had taken me to a local farm pond to fish for bluegill and bass. I vaguely recall that experience however it is what started a passion that later tuned into and obsession. So, lets just call that obsession “fishing”.

For months I was found in the front yard of the house practicing my cast.

After a couple months I learned how to feel the proper timing to initiate my forward throw or back thrust to accelerate and gain distance and line control. For only being eleven I was pretty excited about accurately making a cast with a fly over 15 yards.

I grew up on a farm on the shores of Lake Erie roughly 20 miles west of Cleveland Ohio. I Spent most of my time working as a farm hand and every second I had to wet a line in one of the many farm ponds around I did. I didn’t care what I was after as long as I was “fishing” I was having fun. Rarely did we ever catch fish to keep and eat as it was more fun to just go fishing.

Finally, our trip to Pennsylvania was here and wow was I in for a surprise.

Pennsylvania trout streams are full of thick bushes on the sides. Because of this, no matter how great my casting was at my age I spent a lot of time in the trees. I quickly learned how to stay out of the bushes and trees of these small Pennsylvanian trout streams. Fly fishing however quickly turned from just a dream to a quest.

Growing up on the shores of Lake Erie, I later discovered that our rivers in the fall filled with Steelhead. The Steelhead of the great lakes are not the famed Steelhead of the Pacific Northwest, however I quickly learned that they still took a fly and fought with a force unlike the small trout from Pennsylvania.

Lake Erie tributaries can be temperamental. What I mean is if it rains pretty good then the water will most definitely be off-color and hard to fish with a fly.

Time to change tactics. Fish floating spawn bags under a float!

Yes, I was in high school when I learned how to fish with a float rod and a centrepin. At the time I thought I was becoming a “purist” by only fishing flies with a fly rod. However, I quickly learned that if I was to enjoy fishing, I must adapt to the situation to catch fish. So when the water allowed, I fished with the fly and when it didn’t, gear was the ticket to get the job done.

About the same time my uncle had a open water boat and often took it out on the big water to troll for walleye and steelhead. I was lucky enough to tag along and learn the tricks of the trade with trolling a boat and running up to 12-14 rods at a time. My uncle had become one of the best big water fishermen around winning many terminates time and time again.

As time progressed, a family friend became a charter captain on Lake Erie and asked me to be his first mate. Ha! You just put a kid in the candy store!

For the next several years if I wasn’t working during the week, I was out on the big water working as a first mate.

Pretty soon word got out that I was pretty good at what I did so I was pretty busy on several boats.

Over the years I’ve learned a lot about different styles of fishing. For a time, I thought I might be headed in the direction of becoming a “purist” or whatever that actually means.

Some days fly is the way to go.

Some days your only hope is gear.

At the end of the day you have to ask yourself...

Is your rod bent?

I quickly realized that if I was to have fun fishing, I would have to keep an open mind and adapt towhatever the situation might hold.

Is there a smile on your face?

Am I having fun?

It’s called FISHING and we love it all!

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ALASKAN ADVENTURES 110 Meadow Lane Bellvue, Colorado, USA – 80512 (303) 881-0200 (765) 398-0439 dan@alaskanadventures.net

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