WHY THE SHEE ON THE HOLITNA

Many years ago, I was sitting at my desk in Colorado and a call came in. It was Allan a good buddy of mine wanting to go on a hunt somewhere. He suggested maybe Canada and I thought about for a second and said how about Alaska. I don’t think Alan really cared as long as hunting and going far way was involved, he was game. So without hesitation instead of any thought he just started throwing out dates. I was in!

When I was a kid, my father went to Alaska on a honeymoon to hunt moose and caribou and ever since then the stories he had told that trip has always stuck in my head and I had always wanted to do that trip. Probably not as a honeymoon but a hunt none the less. For many years I had put it off and put it off. It seems as I was making plans to live life…life was slipping by. I think Alan felt the same way.

As I was putting this trip together our plan was to spend two weeks float hunting down the Kobuk river for Moose and Caribou. In addition to hunting we would also bring our Spey rods and attempt something very few have ever done and that was Spey fishing for Sheefish. In the midst of putting this trip together this fish kept coming up in my search. The wonder of what is it had me at hello. Now in the words of Jim Shockey “hunters are just explores” and yes that holds true as well for fishermen. To think we were going to hunt moose and caribou AND fish for a rare

The unit that the Kobuk river flows through is a limited draw area. Caribou tags were easily obtained over the counter. So at the time Alan and I both put in for the draw to get a moose tag. Months later we found out that we both were unfortunate in drawing the tag. However, that wasn’t going to stop us as we could still hunt Caribou and catch Sheefish. A fish that I had quickly become obsessed with.

Sheefish? What was it? It looked almost like a tarpon, and I guess that’s how it got the nick name “Tarpon of the north”. However, it had an adipose fin and Tarpon don’t. It has a long lower jaw almost resembling a snook but it wasn’t. It’s body almost resembled a stripe bass but it wasn’t. Upon further investigation this fish was anadromous, meaning it spends a portion of its life in the salt water and returns to fresh water to spawn just like a salmon. Doing even more digging I discovered this fish had the ability to grow to 60lbs. All this and the fact that it only lived in 4 drainages in Alaska had me absolutely obsessed with someday having to lay my hands in this fish.

Planning this trip, we would be flying to Fairbanks and then jumping on a smaller plane to Bettles Alaska and from Bettles we would take a small bush plane to where we would hunt. When we landed in Fairbanks, we had a day layover before flying out to Bettles. So, we decided to do the touristy thing and explore the shops in town and eventually we landed in a sporting goods store, “imagine that”. After hanging out for some time with the guy at the gun counter eventually we figured out that we could actually buy moose tags over the counter for an area close to where we would be Caribou hunting and so plans changed. We would be no longer fishing for Sheefish but moose hunting a week and Caribou hunting for a week. Yes, I love fishing but the opportunity to hunt moose or fish?…. I’m going hunting every time HOWEVER the lure of Sheefish stayed and I knew I’d be back.

If I told you Alaska gets under your skin some of you might understand. Alaska got under my skin so much I decided to make a life in Alaska. In some way shape or form I have always been involved in the outdoor world from being a first mate on charter boats and guiding to sales and videography. Once Alaska got under my skin I decided it was time to take my life to the next level and fulfill my boyhood dream and dedicate my life to working in the outdoors and Alaska was the place to do just that. I knew at that time I didn’t want to be just a guide. I had bigger dreams so I started the long process of finding a fishing/hunting lodge in the Alaskan bush.

In my search I had some specific criteria for finding the right place to call home. I knew that I wanted to spend my summers guiding fishing. I also know that the future of Salmon is unknown all across Alaska. One year the runs entering a river system might be stellar and the next they might be almost nonexistent. Therefore, any place I considered to be home MUST have something other than Salmon to fish for. I would hate for a client to come fishing only to find there is no fish in the river. So Whatever River system I called home must have a resident population of something to catch.

It took quite some time, maybe 3 years but I finally found what I thought would fit my strict criteria. The biggest draw for me was the fact that the waters around this lodge had great numbers of MONSTER pike and SHEEFISH! From that moment I was hooked. I was really hooked when I did my research and found out that there are very few places to have a lodge setting and be able to target such a rare fish. At the time I knew nothing about this fish from a fishing standpoint however I knew I was going to figure it out especially since I now call Alaskan Adventures on the Holitna River home.

As I mentioned before there are only four drainages in Alaska that have Sheefish. The Holitna as far as I have read from studies is the only river system that they come to just to feed. All other rivers are known to have spawning populations of Sheefish. That does not mean fish can not be caught on other river systems however it does mean that the Holitna is home to a hungry population of Sheefish. Sheefish are one of the few that can be caught the entire season we are fishing on the Holitna River.

It's been five years now since I have made Alaskan Adventures home. In that time we have explored and caught Sheefish in places and in ways the previous owner never thought of. Since then we have also put 30 IGFA records on the board. Of those 15 were with Pike and 15 with Sheefish. Yes we still get runs of Salmon and just as salmon go some runs are great and some runs are not so great but that is the way things go in Alaska. However guests coming to Alaskan Adventures don’t have to worry about possibly not catching fish as we have great populations of resident fish.

If you recall I mentioned that on my first trip to Alaska we were going to attempt to catch Sheefish on the swing with a Spey rod. Since opening Alaskan Adventures we have done that MANY times. It’s an effective way to hook up for sure however as of lately we have discovered doing something to my knowledge most have only dreamed of doing and that is catching Sheefish on top-water poppers. As a guide it is my job to put people on fish using the lures & flys and tactics that work. So experimenting with clients is usually not in the cards. As guides it is also our job to explore these options without clients to see if it works and if they in-fact do then we introduce it to clients.

Our area of the Holitna river has several locations that we fish where in June and July an absolute spectacle occurs. What I mean is we have several areas where Sheefish stage in deeper water laying and waiting for smolt or baby lamprey to come downriver above them and when they do Sheefish shoot straight up through the water colom to grab pray and then they continue up and fly out of the water. It’s not uncommon to see 20-30 fish in the air at once. For several years I always thought it would be cool to catch one on top-water but never attempted until this year.

After dinner one night at the lodge guides Sam and Scott had taken off downriver to explore this idea. As the owner of the lodge sometimes I get busy and would love to go explore more than I do however entertaining is an important part of the job. Sam and Scott had the opportunity this night to attempt the once dreamt of. Sometimes the stars align just right and that night magic happen… No not between the two guides but with catching Sheefish on poppers is what I’m referring to. Get your head out of the gutter!

The next morning at breakfast we all heard about it and something once dreamt about was now born. As we continue to grow with this fishery with this little known fish on a river system far out in the Alaskan bush we continue to push the envelope in ways never considered. I have come a long way from that first trip to Alaska and Alaskan Adventures Lodge has come a long way from what it once was. What we are today is a remote western Alaska Bush experience. It’s the Alaska most don’t think about and didn’t know existed. Most of our clients are clients that have been to Alaska a few times but are now finally ready for the back stage pass.

When I purchased the lodge the old owner had a tagline, “Restoration through recreation”. To him it had a religious meaning. After a long thought process, I decided to keep it as it has a slightly different meaning for us but still a great one. Since your phone doesn’t work here because you’re so far out in the bush your forced to spend time with those you are with. Your forced to restore your connections through recreation. Sorry but you won’t be staring at your phone. You will be having the time of your life with the people you’re with. You will be getting close and personal with nature and family restoring all connections while we do the work.

So if and when considering really getting away talk with Mike Demming about this trip and more. Mike has been to the lodge and all the lodges he works with. Not every lodge and outfitter makes his list but those that do he can vouch for. Till then tight lines and shoot straight.