Alaskan Adventures Summer 2023

ALASKAN ADVENTURES

SUMMER

A CHANGING OF THE SEASONS

THE LATE SPRING OF 2023

By: Nathan Woleslagle

Alaskan winters are notorious for being long and harsh. This year, although the state of Alaska had a mild winter, Spring has now just emerged during the second week of May. While flying into Anchorage to begin our journey to the lodge for the season, I could see the snow still deeply packed in the mountains outside of the city. While gathering supplies and running errands in preparation for the season, it still felt as though Winter had not left Anchorage. Locals murmured to Dan Paull and me about Spring being late as we ate and drank downtown.

We started the first leg of our journey to the lodge by flying into the small village of Sleetmute along the Kuskokwim River. It was evident that Winter had indeed not yet let go of its cold grip in Alaska. The Kuskokwim River flowing along the edge of Sleetmute was frozen solid from bank to bank. Deep snow lined the edges of the streets of town. Jimmy Nagel, a staple member of the lodge, messaged us from our airstrip as he had made it to the lodge a week before Dan and I began our journey to meet him there. “The snow on the airstrip here is mashed potatoes!”, he exclaimed, “There is too much snow, and it is not in good shape to be landing a plane.” Dan and I figured as much, so we arranged for a helicopter landing.

The air blew cold as we waited for a helicopter to pick us up from town to complete the final leg of our journey to the lodge. As the helicopter buzzed down and landed in Sleetmute, the pilot filled us in on conditions. “It is a late Spring, two to three weeks late versus last year”, he said, “We hunted grizzlies a few days ago and hardly any bears are out of their dens”. I accompanied the pilot during the first helicopter flight to the lodge.

The helicopter was packed with our gear, and I felt crammed in the passenger seat. The helicopter approached the lodge, and the snow was much deeper than anticipated. “I can’t land on that airstrip,” the pilot calmly said, “I’ll have to land here in the harder packed snow.” As the helicopter touched down beside the lodge, the snow came up nearly to the door of the helicopter. I climbed out in my cowboy boots and jeans, as I had just arrived in Alaska from Montana, and sunk into the three feet of snow on the ground. My jeans were soaked, and it was difficult wading through the snow to the lodge. “What have I got myself into,” I thought to myself, “I left a near snow free Montana and riding horses high in the mountains for a still frozen Alaska!”. I lugged the gear towards the lodge as Jimmy met me with the Argo. “Late Spring!” he hollered over the engine noise as he helped toss luggage into the bed of the Argo. Dan met up with us on the next helicopter flight in. We immediately began to work hard at digging out the lodge and cabins from the deep snow. The next week went by slowly as we all struggled to work in the cold and harsh conditions.

As the weather warmed and the snow finally began to thaw during the second week of May, the conditions proved to be just as challenging as during the cold weather. The surface of the ground turned to mud as it thawed. Our feet would punch through the mud and find a firm surface on frozen ground underneath it as we walked. Each of us found ourselves calf deep in mud before our feet found solid footing. We all stumbled and fell in the mud. If you are going to spend early Spring in remote Alaska, you must be tough, and each one of us proved to be just that. High wind, snow squalls, and cold nights refroze the ground and challenged us each day. However, we preserved. From renovating cabin interiors, to replacing the stairs inside the lodge, and even milling fresh logs, we were a productive crew. Regardless of the bad conditions and late Spring, Dan led us ahead to prepare for the season and the clients that were soon to arrive.

It is an understatement to say that preparing the lodge for the Summer and Fall seasons is hard work. A late Spring can make it even more challenging. In the end, it is all worth it though. The thoughts of salmon running upriver in June and July, Sheefish busting along the water’s surface, as well as flocks of hundreds of migrating ducks dancing across the sky kept us motivated to work on. Each day we get closer to Summer and away from the late spring of 2023. That excites us. The harshest and worst working conditions are now behind us, and all of us are eagerly awaiting your arrival to the lodge. A great adventure awaits each one of you, and the lodge is now ready. I sure hope that 2024 is kind to us however, and that the late Spring of 2023 does not repeat itself.

SO YOU WANT TO BE A GUIDE?

When I was around six years old, I was introduced to fishing at a local farm pond close to my parents’ house. I remember catching bluegill and bass, and at the time, that was the greatest thing ever. I couldn’t get enough! As I grew older, any chance I got to wet a line, it was on. Maybe that is when my addiction started that eventually became the obsession I have with fishing today. At that young age I was happier with fishing-related birthday presents than Lego's.

When it came time for me to go to college, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. My dream has always been to show people around in the outdoors either fishing or hunting. It did not matter, as long as I was outside, but fishing and hunting took precedent for me. Now, years later, I have grown up and own a fishing and hunting lodge in Alaska. I would say I have reached my life goal. It took a while to get here, and I have learned so much along the way and continue to learn as we grow. As of right now, I would say the best experience I have is that of which I can pass on.

Every winter I get applications from young guys and gals that want to become guides for me at the lodge. It seems with every application I receive; a little smile appears on my face because I understand where they are coming from. I am forty-five years old now and as I look at these resumes and the younger generation that is applying, I can almost remember my own youth at that time. I really admire those that are looking to test the waters at such a young age. Leaving the comforts of home to spend the summer in an unforgiving place like the Alaskan bush, it can be scary sometimes. Learning a new trade far from home can be an even scarier endeavor. Going to a place far from family and friends for three to five months can be terrifying.

Every year I hire a couple of the younger generation that wish to become guides. I feel it is important to attempt to grow the next generation of guides, especially if they are going to work with us. Everyone I hire has gone through an interviewing process. And in my process, I am looking for people that not only have a passion for the outdoors, but also have a real joy for working with people and are able bodied individuals willing to work hard. Guiding isn’t just about taking people fishing, especially at an Alaskan Lodge.

At Alaskan Adventures lodge the role of a guide is probably a little different than you might think. Guiding and taking people fishing is a small percent of what the actual job is. Looking at the “Alaskan Adventures Guide Position” I would say that it encompasses a broad spectrum of titles enrolled into one. As a guide at our lodge, and many others, you are not just a guide. An ideal ‘guide’ is a carpenter, mechanic, chef, gardener, artist, housekeeper, psychologist, therapist, friend, fisherman knowing both fly gear and conventional gear, able to run a boat and overall able to adapt to anyone you might have on the boat. Just as in many roles in any career, your title might be one thing but include much more when help is needed in any other area. You might be asked to help out to ensure goals are met and the company drives forward.

As an example, I am currently at the lodge as I write this. It is May 12th, and we are not guiding guests out on the water and probably will not be taking fisherman out for close to a month. Until then we are here milling lumber to update cabins, fixing any damage caused by the harsh winters, changing oil in all boats and any machinery, preparing meals for staff as needed, planting the garden and flowers, cleaning cabins from top to bottom and so much more! So as a guide here at our lodge, before any guests show up there is a LOT that goes into preparing before any guiding can happen. Now once the guests show up, everyone will most likely be guiding daily; however, we will also all have chores to do on top of that. Chores might include mowing the lawn, weeding the garden, doing the dishes and laundry. Sometimes it may seem as if a guide’s job is never done. And in a lot of cases that is the truth, however if you look at it from the back seat, it is almost no different than if you were at home. For example, if you were to take four days off to go fishing yourself, you would have a lot of the same chores to complete once you got home. Sure, you are fishing during the day but at the end of the day you are still responsible for cooking your own food, cleaning your own house, taking out your trash and mowing your own lawn. Welcome to being a fishing guide!

Yes, we do get to take people fishing every day. Yes, our office is the vast back country of Alaska. It’s an amazing place and I would not trade it for the world. As guides our job is to take people to fish and to show them a good time. As guides we are not there to fish! The fishing pole does not go in our hands. However, the way I see it is that we do get to fish through our clients. I take people to where I personally would fish on a daily basis. I provide the proper gear and lure or fly selection to catch the fish. Usually when a client makes a cast it is to a location I have selected where I suspect a fish to be holding. When a client hooks a fish, it is almost as I if I was the one to hook the fish. And that is the magic of being a guide, loving what you are doing but never actually doing it!

In so many ways fishing is a challenge. In so many ways working with different people poses its own sets of challenges. Blending these two together poses the largest challenge of all. So, looking at it from that perspective, guiding has little to do with catching fish. As a guide, catching fish should be the easy part. We must be able to keep the clients happy catching fish on one end and in the back end we must concentrate on the MANY other facets of guiding like showing a client how to cast, how to work the lure or fly, and how to position the rod for proper hook setting, etcetera… However, it doesn’t end there. Once a client hooks a fish, coaching them on bringing this fish to the boat and landing it. Most of all doing all the above in a stress-free and fun manner because none of the above can be at all stressful when it is not going perfect HAHA!

So, you want to be a fishing guide? As I mentioned earlier, I get asked this every year by the younger generation. It can be a great career IF you love what you do. It is a lot of work and often for little pay. Most guide jobs are seasonal. Most guides need to be diversified to make it in this career path. A guide can stay busy in Alaska for the summer, but they are going to have to find somewhere else to guide for the rest of the year. Although it can be an amazing and fun career, having a love life or home life will take its toll. A guides’ home is where they are, and it is often in the outdoors.

Society and most parents will frown upon this type of lifestyle. Most of the younger generation in there 20’s are still trying to figure out who they are and what they want to do with their life. Although the guide life sounds like an amazing life choice it can be filled with many ups and downs. Most of what I have explained above I explain in the interviewing process. However, most of these first-time guides do not learn what it takes to be in this line of work and learn through the firsthand experience at the lodge and choose to never guide again. There are the few exceptions to the rule that have made this lifestyle a way of life for themselves. And for those that do, you can see the passion for what they do in their actions, you can see in their eyes and in their drive. Waking up early to spend days in the freezing rain, wind, and nasty weather, all with a smile on their face to take a client to that trophy they are seeking. It is not an easy life, but if you love the outdoors and I mean truly love it to your core, then it is the best life one could have.

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.

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