Alaska Sporting Journal - August 2020

FISHING • HUNTING • ADVENTURE

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Volume 12 • Issue 3 www.aksportingjournal.com PUBLISHER James R. Baker

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Katie Aumann

GENERAL MANAGER John Rusnak

INFORMATION SERVICES MANAGER Lois Sanborn

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Andy Walgamott

ADVERTISING INQUIRIES media@media-inc.com

EDITOR Chris Cocoles WRITERS Paul D. Atkins, Bjorn Dihle, Tony Ensalaco, Dave Grover, Scott Haugen, Tiffany Haugen, Mary Catherine Martin SALES MANAGER Paul Yarnold ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Mamie Griffin, Jim Klark, Mike Smith DESIGNER Lesley-Anne Slisko-Cooper PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Kelly Baker WEB DEVELOPMENT/INBOUND MARKETING Jon Hines

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MEDIA INDEX PUBLISHING GROUP 14240 Interurban Ave South • Suite 190 Tukwila, WA 98168 (206) 382-9220 • Fax (206) 382-9437 media@media-inc.com • www.media-inc.com CORRESPONDENCE Twitter @AKSportJourn Facebook.com/alaskasportingjournal Email ccocoles@media-inc.com ON THE COVER Triston Chaney, who has Yupik and Athabaskan roots, is a 21-year-old multi-generational commercial salmon fisherman in Bristol Bay who when not working still has a strong connection to the fish of his home waters like rainbow trout. (TRISTON CHANEY)

CONTENTS

VOLUME 12 • ISSUE 3

FEATURES

32

24

A FISHERMAN’S LEGACY

45

PITCH THE TWITCH

53

THE 75TH BIRTHDAY BULL

68

THE AFRICAN KING

(TONY ENSALACO)

SITUK SCHOOL IN SESSION Tony Ensalaco took his first trip to Yakutat and its Situk River steelhead fishery back in 2000, and he’s returned multiple times over the years to test his skills against these coveted sea-run trout. Looking back on the highs and lows, the Chicago-area angler shares how his tactics and gear have evolved over time to where he’s able to catch high numbers of steelies.

Triston Chaney, a Yupik and Athabaskan fisherman from Dillingham, got his start in the industry as a 9-year-old helping on his grandpa’s setnet boat. Chaney, now 21, is one of so many Bristol Bay residents who have a strong connection to the region’s fertile salmon runs professionally and personally. Bjorn Dihle has a profile of Chaney in his Pride of Bristol Bay column.

“Coho are notorious for going off the bite when they get tired of seeing the same presentation over and over,” writes From Field to Fire columnist Scott Haugen. One of his go-to changeup pitches is to throw a twitching jig and go into lift-and-reel mode in anticipation of a silver strike. Find out how Haugen does it. And Tiffany Haugen has a salmon recipe you can infuse with spices from your garden.

At nearly 75 years young but with bad knees, Dave Grover found himself on an epic bull moose hunt last season along the mighty Yukon River with his son, grandson and two friends. Dave recalls their amazing adventure, one that yielded big bulls and a whopping 2,600 pounds of meat!

From his home base in Kotzebue in Western Alaska, Paul Atkins has access to some of North America’s most productive big game hunting. But one part of the world that Atkins finds comparable hunting bliss is Africa, where he’s made multiple safaris to. Atkins shares some of his fondest memories from the continent, including a first trip with his son Eli and wife Susie.

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE 11 13 19 31 63

The Editor’s Note: Not-travellin’ man’s blues Pebble Mine final EIS released The Salmon State: Kings and climate change Outdoor calendar GMU spotlight: Big game bounty above the Arctic Circle

Alaska Sporting Journal is published monthly. Call Media Inc. Publishing Group for a current rate card. Discounts for frequency advertising. All submitted materials become the property of Media Inc. Publishing Group and will not be returned. Annual subscriptions are $29.95 (12 issues) or $49.95 (24 issues). Send check or money order to Media Inc. Publishing Group, 14240 Interurban Ave South, Suite 190, Tukwila, WA 98168 or call (206) 382-9220 with VISA or M/C. Back issues may be ordered at Media Inc. Publishing Group, subject to availability, at the cost of $5 plus shipping. Copyright © 2020 Media Inc. Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be copied by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording by any information storage or retrieval system, without the express written permission of the publisher. Printed in U.S.A. 8

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EDITOR’S NOTE

The editor’s memories of fishing for snapper in New Zealand’s Bay of Islands had him pondering when he would be able to enjoy another such international outdoor adventure. COVID-19 has shut down nearly all travel outside the U.S at press time. (CHRIS COCOLES)

O

ne of my closest friends – and a longtime travel companion – has been a world trekker since long before I made my first trip outside of North America 11 years ago this month.

I remember once he showed me his passport and I was in awe of all the stamps clogging the document, imprints from countries on every continent. I’m doing my best to begin catching up to his impressive list and don’t know if I’ll ever come close. But it’s been fun trying.

These days, traveling outside the United States is impossible, and rightfully so, given our country’s lack of proper response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our Paul Atkins, who wrote about some of his memorable hunting safaris in Africa (page 68), had to put another adventure on that continent on hold.

“I was supposed to go in 2021, but with the virus I had to move it to 2022,” Atkins told me, “if I even go now.”

I could understand his trepidation about assuming everything will be OK, even a year or more from now. I’ve already canceled plans to go to Greece in September and further trips scheduled for later this year and/or early in 2021 (nobody with an American passport seems destined to leave the country for leisure travel anytime soon).

Like Atkins, I have great outdoors memories from some of my adventures afar: A hike along a rocky beach on an island in Estonia; piloting my own reindeer sled in Finland; catching enough snapper on a New Zealand charter boat to grill up the fillets back at the hotel; river rafting some of the fiercest rapids I’ve ever experienced further south on that same island nation; fishing from the shore of spectacular Lake Bled in Slovenia.

These moments have me dreaming of my next vacation far away from the harsh, uncertain and somewhat bleak reality I find myself in right now. Maybe someday my world will be normal and I’ll be able to explore the rest of the world again. -Chris Cocoles aksportingjournal.com | AUGUST 2020

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‘A CATASTROPHE WAITING TO HAPPEN’ FINAL PEBBLE MINE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT SPARKS OUTRAGE

BY CHRIS COCOLES

I

n the end, the Pebble Partnership and the Trump administration got what it was hoping for: a fast-tracked path to a possible gold and copper mine in the Bristol Bay watershed.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had already teased as much earlier this year. The draft of the Corps’ environmental impact statement for the project suggested it would recommend

a version of what the Pebble group was seeking in the face of opponents fearing such a mine could someday decimate the region’s prized salmon runs.

After another round of public comments, the final EIS was released on July 23, which suggested an approximate 8,300-acre project with an alternate transport system to other options presented by the Pebble

Partnership group.

And while there are still obstacles needed to clear to get the project underway – not to mention the threat of legal action on the horizon – those who are concerned about whether Bristol Bay’s fishing industry can coexist with this mine are furious and skeptical that the EIS release isn’t just the beginning of a larger scale project.

Salmon attempt to clear Brooks Falls, part of the incredibly rich greater Bristol Bay watershed. The region’s runs feed a sustainable billion-dollar industry, and fishermen are speaking out against a recently published U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ final environmental impact statement that claims the proposed Pebble Mine wouldn’t harm fish. (MARK TITUS)

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“The majority of Alaskans hate it,” says Tim Bristol, SalmonState’s executive director, of Pebble. “It will face broad and deep public opposition, Congressional scrutiny, legal opposition, and a steadily growing number of investors not interested in environmentally destructive and socially disruptive projects like Pebble.” (MARK TITUS)

“With a wink and an-under-the-table handshake, Pebble is asking the U.S. Army Corps to issue a foot-in-the-door permit for a fake mine that is only a fraction of the one it intends to build,” said Tim Bristol, SalmonState executive director. “And while Pebble will claim this document is a validation of its phony plan, this project is still in the ditch. The majority of Alaskans hate it, it will face broad and deep public opposition, Congressional scrutiny, legal opposition, and a steadily growing number of investors not interested in environmentally destructive and socially disruptive projects like Pebble.”

“Pebble will cheer this document as a triumph, but it is so poorly done and the process has angered so many, the pushback will be like a tidal wave. Over time, we will come to see this moment as the beginning of the end for the proposed Pebble Mine.”

FAST-TRACKING PROCESS With the 2020 presidential election now three months away, critics of the mine implored the Corps to take more time to analyze more of the potential damage a 14

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Pebble Mine failure could cause.

Several Bristol Bay leaders, including United Tribes of Bristol Bay executive director Alannah Hurley and Ralph Andersen, Bristol Bay Native Association president and CEO, released a joint statement shortly after the final EIS was revealed. Repeating a common theme from the mine’s detractors, the group questioned if the Corps satisfactorily concluded that a theoretical Pebble Mine would not harm Bristol Bay’s billiondollar salmon fishery.

“Preliminary review proves the final EIS completely fails to adequately assess the impacts of Pebble on Bristol Bay’s waters, salmon and people. This comes as no surprise to the people of Bristol Bay, who have been silenced and steamrolled throughout the two-and-a-half-year process that advanced at unprecedented speeds,” the group’s statement said. “Not only has the Corps ignored the voices of Bristol Bay, but also the concerns from major state and federal scientific agencies and a congressional directive to address the concerns with the major pitfalls in the assessment.”

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As you can guess, Pebble Partnership CEO Tom Collier strikes a different tune, including repeating his long-standing salvo that his group’s project won’t harm the salmon or fishery, and that even in the worst-case scenario a catastrophic mine failure the damage would be miniscule.

“Alaskans, especially the residents of Bristol Bay, have never received the real Pebble story and after a lengthy misinformation campaign many were led to believe a mine at Pebble would harm the fishery. (The EIS) turns that lie on its head – returning salmon won’t be harmed, subsistence fishing won’t be harmed, and the commercial fishing industry won’t be harmed,” Collier said. “The final EIS for Pebble unequivocally shows it can be developed without harming salmon populations. It clearly states that no longterm measurable impacts to returning salmon are to be expected and there will be no long-term changes to the health of the Bristol Bay commercial fishery.”

SCIENTISTS WEIGH IN A few days following the EIS release, a group of technical experts held a

press conference to discuss the Corps’ contention that the mine and the salmon runs can safely coexist. But was the EIS assessment hastily rushed while under what appears to be a promining presidential administration in Washington?

Dave Chambers, PhD., P.Geo. and founder/president of the Center for Science in Public Participation, concluded that this particular project and location “is not a mine scenario that makes engineering sense,” besides the prevailing opinion that the EIS should have taken more time to consider failures.

“This EIS is a time-driven document.

This is essentially the model that was recently proposed by the Trump Administration, that is, a two-year timeline. And that is essentially what this EIS was done under, basically two years.

The environmental impact statement as envisioned by the National Environmental Policy Act was supposed to be a datadriven process, with science identifying the risks and mitigation measures for those risks,” Chambers said.

“A time-driven process does not

allow for science-based analysis. It only allows for as much science as can be done in the time allowed. And this is probably why we see such poor analysis in tailings dam design issues like seismic stability, dam foundation geotechnical analysis and evaluating the long-term risks of failures.”

THE NEXT STEPS As David Hobbie, chief of the regulatory division for the Corps’ Alaska Division stated shortly before the final EIS was released, this wouldn’t be the final green light for Pebble Partnership to put shovels in the ground. “(What’s) critical for folks to understand is that the final EIS is not a permit decision. It will be used by the Corps to inform the final step in the review process, which is the record of decision,” Hobbie said. “By regulation, the ROD cannot be finalized for at least 30 days from the publishing of the final EIS. We anticipate the ROD to be finalized later this year.”

But the fight is far from over. The Environmental Protection Agency can

still reject the project as too risky for the ecosystem. And you can bet legal action will be taken by tribal landowners whose ground parts of the mine would utilize, among other potential litigation.

“The science is overwhelmingly clear: The proposed Pebble Mine is a catastrophe waiting to happen. It’s simply unconscionable to fast-track such a high-risk project with a shoddy environment review that failed to evaluate the consequences should the proposed six-story dam fail and release 10 billion gallons of toxic waste into Bristol Bay’s treasured, pristine ecosystem,” said Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. “The administration should instead put a stop to this project and protect Alaska’s salmon and the communities that depend upon Bristol Bay. Since they won’t, we will see them in court.” ASJ Editor’s note: You can view the final U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pebble Project Environmental Impact Statement at pebbleprojecteis.com/documents/background.

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Chinook salmon, such as this one in Ship Creek near Anchorage, are being affected in Alaska’s freshwater systems as well as the ocean due to climate change, a study by the University of Alaska suggests. (RYAN HAGERTY/USFWS)

CLIMATE CHANGE, KING SALMON AND ALASKA’S RIVERS

BY MARY CATHARINE MARTIN

A

new study has found that the answer to Alaska’s Chinook salmon decline lies not just in the ocean, but also in freshwater rivers and streams – and that climate change’s effects on Alaska’s freshwater systems are affecting king salmon.

“The take-home message is that what happens in freshwater really matters to the strength of our salmon runs in Alaska,” said University of Alaska Fairbanks research scientist Erik Schoen. “In a lot of ways, that’s good news, because we have some control over freshwater conditions in our salmon streams.”

The study, led by the University

of Alaska, with data from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and nonprofit organization Cook Inletkeeper, and with help from additional authors as well, focused on 15 Chinook populations in Cook Inlet over a span of almost three decades. It found that heavier-thanaverage rainfall in late summer and fall leads to fewer surviving Chinook; the rain moves gravel, which displaces eggs.

Those findings may be relevant to other regions, even those like Southeast Alaska, which are typically rainy in the fall. That’s because the key is “above average” rainfall – different river systems are adapted and optimized to different

conditions - Schoen said.

On the positive side, the study also found that higher-than-average summer rainfall during juvenile rearing was good for Chinook.

WATER TEMPERATURES ABOVE 64 degrees Fahrenheit for a week or more in the summer during spawning decreased Chinook productivity. In 2019, a year of record heat for the state, Alaska’s salmon made international headlines when water temperatures in some rivers rose above 80 degrees and thousands of salmon died of heatstroke before they could spawn.

All of these events are happening

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A juvenile Chinook swims in Campbell Creek, which flows 21 miles from the Chugach Mountains into Turnagain Arm and Cook Inlet.

The study says heavier-than-average rainfall in late summer and fall leads to fewer surviving Chinook. High flows disrupt redds and the eggs within them. (RYAN HAGERTY/USFWS)

more as climate change, which is warming Alaska at twice the global average, also changes Alaska’s rain, snowpack and glacial melt – and, accordingly, the flow, timing and temperature of its rivers. Climate change is also increasing “extreme precipitation events” across the state.

Sue Mauger, Cook Inletkeeper’s science and executive director, has seen

those effects first-hand. She started collecting temperature data in Cook Inlet streams in 2002. She said each successive July surprised her, as the temperatures she collected got warmer and warmer.

Then Chinook began to decline, leading to a closure of the sport fishery and, in 2012, a disaster declaration for the commercial fishery (a disaster was declared for the Yukon and Kuskokwim

king salmon fisheries the same year).

This year, with cooler temperatures in Cook Inlet streams, things are looking up. The Mat-Su basin, which has been closed for Chinook sportfishing for many years, is now open. The Deshka River also made its lower escapement goal and, with cooler temperatures during spawning, more of those salmon eggs are likely to survive.

SOME POTENTIAL WAYS TO lessen the

An Anchor River gravel bar at low water, September 3, 2019. Long-term data shows warmer and warmer water temperatures in rivers and streams emptying into Cook Inlet.

(SUE MAUGER)

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effects of climate change and bolster Chinook salmon’s chances, Schoen said, are revegetating river banks and the areas bordering rivers and streams; identifying and preserving cold water habitat; culvert replacement to help mitigate the effect of heavy fall rains; and green infrastructure in urban salmon run areas like Mat-Su or the Kenai.

“The patterns we’re seeing in this changing climate help us understand that as land managers, as people living on these landscapes, we want to avoid having an impact that would exacerbate some of these changing conditions,” Mauger said. “For example, we want to make sure we are not constraining the rivers so that when we have fall floods, they’re worse. If summer rains are good because they allow fish to get into side channels, we need to be sure we keep those side channels. This is basically showing us our vulnerabilities and making sure we don’t have an

additive negative effect to some of these changing climate effects. And, of course, anything we can do related to keeping streams, particularly warmer streams, as cool as possible will help.”

Ocean conditions are still extremely important to what is happening to Chinook. A next step, Mauger said, will be to start to work with oceanographers, marine biologists and ocean scientists, and to quantify the interaction between climate-driven freshwater and marine habitat changes on Chinook populations.

“This paper is a great example of the value of long-term data sets,” Mauger said. “It’s a culmination of lots of people and lots of little efforts that can get us to a bigger understanding.” ASJ Editor’s notes: You can read the full paper for free at tinyurl.com/CookInletChinook.

Watch a three-minute video about the project at youtu.be/9xSISeNR1ro. Mary Catharine Martin is the communications director of SalmonState, a nonprofit initiative that works to ensure Alaska remains a place where wild salmon thrive. For more information, go to salmonstate.org.

“The patterns we’re seeing in this changing climate help us understand that as land managers, as people living on these landscapes, we want to avoid having an impact that would exacerbate some of these changing conditions,” says Cook Inletkeeper science and executive director Sue Mauger, here surveying the Russian River. (JOE YELVERTON)

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FISH AND FISHING ARE HIS LIFEBLOOD

Triston Chaney, a Yupik and Athabaskan fisherman from Dilingham, has been on salmon boats since he was 9 years old. It’s a family tradition he wants to uphold. (TRISTON CHANEY) 24

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A YUPIK FISHERMEN REFLECTS ON HOW BRISTOL BAY’S BOUNTY GIVES HIM PURPOSE

BY BJORN DIHLE

T

riston Chaney, a Yupik and Athabaskan resident of Dillingham, began fishing on his grandpa’s gillnetter in Bristol Bay when he was 9 years old.

Chaney was too young to be on the deck picking salmon from the net, so his grandpa had him count fish as they came aboard. The two have been fishing together every season since.

Chaney is now 21 years old, and commercial fishing is only one aspect of his relationship with salmon. His dad taught him how to fly fish when he was young, and he fell in love with the sport early in high school.

Before the commercial fishing season, Chaney and his family put out a beach set-net to gather food for the year to come. First, they target kings, then sockeye. Triston’s grandma splits the fish and the family helps hang them in the smokehouse.

“When the salmon are running, we can catch all we want pretty quickly.

We keep what we need and then share the rest with some of the old timers and people not as fortunate as us,” Chaney said over the phone when he was taking a break from mending nets and getting

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his grandpa’s boat ready for the 2020 sockeye season.

Sockeye salmon are commonly called “reds” due to the color their skin turns shortly before they spawn. The flesh of sockeye is also the reddest of all species of salmon, and its high oil content and delicious taste makes it many folks’ favorite fish to eat. More than that, though, sockeye are a living metaphor in telling of a connection to the people of Bristol Bay that goes back beyond memory.

Sometimes, when the sockeye spawn in the clear water of lakes, rivers and streams, they look like blood moving through veins made of water.

“Everything revolves around fish here,” Chaney said.

Chaney loves to catch Bristol Bay-area rainbows. His father taught him how to fly fish at a young age, and he really took to the sport in high school. (TRISTON CHANEY)

CHANEY IS TIED TO his family and the land in a way that is becoming more rare in our ever increasingly industrialized world. His first memories are of hunting “spruce chickens” – spruce grouse – with his grandpa. From his beginning he was harvesting wild food that he would share with family and others in his community.

During the fall and winter, he studies diesel/heavy duty mechanics at the University of Alaska Southeast. After he graduates, he plans to live in Bristol Bay year-round and do what he loves most: fish.

Chaney’s favorite fish to eat is king salmon, especially the smoked bellies, though sockeye comes in a close second.

His favorite fish overall is the grayling.

His favorite fish to catch is a rainbow trout while using a mouse fly.

“A rainbow will demolish a mouse fly,” Chaney said, reflecting on his love of fly fishing. “So much goes into fly fishing.

It’s all about the intricacies. The choices.

The cast. The fight is better on a fly rod.”

Last year, after the commercial sockeye season, Chaney began guiding visiting anglers for Bear Trail Lodge in King Salmon, a community on the east side of Bristol Bay, about 50 miles from Dillingham. King Salmon attracts multitudes of visitors who want to experience the region’s incredible fishing, bear viewing and hunting opportunities.

For many of his clients, Bristol Bay represents the fulfillment of the Alaskan 26

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Joining his brother on the family’s setnet boat, Chaney understands how critical the Bristol Bay ecosystem is to his family’s livelihood. “Everything revolves around fish here,” he says. (TRISTON CHANEY)

dream. Whether people want to watch brown bears or catch giant rainbows, it’s a special experience.

“There’s such a diversity of life here,” Chaney said, “It’s wild how many different species of fish you can catch in a day.”

CHANEY PLANS TO FURTHER his career guiding fly-fishing trips and to chase fish in his free time. For him, there’s no better place than his people’s homeland, and that’s a big reason he’s a vocal opponent to the Pebble Mine, a massive, openpit gold and copper mine, toxic waste dump and industrial complex proposed to be built near the headwaters of critical rivers draining into Bristol Bay. “We don’t like Pebble. We don’t want it. They couldn’t have picked a worse spot to dig a big hole. This could damage our whole lives. Life here revolves around fish and if that went away …,” Chaney said, his voice trailing off into silence.

He has been to Washington D.C. twice to lobby against Pebble. Both times were nerve-wracking experiences.

Chaney likened it to having to speak in 28

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front of a large group of people but ten times more intense, “because the people you’re trying to show how bad the mine could be to the region can actually make a difference. I met a lot of cool people and learned a ton. I’m glad I did it and would do it again in a heartbeat to protect Bristol Bay.”

ON JUNE 16, CHANEY and his grandpa launched their boat in the Nushagak River to be ready when the sockeye fishery opened. The boatyards were bustling, though Bristol Bay fishermen face even more uncertainties than normal.

Chaney is concerned with low water in lakes, rivers and streams coupled with the forecast for a hot summer. Last summer the region, and much of Alaska, experienced similarly unusual patterns, and there was a massive die-off of fish that were “cooked” by how warm the water became. Chaney and other fishermen noted the tide rips were full of unspawned dead salmon.

There’s also the COVID-19 pandemic.

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AUGUST 2020 | aksportingjournal.com

Bay’s $1.5 billion fishery, live and work in close quarters that make them more susceptible to contracting the virus.

And then there’s the Pebble Mine, which is on track to be permitted – against scientific findings and against the will of the majority of Alaskans – right in the middle of the commercial fishing season.

One thing’s for sure, though: Come rain, shine or whatever fate has in store, Chaney will be fishing. He hopes to guide fly fishermen for Bear Trail Lodge after the commercial season. But if that doesn’t work out, Chaney didn’t have to think long about his alternative plans.

“I think I’d like to go on some sort of long fishing trip,” he said. ASJ Editor’s note: Follow Tristan Chaney on Instagram at instagram.com/triston.chaney.

Pride of Bristol Bay is a free column written

by Bjorn Dihle and provided by its namesake, a fisherman direct seafood marketer that specializes in delivering the highest quality of sustainably caught wild salmon from Bristol Bay to your doorstep. For more information, visit prideofbristolbay.com.

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OUTDOOR CALENDAR*

Kodiak Island (Game Management Unit 8) caribou season opens Aug. 1, with mountain goat hunting opening Aug. 20 (BRIAN WATKINS)

Aug. 1

Deer season opens throughout Game Management Unit 1 (Southeast Mainland) Aug. 1 Deer season opens in GMU 2 (Prince of Wales Island) Aug. 1 Deer season opens in GMU 3 (Petersburg/ Wrangell) Aug. 1 Deer season opens in GMU 4 (Admiralty/ Chichagof/Baranof Island) Aug. 1 Mountain goat season opens in GMU 4 (Baranof Island) Aug. 1 Mountain goat season opens in GMU 5 (Yakutat) Aug. 1 Caribou season opens in GMU 8 (Kodiak) Aug. 7-Sept. 16 Valdez Silver Salmon Tagged Fish Contest; valdezfishderbies.com/tagged-fish-contest Aug. 8 Valdez Women’s Silver Salmon Derby; valdezfishderbies.com/womens-derby Aug. 10 Caribou season opens in GMU 7 (Seward) Aug. 10-18 Seward Silver Salmon Derby; salmon.seward.com Aug. 14-16 Golden North Salmon Derby, Juneau; goldennorthsalmonderby.com Aug. 15 Mountain goat season opens in GMU 1C (Revillagigedo Island South) Aug. 15 Mountain goat season opens in GMU 6A/6B (North Gulf Coast/Prince William Sound) Aug. 19-21 Ted Stevens Kenai River Classic; krsa.com/events/ ted-stevens-kenai-river-classic Aug. 20 Black bear season opens in GMU 6A/6B Aug. 20 Moose season opens in GMU 7 Aug. 20 Mountain goat season opens in GMU 8 Note: Check with local contacts before attending events that could be postponed/cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. aksportingjournal.com | AUGUST 2020

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SITUK STEELIE SECRETS

IT TOOK MULTIPLE YEARS OF FISHING THE YAKUTAT-AREA RIVER BEFORE AN ANGLER FINALLY UNDERSTOOD HOW TO FISH IT MOST EFFECTIVELY

BY TONY ENSALACO

W

Most springs over the last two decades have seen Chicago-area resident Tony Ensalaco leave his Great Lakes fishing home base to test the steelhead of the Situk River. He’s had some lows, but like this 2006 beauty, plenty of highs. (TONY ENSALACO)

hen the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced that the spring steelhead run in the Panhandle was almost finished, it officially ended my streak of annually venturing to the Last Frontier to chase sea-run trout over most years of the past two decades.

My obsession with the fishery started back in the late 1990s, when I first felt the urge to explore new challenges and realized a desire to expand my piscatorial horizons outside of the Midwest. But I couldn’t decide where.

At first, Alaska wasn’t initially on my radar, and it was looking like I was going to be heading to British Columbia – probably somewhere in the Skeena River system. The only thing that made me apprehensive was the rivers that drain into it are generally larger than the ones I was accustomed to fishing. My ultimate goal was to target West Coast steelhead in a small-stream environment, so I decided to keep my options open.

Then, one day while I was browsing through some old magazines, I stumbled across an article touting the Situk River.

I originally scoffed at the idea because I was under the impression that Alaskan steelhead don’t grow as large as their Pacific Northwest cousins; I could catch fish of that size around my backyard.

Truthfully, the only reason I even noticed the story was because there was a picture of a guy holding a dime-bright steelie in front of an aluminum drift boat. Since I had recently purchased one myself, the image sparked an interest and prompted me to investigate.

The more research I did, the more intrigued I became. From the intel I was able to gather, it sounded like the river was similar to some of my favorite Michigan stomping grounds – small, wadable and gentle flowing, with plenty of log jams for the steelhead to use as shelter. The only difference was there should be more fish.

Also, if I was going through the trouble of traveling across the country, I wanted to fish on my own terms and was adamant about using the same techniques that I practiced on the Great Lakes tribs.

Back then, I was beginning to learn

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The adventures began when Ensalaco and his buddy Ricky Dunnett (right) got their welcome-to-Alaska moment in 2000 with lots of hookups right out of the gate. But as true steelheaders will attest, the rest of the trip was an “emotional roller coaster.” (TONY ENSALACO)

how to pull plugs and yarn fishing was already my passion, so the Situk appeared to be right in my wheelhouse.

Done. Now, all I needed to do was persuade a victim to join me.

THE MAIDEN JOURNEY: 2000 I didn’t have to try very hard to convince my buddy Ricky Dunnett to accompany me. All I had to do was mention the words “wild steelhead” He was all in.

When I told him that the destination would be Alaska and the expedition involved two airplanes, his only concern was how much gear we could bring.

It took about 10 minutes of floating the river before Ricky and I knew that we had made the right decision. Neither one of us had ever witnessed the astounding numbers of steelhead the Situk attracted.

To put it mildly: fish were everywhere!

We finally stopped getting excited 34

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when we saw a school of steelies clustered together under the tag alders – groups of 10 to 25 fish stacked on an exposed flat.

The sightings went on all day. By the time we got off the river, we estimated that we must have passed at least 600 to 700 fish throughout the stretch, and those were the ones that were holding in plain sight. Heaven only knows how many fish were in the dark water.

Even the weather was perfect; it was dark, drizzly and dreary. When everything was said and done, we managed to land quite a few coloredup, fall-run holdovers, as well as an occasional bright fish.

We never got a chance to explore the bottom section of the river because we spent too much time fishing upstream.

In fact, we had to leave good fishing and row straight out to make sure we got off

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the water before dark.

Back at the lodge that evening, we discovered that many of the guests hadn’t done as well, so we decided to celebrate our good fortune by hanging out at the bar until last call and offer advice to whoever would listen.

After all, we didn’t have much trouble figuring out those Alaskan steelies on our first attempt, and the fishing should only get easier throughout our stay, right?

Day two was ugly – and not because of the hangover. To put it mildly, the fishing s-u-c-k-e-d! The light rain and thick cloud cover gave way to dry air and partly cloudy skies. Places that had produced the day before were now void of fish.

We tried every ruse in our repertoire and only managed to land a handful of small uneventful steelhead, which left us second-guessing ourselves. That evening, we decided to drown our sorrows by

hanging out at the bar until last call.

The next three days were an emotional roller coaster. When fishing looked like it was starting to pick up, the fish gods shut it down. Then, when we were about to lose hope, a chromer would come out of nowhere and waylay one of the lures, which would refocus our attention for a while.

What we couldn’t wrap our brains around was how there could be so many fish, but that most refused to cooperate.

The only consistent pattern that made sense that week was the time Ricky and I spent frequenting the lounge.

I wouldn’t say that I left Yakutat that year with my tail between my legs, but I definitely had more questions than answers. What I did know was that there was going to be a rematch someday!

A PEDESTRIAN EXPERIENCE: 2005 I finally returned to Yakutat after a fiveyear hiatus with the intention of settling a score. And in my corner were my father, Bob Ensalaco, and one of my longtime friends, Danny Kozlow, both first-timers to the area.

Nothing in Alaska is predictable, especially the weather. Consequently,

when I bought my dad the best raincoat that I could afford to protect him from the brutal Alaskan elements, I should have known that there wouldn’t be a drop of rain in the world’s largest temperate rainforest during our entire stay. Every day was sunny with temperatures in the 60s. I actually returned home from Alaska with a suntan. If I didn’t have my dad as a witness to my whereabouts, my wife would have accused me of going on a beach vacation.

Despite the bluebird skies, my crew still tussled with a fair amount of steelhead, even though we had to work for them. Hot shotting was basically a bust once the morning sun rose over the tree line and the shade on the stream’s surface disappeared. We had no choice but to resort to bank fish any dark water we could secure. Once we discovered a spot that held steelhead, we would bottom-bounce yarn flies until one was provoked into hitting.

Our strategy that week was to practice a strict policy of not leaving fish to find fish – even if they appeared stale.

We would park on a hole and grind it out in hopes that the steelhead would turn on. In retrospect, we probably spent too

In 2006, drift fishing proved to be the perfect technique for Ensalaco to “crush it” on the Situk River, a prime steelhead fishery. (TONY ENSALACO)

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much time trying to coax negative fish into biting.

I also didn’t realize how sensitive the Situk steelies are to the sunshine, and if I could do it all over I would have taken a completely different approach. The trip was fun, and the fishing was better than average for any other steelhead river on the planet. It just wasn’t the revenge I was looking for.

A GODSEND: 2006 Every adventure has its share of quirky anecdotes, including one that happened right from the jump this year. While I was schlepping my bags back to our temporary abode, I noticed a room that had enough equipment piled around the entrance to open a tackle store.

In the center of the mess was a man who was frantically rigging rods like he was about to float the river, even though there wouldn’t be enough time to make it off the water before dark.

I nonchalantly said, “Hey” in passing, but he must have interpreted the polite acknowledgement as, “Hey, let’s start a conversation.” He immediately dropped what he was doing and popped up to introduce himself and tell me that he was

Travel companions like dad Bob Ensalaco (above) and good friend Danny Kozlow have shared some of Ensalaco’s adventures on the Situk. (TONY ENSALACO)

an outdoors writer.

“Cool,” I thought to myself. “Right on!” I did ask him if he was planning to fish that evening and he said no; he was getting ready for an early start the next morning. Those were the only words I was able to get in.

During our brief, one-sided dialogue, he made it a point to inform me that he had fished the Situk before and always did really well. The man also reiterated twice that he did some outdoor writing.

Got it! When I was finally able to break away from the unsolicited monologue, I needed a cocktail.

As soon as we saw the river the next morning, our anticipation turned to concern. The stream was running high and super dirty, conditions that steelheaders definitely don’t want to see. So the question came up, “What do fishermen do when they’re 3,000 miles away from home and the conditions are less than ideal?”

Easy answer. They try to keep positive and fish hard, and that’s what we did. The first day didn’t produce huge numbers of steelhead, but we still managed to land a dozen fish, with three monsters over 17 pounds and the largest one pulling the scales down to the low 20-pound range. Needless to say, our confidence was restored.

After returning to the lodge that evening, I noticed our new neighbors’ room was empty. When I inquired about them with the lodge’s manager, he told me the group fished that morning and didn’t like the conditions, so they hightailed out of dodge on the evening jet. I guess some guys aren’t up for a challenge.

To make a great story short, we crushed them for the next four days!

By the second day, the river must have dropped 2 feet and the water’s clarity dramatically improved. Most guests didn’t stick around to see if the conditions would recover and they missed out. We

had the stream virtually to ourselves, catching fish in every spot we dared to cast. The fishing was so mind-blowing and off the charts fantastic, there was never a significant lull in the action.

Every trick and technique that we brought from home worked wonders on those native steelies. When we were pulling plugs, the wait time was only a couple of minutes before the next takedown. Every hole we stopped to drift fish rewarded us with multiple battles.

This went on from the start of the day until it was too dark to see.

Besides the staggering numbers of hookups, the average size was just as impressive. While plug fishing, we had several psychotic steelhead wax the lures so violently that they almost tore the rod holders off the gunwales.

To put things in perspective about how great the catching was, we didn’t even break out the camera if a fish was under 3 feet long. We were genuinely

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It was 2010 when “it all came together” on the river. “We were finding steelies in places that we had been overlooking for years,” says the author.

(TONY ENSALACO)

disappointed if any fish that we encountered was less than a 10-pounder.

Every steelheader who has persevered through the anguish of miserable weather and countless fishless hours deserves a trip like the one we were blessed with. That year taught me how fast the Situk can fall into shape and how a poor situation can quickly change for the better. You just have to be there when it occurs.

It was by far the best spring steelheading that any of us had ever experienced, and looking back, I wish it didn’t come so easily because it severely delayed the learning process.

A PRELUDE: 2007 That year was almost a facsimile to the previous one, including the roster. The only difference was the stream was running extremely low and clear on the first day, which contributed to another slow start. My party only hooked a few steelhead and ended up losing most of them during a grueling 12-hour shift.

We hardly saw any fish, leading us to believe that the run hadn’t started 38

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yet. Towards the end of the float, I was standing in front of the drift boat as we thankfully approached the takeout when I looked off to the side and saw a mass of ocean-bright steelhead holding on a gravel bar.

There must have been 50 to 75 chromers in the school. Of course, we pulled over and tried for them, but the fish weren’t interested in playing. Danny did salvage the evening by eventually beaching two smallish steelies in the 8to 10-pound range that were carrying sea lice. The pair of hens weren’t the most impactful fish ever landed, but they did bring hope for the next day.

On the way back to the lodge, it started to drizzle. We didn’t think much of it until the drizzle turned into a steady rain throughout the night.

The boat was launched the next morning under heavy grey skies and low expectations. The assumption was that there weren't a lot of fish in the system, yet we remained optimistic that the ones that were there might become active with the rise in the stream’s water level.

To our surprise, all of the spots

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that let us down the day before now had fish – lots of fish – and they were super aggressive. Our time was divided between running plugs and stopping to drift-fish some of the better runs, which resulted in coming in contact with too many steelhead to count. If there was a downside, it was that we were only able to haphazardly fish a fraction of the spots because of a time constraint.

The stretch is 14 miles long, so anglers who float the river are always up against the clock and drift fishing takes time to cover the water. I don’t appreciate feeling rushed, so I started thinking about more efficient ways to fish.

My dad was already ahead of me.

He decided to take a page out of the Great Lakes salmon angler’s playbook and started casting crankbaits as we transitioned downstream. I immediately thought that he was on to something, but the experiment was inconclusive because the action was sporadic at best and his catch rate wasn’t substantial enough to get anyone excited. My takeaway that year was to think about how we could fish more water in less time.

(A quick side note: Remember that outdoor writer who I met the previous year? Well, I ran into him at the airport on my way home while he was waiting for his bags at the luggage carousel.

When I approached him, I said with a fake sense of enthusiasm, “You’re ____ _____, right? I met you last year. You left early. Big mistake! We killed ’em!”

All I remember after that was the guy standing there speechless with a blank look on his face. In retrospect, I probably should have kept my mouth shut, because karma is a bitch. As I was about to find out.)

AN EPIPHANY: 2008 Truth be told: I was a hardcore, dyed-inthe-wool bottom-bouncer who craved the pulsating sensation of lead ticking and tapping along the gravel bottom being telegraphed through the mainline into my fingertips.

However, there have been numerous occasions back home when I would ditch the drift rod in favor of using a bobber and fresh salmon eggs. Since there is a scent ban on the Situk and using the junk would be a major no-no, I rarely had a

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“Competent anglers are always developing their craft because they expect every season to be different, and being prepared to adjust to the changes separates the best from the rest,” writes the author, who is eagerly awaiting his next opportunity at this crazy thing called steelhead fishing. (TONY ENSALACO)

need to carry a bobber rod with me in Alaska – until that year.

The rumor when Danny and I touched down in Yakutat was that the run had barely started. The trickles of steelhead that were in the stream were supposedly scattered throughout some of the deeper holes. Our plan of attack was to stop and bank fish any likely holding water that was available.

I would start at the top of the run, like any drift fisherman would do, and methodically work my way down to the tail-out. It was a tedious way of fishing, but that’s what I enjoyed. Danny, on the other hand, would position himself in the dead center of the run and cast a bobber and jig upstream as far as he could and follow it down to the tailout. It would only take about a half dozen casts for him to thoroughly cover a typical run.

Since he was fishing quicker than I was, Danny was able to pick off several of the active fish before I could get my offering in front of them. He was fighting the majority of the steelhead, while I was inadvertently appointed to being the designated net jockey. It was a three-day-long wake-up call that took an old-fashioned ass kicking 40

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for me to see the light.

By the end of the week, I scrapped the drift tackle and was exclusively running bobbers. My partner and I fished in perfect tandem, bopping from hole to hole and targeting the aggressive fish.

Places that used to take several minutes to cover using drift rigs now took only a few casts fishing with floats. My catch rate dramatically increased as well.

Even with all of the success we were having, there was still room for improvement. There was a tremendous amount of untouched water we would pass by, and it bothered me that we were probably missing out on several opportunities.

ALMOST THERE: 2009 This was a good year for big fish if you were able to land on certain holes.

Otherwise, you needed to do some searching. The Situk wasn’t loaded with steelhead the week we were there, so the obvious areas were getting pounded pretty hard by anglers who were familiar with the stream.

Danny and I were having difficulty finding decent water to fish, so that’s

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when we started to improvise by tossing a bobber and jig combo in front of the boat while we drifted downstream. I conceived the idea when I remembered my dad chucking hardware between holes and occasionally hitting an unexpected fish out of an unlikely spot.

Plus, I am always a firm believer of keeping a bait in the water. I would try to encourage Danny every season to sidedrift as much as possible.

The funny thing was, whenever Danny would attempt to side-drift, he would usually hit a steelie right away.

Unfortunately, when the bite would slow down, he would inevitably start to snag up. After about a half-dozen consecutive break-offs, he became tired of sacrificing his gear, which made him quit sidedrifting for the rest of the day.

I was usually on the sticks, so when I found an open section of river, I would do some casting from the rower’s seat.

For the small amount of time I was able to experiment, I received a fair number of takedowns, telling me that side-drifting was a viable option and should be added to the arsenal. I just had to convince Danny to start risking some tackle.

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EUREKA: 2010 I should be too embarrassed to share this, but this was the year that it finally felt like things came together – and it only took seven trips.

The usual suspects couldn’t make it, so I brought a guy with me who wasn’t the most knowledgeable steelheader to ever wear a set of waders, but he was still a tremendous asset. What he lacked in experience, he made up for by being a serviceable oarsman. This permitted me to take a much welcome break from my rowing duties, and it allowed me to spend a good portion of the day fishing from the bow of the boat.

Right from the start, I was having good luck side-drifting bobbers and jigs along the brush lines and pitching into the pocket water. Once I turned, hooked or landed a fish, we would make mental notes where that potential hot spot was, and we made it a point to return there the next day.

Sometime during the third day of the six-day trip I had a revelation. I told my partner that the next time we connected with a steelhead, “Let’s drop anchor and

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fish instead of waiting until tomorrow to come back.”

Shazam! That was the moment when I discovered something that every veteran Situk fisherman has been doing all along: find a fish and fish! What a novel concept that took me much too long to grasp.

In my defense … never mind; I don’t have anything other than I blew it all those years. This turned out to be the key piece of the puzzle! Prospect for steelhead while moving. Discover proof of life and investigate. When action ceases: move.

This rudimentary concept accounted for the most efficient and productive fishing that I had ever experienced.

We found steelies in places that we’d overlooked for years, and we were able to uncover several obscure pockets that would hold multiple unmolested steelhead – hidden gems that inexperienced anglers (apparently like myself) wouldn’t have given a second look.

The best action came from nondescript areas that I never dreamed of trying, and that wouldn’t have happened if we were stubborn and stuck to the original game plan of “only fish

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once we moved to the next spot” routine.

I finally left Yakutat feeling satisfied, rather than thinking about what I could have done differently. I’m not going to lie; it felt good.

Since then, I have been tinkering, tweaking and adding new tricks to my collection. Competent anglers are always developing their craft because they expect every season to be different, and being prepared to adjust to the changes separates the best from the rest.

One spring, the river might be blown out; the next year the steelhead will run a month early, as how trips of 2015 and 2016 went. Those are some of the many challenges that steelheaders unfortunately have to contend with.

Then, there are those extraordinary – but extremely rare – occurrences when the fish gods shine down and everything goes right, like the trip I had in 2017. That story would blow you away and I would love to share the gaudy details, but it would be too painful for me to relive while I’m forced to wait another year to get my Alaskan steelhead fix.

Maybe next year! ASJ

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FIELD

Here’s the author’s buddy Dave Stumpf getting it done on the Egegik River with a twitching jig.

Stumpf, like many anglers, has great success twitching jigs for coho. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

TWITCHING 301

ADVANCED JIG TACTICS FOR ALASKA COHO SHARED BY 2 GUIDES, EXPERT ANGLER

BY SCOTT HAUGEN

R

ecently, some buddies and I hammered the coho on spinners; then the bite stopped.

Coho are notorious for going off the bite when they get tired of seeing

the same presentation over and over.

So I tied on a twitching jig and the bite resumed. In five casts I landed five silvers and my buddies begged me for jigs to twitch.

On another trip my buddy Dave Stumpf and I did well twitching jigs for coho in multiple rivers throughout Southwest Alaska.

“I like using Get’m Dry jigs due to

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FIELD

Tiffany Haugen loves to collect fresh herbs from the garden to season salmon fillets and create a flavor rush. (TIFFANY HAUGEN)

GARDEN PARTY FISH FEED

BY TIFFANY HAUGEN

A

ugust in Alaska means fresh salmon and fresh herbs. Before you head to the grocery store, look in your garden – or your neighbor’s – for some recipe inspiration.

No one will argue that fresh salmon is not delicious on its own with just a dash of salt and pepper. But why not fancy it up a bit with some herbs fresh from the garden? This recipe works with just about any fresh herb combination that you can dream up.

Fresh tarragon, cilantro, lemon balm or even mint can change things up.

Sticking to two or three herbs will keep

the flavor profile simple, but there are no rules. Keep in mind that stronger herbs – rosemary, sage and thyme – can be a bit overpowering; that is why the fish in this recipe is cooked on top of the rosemary sprigs.

Whether on the grill (indirect heat), in a foil pouch, on an alder plank, or in the oven, this fish cooks quickly and the herbs retain their fresh flavor. The herb mixture can be prepared ahead of time, keep refrigerated until ready to use.

juice, parsley, basil, chives, and orange zest until thoroughly combined.

Place rosemary sprigs on grill, foil, prepared wood plank, or baking sheet, and then place salmon skin side down over rosemary sprigs. Cover each serving of salmon with a liberal amount of herb mixture. Cook salmon to desired doneness for 10 to 15 minutes or until it reaches an internal temperature of 135 degrees. Garnish with additional herbs if desired.

FRESH HERB SALMON

*Diced green olives or dill pickles can be substituted for the capers.

One fillet salmon 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 tablespoons chopped capers* 1 tablespoon orange juice 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley 1 tablespoon minced fresh basil 1 tablespoon minced fresh chives 1 teaspoon orange zest 3 sprigs fresh rosemary Preheat grill or oven to 350 degrees. Cut salmon to desired serving portions. For best results, leave skin on salmon. In a small bowl, mix olive oil, capers, orange

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Editor’s note: For signed copies of Tiffany Haugen’s popular cookbook, C o o k i n g Seafood, send a check for $20 (free S&H) to Haugen Enterprises, P.O. Box 275, Walterville, OR 97489, or visit tiffanyhaugen.com.

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FIELD their bullet heads and unique design,” shares Stumpf. “I’m also a big fan of BnR Tackle’s twitching jigs, as the rubber tentacles create a lot of movement in the water, and their colors really stand out. The purpose of twitching jigs is to cover as much of the water column as you can. Just cast it out there, start with a slow retrieve, then lift and quickly drop the rod tip, reeling the entire time.”

Stumpf is great at instantly dropping the rod tip while he continues to reel.

The quick-dropping action almost appears as if he’s throwing the rod tip down toward the water. This action allows the jig to sink fast, and that’s when most strikes come while twitching jigs on the fall.

During the lifting of the rod, a steady reeling action is made. When the rod quickly drops, the reeling continues. The purpose of the continual reeling is to pick up the slack and keep the jig off the bottom, for when the jig drops is when the bite usually comes and you don’t want loose line at any point.

“It’s a pretty basic technique, really,” says Stumpf, who guides anglers in Alaska during the summer and early fall.

“It’s always surprising to me to see so many good anglers come to Alaska who have never twitched jigs before. A lot of them are great fishermen, but I think they get in their groove of fishing certain ways back home, and when they come up here they see how effective twitching – along with several other techniques – can be.”

SWITCH TO THE TWITCH “Twitchin’ is a lot like fishing lures in that you’re covering a lot of water, distancewise, but the difference with the jig is you can cover more depths within the water column,” Stumpf says. “In other words, twitching jigs allows a lot of water to be covered from side to side, and up and down.”

Early in my twitchin’ days I used to 48

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Coho aren’t leader shy, so jigs can be tied directly to braided line if you’d like.

(SCOTT HAUGEN)

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FIELD

Author Scott Haugen with a limit of coho taken by twitching jigs in a Southeast Alaska river last fall. Twitching jigs allows you to cover a lot of water, both vertically and horizontally, efficiently, increasing success rates in many situations. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

let the jig fall to the bottom, then lift and reel, then let it fall again. I caught fish, but not as many as I do now by keeping the jig off the bottom and in constant motion. By keeping the jig off the bottom, it stays in the strike zone.

I’ve also learned to vary my retrieve and lift rates, based on certain factors and conditions. In clear water I’ll often speed it up, while in turbid water I’ll slow it down. I’ve also increased the size of jigs I’m using, which has made a big difference.

NEED FOR SPEED Early in the morning, when coho are fresh and aggressive, I like to make really fast retrieves, and the fish respond.

“A lot of times you can make several casts into a hole and reel in as fast as you can, not even twitching or trying to get a bite,” says Jared Cady, owner of Get’m Dry Fishing Company. “When doing this you just want to stir things up.”

Jared is also a fishing guide and spends a lot of time in Alaska targeting both coho and monster steelhead.

“This fast movement of the jig really gets fish fired up and aggressive,” he says. “Follow up those fast retrieves with some twitching, and fish often respond with reactive hits.”

Jared shared two pointers that really helped me prior to my last coho fishing trip.

“Try a lighter weight jig in order to keep it in the strike zone longer. This allows you to slow your retrieve rate and efficiently cover the entire column where fish are holding. Also, when twitching, don’t use your whole arm to lift and drop the rod. Instead, make about a 6-inch twitch with your wrist, as this will keep the jig moving within the strike zone the entire time.”

WORK ON YOUR SWING Another tip Jared offered was to swing twitching jigs through tailouts, just as 50

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you would a fly. I tried it and it worked – several times. What amazed me most about this approach was how fast the jig would be moving in heavy water, and how fish still attacked it.

Often coho and steelhead follow the jig out of the fast current, hitting it once it reaches less taxing water. Sometimes they’ll follow the jig right into the shallows – a couple feet from your rod tip – before hammering it.

For reference, when it comes to twitching rods the last two seasons I’ve been fishing a G.Loomis Escape GLX Series three-piece spinning rod, which I’m loving. This 7-foot rod has a fast action, a medium power, a lure weight rating of ¼- to 5/8-ounce, and a line weight off 10 to 17 pounds.

Not only is this a great travel twitching rod, it’s ideal for running spinners, drifting beads, casting plugs, rolling bait and working a bobber and jig setup.

Spooled on to my Shimano Stradic

AUGUST 2020 | aksportingjournal.com

spinning reel is 50-pound Maxcuatro in high-vis yellow. This bright line makes casting and keeping track of your presentation easy, especially in poor lighting conditions. A uni knot joins the braid to 15-pound P-Line CXX Xtra Strong leader for coho.

SLOW AND STEADY As the coho season progresses, water temperatures cool and the fish prepare for spawning, so I’ll slow my retrieves.

Catching silvers in August with a fast presentation is the norm, but slower is more productive in October.

If you’ve not tried twitching jigs, give it a shot; you’ll be glad you did. ASJ Editor's note: To learn more about fishing with the author, visit scotthaugen.com where you can also order signed copies of his many popular fishing books and cookbooks. Follow Scott on Instagram and Facebook.

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51

A 75TH BIRTHDAY BULL THREE GENERATIONS AND FRIENDS HUNT MOOSE ALONG ALASKA’S YUKON RIVER

BY DAVE GROVER

I

n early February 2019 I had committed to a hunt that would occur close to my 75th birthday.

I knew that if I didn’t go, I would most likely not have the opportunity again.

That being said, I spent the next eight months trying to back out and sell my spot, but family and friends would not accept or cooperate with my efforts.

They stayed on me and I’m grateful they did, but at the time I was thinking, “What

in the hell am I doing, going on a moose hunt at age 75?”

My knees are not what they used to be and I knew I had a challenge ahead of me trying to survive a two-week moose hunt in Alaska!

I HAD ONLY BEEN moose hunting once before, back in 2004 with my son Rick Grover. We did a do-it-yourself float trip down the Koktuli River into the Mulchat-

na River, which is a 110-mile drift as the crow flies. We had a combination moose or caribou tag.

When being dropped off in the middle of nowhere and watching your lifeline fly away, you get a knot in your stomach and that’s when it all sinks in; it’s just you and the vast Alaskan wilderness!

That year the river was low. After dragging rafts for three days down a trickle of a river, we finally got into flowWhen he was about to turn 75 years old, Dave Grover got a chance to harvest his first bull moose on a Yukon River hunting adventure with friends and family. (DAVE GROVER)

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Three generations of Grovers – Rowdy, Dave and Rick – show off the rewards of a grueling two-week Alaska hunt. Rick founded Raptorazor and invented the Big Game Skinner, and his unique field-dressing knives came in handy on this hunt. (DAVE GROVER)

ing water. I remembered how tough the hunt was and the dangers involved, but there is something primal in all of us that pulls us back again and again, no matter the dangers. I have never felt more alive than when in the Alaskan wilderness.

My son then called in a smoker bull on the sixth day. At less than 15 yards away Rick fired his .300 Short Mag. and hit the bull in the front shoulder. The moose turned and faced him in the thick brush while shaking its head and moaning. Rick thought he had a clean kill so he did not take a follow-up shot. Big mistake!

After 10 minutes of watching, the moose finally went down. His partner that morning kneeled down and pulled out his camera and knife. As the two of us highfived with excitement, to our amazement the moose rose to his feet and lit out like a scalded cat.

Rick was unable to get another shot 54

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off and knew he had screwed up. After spending two days of searching with no sign of the moose, we had no choice but to move on.

As heartbreaking as it was, we each learned just how tough a bull moose is to take down. The key lessons learned that day were: Don’t stop shooting until the moose is down; put them down and keep them down; even once down, never take your eyes away from that location until you know it’s dead; only then should you attempt to approach the animal.

Rick had to wait another 13 years – in 2017 – before getting the chance to redeem himself. He took a young bull in the same location as where our pending hunt would take place. It was the first year that Alaska allowed out-of-state hunters to take any bull moose. Normally the legal requirement for a bull is a mini-

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mum 50-inch rack or four brow tines.

The time had finally come for me and I was off to Alaska for the hunt.

I MET UP WITH Rick, now 52 and the founder of Raptorazor (raptorazor.com) and inventor of the Big Game Skinner, a revolutionary type of field-dressing knife. With us was my 18-year-old grandson Rowdy, longtime friend and coworker Allen Conrad, 55, and Rick’s good friend Porter Turnbull, a 65-year-old chiropractor. They would all be coming in from Hawaii.

I have to admit that my son had done most of the legwork in setting up the hunt and I was along for the ride. And what a ride it was!

From Anchorage we flew Ravn Air, including one change of planes. Our outfitter was waiting to pick us up and before long we were off to the races.

We arrived in the late afternoon and

All the guys managed to harvest a bull and fill their tags. (DAVE GROVER)

still had to load all the gear onto boats and travel 50 miles down the Yukon River and set up camp before dark. The weather was good, so at least we had that going for us. Our camp was 15 miles from our unit.

That first night was filled with the normal jetlag and preparing our gear for the hunt the following day. One variable about hunting in Alaska in September is you have plenty of time in the morning waiting for the sun to rise. After topping off the boats with fuel and loading gear before sunrise, we were on our way. Since there were five of us we were forced to split up in the two boats. Porter and Rowdy took the smaller boat, and Rick, Allen and I rode in the larger vessel.

Our first day of hunting proved more difficult than I had imagined, and upon exiting the boat in the thick mud I quickly ended up face-first in it. Porter had a close call also, ending up chest-deep in mud. It took Rowdy over 15 minutes to 56

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free Porter. We learned to be aware of the soft spots. They usually exist at new sandbars – the river is constantly shifting in its bed – and in the winter the Yukon can freeze over with 4 feet of ice.

During the spring thaw, tons of new sand is swept downstream to create new waterways and sand bars. After getting our boats stuck in the mud a few times, we soon learned to stay in deep flowing water.

Covering 10 to 15 miles a day in thick brush was out of the question for me on this hunt. I would have to rely on my patience – something I’m notoriously in short supply of – and a little luck. This time of year the big bulls come down out of the mountains and gather up as many cows as they can handle.

The cows usually come into heat the second or third week of September. But with warming climates, the rut can be pushed back by several weeks. We had seen the same pattern with elk for the

AUGUST 2020 | aksportingjournal.com

past two decades.

The bulls come out onto the banks of the river in the early mornings and late afternoons to drink and look for other moose. Tracks in and out of the timber are a sure sign that moose are in the area. They are usually no more than a hundred yards back from the riverbank into the bush.

If you choose to hunt further back than that, you’re going to pay for it on the pack out, considering a typical bull moose can reach 1,500 pounds and stand 10 to 12 feet tall. They are magnificent creatures and we all wanted the chance to harvest one.

AL CONRAD WAS THE first to fill his tag, He took a nice 50-inch bull about 80 yards from the shore late in the afternoon on our third day. He and my son made quick work of the harvest with Rick’s Big Game Skinner and MANO knives. They had it packed out within the hour. I had been

glassing a meadow most of the afternoon and had only spotted a cow and calf from a distance.

After getting back to camp in the rain just before darkness set in, we still had to hang the meat. We had worked on a few meat poles days earlier, so with the help of everyone there, we were able to quickly hang and cover the meat before complete darkness fell on us. After dinner and a victory toast, we were quick to turn in from the long day.

Rowdy was next to get his bull. My grandson was determined to take his with a bow and by god he did! He was able to get within 25 yards of a bull bedded down and put an arrow right where it counted as it stood up. He pulled back on his Prime Centergy bow, released the arrow with a fixed broadhead from Tooth of the Arrow, and it proved to be a perfect shot. The bull ran less than 30 yards before collapsing to the ground. It was a huge bull, with four brow tines and a rack

measuring 60 inches wide.

We had stopped by Rowdy and Porter’s boat in the early afternoon and noticed that they had come back for the meat packs and dropped off the bow with one arrow missing. So we figured that they had been successful. We were unable to reach them on the radio or satellite phone and we continued on our hunt.

Late afternoon approached and we decided to head back and see if we could make contact with Rowdy and Porter. As the sun was setting, we made our way to the bank where they had docked; still no sign of anyone.

Rick and Al climbed the steep bank with guns in hand ready for the unknown.

Bears are always on the back of your mind in Alaska and they have been conditioned over the years to listen for a shot or pick up the scent of a kill and immediately move in, knowing they have an easy meal. We hoped this wasn’t the case this time. With daylight dwindling they called

out to Rowdy and Porter. Rowdy immediately answered. He was less than 15 yards away packing out a whole hindquarter.

“Where’s Porter?” I asked.

“He’s coming right behind me.”

“How far back?”

“I’m not sure,” Rowdy replied.

“Is he also packing meat?” I said.

“Yes.” We asked how far out he got his bull.

His answer was about a mile and a half.

Now, Porter is a seasoned hunter and outdoorsman and knows better than to split up in thick timber packing meat out.

But unable to keep up with the stamina of an 18-year-old, he had told Rowdy to keep going and not to worry.

We all became increasingly concerned as time went by with no sign of Porter. There was no return of our call, even after traveling several hundred yards into the thick timber.

Al was packing his rifle and we quickly fired off two rounds. Seconds later a shot

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GEAR CHECK

Raptorazor Knives’ Big Game Skinner Details: youtube.com/ watch?v=nAiKqRTek7I youtube.com/ watch?v=nAiKqRTek7I&t=3s and www.youtube.com/ watch?v=nAiKqRTek7I&t=3s”t=3s Raptorazor Scrambler (a must-have for taking back European mounts.

Removes brain matter in a matter of seconds with a cordless drill) Details: youtube.com/watch?v=kcga-aOlLaY Badlands packs and rain gear (good rain gear is a must in Alaska) Two satellite phones Four hunters used rifles: a combination of .300 Win. Mags. and 7mms One hunter used a bow: Prime Centergy with Tooth of the Arrow broadheads Sidearms: .500 Smith & Wesson, .45 ACP Water purifier Bear spray Caribou game bags (the best bags on the market) 500 feet of paracord First aid kit Duct tape Tarps to cover the meat (it’s very important to keep the meat dry to avoid spoiling) ASJ came back – maybe 500 yards away. We all breathed a sigh of relief.

By the time Porter finally made his way out it was pitch black and he did not have his pack with him. He had made the decision to turn back to a marked GPS location that they had been at earlier in the day and drop off the pack. That way he could make it out more easily.

The big problem was that Rowdy and Porter had switched packs so Rowdy could pack out the heavier load. Porter had Rowdy’s pack with all his gear in it and it was now three-quarters of a mile back in the woods with fresh meat in it – in pitch black darkness in Alaska. Not a good scenario. With the help of Rowdy’s onX map and lights we were able to retrieve the pack about 45 minutes later.

But now we faced another obstacle: We were still miles away from camp on 58

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the opposite side of the Yukon River in total blackness and the wind picking up.

The only land we could make out was a mountain ridge directly across from us.

We motored straight across the mile-wide Yukon and hugged the shoreline until we came to our camp a little after midnight.

Rowdy and Porter had packed out only a portion of the meat. We figured the next day would be a long one and indeed it proved to be as long as they get. We were unable to traverse the thick brush and steep terrain. With my knees acting up I was left at camp. I spent the day looking after the meat and splitting firewood.

I figured the guys would be back sometime in the early afternoon. But as the day wore on there was still no sign of them. Finally, as the sun made its way behind the mountains, I heard the roar of a motorboat. One, then two boats came into view; the guys had done it!

It had taken them six trips to pack all the meat and antlers out. Just as Rowdy had said, he was a mile and a half in on the far side of a large meadow with some ponds. It turned out to be quite the workout. But their work wasn’t over yet.

They still had to pack the quarters up the steep bank, then make more game poles and hang the meat. Again, we worked into the night as a storm front moved in and the wind started picking up.

Concerned with the weather condition on the river, we spaced the boats out and loosened the lines so they would not get swamped. You don’t want to make the mistake of tying the boat down too tightly to the bank; otherwise the waves will come over the back and swamp them. We took turns that night checking on the boats every hour. At times we had 6-foot rollers coming backwards up the river. The Yukon is no joke and has to be treated with great respect.

The guys were exhausted the next morning, but I was eager to get out and hunt. After only a few hours of sleep, we all headed back out. The winds had died down and it was looking like a clear day.

As we made our way down to our hunting unit we spotted a nice bull, which was standing on the bank at the border of the two zones. After confirming he was indeed in the right unit, we turned the boat off and drifted downstream a few hundred yards off shore.

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I pulled up my rifle and spotted the bull in my scope, but I could not steady myself in the boat with three people. To my great frustration the bull turned and walked away. One thing was for sure: I needed to quickly figure out the best way to get off a reasonable shot from a moving boat. It is legal to take a shot from a boat in Alaska as long as the motor is off and the boat is drifting.

Still I asked myself, “Had this been my only chance?”

THE NEXT FEW DAYS brought more of the same. We covered 50 to 80 miles on the river and checked out the same location where we had seen moose previously. It wasn’t until the ninth day that my luck changed.

Rick had decided to hunt with Rowdy and Porter in the afternoon. Al and I started drifting down the south side of the Yukon. It wasn’t 45 minutes later that a large bull stepped out into the open. He was 800 yards away, but he was heading in our direction and the current was moving us in his direction.

I got set up as best I could on the bow of the boat, kneeling down and using a life vest as a rest. With Al calling out the yardage – “700, 600, 500” – I wondered if my luck would hold and I decided to take my shot at 400 yards. Al called out again, “475 yards, 425 yards.”

I knew I was close. I pulled up my rifle and put my crosshairs just above his front shoulder. The wind was light and we had little to no chop on the water. I couldn’t ask for better conditions.

At this point I knew he was big but I focused on keeping my crosshairs at the top of his front shoulder. Al confirmed, “400 yards.”

I took a breath, held it and squeezed off a round. It was a hit but a little further back than I wanted. I opened the action and loaded another round. My second shot was rushed and I missed completely with the motion of the boat throwing me off.

The next round I loaded very gently so as to not rock the boat. As I pulled up for the third shot, the bull was moving back to the cover of the timber. I could see he was hurt, but I was not sure where my first shot actually connected. I took my time and squeezed off another round into the bull, but he kept going.

He appeared to pick up steam. I knew I had only one more chance before he was back in the cover of the timber, so I had to make it count. Again, I discharged the spent round and loaded a new one while trying not to rock the boat.

I set up for my final shot and probably my last chance of ever getting a bull moose.

The adrenaline was racing through my veins and I could feel my heart beating.

But I trained my entire focus on putting a bullet right in the sweet spot.

With one last crack from my rifle, the bullet flew straight to its intended destination and the bull fell to the ground. I had done it! I had shot my first bull moose at 75 years old.

Empty shotgun shells cover the tine tips of bull moose racks for the flights home.

(DAVE GROVER)

PORTER WAS THE NEXT to get his bull on day 10. Porter’s bull was second in size only to Rowdy’s monster. Rick took his bull on day 11. Rowdy was telling him not to shoot – because they could find a bigger bull – but at 30 yards from the boat my son did not hesitate to pull the trigger. The only downfall was that it dropped in a beaver pond and took twice as long to break down.

Over 11 days we had five nice bulls.

So now what? The work had really begun! We had close to 3,000 pounds of meat to break down. It’s a good thing we all had our Raptorazor knives!

We broke down all five bull moose much faster and easier than I had imagined. It really sunk in at that moment what an amazing field-dressing tool my son had invented. In the hands of those who know how to use them, Raptorazor knives are unbeatable.

NOW WE HAD TO get back home. Our meat was transported in 18-gallon rubber totes that cost us $5 to $10 each. I recommend getting a higher-quality tote, as they have to hold up to 100 pounds of meat and withstand handling six or more times.

An average moose will give you 500 pounds of meat, so be prepared to get at least six totes per moose. Meat was deboned and put into heavy-duty trash bags. Lids were attached to totes with zip-ties. We left Alaska with 2,600 pounds of boned-out meat and a total of 46 check-in bags. The hunt cost us under $17 a pound for the meat we

TRANSPORTING TROPHY HEADS Alaska Airlines prefers to take your heads unboxed and unwrapped. They only require that the tips on the horns be covered.

A great inexpensive solution is to use empty 12-gauge shotgun shells and a little duct tape. The skull must also be wrapped in a heavy trash bag and duct-taped.

The maximum size of horns they will accept are 72 inches wide. Always check with your airlines ahead of time since policies can change. DG aksportingjournal.com | AUGUST 2020

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brought back. Not bad!

(Note: You cannot debone meat in the field. Alaskan regulations state that you must bring out the four quarters bone-in. They can only be deboned once you’re out of the bush, so never debone in camp. It’s a big no-no and is likely to get you fined. It is also an Alaska regulation to keep proof-of-sex with hindquarters.)

With a 14-plus-day hunt in Alaska it is best not to book your return flight out of the bush – or back home for that matter.

You will most likely end up eating your ticket or paying more money to change the dates. This time of year tourism has slowed down and booking a return flight is not difficult.

Weather always plays a big role in getting in and out of the bush. We chartered a cargo plane to get us back to Anchorage. This does not come cheap.

Back in Anchorage, our dilemma was, what do we do with 2,600 pounds of meat, five moose racks and 15 pieces of luggage for 24 hours or more? At this point we had handled the meat 10 times in and out of boats – to and from camp – on and off planes.

The last thing we wanted to do at this point was to have to move it any more than necessary. The other dilemma is that cold storage for one day was running $250 to $300 per moose.

So we improvised and took an Uber to the nearest U-Haul dealer and rented a box truck. On the way back, we picked up 150 pounds of dry ice (total cost was just $265 instead of $1,500). The best part is that we were able to drive straight to the hotel and back to the airport without having to handle the gear two more times. Have you ever tried loading up 500 pounds of moose meat in an Uber? We had arranged the gear so we could easily get to the bags that had the air tickets and other documents needed to travel.

It took two trips to get five guys, five moose heads, 2,600 pounds of meat and 15 bags of gear out of the backcountry and back to Anchorage. Although it may sound expensive, spread out between five hunters it was not as bad as one would think. Anyway, it beats the alternative of being stuck. You have to take advantage of any clear day to fly. We had

only been delayed one day due to weather on this trip.

AT 75 YEARS OLD, this was my second time hunting moose. I had never seen a bull up close. I have always been drawn to the outdoors and tried – from an early age – to escape to it as much as I could. All of my hunting experience has been with mule deer, elk and Hawaiian axis deer.

Nothing prepared me for the size and work involved in harvesting a bull moose. With hindquarters weighing over 200 pounds you need to have a plan. I am very thankful that I was surrounded by men younger and more experienced than I was.

In the end it doesn’t matter if you’re successful or not. It’s the time spent with family and friends that is priceless! We will see what adventure my son has in store for me next year. I hope you can use the tips I shared and lessons I learned to plan and execute your next successful outdoor adventure.

A special thanks to my hunting partners Rick, Rowdy, Allen and Porter. I could not have done it without you. ASJ

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BIG GAME ABOUNDS IN GMU 24

GMU PrOFILE

Caribou are abundant in Game Management Unit 24, which lies on the southern flanks of the central Brooks Range. It’s part of the range of three herds – Western Arctic, Teshakpuk and Central – and they all make an appearance at one time or another here in this bull hunting haven. (PAUL D. ATKINS)

Editor’s note: From the Alaska Panhandle to the “top of the world” in Barrow/Utqiagvik, Alaska contains 26 game management units that feature land for hunting and other outdoor activities. Our Arctic adventurer Paul Atkins is breaking down some of the units he’s hunted in the past in this ongoing feature. This issue: GMU 24

BY PAUL D. ATKINS

I

guess if I didn’t live and hunt in my beloved Game Management Unit 23, then Unit 24, which lies to the east, would be my second choice for hunting and fishing up here in the North Country.

The unit is actually considered by many as the ideal hunting grounds in all of Alaska.

Unit 24 isn’t as big as the other northern units, but even with its smaller size, it still holds some of the best hunting in the state. The famous Koyukuk River runs through parts of the unit, which is well known for big moose and bear.

Most of Unit 24 is above the Arctic

Circle and contains towns such as Coldfoot, Hughes and famous Anaktuvuk Pass, which literally means “the place of caribou droppings.”

My good friend and outdoor writer Scott Haugen lived there for several years, and from what he told me and from the photos I saw, it’s an incredible place.

THE DALTON HIGHWAY CORRIDOR runs through the east side of the unit and is very popular with hunters who want to try their luck at moose, if they’re lucky enough to draw a tag. The area has a

bowhunting-only zone that has become a destination for hunters down south.

To get there you must venture up the “haul road,” the Dalton Highway, which can be accessed via Anchorage, but it takes time. Many avid Alaska hunters consider the trip a must-do that everyone needs to experience at least once. But if you do, you have to follow the rules and make sure you are prepared for the long journey.

Like other units in the state, GMU 24 is broken down into subareas. From east to west, those are 24A, -B, -C and

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You can hunt Dall sheep on a harvest ticket in GMU 24, a rarity. Indeed, many hunters head north hoping for a chance at one of the most coveted animals in Alaska – or the world, for that matter. (PAUL D. ATKINS)

-D. Each has its own rules for hunting, drawing tags and species requirements.

As I mentioned, moose are very popular in the unit, but so are caribou, which, like Unit 23, have a pretty liberal harvest limit for residents. Black bear along with grizzly can also be taken and residents can harvest two per year, which is also similar to Unit 23.

Something that is not like 23 is that

KEY OPENERS Aug. 1: Most Dall sheep seasons Aug. 1: Wolf season Aug. 1: Wolverine season Aug. 10: Brown bear season Aug. 10: Caribou season Sept. 1: Most resident moose seasons Sept. 5: Most nonresident moose seasons Year-round: Black bear season

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On the far northern edge of the unit is the town of Anaktuvuk Pass, the name of which means “the place of caribou droppings.” It’s one of the last great hunting/ subsistence villages in the Arctic. (PAUL D. ATKINS)

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Moose may be the most prized attraction here. Author Paul Atkins, who hails from just to the west, calls this unit one of the best-kept secrets, as many don’t realize the quantity and quality of its big game. (PAUL D. ATKINS)

there is a sheep season still in place.

Most resident hunts are on a harvest tag, which are easy to get, but getting to some of the places where sheep can be found may be a different story. Nonresidents can hunt there as well, but you still need a guide for sheep as well as grizzly.

GMU 24 MIGHT BE the best-kept secret to some; to others it is a hunting mecca. The area contains some of the most beautiful country during the summer and fall, but it can also be some of the harshest and deadliest in the winter. Do your research, plus check out the Alaska Department of Fish and Game website for details and make your plans today. ASJ

Most of Unit 24 is above the Arctic Circle and its eastern side has a bowhunting-only zone that parallels the Dalton Highway. (ALASKA DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME) 66

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Editor’s note: For a detailed map, season dates and access regulations specific to Game Managment Unit 24, go to adfg.alaska .gov and look under the Hunting tab. Follow Paul Atkins on Twitter @AKTrophyHunter.

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A WORLD AWAY

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SAFARIS IN AFRICA COME FULL CIRCLE FOR ONE ALASKA HUNTER

BY PAUL D. ATKINS

I

had barely sat down in the blind when the red hartebeest appeared out of nowhere. My wife Susie, who was perched in front of me and on her first safari, was in awe, especially at how quickly things were happening.

With my bow hanging nearby on its peg and my arrows snug in their quiver, I just stood there like a zombie watching an animal that had become a personal nemesis on three previous safaris. The hartebeest was working its way to water and as my PH opened the blind’s shooting window, I somehow came out of my trance and started getting ready.

Welcome to an African hunt.

LIKE ALASKA, I LOVE hunting Africa as well.

As a kid, author Paul Atkins dreamed of going on hunting safaris in Africa. And now that he’s experienced several, the memories never get old. “The white face markings, black body and long corrugated horns make the sable a true hunter’s dream,” he says. (PAUL D. ATKINS)

Ever since my first safari back in 2003, I have been so mesmerized by this faraway continent and what it delivers in terms of fun and adventure. There is really nothing like it. From the cool morning rides to the blind to the hot afternoons on foot looking for a particular beast, all are part of a greater experience.

I feel sorry for those who’ve never been to Africa or experienced the incredible wildlife and scenery it has to offer. The culture, too, is amazing, especially if you get a chance to experience something beyond the hunting camp. The people are kind, generous, excited to see you, and always willing to “show and tell” when you get there.

When I was a kid, I always dreamed of going to Africa, but figured that I could never afford it. Years passed, and while most childhood dreams die, this one did not. I read every book, flipped through every magazine and watched every video I could get my hands on about African hunting. I practically wore them out while I hoped someday to make getting there a reality.

Time is a funny thing, but years later, with college done, a family started and other pursuits on my plate, I landed a job that allowed me to save a little money and start an Africa hunting fund.

It took a few years, but finally I had enough to go. So in 2003, after some careful planning and searching, I booked with Dries Visser Safaris (driesvissersafaris.com) to hunt plains game with a good friend of mine.

I had wanted to hunt buffalo, but they were expensive in those days and on my budget, it just wasn’t possible. Still, I spent 10 incredible days in South Africa, with each day better than the previous one. It was wonderful, beginning with a predawn breakfast, then loading up in the Toyota for the drive to the blind; it was simply mesmerizing. I was extremely lucky on that first safari; I took seven animals, including a 56-inch kudu and a 26-inch impala, and even though I couldn’t shoot one, I did get to see and film a lot of big buffalo on that trip.

LIKE ALL GOOD THINGS, the experience never lasts long enough. Africa is like that; once you get home, you want to turn around and go back again. Six years later I returned to Dries on my second trip to Africa, but this time on my own. My wife didn’t like it much, and all my hunting friends were busy and just couldn’t go.

Nevertheless I still went, knowing a little more about what to do and what not to do when I got there. This trip included those species that I’d seen the first time I was there but had not taken.

But again, buffalo were not on the menu.

It was another awesome 10 days.

Memories from my first hunt mingled with the new, creating a mystical magic that few hunts can fulfill. Each day was something different – from spot and stalk for waterbuck to climbing a tree and hunting black wildebeest, it was neverending fun!

I took eight animals in those 10 days and saw hundreds more, including the animal that I wanted more than ever – but still couldn’t hunt – the buffalo.

HUNTING, WHETHER IT’S IN Alaska or Africa, takes time and money, which

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The flora and fauna are very different, but Alaskan and African hunting is alike in some ways too, Atkins has found. “Being prepared long before I left was the key to my success,” he says, adding, “Shooting a caribou versus shooting a sable was very similar.” (PAUL D. ATKINS)

can be tough to come by these days, but compared to some of the current prices here in North America, it’s still a pretty good deal.

So, after returning in 2009, I decided to cut back on travel and save for another trip across the Atlantic. It took time and many sacrifices, but I knew that in the meanwhile I could have my fill here in the Arctic hunting moose, caribou and bears.

I know that I’m lucky to have that luxury, and many would consider that enough, but the dream of bowhunting mbogo, or Cape buffalo, still haunted me.

Eventually I bit the bullet and decided it was now or never. I began making preparations for third trip to Africa. I had done my research and with buffalo prices on the decline, I knew this was the time to go. More importantly, I had the resources and a friend who wanted to go with me.

Our plane ride over was smooth and the three-hour ride to camp, even though it was in the dark, went by quickly. Our PH, or professional hunter, met us at camp, where dinner was waiting for us. One thing is true about safari: The food and drink are

Atkins’ latest trip was a family affair that included his wife Susie and their son Eli and nephew Tyler. “They evolved before my eyes,” he writes of the boys, “taking on the challenge and had an incredible time while doing so. Their PH made all the difference and I can’t thank him enough.”

(PAUL D. ATKINS)

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The Limpopo province in northeastern South Africa is dry and dusty during the winter hunting season. Many may see it as a brown, bland landscape that could catch fire in an instant. But Atkins loves the thick brush and thorn, which combined with well-worn roads, makes it unique, especially when searching for big game. (PAUL D. ATKINS)

Even though it’s not a group of willows or a snowbank in Alaska, you need to conceal yourself from watchful eyes. A blind in the African bush provides a place to watch and shoot from. (PAUL D. ATKINS)

A warthog is a great first animal to hunt in Africa, especially for 16-year-old Eli, who was a bit nervous to start with. Eli made a great shot, which helped build his confidence for the remainder of the safari. (PAUL D. ATKINS) aksportingjournal.com | AUGUST 2020

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always good and plentiful. After dinner we discussed the next day’s events, and even though I had a bad case of jet lag, I fell asleep easily.

The next morning was what I was waiting for – a feeling that only an African bowhunting safari can produce.

The early-morning walk to the truck and then the drive, where you know you’ll get to see some of the most magnificent animals the world has to offer; it’s pure excitement!

It’s also winter in Africa, a time when cool temperatures combined with long sleeves and jackets give the feel of fall in North America, which makes it even more enjoyable.

We had eight days to hunt and on the third day, I made the most expensive and critical shot of my hunting life.

It was dead on. When I finally got to my bull, it felt more like a dream than anything else. He was everything I could have hoped for – a big Cape buffalo bull measuring 41 inches between the tips and with a hard boss. He was everything I had dreamed about.

The rest of our days were filled with excitement and more hunting. I was able to take two huge porcupines, and even though I wanted a red hartebeest, he eluded us. Still, I was able to arrow another impala and a decent waterbuck too – icing on the cake, which Africa is always gracious with.

LIKE THE ARCTIC TUNDRA, the African bush gets in your blood too. After three trips I thought I’d had my fill for a while, but I hadn’t, as I’d come to find out. At the SCI convention last year, I visited again with Dries Visser, whose place is located in the northern part of the Limpopo province in South Africa.

Dries suggested that I venture over again and hunt some plains game, but this time that I bring my 16-year-old son Eli. I suggested this to my wife and she said yes, but she informed me that she would be coming too. I had asked Susie before, but it was always no. Reasons varied from family obligations to the fact that she doesn’t hunt. And most of all, she cited the long flight. But when I told

her Eli would be going, plus my nephew Tyler, Susie wasn’t about to stay home.

As I sat in the middle of the plane, the flight over was long but comfortable, as only a 16-hour flight can be. We landed in Johannesburg that night and stayed over, arriving in camp the next day. Tired but excited, I watched as my family took in all the wonders that first-timers to Africa experience. It was incredible to watch, and I could tell from the instant we arrived that they too were in awe.

Dries’ place is amazing, to say the least. Well known for conducting the ultimate in bowhunting safaris, Dries’ incredible staff and immaculate facilities are second to none when it comes to meeting a hunter’s needs.

And Dries Visser Safaris’ stringent game management plan produces some of the best trophy-quality heads and hides in South Africa. It’s a combination that spells success and what brings me back time after time.

THE FIRST DAY OF hunting was more of a “get the feeling for the place” than “A nyala wasn’t on my wish list, and even though I saw plenty in my first three safaris, I had not taken one,” Atkins says. “But when the eland hunt didn’t materialize, I chose this guy. Having my wife Susie there made it even more special.” (PAUL D. ATKINS)

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It took Atkins 16 years and four safaris to get his red hartebeest. “On previous hunts they eluded me or weren’t there for whatever reason,” he says. “The first morning he seemingly just walked in, giving me a broadside shot.” (PAUL D. ATKINS) The last day brought something special for Tyler. This exceptional blesbok came to water unexpectedly. Tyler made the shot and the boys celebrated the end to a great safari. (PAUL D. ATKINS)

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anything else. The boys, Eli and Tyler, were to share a PH, while I had my own. I asked Susie if she would like to go, observe and serve as my camera operator. She enthusiastically said yes!

It was a wonderful first day, and even though I didn’t get to see the boys until that evening back at the fire, I enjoyed hearing all about their day. With excitement in their voices, they talked nonstop about the day’s events. My wife was in amazement as well, finally realizing why I came to Africa. It was very gratifying.

The week went by fast and we had great times in the blind and swapping stories of close calls and almosts. The boys hit it off with their PH Wilhem, who did more teaching and instructing than anything else. They learned as they went, which I was so thankful for.

Being paired with a PH willing to do that is not as common as many might think. And as the week went by, I came to realize that the two boys who I’d brought with me had grown and become responsible young men. They were taking care of business and never shirking the

task of getting it done when it counted.

Each took their share of good shots and bad, but they took it as it came. It was real for them and incredible to witness.

As for me, the red hartebeest never had a chance; neither did my sable, nor the monster nyala that I took one early morning just after getting in the blind.

However, the greatest feeling came the last day when I took an old warthog way past his prime. He was brokentoothed and scarred from no telling how many fights. He just wouldn’t leave the waterhole. It was a fitting end to a hunt that gave me a sense of coming full circle.

Susie was also utterly amazed the entire trip. She shared in the joy of each hunt and the excitement that only comes after the shot. Like many, she cherished the evening meal the most, where the telling and retelling of the day’s events to what once were total strangers – now friends – was pure enjoyment for her. She now understands Africa a little more and is already talking about going back. It gets in your blood for sure, she now says; the pure essence of being on safari, venturing far from home

and experiencing something new and different. It stirred my soul.

IT’S TRUE: AFRICA GRABS you and doesn’t let go. And even though the day came when we had to leave, I knew this trip was the best of them all. A safari is a great adventure no matter what, but having your family there and sharing in the experience makes it even more special.

I know that Africa isn’t for everyone, but if you do dream of hunting this faraway continent and want a family experience like no other, then go. Save; plan; do whatever it takes.

Remember that memories are all we have in the end, and believe me: it is all worth it. I promise. ASJ Editor’s note: Paul Atkins is an outdoor writer and author from Kotzebue, Alaska.

He’s had hundreds of articles published on big game hunting throughout North America and Africa, plus surviving in the Arctic. His new book Into the Arctic will be on bookshelves this summer and available online. Paul is a regular contributor to Alaska Sporting Journal.

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