Slamming Sockeye in Alaska

The ringing of the alarm was disorienting. The simple cabin was veiled in darkness. I adjusted the shades and daylight poured through. It was only 5:00 a.m. it looked like noon! The stretching and early morning grunts of men waking filled the room. Blessed Bill got the coffee started. Marshall distributed breakfast rations: Apple turnovers and a sausage breakfast sandwich, courtesy of Mr. Jimmy Dean. I stepped out the door to the porch and took in the scene and got my mind right. A cool breeze washed down from the mountain behind us but the sun was already peeking through the scant clouds. We were scheduled to walk and wade for salmon along the Russian River in Alaska today. To say I was excited was an understatement!

We met our guide, Jeremy of Kenai Cache Outfitters at Cooper Landing, Alaska. He already had the gear ready and prepared us for the day. We were to hike to the falls of the Russian River where we would cast for sockeye salmon in the hopes of a run. The area had flooded with strong rains a few days before we arrived. We knew the river would be up. That problem would be secondary. First was making it to the spot. Getting to the falls involved a nearly three mile hike.

This is what I had dreamt of doing the moment we began planning our trip in Alaska. I wanted to meander around the river, as I do at home. I longed to work a patch of water, methodically, listening to the music of the river and learn what secrets she was kept. In the months prior, I had prepared an assortment of flies, some bought, many hand tied. I'd taken in hours of Youtube videos showing the absolute splendor of Alaskan salmon. Wanderlust was very much in full swing, friends. You of the outdoors know of what I speak. My inner child was ready to have it! i yearned to explore this vast land.

Jeremy loaded the ten weight rods and reels into a van. We followed suit and left the lodge. We followed the Kenai River before turning into the Russian River Park and Campground. From here, we pulled into a trailhead and began our hike to the Russian River Falls, and ultimately, to our fishing spot. The trail was agreeably walkable, consisting of crushed gravel, for the most part. We began our hike up and along the lower part of a forested foothill. Right of us the land dropped steeply towards the Russian River, though it was out of sight. Fresh flowers, greenery, and mountain air treated our senses. To be honest, it felt much like hiking the rivers near home. Beautiful and green with the quiet din of insects and song birds. I was quickly put at ease. It didn't feel Alaskan until we began to climb. The hillside leveled out and we came upon an elevated clearing. A large expanse of flatland exposed us to mountains to our left and dead ahead. They craggy peak south was still capped with snow and loomed above us. Now it felt Alaskan!

We trekked across the clearing and entered another damp wooded area. Not much further we heard the first roars of water shooting down the mountain. The Russian River was aptly named as water cascaded along feverishly. Jeremy noted that the heavy rains had the river running even faster than he had anticipated. There was no way I would do any wading in this water. It splendidly beautiful and vicious.

Jeremy had us take pause at the falls. The volume of water coursing along the river gorge was powerfully deafening. To the far side was a fish ladder put in place to allow salmon to navigate past the falls and make it to their spawning grounds well upstream. Looking towards the ladder I noted dark objects near the far edge and then I saw a fish leaping amidst the torrent trying to scale the falls. The salmon were in! I looked to Jeremy giving a questioning smile. He was chagrined. Smiles were exchanged between Bill and Marshall and we put a little extra pep in our steps.

Our path took us along another hill running parallel to the river but after hiking down the other side, a calmer stretch of water was visible. I took a moment to examine the water and forgot to breathe. The salmon were stacked across the river... mere inches from the shore! I got right to the edge and they simply swam a couple feet away. I had brought my sports camera and placed it underwater and within a matter of seconds salmon swam right into the camera. I've never seen anything like it.

Jeremy urged us onward as we neared the fishing grounds. These salmon were safe in the refuge. Safe from us at least. The bears weren't known for following the rules very much. With this many salmon in the river, I looked to Jeremy. He was small of stature. He would be defending us with a can of bear spray holstered at his side. I felt "safe" but skeptical if any large furry mammals decided to muscle in on this stretch. Alaska had a humbling effect on me and I realized then just how small I was in this world. Bill nudged me. There'd be time to contemplate these thoughts later.

We came to a banked area roughly fifty yards along the river before narrowing fiercely. It was literally right off the refuge. If I were to step beyond a sign posted on a cedar I'd be illegal. The river expanded thirty yards across and was littered with rock obstructions. Even so, it allowed space to cast and work, and several places that looked like trout sniper points. Little did I know, these were salmon. Salmon are not trout. They were everywhere and we had the river to ourselves.

Jeremy walked us through the setup. Simply put, we were running fly rods with twenty pound fluorocarbon line for a leader. He placed perhaps four feet of leader and attached a size four streamer hook and wound/tied a piece of orange Glo Bugs Yarn. A couple of split-shot sinkers were added about a foot above the "fly." I was dumbfounded. That was it? I'd spent hours tying all assortment of fly... egg sucking leech, streamers, flashy do-hickies. I asked Jeremy and he said, "Sure. Those will all work too but this setup produces all the time. They aren't really eating so much as just reacting. Their minds are fixed on one thing and that's reaching the spawning grounds. They are feeding instinctually but not necessarily actively."

Humbled... yet again.

Bill was given first rights. There was no need of fancy casting. You flung the fly perhaps twenty feet and drifted it along the bottom. Any hesitation or feeling in the line, set hook. I stayed back and captured his first fish on video. It did not take long. I'll say this, those sockeye are sheer power. The ten weight rod and rig handled these fish well but even so it took work to get them to Jeremy who manned the net and landed the fish. Marshall was next and again I captured his first fish as well. He tied into one and lost it before Jeremy could get to the water but connected again a few casts later and landed the bruiser.

I set the camera to a tripod I'd brought, then made my way to the Russian River. Several casts and drifts were made. I felt bottom after a few casts and when something felt different I set hook. Falsely a few times but then I felt the heft of fish. I set hook and the fish tore off, nearly taking me with it. The sheer strength and power of the fish made me think I was pulling kings out of Lake Michigan! Although, these were much feistier fighters. Sockeye weigh between eight and twelve pounds but add the current and rocks strewn along the river channel and it made for some exciting, tricky rod work.

Hiking to a secluded stretch of river and battling bristling salmon on their home ground amidst charging glacial waters! This is what I had dreamt of doing!

The fish worked me over and pinned itself to a rock. The hook came flying out and the fish was lost. I cast again and BAM! I had another. When Jeremy netted the fish I got to get a good look and hold my very first Alaskan sockeye salmon. The blue tint to silver chrome of their streamlined body was magnificent. Perfection in body design. These bullets were all power with attitude to spare.

We kept Jeremy busy as the three of us were tying into fish regularly. The limit for non-residents is three sockeye a day. We had little trouble making our limit that day. After an hour and change a trio, two ladies (holstering .357 magnums) and a young boy entered the grounds. They were using spinning rods and worked close to the refuge border. I don't think they were terribly happy to see a guide and non-residents fishing "their" water. All credit to Jeremy as he was quite polite and warm to the ladies icy words. I'll never forget what happened next.

After their somewhat heated exchange, the talkative woman cast and tied into a fish. She was not rigged properly and we watched that fish march her straight down the river, taking line at an alarming rate. That sockeye took her to the edge of fishable land and kept going. She pulled for all she was worth and the line snapped back and floated along the rushing Russian. It seemed that being humbled in Alaska was not just for us out-of-towners. I'll also never forget what Jeremy did next. The woman re-rigged and adjusted her drag. Even so, she still struggled to get her next fish towards shore. The young boy was just learning and the other lady was fishing too far down. Jeremy hustled over stepped way out into the water and landed her fish... and her next one, AND the one after that. The woman's attitude did a complete 180 and all was right in the world again.

We had our limit and I'd fought well over thirty sockeye just for the experience. I lost some, foul-hooked others, but most were played out and landed to be returned to the river. It was an amazing experience. I struggle to find the words but word must have travelled. "The salmon are in!" More and more people were emerging from the forest canopy. The bank was getting crowded. We'd had this river to ourselves for nearly an hour and a half! I was to learn later how rare a thing that was.

Jeremy cleaned our catch but we took a few pictures before leaving. With a heavier load to portage out, we began our hike back to the trailhead to be picked up, and returned to the simple cabin at Kenai Cache Outfitters. For our Alaskan adventure, this was a day for the books.

To view a video of our experience, here's a link to our Youtube video: Russian River Sockeye Salmon