I spent 4 more seasons at the resort where I started in Ketchikan but the 1st season was by far my favorite and most memorable. I did have a couple other memorable trips that came to mind today.
There was a family that came up every year I was there and always requested myself and a guide buddy named Ron. It was a mom and dad, kids and a couple spouses, 8 in the group. They usually spent 3 days fishing the salt and 1 day doing a freshwater fly-out trip fly fishing for rainbows, and whatever salmon were running at the time of their trip, usually silvers and pinks. The last day of the last year I guided them they decided mom, dad and a couple kids would fish the salt with me and the other 4 would do a fly-out with Ron. The morning of the trip the weather was sunny and clear at the dock when both my group in the boat and the other group in the plane took off. About half way to our destination which was a 45 minute run we hit a thick fog bank that hung around all day. The place we were fishing is a floatplane highway but due to the fog, we didn't see or hear 1 plane all day until about 1pm when a Beaver flew right over us, not more then 50' off the water, I was shocked to see it.
We fished a couple more hours before calling it a day and just as we were leaving I started hearing alot of chatter on the VHF and realize that the coast guard is searching for a missing plane. I had a feeling it was the 1 that flew over us so I contacted the coasties and told them what I saw, where I was and where the plane was headed. Mom and dad immeadiately start asking questions about whether that was our plane which I assured them it wasn't, the flyout trip went the opposite direction and they had nothing to worry about. About 20 minutes into our return trip we spot a CG cutter parked by the beach and a helo hovering a 100' above the trees then we see the smoke, the boat went silent and nobody said another word until we were 100 yards from the dock and they saw the kids waving, very intense. The pilot and 3 fisherman died in the crash.
Another group that I will always remember was a father and 17 year old son, they always dreamed of coming to Alaska and fishing for king salmon and mom decided to send them for the kids graduation present. From the moment they introduced themselves they were very appreciative of everything around them, couldn't believe they were actually in Ak. or how beautiful it was or they were actually going to get to fish for kings, they thanked me for various things all day long, everyday and I don't remember hearing 1 negative thing from them in the 5 days we fished together, even if the fishing got slow, a guides dream group.
After the 4th day and limits or near limits everyday so far, they asked if they could go somewhere on the last day that they might have a better shot at catching a big king, they had alot of kings already but nothing over 33-35 lbs., said they didn't care if they didn't get bit all day, just give them a shot at a big 1. After about 1 second of thinking I told them I knew a spot (already caught a couple 57 pounders there
). Next morning we head to "the spot" and drop 2 lines on riggers and I set a flat line out the back with just a couple ounces of lead and a herring on it. We made 6 or 8 passes down the kelp line with nothing but a few silvers to show for our effort and I was worried they might be getting antsy, when asked if they wanted to abort this and do something else they said no way, they were going to grind it out all day if thats where I thought we had the best chance at a big 1 was.
We make another pass or 2 and I remember telling them to start digging into the lunch box, that would get something going and before they had a chance the flat line rod gets hammered, kid grabs it and all I see is a silver torpedo headed right for the boat with 2 downrigger cables still hanging, I knew it was a good fish but I wasn't sure yet how big so with it closing in fast on my downrigger cable I took the rod from the kid just long enough to clear the cable then handed it back and gave chase. After 5 days the kid has it down and I really didn't have to do any coaching, fought the fish for about a half hour before he came to the net, scooped him, laid him on the deck and both dad and the kid had tears in their eyes, they just caught a dream king. We called it a day and headed for the scale, fish went 54 lbs.
A week after they left I got a package from them with a thank you card and a framed picture of the 3 of us and the fish, pretty cool.
The last memory I have of that resort was a week before I left in 94 the Ak. state troopers and DEA raided our bunkhouse, about 15 guys came charging in with guns drawn looking for the resort owners brother who lived there though he wasn't an employee. He and 2 other family members got nailed for a major drug traffiking ring and went off to big boy jail for 10 years, I may have pee'd down my leg a little when they came through the door
.
That ended my minor league career, the next 16 would be spent in the big leagues!
