Illiamna Monsters

Lake Illiamna provided me with the pleasure of experiencing countless memories that I will never forget.  Its sheer size has the capacity to hold fabled monsters, salmon run in the millions, huge Rainbow Trout that grow over 30", Grayling, and schools of Dolly Varden.  There is a reason that it's known to many anglers as the pinnacle of sport fishing.  Jeremy Wade visited Illiamna in pursuit of encountering the fabled Lake Illiamna Monster and meets a few local inhabitants who tell their interactions with the "monster" (read the article highlighting his unsuccessful attempt here).  Alaska Science Outreach also submitted a great read on previous tales and attempts to discover What Lies Beneath Lake Illiamna.  Whether the monster lurks beneath the vast 77 by 22 mile lake with depths reaching 988 feet or not is unknown to many but the periodical encounters are enough to make one think...

When you are guiding the watersheds of Illiamna guests at the lodge put their trust in your knowledge of the correct fly to match the rivers correct ingredient of the day.  Early in the season the fly that produces the biggest fish are size 10/12 Stimulators.  We delicately present dries along the stream banks, fallen log jams, behind large rocks, underneath alders, the changes in currents, and along some of the canyon walls.

One of the unsuspecting stimulated 20"+ victims!

Most of the time the large trout are visible with a good set of polarized sunglasses but one of the most memorable times was when I was perched on the side of one of the canyon walls.  I felt like one of the Trout Bums from the Kiwi Camo DVD calling out the multiple 20-inch plus trout that were aggressively attacking dries.  We were going nuts, calling out fish that were bent vertically upon their propulsion to feed voraciously.  This happened 5 or 6 times at one specific area of the Copper Canyon.  It will certainly be a time I will cherish for a long, long time.    

This Northern Pike went completely airborne during the fight!

Another memorable experience was instigated when two of our clients were picked up at one of the lakes where Bob would fly in to pick up guests who did not want to spend the entire 3 night, 2 day float down the Copper River.  As we were paddling to the lake Brian and I looked at one another in awe of the huge Northern Pike that were cruising by our rafts as if we were invading "their" territory.  Thankfully, our boss Bob Cusack, asked us "Hey guys, do you want to just float the rest of the trip?"  Honestly, neither of us thought we had a chance to do this but we took him up on his offer.  Brian and I ended up hooking in multiple 40" plus monster Northern Pike on minnow imitations and Mouse patterns.  We knew we had to make it several miles downstream and set up camp but we had to call it quits and along the way we caught two Sockeye Salmon (that we would later call dinner) and headed further downstream to our campsite.  Once we made it to camp, we pulled out the fly rods and caught some more trout on dry flies until we decided to turn in (last fish caught on top was at 12:17AM).


The last trip that I will never forget was during our guests who star this week on our "Treat of the Week" episode, known to some of you as Jevin and Keff.  It was their last day at our lodge before they headed back to Anchorage and we headed to the Gibraltar River for a 1/2 day of fishing.  I'll keep it short but the highlight of the day came when both guys caught fish back to back and exclaimed to one after another, "I just caught the biggest fish of my life!"  It's always a memorable moment when you can put people on big fish and they appreciate the entire experience.  I'll leave you with a few pictures of two happy fisherman thanks to the Gibraltar Rainbows (and the huge brown bear that we encountered)!