Excerpts from The Black Outdoorsman Magazine summer 2007 fishing the Nushagak
Charles boat averaged over 60 Kings a day.
In March 2007, I met Eli Huffman at the eastern outdoor show in Harrisburg, PA. Though I came across many of folks at the show, Eli Huffman stood out the most. Months later I would be on my first leg of my flight heading to Jake's Nushagak Salmon Camp on the well known Nushagak River on a quest to fish for king, coho, and sockeye salmon. Even after doing a bit of investigation on the location, I was in for a big surprise. I would soon discover that Eli would be as much of a quiet treasure as his fishing camp.
Once arriving in Dillingham, it wasn't long before I linked with other visitors who were also waiting to be lifted to Jake's Nushagak Salmon Camp to hook up with Eli. Many had frequented the camp for years and were eager to share their experiences and fish stories. We boarded a Turbine Otter float plane and soon landed at Jakes.
From a distance, with eyeglasses resting on the tip of his nose, Eli was perched on the top of the riverbank giving his last good-byes and hugs to anglers waiting to catch the outgoing flight on the Otter. Judging from the parade of farewells and welcomes it was quite noticeable that these folks were frequent customers making their yearly pilgrimage to the camp.
After a few minutes standing on the bank it was quite evident that I was one of the very few newcomers to Jake's and the Nushagak. Eli soon directed us to the center of the camp and provided a brief overview of the campsite and amenities. Eli knew his customers well and wasted little time talking to allow more fishing time. He shuffled us to the bait station and modeled how to make berries out of a secret concoction of salmon eggs and stuff wrapped in a red or orange –colored mesh fabric. It was messy as heck, but proved to be irresistible for the Kings.
Jake's, a wilderness campsite showcased many caveats including a dining area, hot showers, wireless internet capabilities and a packaging area to vacuum seal your catch…not bad. As the oldest campsites on the Nushagak, Jake's has honored conservation practices on Choggiung land and takes pride in catching fish instead of fishing for them. Though Eli has continued to champion the preservation efforts for the river basin, the Nushagak is still threatened by the Pebble Mine project, a controversial proposal to build one of the largest open pit gold and copper mines in the world.
After touring the grounds and setting up in my tent, I was off to the banks to get my first cast on the Nushagak. Using one of about twenty rods sitting in a rod rack, I took a quick glance at the medium bait casting reel rod combo lined with 20 lb. test and a shore rig. Walking down river about 50 yards from the campsite entrance, I observed the moving current to determine my casting position. After three casts, I took a strike on the bait at about 12 o'clock as I slowly tightened the slack. After hooking a nice size King salmon, I was alarmed at the quickness of the fish. Within seconds of the initial strike, the fish took off heading across the river. Keeping my rod tip pointed upward and line tight as possible I decided to walk with him down river. The fish took off so quick that it immediately spooled the line. Within a minute, it was off…a rookie move. My first night on the Nushagak proved a bit more trickier than expected…count four lost salmon my first hour of shore fishing on the Nushagak river.
King salmon, also known as chinook, quinnat, tyee, tule or blackmouth are the largest fish found in Alaska's freshwater and was the prize fish for this trip. Averaging around 15-30 pounds and attaining 35-60 pounds, kings enter the southwest and southcentral river basins. The Nushagak kings storm Bristol Bay dodging commercial nets to spawn upriver. As many as 300,000 kings make their way up the Nushagak each summer, making it the greatest king salmon fishery in the world.
The morning of day one marked a right of passage surviving the first cold evening at the campsite. By 6:00 am, most anglers had parked on the banks waiting for their guides to launch their boats for their first crack. After a quick downing of breakfast, I met Paul and Gary who were wrapping roe at the bait station. With about 15 sacks per person we were on our way. Layered in clothing fit for a cold damp day of fishing, we were introduced to our first guide Ron Smith an experienced guide at Jake's camp for many years. We loaded our gear into his 20 ft. aluminum river craft and were off to our first location upriver. Each of us was provided bait casting rod and reels fitted with orange and pink tip rainbow spinners on a three-way swivel with 2-ounce weights. Adding the roe wrap presented an enticing package. Facing the stern with Ron powering the outboard, we started to Millionaire Bluffs with a slow troll with rigs spread from the starboard and portside of the boat. With the weight slowly bouncing on the rocky bottom and the spoon showcasing vibrant color patterns and movement, a strike was certainly inevitable.
Using a fluorescent green spinner and positioned closest to the shoreline, Paul got the first hit. Upon striking, the king spooled out line as it broke 3 o'clock across river. Paul managed to tighten the slack immediately and wrestle a 20-pounder to the boat. Paul decided to be patient and wait to tag the larger 35-40-pounders that were running the river. It was a bit slow our first morning. After lunch, which included hot soup and other hearty camp food, we headed to a location known as Helicopter. Within minutes of arriving, we were getting strikes from all sides of the boat. Trolling on a more shallow stretch and rigged with a blue and green spoon, I was finally indoctrinated on the Nushagak…my first strike. The salmon ran the surface streaking by both sides of the boat with frequent aerial bursts. With drizzle and temps hanging around the low 50s, the action warmed things a bit. I finally got my first king salmon to the boat…a nice 20-pounder with fresh silvery skin indicating it had just entered from Bristol Bay.
As the afternoon continued, I landed 13 fish with a total boat catch of 72 king salmon… this was a great first day.
The morning of day two, I met with Eli during breakfast and he was eager to get a fish count from each group. As he sat with our table group, he spoke of the Yup'ik and Choggiung way of life and the importance the Nushagak played in the subsistence life style of these indigenous people. With the weather a few degrees warmer and the rain off in the distance, we loaded onto another boat guided by Swanny. Swanny, another experienced guide operating in western Alaska, headed straight to Millionaire Bluff where we hit our first big fish, a few 25-28-pounders. A number of braids fed into the river along this stretch of the river and it wasn't long before we kept our first keepers. Swanny showcased his custom spoons, which were very effective in the morning. In all, we each landed between 14-18 kings and a few small immature kings. That afternoon Swanny decided to stay on a few deep holes using a colorful assortment of Kwikfish plugs. Within a few minutes of sitting in the first hole I took a hit from a large king that spooled my line across the river just short of the opposite riverbank. Only minutes later, we were all hooked on fish. We kept Swanny busy as the fish took our lines different directions from the boat. One after another we hauled them in and headed to shore for photos. The total that day…81 kings.
Day three took us to a popular location known as Blood Beach....go figure. A lot of Jake's guides congregated to this area that day with the hopes of landing big kings. Our guide Kyle worked a channel that flowed from a smaller branch and crossed the Nushagak. Kyle was quite confident that this edge of the river would produce bigger fish. As we headed up river, many anglers decided to shore fish an isolated bank that ran at the edge of the channel as it made its first entrance to the Nushagak. They appeared to be landing fish on each cast. Not long after passing the crossing channel, I was onto my first king. The fish gave a much harder pull than the earlier fish and had much more water to run. Instead of breaking across river, the fish ran deep and toward the shoreline. Tightening the drag, I was a bit more aggressive with landing this fish. Limiting its direction I gave quick cranks and drew it closer to the boat. As it neared, I decided to open the drag a bit to keep it vertical. Shortly, I was looking at a nice 37-pound king.
We would land a total of 51 kings this day and observe plenty of Alaska's native wildlife including brown bears and eagles. As done with previous days, we displayed our catch at the lodge at a weigh station and watched as they filleted and vacuum packed the fish. The filets were a deep rich reddish color, much different from the farm-raised Atlantic salmon harvest on the East coast. Most nights we sat and compared fishing stories while warming to a wood-burning stove in the mess hall. It felt good to be a disconnected from the outside world for short time…no cell phone calls or needed access on the net.
That night I got my last rest on the Nushagak and finally managed to keep my mind off fishing for one night. I decided to wake a bit earlier to catch a glance at twilight. I walked around the site a few minutes making note of the stillness and anticipation of a probable confrontation with a bear. This was a true Alaskan experience.
On our final morning of fishing before our afternoon flight back to Dilingham, we fished with guide, Lloyd Helms and found a nice hole for Paul to get his last big king. Paul decided to hold out on earlier catches with hopes of landing a 50+ pound king that had been caught in previous years. Paul took a hard strike on a king that nailed his spoon. With about 30 minutes remaining for our last shot at the big ones, Paul projected a million dollar smile that told this catch was worth the wait. Taking his time and showing no signs of weariness after 5 days of fishing, Paul reeled a bit at a time to savor his last catch. Though his fish was short of the 50# he waited for, it was definitely worth the wait tipping the scales close to 40 pounds.
The afternoon was quite busy as we hustled to shower, pack, gather camp gear and make way to the river bank for our late afternoon flight on the Goose back to Dillingham. In the last few minutes I had an opportunity to chat with Eli and share some pictures and personal fishing stories. I asked the one thing he wanted folks to leave with, he replied, "Simply put…I want folks to walk away with a memory that they can share with their children and grandchildren... this is a family and hopefully you can go home with a great experience of the Nushagak". The Goose finally landed and new customers were shuffled to the riverbank of the lodge. Eli provided us our last farewells and blessings for a safe flight. As the Goose finally took off, I took my last look at the Nushagak and caught a moose and calf grazing nears the riverbank. This is a memory I will pass down to my children and grandchildren.