A Place That Wasn’t Hot

I can’t remember a time when I was more excited to leave my ‘hood.

After 47 days over 100, this summer, I looked out the window on July 29 and thumbed my nose at pan-fried Austin as my flight headed north toward cooler climes. Turns out, however, that my destination was having a few weather challenges of its own. It was 50 and raining when I touched down in Anchorage, even nastier in Dillingham, and I spent the entire week pining for the layers that I thought I wouldn’t need for a mid-summer trip to Alaska. On one afternoon as we jet-boated upriver against 30 knot winds and a cold, driving rain, my guide Tom Kersbergen yelled through chattering teeth, “This is October weather, not August!”

Global something.

Beyond the damp chill, though, I certainly can’t bemoan the fishing, photo-ops and my incredible hosts for the first annual “Artist in Residence” program at Bristol Bay Lodge. This idea came from the collective braintrust of Bob White (sporting artist deluxe) and Steve Laurent, longtime manager of BBL. In addition to photographers, they’ve also hosted a slate of talented authors, songwriters, and artists, this summer. Each week has been different, but the plan while I was there was to catch fish, shoot a ton of photos, and then present a slideshow on our last night to all in attendance. While the weather often made it unwise to crack the lid on my hard case, I was thankful for my last-minute decision to bring the underwater gear. What I spent in excess baggage fees literally saved my bacon.

Thanks to Bob, Steve, Nate and the entire BBL crew for a fabulous week. And to Rebecca and Steve Oresman for catching fish and patiently posing for the camera.

If you’d like to see the entire shoot, please click here.

Comfy digs at Bristol Bay Lodge

Beavers on Aleknagik

Rush hour

Tight to a char

Units of measurement

Nice doggie

Riparian carnivore

A stone’s throw from the Bering Sea

Chum dash

Lit up grayling

Sea-run goodness

They fancy, huh?

End of the line

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 14th, 2011 at 8:47 am. It is filed under Freshwater Fishing and tagged with Alaska, Arctic Char, Bristol Bay Lodge, chum salmon, dolly varden, fly fishing, Grayling, Rainbow Trout, sockeye salmon. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.