Quest for the Wall - Day 3

October 13, 2011

(Post under construction - I'm in Montreal and don't have Dad's photo, but I thought I'd get most of it written)

The last day of our quest dawned wet and gray, with a southerly wind - but much warmer, a balmy 41°F as we got on the river. The three brothers each had challenged a 30-inch+ rainbow and had come away victorious. Could Dad make it a perfect foursome?

Rob and Tom fished with Gray Flytalker while Dad and Rick fished with Kate. All morning we motored from one run to the next with no sign of fish of any size. Dad was catching all kinds of fish - just little ones. Adding his first three together exceeded 30-inches, but that doesn't count. By lunchtime, Rob hand landed the only fish of size, a 27-incher from Middle Moose's Butt. Tom was fishing the spey (his new Inuit name, Shoots Line Far), but even with the added casting distance had not encountered any fish.

By early afternoon, Rick was getting frustrated. A couple bumps from small fish was all the action he had seen that day, while down on The Fingers, Dad continued to haul in the little guys, hence, his Inuit name for the day, "He Who Catches Little Ones." At least he was catching something! After beginning to doubt the black fly he'd been fishing all day, Rick finally had a bump. He gave it a little line and and was rewarded a hook-up on a fat 22-incher, large enough to be considered a fish. A few minutes later, Dad finally hooked something big. After a good fight, he brought a 27-inch rainbow to the net, not wall-worthy, but worthy nonetheless.

Just a few minutes later, Rick, fishing the black fly with a new-found confidence, saw a chrome slab roll on his fly at the bottom of the drift. Seconds later he was into his backing. Good fish! After working his way down to the boat, Kate netted a monster 30-inch rainbow.

The afternoon fishing had picked up for Rob and Tom also, who landed fish of [insert information here]. However, time was running out for Dad's quest to join his sons on the Wall. The wind began to pick up for the last hour or two of the day and raindrops fell on and off. Kate worked hard to walk the boat where Dad could fish the prime water, but none were to be found. As the day closed, we fished one last run at The Islands, where Rick brought a few 12 to 20-inchers to hand under the watchful eye of this bald eagle. But no more big fish.
As we headed back to the lodge, we considered the good news - three from our party of four had succeeded in the Quest for the Wall. The better news - Dad will have an excuse to return to Bear Trail Lodge and continue his quest for the Wall.

Qwest for the Wall - Day 2

Wednesday, October 12

Today dawned clear and cold, but not too cold. An absolutely gorgeous day for Alaska in October.
Rob and Rick were with Gray Flytalker today, Dad and Tom with Heath. Gray is the picture of the rugged, Alaska guide as we head upriver into the rising sun.

Our second stop of the day was at the run where Rick caught his first fish yesterday. Rick headed up to the same rock where he found the fish yesterday, then glanced at the riffle upstream. Gray's instructions the previous day had been to start at the rock as he had never picked up a fish in the riffle above. Well.....Rick doesn't always listen very well, and that water looked fishy. So on the second cast into the riffle that doesn't hold fish, his line starts screaming out as a bright fish takes off downstream. Hence Rick's Inuit name "He Who Doesn't Listen to Guide." It looked about the same size as the one yesterday, so Rick called to the guide that it wasn't that big. The guide, who was downstream by the fish waiting with the net, thought he wasn't looking at the same fish Rick was talking about, as he proceeded to net a 29-inch beauty, one-inch short of wall status, but a gorgeous fish nonetheless.

Just after lunch, Rick found his way onto the wall at the Middle Elephant Butt run. He was listening to the guide this time, swinging a flesh fly into a run with water little more than knee deep, where you normally would think of walking. The fly stopped and Rick saw a slab of chrome roll sideways just under the surface. "A nice fish!" he thought, and once Gray had it in the net, even nicer. Out came the tape - 30.5-inches. Not enough to displace Tom from the biggest fish of the trip status, but enough to put him on The Wall with Tom.

Rob had spent the day chasing little ones (15 to 18 inchers), but in the late afternoon on our second time through the Counting Station run on his last cast just before pulling out at the boat, he hooked a giant, 31-inches! A great way to finish the day.

Meanwhile, in the other boat with Heath, Dad and Tom had a slow morning, but picked it up late in the day. Dad switched to the out-of-season bead and started picking up a bunch of fish including a 27-inch beauty. Tom meanwhile, practicing his newly discovered art of spey casting, pulled out three beasts late in the day including another wall-worthy fish of 30.5-inches and a fat beast just under 30-inches. We need to teach them how to use a camera (they might be on the guide's camera).

Qwest for the Wall - Day 1

Tuesday, October 11

What does it mean, the "Quest for the Wall?" At the Bear Trail lodge, a rainbow trout over 30-inches in the net lands you fame and fortune....well, really it just lands you a framed photo on the prestigious "Wall of Fame" and a nice little pin commemorating the event. And late fall is prime time to find these monster trout. That's why we are here.

The day dawned with a beatiful sunrise, though throughout most of the day the sun remained hidden.
We piled on the layers of clothing, squeezed into the old truck, and headed upstream to Rapids Camp where the boats were anchored.

Tom and I fished with Gray, Rob and Dad with Kate. Gray was a new guide for us, and we discovered a peculiar habit at the first run -he talked to the fly as he tied it on and it even looked like he was caressing it. Hence his Inuit name for the day - Gray Flytalker. Whatever he said worked as I walked out and hooked a 24-inch rainbow on my second cast.

At the next run we fished (Upper Moose's Butt), Tom hooked into a monster, that took him into his backing. After a lengthy fight, the fish slipped into the net and Tom slipped onto The Wall. It was a 31-inch beast.

Rick and Tom spent the rest of the day searching for more fish with limited success, but Dad and Rob got into a bunch late in the day, none of them wall-worthy. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Off To Alaska....

Monday, October 10

A long day of travel today. The flight to Anchorage was beautiful, with clear skies and rugged mountains, ice-fields, and glaciers as far as you could see on both sides of the plane. However, a seven-hour layover in Anchorage turned into an interminable wait as there was no plane at the gate. Two flights to other towns were cancelled while we waited, and they kept extending the time for updates on the flight. Then a little after 8 pm, our plane showed up out of the blue (literally and figuratively). It turns out there was a bomb threat in Dillingham where our plane was coming from. That would explain the lack of any information. At about 10:00 pm we pulled into Bear Trail Lodge, tired, but happy that we did not have to spend a night in Anchorage and possibly lose time on the river tomorrow.

"Zee plane, zee plane, eet has arrived boss!"