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1998 MSTPA
Weekly Fishing Reports
Week 1
June 5, 1998
Preseason start-up and first fishing report:
This year found me in Aniak Alaska waiting for the ice to go out. Traditionally
our crew and I would start the season in Nenana, Alaska waiting to pilot the "Midnight
Sun" our houseboat down the 650 miles of the Tanana and Yukon river systems.
This year we were in Aniak as we have been able to park and winterize the houseboat
on the Innoko river making the long Yukon river trip unnecessary.
The ice went out on the Yukon May 12th. About four days ahead of the long term
average. Our crew arrived for work in Aniak May 18th. The only problem, due
to cool temperatures, the water had yet to come up on the Innoko river and float
the houseboat. It took more than ten more days of waiting for the water to rise
enough to float the boat and provide the water necessary for cleaning and operating
the different systems on the boat that require water.
The pike followed the rising water into the Innoko river to spawn. This gave
us a chance to work "fish" with representatives from the Alaska Fish
& Game and the Federal Fish and Wildlife Service with whom MSTPA is doing
a northern pike tagging study. We are hoping the study will help give us a better
understanding of the pike, their movements, mortality and recapture rates.
All systems are a "GO" on the houseboat. The first guests are due to
arrive today, June 5th. The last four days of weather had been hot, calm and
sunny creating ideal fishing conditions by moving the pike up and concentrating
them into the shallow back water bays. Today, the weather is calling for cooler
temps, rain, low clouds and a wind out of the southeast at 35 knots.
Join us next week for the report!
Dean "Boone" Nelsen
Week
2
June 5-14, 1998
MSTPA fishing
report:
The enthusiasm generated by the start of our 1998 fishing season and having
three of our four guests all return clientele was quickly subdued by extremely
bad weather, involving high winds, rain, cold temperatures and rising river water,
which translated into tough fishing. Credit and respect must be given to to all
four of or guests Jan, Paul, Dale, and Joe for working hard for something that
is supposed to be fun. We were finding fish in a pre-spawn, spawn and post-spawn
conditions. All fish were in a very neutral mood and with no warm water pockets
to help concentrate them in the shallows, they were scattered throughout the river
system. But with patience and persistence by the end of the week our four clients
had boated eighteen (18) fish over forty inches with the largest, a beautiful
45 incher caught by Jan.
There were no king salmon caught as the run is just
beginning. We should see our first salmon between June 15 and the 20th.
The sheefish fishing, which a year ago at this time
was spectacular, was tough. This was due to reverse current and low water clarity
in the river from the rising water. Once the water stabilizes the sheefish fishing
should turn on.
Join us nest week for our current update. There are
some big fish roaming around out there, it is just a matter of time before the
conditions change and put the odds in our favor!
Dean "Boone" Nelsen
Week 3
June 15 - 20, 1998
MSTPA fishing
report:
Week three found us motoring up the Innoko river 125 miles into the Innoko
wildlife refuge. The move was made to take advantage of the excellent water conditions
which would help the pike fishing (catching). Week three also brought the best
weather of the season. All but the last day dawned clear, calm, warm and sunny.
The fishing improved dramatically as a result. The sun helped warm the shallow
back bays, raising water temperatures up into the high 60's. This created a ten
degree difference between the main river system and the shallow bays. The resulting
warm water helped concentrate the pike and provide consistent fishing throughout
the week. Again, still no monster pike to report. We saw plenty of numbers and
a great average size of 38 inches with fish up to 44 and 45 inch range, but no
pike to make the 47 inch club. The fish on the upper river are in excellent condition.
They are very clean looking and fat. It is obvious they had a good winter and
spring spawning season.
The sheefish fishing slowed daily as the week went by. We are not sure of the
reason. Sheefish usually do what they want to do with no discernible rhyme or
reason. Still everyone who wanted to catch a sheefish did.
The king salmon of western Alaska are still playing hard to catch. The kings are
predicted to be to be a week to 10 days late this year. With the rivers in western
Alaska just now seeing the first few fish. We spent one day up on the Unalakeet
river in Norton Sound with no luck. Recent reports show the fish to be in the
river. So perhaps this next week we will finally land our first king of the season.
End of the week summary. Last week was a lot of fun.
Great guests, fantastic weather and good fishing. Till next week. Keep your rod
tip up and watch the bobber!
Sincerely,
Dean "Boone" Nelsen
Week 4
June 21 - 25, 1998
MSTPA fishing
report:
Pike? Where are the big Pike? That is the 60 thousand dollar question. We
are seeing and catching fish up into the mid 40 inch range, but no monsters.
Credit again must be given to our guests for fishing hard and for our guides for
working hard to find fish. With no consistent weather this spring the pike have
never been in a position to pattern. Everyday is a new day, with the pike being
in a neutral to negative mood. Our best guess at where the big pike are; they
are suspended in the main river channel feeding on salmon smolt that are migrating
down river. Because of the inconsistent weather this spring the salmon smolt
which normally feed near the surface adjacent to the shoreline or channel mouths,
as they migrate, have stayed in the main channel drawing the pike out to them
effectively scattering the pike and forcing a fisherman to fish a lot of unproductive
water trying to establish a pattern and fish one fish. The pike themselves are
doing very well. As I have stated in previous reports, they are very, very thick
and heavy.
The sheefish are following the same pattern as the pike. Catchable, but with a
lot of work.
The king salmon of Alaska on the other hand are finally in!! We spent three day
flying out to the Unalakeet river with great success. The bonus with this years
run, all the fish are big. Fish in the low 20 pound range are norm and fish into
the thirty pound class are common. The Kuskokwim river king run has not started
yet. This should work to our advantage, by staggering the run timing and allowing
us to hit peak of the king runs on both rivers. The best of both worlds. Time
will tell.
See ya next week!
Dean "Boone" Nelsen
Week 5
June 26 - 30, 1998
MSTPA fishing
report:
Finally! The combination of good weather, good fishing, and good people. We
have been fortunate to have had good people to date, the weather and or the fishing
not always, one or both factors have been off every week. This last week proved
different. MSTPA finally experienced the warm, sunny, calm days June is famous
for. The pike seemed to like the nice weather as much as us. They were out in
force eating most anything including a steady diet of artificial lures and flies.
David Conant broke the thick ice forming around
the Midnight Sun boat by landing the first 47 inch pike of the season. Thank
you David, for now you are the sole member of the Midnight Sun 47 inch club.
The week gave David and his Dad, Herb, twenty-three pike over 40 inches. Herb
and David also proven their abilities on the king salmon by boating ten kings
with two of them in the high twenty pound range.
Ed and Jeff prove again how effective fly fishing
can be on pike, by boating twenty two fish over 40 inches, the largest a beautiful
forty six inch pike. Ed and Jeff ad-lib some on their trip with us, they declined
their one day salmon fly-out to give them an extra day on the pike, then on the
last evening of their trip, flew to the Unalakleet River for three days to fish
for Kings with Vance Griskowsky. It will be interesting to hear how they did,
as the fishing has been excellent on the Unalakleet.
Roy and Dorothy, last but not least. It was a pleasure
to spend a week with two people who seemed to enjoy everything and fish hard.
My regret for the week: Dorothy was not able to hook into a large king salmon.
Although Dorothy is the better fisherperson of the two, as proven by her 43 inch
pike, Roy had the hot hand for the week in spite of his broken arm. Roy, the
broken arm excuse will not work next year!
The elusive sheefish continue to befuddle everyone.
They have successfully disappeared, with no sheefish caught this past week.
Will the weather hold? Will we boat a forty pound
king on the Unalakleet? When will the first 50 inch pike of the season be caught?
Where are the sheefish? Answers to these questions and many more will be found
in next weeks fishing report. Till then, keep the rod tip up and your line tight!
Sincerely,
Dean Nelson
Week 6
June 20 - July 5, 1998
MSTPA fishing
report:
To start off, I'll answer last weeks questions:
Did the weather hold? Yes! We experienced occasional rain showers, but avoided
the day long soaking rains. We were able to fly to the Unalakeleet river every
day, although the last day on the Unalakleet for kings it did rain hard, and steady
till twelve noon. The rain did not deter Chunk and Mary from landing over 25
kings for their day on the Unalakleet.
Did we land a forty pound Unalakleet king salmon? NO. But….we were very close.
Fourteen year old Jeremy Matthews caught beautiful chrome king in the high 30
pound range. That fish was the icing on the cake as Jeremy and his Uncle Time
landed 35 kings that day. Great day guys! I really enjoyed it. Jeremy and his
younger brother Josh, who is 10, battled it out all week for the big fish. Jeremy
won on the king category, though Josh was a close second with a king salmon in
the low 30 pound range. My records show a tie for the biggest pike with each
landing pike in the 44 inch range. Nice going guys.
Did the first 50" northern pike make it to the boat? NO, no buts about it.
The truly big fish have been elusive this year. We have seen them, even had them
on, but to get them to the boat has been all but impossible. The tide will turn.
There were several sheefish caught this past week. They were caught by intention
and a lot of luck. The sheefish just are not moving. We can see schools of them
on the depth finders, and occasionally even catch one but they have been tough.
Since I am several weeks behind in my weekly reports, I have all the questions
answered for next week and the week after. In summary, for the up coming weeks,
the good guys don't always finish first. Read on for the wet details.
Sincerely,
Dean Nelsen
Week 7
June 5 - July 10, 1998
MSTPA fishing
report:
The Mark Bare party of six experienced about everything
that could go wrong! As you read through this, keep in mind not only did the
Bare party keep a positive attitude, which is more than most groups do with adverse
conditions, but want to come back!
I am not sure we want them if they are the ones with the bad luck. Just kidding
guys, we'd love to have you back.
Their trip started with a canceled commercial flight out to Aniak. We were able
to work through the cancellation and schedule a charter flight which promptly
had a mechanical problem, the charter company was able to provide another aircraft
eventually arriving into Anion from Anchorage around 3:00 in the afternoon. We
thought things would now go smoothly, boy were we wrong. It started to rain on
day two, continued through days three and four, and ended on the last day, day
five. The Innoko water temperature fell a full 10 degree's with the rain, effectively
scattering pike through out the already high water levels and flooding vegetation.
The rain also caused massive flooding on the Kuskokwim and its tributaries. The
Kuskokwim river rose over nine vertical feet in a 48 hour period. The high water
effectively but an end to the king salmon run the state of Alaska had already
considered a disaster. The Unalakleet was also effected by the high water but
not to the extreme. The fishing slowed, but as the report next week will show,
the fishing again picked up after the Bare party left the state!
Lets see. We have traveled throughout cancelled flights, and airplane mechanical,
we have fished in continual wind and rain, and oh yes, I remember now what happened
next! On the last day of fishing, we had the last two of our three one year old
50 hp, 4-stroke Mercury motors go down with mechanical problems and get a trip
to the motors shop to join the others that went down at the beginning of the week.
From our experience, these new Mercury motors have problems! Buy Honda's!
What else can go wrong, bad weather on check out day, that's what! We were able
to charter another float plane and make the change over just under the wire.
Finally the Bare group was gone.
Lest I forget, the Bare group did come to fish and in spite of the adversity caught
some nice pike with the two largest caught by Toffer, a 47" and 48"
pike. Before the Unalakleet river water started to rise we had one day of 20
something kings with several fish in the mid 20 pound range. I always enjoy watching
people catch big fish!
Mark, Chris, Ed, John, Bruce and Bob, thanks guys for keeping positive attitudes!
We look forward to fishing with you again.
Till next week….
Sincerely,
Dean Nelsen
Week 8
June 10 - July 15, 1998
MSTPA fishing
report:
Where to start? Lets just start with the big fish for the week. The prize goes
to Sonny with a beautiful 46" pike. Myron and Allen followed close behind,
each with 45" pike. Then Lester with a 44.5", Hank a 44" and Joel
holding up the pile with a 42" fish for his biggest. Twenty-two fish over
40 inches in all, not bad guys. The fishing is still not what we are used to
here, but in keeping everything in perspective, the fishing is still quite good.
The weather has been back to normal for July, sunny and hot. And with the great
weather comes those pesky, annoying, measurable little gnats. They can get in
your eyes, ears, and nose making life very uncomfortable. It is a good thing
that with the warm weather the fishing has been good to help take one's mind off
the little buggers. I don't smoke, but when the gnats come out, I turn into a
little chimney as cigar smoke is the only effective deterrent against the gnats
other than wearing a head net.
Because of our continued problem with the Mercury motors and being limited to
the guide boats we kept the air plane flying for the week up to the Unalakleet
river for the kings. The pike fishing may be slow compared to what we expected
by the king salmon fishing, though slow to start because of a late run, has been
fantastic. Lester and Sonny put on a show by boating 35 kings in a six hour period.
Allen and Hank did well boating 25 kings and Mike and Joe topped off the week
with 9 more kings added to the pot. The wonderful thing with the kings this year
is they are running a big average for size. We are seeing fish everyday in the
low thirties with an average running in the 18-20 pound range. A lot of fun is
had by all.
I am looking through this weeks fishing reports for any sheefish caught. I know
there were a couple caught, though purely by accident. Due to the continued high
muddy water in the sections of river which typically hold the sheefish, the fish
have been scattered and very hard to target.
In summary; this week has proved unpredictable as the rest. We have had excellent
weather which I would have told anyone would concentrate and turn on the pike.
No luck. The pike are still scattered and in a very neutral feeding mode. The
kings on the Unalakleet I would have said the run should be done. Its not, there
are still a lot of fresh fish coming in. I guess that is why we fish. Tomorrow
is always a new day with the results unknown. It only takes a cast to catch a
fish of a life time, you never know which one.
As I am behind again in my weekly fishing reports and knowing the results of the
upcoming week, I will hint at the report and say the strangest of the summer still
continues. The big pike have reappeared, the kings get even better, and the silver
salmon are in; the silvers are in!!
Sincerely,
Dean Nelsen
Week 9
June 15 - July 20, 1998
MSTPA fishing
report:
I hinted last week that the big pike have reappeared, and they have. Unfortunately
seeing big pike doesn't mean we can catch them, or at least a lot of them last
week's group of six out of Chicago; Tim, Buzz, Marty, Ed Bob and Bill were all
very good fisherman. Ed had the hot hand for the week, with big pike. Two fish
over 47 inches, and the largest at 48.5 inches. Well done Ed! Bill boated a
45 incher. Tim did well with fish over forth inches, but could not get a monster
pike to bite. That same story held true for Marty, Buzz and Bob.
We have never experienced a week quite like this one. The weather was ideal;
warm and sunny with light winds and although there were several big fish caught,
the general rule was that the fishermen could only look at the big pike and couldn't
catch them. The largest fish seen was given the nickname "Red October"
after the Russian nuclear sub in the Sean Connery movie "The Hunt for Red
October". The fish was estimated in the 54 inch range, but what made it
impressive was its depth and girth, a true monster. In time we will put one of
those monster pike in the boat. That large pike as well as many others all followed
the same pattern, they would only follow different lures last week. They would
not bite. I think Leon paraphrased it best in his frustration, "we have
tied everything on the line but the tackle box itself to let them choose what
they want." I find it very interesting why the big fish will follow a lure
or bait, but show no interest towards biting it. Sounds a lot like musk fishing.
Maybe we should just count follows?
The king salmon proved this past week to be nothing less than spectacular. Ed
and Marty started out the fly-out week by boating 36 kings. Tim and Bill did
the same, on day two, with 35 to 40 kings. Buzz and Bob, then Bob and Marty followed
on days three and four with identical catches. In four days of fishing, there
were between 140-160 kings boated. I can not give you an exact numbr4 simply
because I can't count that high! It was incredible! The bonus to the phenomenal
king fishing was the catch of the first silver salmon of the season. Not just
one silver by accident, but five beautiful chrome fish on July 17th, a full 10
days earlier than the normal start of the silver run. Does this make sense?
The king salmon are ten days late, but the silvers are ten days early. Somebody
is not paying attention to the 1998 calendar.
This past week again proved that fishing is fishing. There is no way of knowing
what each day or each cast will bring till it is there. The results may sometimes
surprise you. Tim, Marty, Buzz, Ed Bob and Bill, if you read this, thanks for
a great week. We hope to fish with you again in the future. And believe it or
not, the big fish do bite! I know of several big fish that have made it to the
boat but you'll have to read the next report.
Till then……
Sincerely,
Dean Nelsen
Week 10
July 20 - July 25, 1998
MSTPA fishing
report:
This past week has proven once again that the Yukon river drainage of Alaska provides
pike fishing that is one level above similar looking waters located throughout
Canada. Before I step into the thick of things with the pike fishing I'll briefly
summarize the fly-outs last week.
We continued to fly the one hour flight covering the one-hundred and fifteen
miles to the Unalakleet river located at the east end of Norton Sound, a sound
of the Bering Sea, located in western Alaska. The Unalakleet river continued
to provide diverse and continuous action from kings, silvers, chums, and pink
salmon mixed with dolly varden and grayling. Fun had by all! It is always fun
being in a fishing situation in which you never know what will be on the end of
the line when you set the hook. Will it be a heavy, apple red king salmon, or
a bright chrome silver salmon covered in sea lice. Perhaps a big bull dog male
chum salmon with canine teeth over a quarter inch long, fighting with an attitude,
or a feisty little pike salmon with a pronounced humpback which earned it's nick
name "Humpie". Or maybe even the frosting on the cake by the dancing,
twirling dollies and the beautiful grayling. This past month on the Unalakleet
river has provided one of those rare opportunities when a fisherman can have his
cake and eat it too.
Now on to the PIKE! Fifty Three inches. You read it right. Marvin has joined
the elite group of anglers who has caught and released a 50 plus inch pike. Congratulations
Marvin. For Wally, Shorty, Bill, Hugh and Dick, their largest pike each of 45",
47", 46", 45" and 44" respectively, small only in comparison
to the 53" monster! All great fish, well done guys!
The pike have begun to concentrate at the mouths of channels throughout the river
systems feeding on the pink salmon currently running the river up to its head
waters where they will spawn. This time of year has provided a unique situation
for Hugh and Dick with the fly rods to catch a bunch of fat and sassy pike. Fun
isn't it! Shorty, Wally and Bill took advantage of the same circumstances, boating
many fish in the 40" plus range. It was fun for us to finally have the fishing
success "normal" this season. To experience a week where you did not
have to work for each individual fish, and if you lost a big one, so what! There
will be another big one on the end of the line shortly.
Thanks for a great week fellows! Join MSTPA next week for our weekly report!
Sincerely,
Dean Nelson
Week 11
July 25 - July 30, 1998
MSTPA fishing
report:
I don't often comment on the personality of a group due
to obvious reasons. This time however, I am going to make an exception. MSTPA
has just survived a week with six of the most rude, inconsiderate, egotistical,
and selfish group of fisherman it has ever experienced! To Don, Bob, Dave, Jeff,
Jim and Ken, all from Colorado, I can only hope that you read this and think about
your behavior while on board our boat for the week! At this point I would start
with examples of their actions but I can't as everything in the paragraph is a
lie, with the exceptions of the names and residence. This past week was a week
of anything said or done, good or bad, could and would be used against him in
some way, shape or form! Since MSTPA falls under the jurisdiction of "camp
rules", where all things shared, except for fishing, do not leave the inner
circle of the boat. I can only hint and say that this past week was one of the
wildest I have ever experienced. I'll let your own imaginations work from there.
MSTPA and its crew were sad to see the last week come to an end. This week saw
the boys from Colorado put on a fly fishing expo. With only tree of the six fly
fisherman on the pike water, three days out of their five day trip, they were
able to boat 68 pike over 40 inches long. The largest pike for Don, Bob, Dave,
Jeff, Jim and Ken was 45", 49", 47", 49", 42", and 44".
Although everyone landed many nice pike during the week, the "Hot Hand"
award has to go to Jeff. If my records are correct, Jeff landed seven fish over
45", one at 45", two at 46", one at 47", two at 48" and
on the last day, with his last cast, finished the week with a beautiful 49"
monster. Well done Jeff!
This group not only demonstrated the lethal effectiveness of flies on big pike.
But used those same techniques on the Unalakleet river to catch king, silver,
chums, pinks, dollies and graylings. After using their two fly outs included
in the trip price to fish for silvers, chums pinks dollies, and grayling, Don,
Dave and Jim elected to go on a third fly out and concentrate on the king salmon
still moving up the North river to spawn. Dave and Jim put on a king salmon still
moving up the North river to spawn. Dave and Jim put on a king salmon fishing
show catching over a dozen kings between 18 and 30 pounds. It was fun to watch
Dave's precision casting creating the perfect drifts for the kings to eat his
super large orange yarn fly. Jim boated the biggest, I believe, with a big buck
king at 30 or more pounds. Don had caught king salmon on previous trips to Alaska,
and volunteered to run the video camera which was a mistake. Dave and Jeff kept
him so busy filming he never had time to use his own fly rod. A great time had
by all.
To the boys from Colorado, thanks for a great week. With luck we will get to
fish with you again sometime.
Sincerely,
Dean Nelson
Week 12
July 30 - Aug. 04, 1998
MSTPA fishing
report:
Week twelve, the transition week from July to August, the month of the big fish.
This week we enjoyed the company of Wayne Belisles, one of MSTPA two financial
investors and three of his friends, Bill, Frank, and Craig all from Minnesota.
The month of August as usual began with rain, wind and big fish. Although Wayne
and friends were here only for a short week, they had to leave a day early to
meet their flight connections, which was made even shorter by the tough weather.
All four would rather play cards than get wet, I can't blame them, but everyone
caught some really nice fish.
Wayne boated a beautiful 48" pike with an attitude, on day two. As much
as Wayne wanted a photo of his fish, the pike was not willing to cooperate. After
several futile attempts for a photo the fish finally made its way back into the
water without a picture. You will just have to catch a large one again next year
Wayne. Craig boated a 44 incher on day two for his largest fish of the week.
Bill waited for day four, and took advantage of a three hour break in the weather
to boat his largest pike of the week, a 47" monster on his Ultra light rig
spooled with a 6 lbs. test line. Well done Bill! The hot hand award for the
week goes to Frank. Although Frank and Wayne tied for the largest fish of the
week, with matching 48" fish, Frank earns the award for catching the most
fish over 40 inches. Nice job Frank, it was a pleasure to fish with you.
Due to the lousy flying weather and the short week, we were only able to do one
fly out up to the Unalakleet river for salmon. Frank and Bill, the lucky ones
to go, took advantage of the day catching silvers, chums, pinks, dollies and grayling.
The silver salmon fishing just keeps getting better with more and more fish entering
the river every day. It is just plain fun fishing to catch thirty or forth silvers
a day intermixed with the others. Thanks for a great day guys.
Till next week, keep your rod tips up and your line tight.
Sincerely,
Dean Nelsen
Week
13
Aug. 04 - 09, 1998
MSTPA fishing
report:
Luck y number 13. This past week, MSTPA was once again at full capacity with
a group of six, Lenny, Dennis, Art, Mark, Dewy and Bernie, all from Ohio. It
was an interesting week in several respects.
First, I must express my admiration and respect to Dewy and Bernie (ages 73 and
78), who fished hard all week. Bernie took a spinal block before the trip, to
deaden some leg pain so he could make the trip. He thought I was kidding when
I told him his wife had called the day before his trip to express her concern
over her crazy husband. Bernie, you are crazy, but I believe you have the key
to staying young. Dewy and Bernie elected to do an extra fly out for the Unalakleet
silvers. The day turned into a fishing contest between the two. It took both
Mike Hart, one of our guides, and I to act as referees between them. Neither
Bernie nor Dewy could count. Someone was always adding a phantom fish or losing
an existing fish in the count. When all was said and done, Bernie and Dewy tied
at 25 silvers each and were still friends. I was a little nervous for a while,
as Bernie held the lead virtually all day. Dewy was not taking it well! His
favorite saying was, "show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser."…Dewy
is NOT a good loser.
Secondly, Leon cracked under pressure, for the first time ever. Dennis (who apparently
is a car dealer with connections), offered Leon a red Ferrari on a lease for $300
per month for a year if he could get Dennis on a 53" pike. Leon failed for
the first time. Normally when someone makes a deal like that with Leon they have
to pay up. You got lucky this time Dennis, but I wouldn't trust the odds again.
The third interesting item for the week: The sheefish have reappeared. The water
conditions have cleared creating great fishing. Apparently it was a free for
all with the only unanswered question being" how many are you going to catch?".
It will be interesting to see if the fishing continues or if the rule "here
today, gone tomorrow" will hold true as it has all season.
This week again showed a general tread of everyone catching some really nice pike.
The largest pike topped out at 47" but as with other weeks there were no
freebies. The big fish were in the following mood: I am always intrigued with
the personalities of big pike. They are truly the master in their domain, and
although we catch our share of big fish, we are still at their mercy. I love
big fish with an attitude.
The silver salmon fishing up on the Unalakleet river just keeps on getting better.
I am sounding like a broken record, but there is nothing else to say but great
fishing. This week gave us the best day of silver fishing and catching yet, with
a one day catch of well over 100 fish. We lost count at 100. Over one hundred
7lbs. to 12 lbs. feisty chrome, sea lice covered salmon. It just doesn't get
any better. At least not until the next time one goes fishing.
Thanks for a great week guys. We look forward to fishing with you again next
year.
Sincerely,
Dean Nelsen
Week
14
Aug. 09 - 14, 1998
MSTPA fishing
report:
Folks, if you are not a fly fisherperson,
I would strongly suggest entertaining the idea, and taking up the hobby! This
week has once again proven how irresistible a fly presentation is to big pike.
The Berry Reynolds fly-fishing party of six from Colorado (Berry, Brad, Rich,
Wally, Doug and Bill) turned those moody pike into statistics instead of lure
following, angler frustrating fish. What kind of statistics you ask? How about
100+ pike over forty inches for starters. Let's break that number down a little
further. Nine of those big pike were over 47 inches, the largest fish was one
at 50.5", one at 49", four at 48", and three at 47". Once
again, MSTPA shows that it is located on the best pike water in North America.
The sheefish fishing continues to be hot. Although the fishermen from this past
group were primarily keyed into the pike, they did give several half-hearted attempts
for the sheefish with excellent results. It is sure nice to have those 8 to 15
pound lure eaters back and biting after taking most of the summer off. They add
a nice variety to the day.
For the fly-outs? We made it to the Unalakleet river for silver salmon only once
during the week due to our typical bad flying weather days of August. The day
was fantastic as usual. Berry, Rich and Bill landed between 35 and 40 silvers
on their fly rods, nice job guys. On our second fly out we elected to try the
Kuskokwim river as the weather was reported good there; Brad, Doug and Wally were
able to boat 7 silvers for the day. The slow fishing was contrasted by a beautiful
day fishing the George river, a tributary to the Kuskokwim, one of the nicest
places in Alaska to fish when the fish are not biting.
All in all, it was a great week. It is really nice to see those big pike making
it to the boat after eluding most of our anglers throughout the summer. As I
look back through our records this past season, our most successful weeks have
been weeks with anglers into fly fishing. It will be interesting to compare the
numbers at the end of the season.
Join us next week to see if the party of five from Minnesota, and a single angler
from Sportsmen's Travel can maintain the intensity of the Colorado group.
Sincerely,
Dean Nelsen
Week
15
Aug. 14 - 19, 1998
MSTPA fishing
report:
This report is hard to write as the days have faded into weeks, and August 14th
through 19th seem like ages ago. As I look back through the fishing reports kept
by each of our guides for that week, I notice there is no mention of the weather
our clients have had to deal with. This is probably a subconscious effort at
survival, limiting the memory to that of the previous day, so one doesn't lose
hope for tomorrow. We have been continually rocked by one low pressure system
after another. The normal weather pattern for this part of the state has the
low pressure systems push up the Aleution chain tracking northeast, then they
hit the main land of Alaska near the towns of King Salmon and Dillingham in the
southeast coast. The pattern for this year has been for the low pressure systems
to continue tracking northeast up to the main land right over the top of us before
petering out around Fairbanks. This new weather track has brought continual rain
and high winds. The past week saw one two day period with winds consistent at
30 knots, and on August 19th (our changeover day) the winds reached 50 knots,
gusting to 60 knots into the afternoon. It delayed the inbound trip for our new
guests until late into the evening, when the winds subsided enough to finish our
changeover.
The effect on fishing has been demoralizing. The high winds have churned all
of the lakes into mud soup, and the continual rains have risen the water up two
vertical feet on the Innoko. In spite of the conditions we enjoyed our week with
Kenny, Brian, Matt, Joe, and Mike, all from Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Daniel
from Pittsburgh, PA. Brian proved to have the hot hand with two pike over 47
inches; one at 47 and the other at 48 ¾, both beautiful fish. Matt was
able to pull in a 46" and 44" before the weather went to pot. As for
Mike, Kenny, Joe and Dan, we appreciate your willingness to fish through adverse
conditions and hope to some day have you back for another chance to put a big
fish in the boat.
The week was once again salvaged by the silver salmon fishing. MSTPA is very
fortunate to have the diversity and ability to take advantage of other fishing
opportunities when the conditions deteriorate for the pike. Salmon in general
are not as weather dependant as the pike are as they are not on a natural feed
while they migrate to the spawning ground in the head waters of the different
rivers. The thing that effects the salmon most is water clarity, in dirty water
salmon can not see your lures and so far thankfully, even though the water levels
have been on the rise, the water is still clear and fishable. Because of the
bad weather, we fished the Aniak river for the first time this season. The silver
fishing was great! It was a welcome break to actually catch something as you
were fishing. The river also provided everyone with a few surprises. Everyday
someone was able to boat a sheefish or rainbow to add a little spice to the day.
Fun had by all.
What will the next week entail? I know as I have already experienced it. Mentally
I have to hold off a few more days before I can write the report just so I can
stay sane and not fall into a deep depressive state. I will say this, the six
guests for week #16 in the next report are six of the nicest guys we have had
on board in a long time. Despite the tough, tough weather there was not one complaint
or negative comment for the week. A rare occurrence in a world where complaining
is a way of life. Enough for now. Join me next week for the complete report.
Dean Nelsen
Week
16
Aug. 19 - 24, 1998
MSTPA fishing
report:
I realize before I can begin this report I have to qualify my statement from last
week. While it is true that the groups of Jim, Mike, Dick Wendell, Scott and Bill
along with six other guests we'd love to have back, I may have implied something
incorrectly. I said they were the nicest guests we have on board in a long time.
I didn't mean to offend any of our past clientele. I was just so appreciateive
of their attitudes. Midnight Sun Trophy Pike has been fortunate all year in having
great clients to fish with. To all of you that have fished with us this year
and have tolerated the frustratingly bad weather, the continuous mechanical problems
of our 5 new Mercury 4 stroke motors and the slow fishing; the staff of MSTPA
says thanks for making the summer go quickly. We have appreciated and enjoyed
all of you. With that said….
The topic is still the weather. Mike and Scott are our first guests to be delayed
in three years on our change-over day. They had to sit in Aniak for the afternoon
of their first day and wait for the winds to subside to something less then the
50 knots gusting to 60 knots. We were finally able to make the inbound trip to
the boat in the evening whe4n the winds slowed to 13 knots gusting to 23 knots.
The first day was a bust for even those who made it to the boat on time, as the
winds were too strong to even fish if you wanted to. As a reslut of the high
winds and rains, all of the bodies of water we usually fish were flooded with
up to four feet of extra water and churned up in mud. Both environmental conditions
are detrimental to pike fishing. Mike and Jim were the only fishing duo able
to put any fish over 40 inches in the boat, they had 5 fish over 40 inches with
the largest a rare 46 inch beauty. I say "rare", as this year's tough
fishing conditions has made a 46" pike a real trophy instead of something
to take for granted as we have in the past. To Scott, Bill, Dick and Wendel we
appreciate your willingness to fish through tough conditions knowing your chances
for success were slim at best.
Fortunately MSTPA was once again able to take advantage of the great silver salmon
fishing in this part of the alaskan state. Fun was had by all. The bonus for
the week was the occasional rainbow trout and sheefish caught while fishing for
silvers. The great fishing on the Kuskokwim drainage helped take the mind off
the tough pike fishing.
MSTPA is moving into its last four weeks of the season. Stay with us for the
final few reports. With any luck at all the conditions will stabilize as we move
into the month of September and we can have our clients finish off the season
with some big fish. Maybe we will even break the 50" mark again!
Sincerely,
Dean Nelsen
Week
17
Aug. 24 - 29, 1998
MSTPA fishing
report:
Finally a week of great weather! We had cool mornings,
although six of our fisherman defined them as downright cold! Ray, John, Bill,
Mike, Robert, and Dick enjoyed warming afternoons and beautiful evenings. One
night had a spectacular display of northern lights. I personally was not in attendance,
but those who were really enjoyed the midnight show of dancing red and green light
rays.
This week showed once again the effectiveness of flies on slow moving pike. Though
both spin fishing and fly fishing came up with the same size of fish for the week,
with the top end being 46", the fly fishing showed a 2 to 1 edge in numbers
of fish caught over spinning tackle. By tackle I don't mean the rod and reel
combinations so much as the lures typically fished by those combinations; spoons,
spinners, etc. I believe the primary reason the fly is so effective is because
the fishing method incorporated by most fly fisherman is a slow wading and casting
technique. They slow down to the speed of the pike. I also think that by wading
in through shallow waters casting, the wading act itself actually attracts big
pike. The water is tea color were we fish, and the pike are not spooked easily.
As a result we see the pike time and time again, slide in close to someone's legs
to check out the commotion and see the little red and white bunny fly. Wham,
they go for it! Anyhow enough of my observations. The bottom line, it was a
great week. The fishing was still slow for the pike as it will take them a while
to acclimate to the current conditions. But as the week progressed the fishing
improved. I suspect our last three weeks of our season will end with a bang if
the current trend continues.
For the silver salmon fishing, what can I say that hasn't already been said.
All six guest took advantage of their fly out and experienced silver salmon fishing
at it's best. Fun was had by all. Catching fish in nice weather…what more could
you want?
With stable weather in the forecast, six new fishermen on the boat and the final
burst of energy into our staff as MSTPA moves into the final three weeks of its
season, it will be interesting to see the results. Join us next time for weekly
report #18.
Sincerely,
Dean Nelsen
Week
18
Aug. 29 - Sept. 03, 1998
MSTPA fishing
report:
I am behind again on my weekly reports.
In fact, as I write this we have two days left of our last week. The week saw
Mike, Frank, Jerry, Tim, Tom and Henry enjoy another great week of weather. As
a result, the fishing success continued to pick up. Mike landed the big fish
of the week with a 47" beauty, Tim came in second with a 46" pike.
Jerry and Tom followed Mike and Tim with a 43.5" and 40" fish finishing
the big fish list for the week. For Frank and Henry we hope to fish with you
again and give it another try. Once again we saw the fly's effectiveness on the
pike. Mike's big fish for the week came on a fly. The fly rod also produced
the numbers of fish boated for the week whether the pike were large or small.
The fly rod method is proving to be most effective, with the current conditions.
Once again the silver salmon fishing up on the Unalakleet river was fantastic.
Since the silvers are still coming in fresh and chrome we dedicated both days
for a meat run as all of Mike's group wanted fish as well as everyone of our staff.
Mike and crew were more than happy to oblige with the whacking and stacking, if
for no other reason than I was the one who had to clean the fish! Actually after
37 silvers on the first day, and 27 the next, we had a lot of team work to down.
Someone would hand me a silver, I would fillet the fish, and someone next to me
would wash and bag the fillets. The first day only took us 45 minutes, and the
second day set a record of 30 minutes. In the end we had a bunch of silver fillets
for everyone to bring home.
This week also saw the opening of duck and goose season in Alaska. Mike decided
to take advantage of the opener and enjoyed an excellent morning of duck and goose
hunting. Mike and I were fortunate to enjoy a beautiful, warm and calm morning
where everything worked but the shooting. We had a variety of ducks and geese
come through the decoys; pintails, mallards, green wing teal, blue bills, widgeon,
speckle bellies and Canadian geese. It was one of those mornings where the bird
decoyed perfectly, allowing us in spite of poor shooting to take our Alaska limit
of ten ducks each and a few geese.
In summary, it was great to have Mike and Frank back on board again for another
week. We appreciated the new people brought, and your continued support of our
operation. With the weather conditions stable and the water conditions continuing
to improve, I believe the fishing I will continue to gradually improve. The grand
finale is next week!
Dean Nelsen
Week
19
Sept. 03 - 08, 1998
MSTPA fishing
report:
MSTPA and its clients enjoyed another nice week of weather. I am always amazed
how the weather patterns work up here. It is the second week in September, and
we are experiencing the best weather of the summer. The days have been calm and
sunny. Maybe a little fog in the morning but otherwise they have been great days
to be outside enjoying the beautiful fall colors of Alaska.
The fishing did not improve in numbers as I would have expected but it did improve
in fish size. Of our clients Don, Jim, Jerry, Chris, and Paul, two of them caught
fish over 48". Congratulations Don and Jim, those are big fish, especially
for this time of year. Both fish were easily 30 pounds. True monsters in anyone's
book. The fish were really short striking this past week, which is what kept
the numbers down. In fact, Chris set a new record for missed fish. I can't say
the number for fear of total embarrassment of the world wide web, but I will say…..it
was A LOT!! I will give one example of a typical day for Chris likes candy bars,
as I guess all young guys do. One day after missing numerous fish for the morning
and not yet getting one to the boat, Chris wanted to take a break and snack on
a candy bar. Greg who was Chris's guide for the day said, "No way, not until
you land a fish. I am not going to look bad as your guide, because you can't
hook a fish." I don't know if I have the wording exactly right, but you
can get the point. Well, it took Chris 3 ½ hours and numerous lost fish
later before he put a pike in the boat, and earned his candy bar. I have to say
on Chris's behalf, he is a 12 year old kid who has never handled a spinning or
bait casting rig before this trip. By the end, he was handling both types like
an old pro. On behalf of the MSTPA staff, I can say we'd love to have you back
any time Chris!
For the silvers, we tried the Aniak river for a day with little success. There
had been reports of one last push of fresh fish coming up the river but we were
unable to find them. We were able to boat 6 silvers, 2 sheefish, and a number
of small pike for the day but it was not the fishing we have become accustom to.
So, on the next trip we went to the Unalakleet river. The fishing there was what
we were accustom to. We were able to catch over 30 silvers on flies, pixies and
eggs. The bonus to the day was the weather. It was a wonderful day; clear, sunny
and warm with light winds. The type of weather that is almost unfeard of on the
Unalakleet during this time of the year.
We did not have any waterfowl hunters on board this past week but Leon and Itook
a morning and set up
for some geese. We had a good shoot on speckle bellies and enjoyed a great morning
watching the sun come up and the birds working the area. With one week left,
we are looking for a great end to a very rocky season. Join me for our last weeks
report, I should have it here by the 15th of September.
Sincerely,
Dean Nelsen
Week
20
Sept. 08 - 13, 1998
MSTPA fishing
report:
The Big Finale!
Before I can review our final week of fishing, I have to make a correction in
my report from week #19. Jerry, who was one of our clients from the week, has
politely pointed out that it was he, not Jim who boated the second 48" fish
for the week. I hope this clears up the issue for you Jerry! Your friends should
believe you now, I know I would! So, having given credit where credit is due,
let's move on to the final week.
The last week of our season could not have ended on a better not. We had the
pleasure of spending the week with the Lester Graf party of five from Illinois.
Lester, Ben, Rick, Larry and Ed both fished and hunted. MSTPA could not have
had better weather, most days were calm clear or high, overcast and warm. For
the month of September in Alaska, this is great weather. Along with that, came
great fishing. Ben ended our season with a 49" beauty, Rick with two hogs
- one a 48", and the other a 47" fish. Lester boated a 44" pig
which was a twin to Ed's 44 incher. In reading through the reports, I see that
Larry's name does not come up beside a big fish, he was the one that boated the
numbers of pike in the 35 to 40" range. What a great way to end the season.
The reason for the good fishing on the last week was simple, we had stable weather
conditions with receding water. Every day proved to be better fishing than the
previous one. I would have liked to see what one more week would have produced.
MSTPA saw the pike fishing from the end of August forward, improve with stable
weather for the first time all season. I believe September was our best weather
month of the year.
The silver salmon fishing was GREAT! The Unalakleet produced fantastic salmon
fishing to the very end. In fact, on the last fly out of the year with Ben, Ed
and Rick, they put the finishing touch on our salmon season with a true, simultaneous,
triple hook-up on silvers, landing all three fish. I would like to thank you
guys for a great day. For those of you who enjoyed the fishing up on the Unalakleet
this past year and want to go back, keep in touch. We are putting together plans
for a salmon camp. We hope to put the details in our yearly newsletter which
will be out at the end of the year.
Lester, Rick and Larry took advantage of the great duck and goose hunting the
area has to offer, by spending two mornings watching over a bunch of decoys.
Morning one produced 20 some ducks and 2 geese. Morning two produced 30 some
ducks and 10 geese. I was able to go with on the second day. What a great way
to end the season for me. The morning was overcast with light drizzle, calm winds,
and lots of birds. We saw a variety of waterfowl such as mallards, widgeon, teal,
pintails, blue bills, speckel bellies, and canada geese. The best part of the
morning was watching the tundra swans work over the lake and through the decoys.
They are really big birds.
In conclusion, that is a summary of the last week. It has been a very unpredictable
fishing season. MSTPA will be publishing our yearly newsletter, which will talk
about our season overall, next years outlook, and our expansion plans for the
future. For those of you on our mailing list, the newsletter will be sent out
some time in December. For those who join us on the Web, we will have the newsletter
posted sometime in early November.
Thanks to all of you who have followed MSTPA through these weekly reports this
summer. I have been pleasantly surprised by the number of people who have taken
time to read these weekly reports, and I have enjoyed your comments. Until next
year, keep your rod tip up, the line tight, and the big fish on the other end.
Sincerely,
Dean Nelson
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