Arctic Adventures

 AN EVENINGS CATCH-  CAUGHT SALOMON TOO BUT NO GOOD ONES  AN EVENINGS CATCH-  SALMON CAUGHT WERE NO GOOD  A DAYS CATCH PLUS 4 "GOOD" SALMON Kayla was on family leave last year when we were here and was not so busy so she had us set up well to post all the time on here.  She puts a ton of effort into her teaching which does not allow much time for non- computer people to do this kind of stuff.  I forgot my cables for my camera to get my pictures on here so hopefully the kids can help me with it when I get home.  There are some great ones that will at least show some of what this place is about. The flight here was no problem.  I did have to keep an eye on grandpa however!!  We stayed at Adena and Chad's on the way to the airport in Chicago.  They were out west on their trip but it was obvious Cruz is taking over their place and is the center of attention.  He has stuff!!  We flew out early Sunday and stayed th...

The water level is finally dropping, and we have been able to get into some fish. Phil caught a beautiful 27"  dolly. The trout (or dolly varden) haven't been nearly as thick as they were last year when Russ and Phil were out here, but they are bigger.    Little Sleepy I have been getting a little better knowing the river, but we still go slow through the tricky spots. My nice, new looking prop didn't make it a day before I dinged it up.    Going Boating Today we went out to the hotspot gravel bar. We put in a long day fishing for trout, whitefish, and salmon. We brought back about 30 whitefish, 7 trout, and a few of the fresher salmon.  Tundra  Trout and Whitefish  Salmon Bug Trout and Whitefish We saw a couple of bears across the river from where we were fishing. Phil and Russ were both a little jumpy after that. Phil said he was hoping to see a bear in a non dangerous situation. He got his wish. There w...

I finally got my boat and motor together. My motor arrived yesterday in one piece. I got to work right away getting it hooked up. It still needs some more work but it looks like it should be in action for most of the time that Russ and Phil are here. Now if only the weather would cooperate. The rain has mostly slowed down, but now it is cold.   Helping Out There have been bears hanging around town all week. The river is too high for them to catch fish, and the berries are mostly over. They come into town for easy pickings.  One Down  Ready to Go I haven't been out to fish in two weeks. The water level has been way too high to even think about it. Once it drops I'm thinking that it will be pretty good. On another note, the BLM surveyors were giving away AV gas, and I got a 100 gallons for free. I will probably have to mix it with regular gas, but 100 gallons of free gas is nice.   Oren Loves Cookie Dough

Last Saturday we took a little boat trip upriver. Everybody roasted hot dogs and s'mores.  Oren Fell Asleep on the Boat  Petting Shiloh  Proud As Could Be of His Coffee Cup Sunday I went fishing with John Hill and Dan Lasanen. The water was just starting to go down again. The fishing was phenomenal. We landed a ton of salmon, grayling, and even a couple trout. On Monday it started raining. It has been raining steadily for almost a week now. The river is waaaaayy high. Monday evening I rode down to Kotzebue with Stan and Timm in Timm's boat. Then we had a few days of inservice. Thursday afternoon just me and Timm headed back.    Old Fish Hatchery  The Sound was pretty bumpy, but the wind was out of the south so we were able to make it without any trouble. I was surprised how rough it was far up the river. They say it has something to do with the south wind going against the current makes it really choppy. The ride was uneventful...

 So Many Rocks  Fishing  Blueberries Num-Num We finally arrived in to Noatak. All our flights went pretty well. Oren was bouncing off the walls on the flight from Chicago to Seattle. Neither of us got any rest on that flight. We took all day Wednesday just putting our luggage away and resting. I think I went to sleep at about 7 pm. On Thursday we went fishing for a little while. We didn't catch any though. The river is very high and dirty. It will need to go down, and clear up for the fishing to improve. We went and picked blueberries for a little while. The mosquitoes were horrendous. Oren had a good time.

 I purchased a boat for next year  Trying to eat the fish Gone Fishin'

 Ran Into Some Trout Today  Still Cold Tho  Out For a Walk  Nice Day Oren is Almost Sleeping