King Salmon—Fish The Nush
Earlier this year I had a friend reach out and offer a spot on a fishing trip they had planned. They had someone back out and needed to fill the empty hole and figured they would ask me. I asked where and all they replied with was King Salmon fishing at Fish the Nush Lodge in Alaska. Without hesitation, I agreed to join them. I’ll be the first to say that I am a true Texan, but there is something special about Alaska. Refusing an invitation to make a fishing trip up there is simply not in my vocabulary. Alaska is truly one of the most unique and beautiful places I have ever had a chance to visit. Fast forward a few months and I was on a plane headed north – way north.
We touched down in Anchorage and then caught a flight over to King Salmon, which was a fitting name for what we were embarking on. We met a pilot and he helped with our bags and brought us down the road to the dock where he had his float plane tied off. Now, when it comes to flying, I am not the biggest fan, but getting on a float plane and taking off on the river was the neatest experience to me—I loved it. A short 30-minute flight and we touched down on the Nushagak River, just in front of our lodge. We eased up to the dock and were warmly greeted by the owner, guides, and staff. The owner, Pete, gave us a quick tour of the place and showed us the cabin that we would be bunking in. He told us to get settled in and come back over to the main kitchen area where the chef had a big pot of chili going; a fitting meal for the cooler temperatures we had that day. Also, by far the best bowl of chili I have had outside of Texas! We finished lunch and Pete gave us the option to hang out there for the afternoon or we could go fishing for a few hours until dinner time. Hastily removing ourselves from the dinner table to find our jackets and waders was the answer to that question!
We walked down to the river, hopped on a boat and took off. Our guides, Tim and Bill, decided we wouldn’t go too far and check out a stretch of river they call Pyscho. Salmon fishing is completely foreign to me, so this was a whole new learning experience. Every rod was rigged up with a large in-line spinner; imagine a rooster tail like you would use for crappie, but 10” long. About 4’ above the spinner was a large weight, maybe a pound, and the idea was that we were going to troll it behind the boat and cover certain sections of the river. It wasn’t long into our float that my rod bent over. Before I knew it, I was fighting a strong and hearty fish.
After a few good runs and several trips around the boat, we finally got her in. It was a beautiful fish around 30” and we decided to put it in the box. The way the King Salmon regulations work up there, an angler is allowed five king Salmon a year, only one of which can be longer than 28 inches. I figured that an oversize on the first day is just as good as one on the last day, so I marked it off my license. We caught one other smaller fish that we safely released back into the river before heading back for dinner.
When we got back to the dock, I heard one of the guides ask if my fish had sea lice on it and there was a quick reply that it did. With my curiosity, I had to ask why. They explained to me that if a fish still has sea lice on them it has been in the river less than 24 hours, meaning that the fish I caught had just migrated inward. All of the fish we are targeting are moving upriver to spawn, and the guides had explained to us that we were a few days shy of the mass migration. They explained that Summer Solstice is historically when the salmon begin to make their greatest push upriver. For reference, when we were there, the sonar count done by the Game and Fish Department was showing an average of 5,000 Salmon per day. On the Summer Solstice it jumped to 10,000 and then hit 30,000 a few days afterwards.
The next day we got on the boat with Dante, and the sun was trying to break through the clouds. You never know what you might get with Alaskan weather, so always appreciate the sun when you get it. We took off and hit an area and not long afterward one of the other boats hooked up with a nice fish. After a few drifts, we finally landed what they call a tweener, which is a perfect upper-slot fish. As the day went on we moved downriver and began to hit a few different places. We hung into a few more fish and some other species until it was time to head back to the lodge.
Joaquin was our guide the next day and one of the more experienced guides on the river. Naturally, I had plenty of questions about the fishery and fishing tactics and he was eager to answer all of them. Not long into our morning, John’s reel began to peel drag and we knew he had a good fish on. Joaquin instructed him perfectly on how to fight this fish and showed him how to control and direct it all the way to the net. John was 65 years old and that day was his birthday; he landed his first fish ever, a solid 33” King Salmon! We continued on and landed a few more fish that day and it seemed that all of the other boats did just as well. The Summer Solstice was only 5 days away, and the fishing was continuously getting better with each passing day. That night we were treated with a large slab of prime rib. Needless to say, we all slept well that night!
The last morning came and we were all up early and eager to go. We enjoyed our morning coffee and a hearty breakfast. I found out that I would be on Dante’s boat once again. We discussed what we had left to accomplish towards a tag-out, and all I needed was one tweener, while my friend Kimra needed only one oversize fish. We knew what the mission was and away we went. On our second drift of the morning, Kimra’s rod bent over and she began to fight a fish. Knowing that it had potential to make the oversize category, Dante quickly jumped up and grabbed the net. After a few runs, they finally landed it and he began to measure. It was barely over 28” and Kimra decided to roll the dice; let it go and try for a bigger one – a bold move to say the least.
We finally found a good solid stretch where we were pulling in 1-2 fish per drift but no overs. I caught my tweener and I was done for the day. Dante made the decision to head a little further downriver and hit a long stretch of gravel beach that he personally liked. Nearing the end of the beach and about 10 minutes before we needed to head back, Kimra’s rod slams over and the drag takes off. There was no doubt that she had a big fish on. After about 10 minutes of fighting and circling the boat several times, they finally got it in the net. It was a giant in comparison to what we had been catching all week. We took several pictures along the gravel beach and decided to head back in with grins on our faces the whole way. That fish went 36” and was the biggest of the week. I guess the Fishing Gods favor the bold sometimes!
All in all, it was a trip that was full of laughs, great times and great memories. To top it off, the food was by far the best I have ever had at a lodge, much less anywhere else. Their chef, Chris, is arguably one of the best in the entire state. The lodge itself had a clean, comfortable place for us to sleep, plenty of hot water for a daily shower, and a nice front porch that overlooked the river after a long day of fishing. It was a neat place to sit and watch moose and bear on the adjacent riverbank. Between the fishing, guides, staff, food and views and being in the middle of the Alaskan bush, it was a truly impressive place.
