Life Is Complete (Alaskan Fishing Report)

[duckydoty]

Life is Complete!

My wife (My MonaChari) and I have finished our summer guiding season in Alaska. All I can say is “WOW”! We had very few opportunities to actually get out our selves and fish. On September the 14th, the day before we were to leave King Salmon, our employer and extended family, Crystal Creek Lodge, gave us the day off to go fishing together. Now, we could have gone many different places in the Bristol Bay region, such as Ugashik Narrows, the Kulik River, the Moraine River, or even Funnel or Battle Creeks, all of which would have been great places to fish, but we chose the Naknek River that runs right in front of the Lodge. You see, I have a special love for the Naknek River, and she has been very good to me. One of the things I love the most about the Naknek is, anything is possible!

On our final day of fishing the Naknek for the 2010 season, Rainbow Trout were expected to be on the bead, meaning all of the sockeye salmon that had been staging in the river were now spawning and dropping eggs by the millions into the river system. The Rainbow Trout will come down out of Naknek Lake and lay behind these spawning salmon gorging themselves on these eggs in preparation for the long winter to come. By matching the hatch, we drift beads that are of similar size and color to these eggs in hopes of fooling the trout into thinking it is an egg. We use deep water dredging techniques to get these beads down in slower deep water and down deep fast in faster water.

Most of the 2010 season in the Bristol Bay Region had been cooler than normal, overcast rainy and foggy. This day was different. It was one of the few days that the sun was shining. The air was crisp and cool in the morning, but we could feel the warmth of the sun burning the last bit of fog off the river. The sky was a rich blue, and Sand Hill Cranes were migrating in the air, trumpeting their presence to all that could hear. The Alders on the banks of the river were vibrant in the Fall hues of yellow and orange. The tundra was alive with colors of greens, reds and browns. The boat ride its self up the Naknek River was one to remember.

Our first stop on the river was a place known as “Rainbow Rock”. Rainbow Rock can hold some enormous trout this time of year. A very good friend of ours, Mr. Phil Lilley, landed a 35 inch Rainbow a few years ago and over the last few years, I have caught several in the 30 inch plus range from this productive place. My MonaChari and I, after anchoring the boat in just the right spot, sight fished to several nice sized trout for an hour or so. Some of these Rainbows were pushing the 30inch mark. After only hooking up with nine or ten fish in the 22 to 24 inch range, we decided to move on up the river to try the deep slow drift.

On our first drift, I hooked up with and landed a beautiful and very respectable 28inch Rainbow Trout. We took a couple of pictures and released the fish in hopes that it would eventually grow to over 30 inches. On one drift, I had a hook up with a big bow, and I mean Big! This fish absolutely smoked me in no time flat. There was no time for action or even reaction. This fish made one massive sprint, and, tink, it was over. There were a couple of times that My MonaChari and I were completely schooled by big Rainbows, and we were just left standing there in the boat wondering “what just happened?” and thoughts of, “I wonder how big that one was?”. We made several more drifts catching fish on every drift in the 21 to 25 inch range, sometimes hooking up with doubles and even multiple fish on the same drift. After eating lunch on the river, My MonaChari made the comment to me that this, was by far, our best day ever fishing together in Alaska. Little did we know what was to come…..

Around four in the afternoon while fishing from the back of the boat on another drift, I felt the familiar tug on my fly rod of a Rainbow trout picking up the bead. I set the hook in anticipation and preparation for an exhilarating fight from another nice sized bow in the 24-25 inch range with hopes of a 30 incher. My six weight rod was immediately “bowed up” straining with a radical bend and the drag of the reel screaming as the fish attempted to smoke me in its initial run towards the bow and under the boat. As I was racing my way through the middle of the boat to keep my line from hanging under the bow, the fish made a fantastic leap to the front left of the boat. This monstrous Rainbow Trout came at least four feet out of the water with three giant head shakes. The spray of water violently being shook from the fish glistened against the blue sky as it caught the sunlight. This is when I realized that I might have hold of a 30 inch Rainbow Trout, the “Holy Grail” of the Naknek River. My heart started racing and I could feel it pounding in my throat as the battle of “Tug of War” continued. My rod was bending and straining as never been seen before. I could almost feel the heat and smell the smoke of the drag of the reel as line came screaming off, time and time again, on massive runs taking me deep into my backing. Each and every run ended in an epic struggle to gain inches at a time of line back onto my reel.

My MonaChari early into the fight had the boat cleared and ready for the final netting of the fish if it were to happen, and she continually offered support and advice on fighting the fish. “Let her run! Let her run!” and “Keep your line tight!” she repeated over and over again. About ten minutes into the fight, we finally had a chance to see how big this fish really was. The Rainbow was still ten feet deep in the crystal clear water. Her gill plates were covered in a rosy pink hue and were the size of saucers. This is when I realized that on the end of my 2x tippet line was the largest Rainbow Trout that I had ever seen! This fish was a “Pig” well over the 30inch mark, and the fish of a Life Time!

My MonaChari was now challenged and burdened to perform the monumental task of netting this beast. The pressure was on her, and she could feel it. Things kept running through her mind, like “Please don’t let me bump this fish off!” and “Come on, Doty! You’ve got to get her head up!” Failure was not an option! My MonaChari kept encouraging me “You’ve got to turn her, Doty!” “You’ve got to lift her, Doty!” she kept pleading. My arms were burning with fatigue by now and I had little to no control of this behemoth of a fish. On one last “Hail Marry” I lifted the fish as high as I could and ran to the back of the boat to get as much swing as I could and My MonaChari did it. She scooped the fish head first into the net, making dreams come true! 36 inches from nose to tail with a 19 ½ inch girth threw me into the realization that I had finally caught the Rainbow Trout of a Lifetime! A goal that I had set four years ago had finally been obtained with the help of my lovely wife and partner, My MonaChari!

Truly, our best day ever fishing together in Alaska!

[duckydoty]

Here is a link to the video

Video of the fish of a lifetime

[jjtroutbum]

Days fish and family like that are truly a blessing.

Thanks for sharing a wonderful report.

[Wheatenheimer]

AWESOME!!!!!

I can only imagine the adrenaline and excitement you must have been feeling when you landed that beauty!

Thanks for sharing!

[Buzz]

Man, I could almost feel that it was me fighting that giant. Great report. You are truly a very lucky man.

[Danoinark]

Good on the both of you....

[Flysmallie]

That's freaking awesome. Great job to the Doty family.

[Indiana Trout]

Incredible!!!

[laker67]

WOW

[Bman]

Awesome fish! and report.