Alaska Journal

[JD Dudley]

ALASKA!!!

6-23-7 AT LAST… ME AND DAD GET TO TAKE OUR MEMORY MAKING TRIP TOGETHER THAT WE’VE TALKED ABOUT FOR YEARS. He’s asleep right now on the top bunk that’s in the “slanted” cabin and I am so thankful that we are here TOGETHER!!! No Bears… YET!

Right now I’m sitting here in the cabin and am about to go to bed for the “Night”? It’s 9:15 p.m. and as I’m looking out the window of our cabin (that sits right next to the Naknek River) it looks like it’s 3:00 in the afternoon. It’s really bizarre and from what I understand, it won’t start getting dark until around 12:00 a.m. and even then, it will only get dark gray AND you’ll still be able to see outside. We flew into King Salmon this morning at around 10:45 and have had an incredible day! Dad caught the first fish of our trip as he was already out on the boat as I was getting ready (we had hardly unpacked… just the rods, jig box, and waders) . His fish was an 18 inch Rainbow and he caught it right out in front of our window. I managed to catch up with him on our first run of the Naknek. We started up by the public ramp and floated down to our camp (about ¼ of a mile) and on that drift, I caught a 24 inch Rainbow on 2 lb. line on an Arkansas minnow. I wasn’t that impressed with how the fish fought and I “thought” to myself, “this is no different than the White River fish… in fact, a fish that size on the river would probably have fought harder than that one, especially below Bull Shoals.” I WAS WRONG!!!. After neither one of us caught anything else on that run, I switched to a Gray/White Jig and got one bite on the next run but missed it, so I switched to a Motor Oil Jig. GREAT CHOICE!!! On our next run, I hooked one that was much bigger than my 24 inch one and after him running like a fish I’ve never played before, he broke me off. A few casts later, I caught a 19 inch Rainbow and it fought harder than the 24 inch fish and was in fact, comparable to a 24 inch fish on the river. We were both getting cold b/c it was raining and the temperature was around 50 degrees with the wind blowing about 10-15 mph, so dad decided to go warm up for a little bit. We got back to the dock and I told dad that I was going to make a couple of more runs and then come up. I dropped him off and went back up to the ramp. On my second or third cast, I hooked another big one and after it jumped a couple of times (I’m guessing it around 27-28 inches), it broke me off. By this point, I was both in conquer mode because I was bound and determined to catch one of these fish on 2 lb. line AND in awe of the fish that were in there, so I decided to keep going. I tied on another Motor Oil Jig, casted out a couple of more times and hooked a fish… THE FIGHT WAS ON! I hooked him up above the ramp (that’s at the end of the road in Alaska) and the first run that he made took almost ¾ of my spool (around 200 yards) as he went down river. After trying to get the motor started for about 5 minutes, I saw that he was over half way down to our dock as he was jumping that far down and I could see him which let me know how big he was because I was still up at the ramp. I got the motor started and made my way down to him. By the time I got to him, I had an audience, including dad who I was most thankful to see simply b/c I want to make him proud. After fighting him for about 15 minutes, I landed him, just down from our dock and he was the biggest Rainbow I had ever caught. Some of the guys came down to the dock to see it and James (the 14 year old guide) measured him as Phil videoed and dad took pictures. He measured 28 inches and fought harder than any Rainbow I had ever caught on the river. Me, dad, and Scott went back out about an hour before dinner. I caught 2 more, one was a 19 inch Rainbow and the other was 29 INCHES and weighed around 9 pounds! UNBELIEVABLE!!! Again, the biggest Rainbow I’ve ever caught and we had only been fishing for about 2 hours! I can’t wait to see what else WE catch. Right now I don’t feel bad for dad, but I wish that he could have caught one like that or bigger because this trip IS NOT ABOUT ME, it’s about him!

The trip up here was great! The Lord answered my prayers in regards to my back because I had absolutely no trouble at all. We flew from XNA to Salt Lake City, Utah (with a 7.5 hour lay over), to Seattle (I saw the space needle and downtown Seattle), and then to Anchorage (dad saw 3 bears as we were landing in Anchorage). We stayed the night at the worst hotel I’ve ever been in (worse than Cedar Rock Lodge in College) and then flew from Anchorage to King Salmon this morning. Last night as we were flying into Seattle, I was studying Romans 10:9-13 because in the midst of flying, I really began to question whether or not I truly knew that I would be going to heaven should something happen in the plane. I got my answer as I was studying Romans. It says…

“That if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, ‘Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame. For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile – the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”

The reason I had peace after I studied that is because I looked up the words confess and believe. I’ve confessed (admitted) that Jesus is Lord, but even though I’ve heard it almost all my life, I didn’t really KNOW if I believed that God rose Jesus from the dead. After studying the Greek for “Believe”, I found that it means “Trust” in the context in which it is being used. I’VE TRUSTED GOD WITH MY LIFE! And I found comfort in verse 11 that says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” My worries were gone!

I’m probably not making sense with that because it’s almost 10:00 p.m., I’m tired, and it’s still "3:00 p.m." outside, but I trust God with my heart and I trust also that He did raise Jesus from the dead since that’s what His Scripture says that He did!

I’m about to try to go to sleep (I hope I don’t hear any crazy noises, like bears outside) and am looking forward to tomorrow. Oh, one more thing! I love my wife and my children and am VERY THANKFUL that I get to talk with them while I’m up here (2 cents a minute, WOW!)

“Father, thanks for safety, thanks for blessing our time up here together thus far, thanks for strength with my back and with dad’s back, thanks for giving me and dad the chance to do this together, but most importantly… thanks for the realization, that you have given me the faith to completely trust you! I want to ask that you would give dad a HUGE Rainbow and lots of other fish b/c as I’ve prayed before, my desire is not that we are the best or anything like that, but that you would give us a lifetime ‘more’ of memories from this trip. Please keep Julie and the kids safe and shower them with your love. I love you my Father!”

Day 2: Alaska

6-24-7 10:47 p.m. and THE SUN IS SHINIING RIGHT NOW! How bizarre is that?

This morning at around 5:00 a.m. (as it was still daylight), I finally woke up to dad getting dressed to go out to fish for a little bit. I layed there and let him go. I got out of bed at around 6:00 a.m. and walked out on the porch and saw dad out on the river in one of the boats and he was landing a 25 inch Rainbow. We ate breakfast and then all of us went down river to go Sockeye fishing. MY PRIDE GOT THE BEST OF ME TODAY and I think it did dad too. Neither one of us caught a Sockeye, but everyone else who was fishing, did and the reason they caught them and we didn’t is because they were using fly rods and we were using jigs on ultra-lights with 2 lb. line. However, I know the reason that we were using rods is because we were both going after the 2 lb. line class C&R World Record for Sockeye. As far as I know, neither one of us even got a bite. I did manage to catch two Rainbows while we were down there. One was 21 inches and the other was 26 inches (which I thought was a Sockeye until I saw it for the first time about ¾ of a mile down stream). One thing that was cool about the 26 inch fish is that I hooked the fish from the bank and as I was walking down the bank to take my line over the boats, Phil Lilley told me to jump in the boat and we would chase him down... thanks for the ride Phil. Me, dad, and Phil, went down river and after about 15 minutes, I landed him. Anyways, we fished down there for a while and caught no more fish so we headed back up to the camp and me, dad, and Al Mohler (former basketball coach at C of O and current AD there who I played against when I was in college) went our for some Rainbows for a little bit. I caught one more 26 inch Rainbow and it put on a show like none of the others thus far. It jumped several times about 1 ½ feet out of the water. It was awesome and during the fight, I told dad thanks for letting me come up here. Dad hooked one big one that I never saw but did hear and it sounded really BIG, but it came unbuttoned (thanks Matt). We came back and ate dinner and then just hung out talking for a little while to everyone.

While we were fishing for the Sockeye, dad dropped his camera in the water and I know that frustrated him b/c of all the pictures he had taken, but hopefully we’ll get those off the memory stick. He did get the camera back but as of right now it’s not working. He also didn’t catch anymore fish after his one early this morning and I bet that frustrated him too. I know it’s frustrating me b/c I know he’s the best fisherman here and I truly want him to catch fish up here. I KNOW THAT HE WILL AND I’M SURE WHEN HE DOES, THEY’LL BE BIG! He’s shown no frustration at all about it though and once again, is setting an incredible example for me to follow. Thanks Dad!

One more thing. I got to talk with Julie and the kids this morning. Drew was about to go hit the ball with Julie and was excited about it and when Jill got on the phone she started laughing and told me “I LUB-UH-LU!” It made my heart feel good and it made my heart feel good to get to talk with all of them.

“Father, again, thanks for our time up here. Please continue to protect and bless Julie, Drew, and Jill. I also want to ask that you would allow dad to catch at least one BIG fish tomorrow. Continue to protect us and continue to reveal to us your majesty in our time up here together. I love you my Father!”

Day 3: ALASKA

6-25-7 (Actually 12:38 a.m. on 6-26-7 and it is STILL DAYLIGHT!)

UNBELIEVABLE!!!! I JUST GOT DONE FISHING!!! I’ll get into that more here in a minute… First let me say this… God has absolutely answered my prayer about giving dad an incredible day! He started this morning at around 5:00 a.m. again and while he was fishing, he didn’t catch a fish. He did have one on, but it broke him off and when he came back, I was just waking up and he told me about it. We then went and ate breakfast and I kind of hung around the dining hall for a little bit, just so I could figure out what we were doing for the day (and so I could visit the incredibly accommodating restroom for the first time since we got here). When I got back to the cabin, dad was in here and I could tell as soon as I got back in here that everything was as it should be. I asked dad what he had been doing and he told me that he had spent some quality alone time. I knew what that meant… he had been with the Lord. He told me that God had broken him of some pride in his life in regards to fishing and was ready to face the day and whatever God had in store for him. He was extremely excited to face the day (It’s not that he hadn’t been before b/c he’s very excited to be here, but he had hardly caught any fish and I could tell that it was frustrating him because that’s what drew us up here). We went Sockeye fishing AND DAD HAD SUBMITTED TO USING A FLY ROD! Before I knew it, he had already caught one and then another, and another, and the rest was history. I don’t know how many he caught, but IT WAS A LOT!!! As the day progressed, I SAW DAD MORE EXCITED THAN HE HAS EVER BEEN WHILE FISHING AND MAYBE IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!!! He was smiling from ear to ear and laughing and talking to everyone and catching fish and he was loving EVERY minute of it. What’s cool about that is that I truly believe that he was having fun fishing, but I believe his excitement also came from what God had revealed to him this morning. I WAS TRULY BLESSED TO SEE THAT!!! Thank you Father!

As far as my day goes, I finally caught a Sockeye and it was on a rod and reel. My first one ever and if everything tests out correctly, it will be the new 2 lb. line / Catch n’ Release World Record. Phil Lilley filmed it, netted it, and then took the picture of it. It was hooked perfectly and it measured 24 inches long.

My rods finally came in and while I was getting them rigged up, dad and Jamie (the 14 year old guide who is Jim, the owner’s, son) went out Rainbow fishing in front of the Camp. They did really well… Dad caught a 29 inch Rainbow and Jamie caught a 27 inch Rainbow and they did it at the same time… Dad loves kids and I know he enjoyed his time with Jamie!

Me and dad went out for about 20 minutes before dinner and I caught one more Rainbow that was about 21 inches and then we came in. After dinner, we came back to the cabin and since I had spent a lot of time putting my newly arrived rods together, I decided to go back out. Dad decided to go to bed, but that’s why I’m sitting here writing right now at 1:00 a.m. (b/c I went fishing). Me, Jamie, Scott (Chiropractor from Branson), and his dad (Roger) went out Rainbow fishing and it was INCREDIBLE!!! They say I caught one that was 30 inches and weighed 8 pounds… as of right now, I don’t know b/c I don’t remember measuring it, but I did get to teach those guys how to fish ¼ oz. White Jigs as the Rainbows were chasing the smelt. Scott’s dad, caught one just over 30 and three more between 27 and 29 inches. I caught a couple of more (between 24-27 inches), but all of us caught fish. The kicker to the whole deal was that Scott had only caught one that was about 18 inches, until his last cast (his dad was already hooked into a good one at that time). He and his dad both caught 6 pounders on their last cast, which was at about 12:30 a.m. tonight (still daylight). Me and Jamie teamed up really well as I ran the boat and he netted their fish. We got some great pictures of it all and I can’t wait to see them.

By the way, even though dad’s camera is broken, the memory stick works, so we’ve got all the pictures from since we started up here.

I talked to Julie and both the kids and they were doing well. They made it back from Harrison and I was thankful to hear that. Drew got on the phone and asked me if I had caught any big fish yet and I told him that I had and that I had caught a “Three Spine Stickleback”. He then asked me if I was coming home in 5 more nights. I told him that I was and then he said, “Daddy, can we come and pick you up?” I told him that Alaska was too far, but that I would be home in 5 more nights and then he said, “Maybe we can pick you up off the plane.” I told him absolutely. I do miss them and will be very excited to see them when I get home, but I know that God is taking care of them, just like he’s taking care of us up here. Still no bears… thankfully!

“Father, thanks for an incredible day! I loved getting to see dad so excited! I also loved getting to help out Scott and his dad alongside Jamie! I also enjoyed getting to hang out with Phil a little bit! Thank you for those things. Also, thanks for taking Julie and the kids home safely. I ask that you would continue to protect them and us. Please continue to bless our time up here with these men and create special memories for us. Thanks for the memories you ARE creating for us! I love you my Father!”

Day 4: ALASKA!

6-26-7 11:54 p.m. and it’s STILL daylight! I’m kind of getting use to it!

This morning I woke up at around 7:30 (after a long, but good night last night) and one of the first thoughts that I had as I was waking up was about the “Vision” of the camp. What was revealed to me was that this place could be part of… if not the… transitioning of the carpet and woods part of the “Picture” that I was telling Tom Brawner about. It seems to fit very well because of what I saw last night with Scott and his dad and because I don’t see any way that I would move up here, but this place, in my mind anyways, would be a perfect venue to accomplish what I have in my heart for Fathers and Sons. I told dad on the way to the Idavain River that this probably wasn’t the last time we would be here and he asked how come and I told him that this could be part of the “Picture” that I saw in staff meeting. There are so many opportunities for Fathers and Sons to relate here, like the trip that we took today which I’m about to go into. But I do want to say this… this morning at breakfast I got one of the greatest compliments about fishing I’ve ever gotten. We were sitting at breakfast when Jim (father of Big Jim) told me… “We were talking last night and you know what? If everyone was as good of a fisherman as you, these Rainbows would be on the endangered species list.” That was humbling and cool at the same time.

Our fishing today consisted of the following… we left the camp at about 10:00 a.m. and drove by boat for about 1 hour and 15 minutes (we only went about ¾ of the way across the lake which lets me know how big it really is) to the Idavain River (which was actually a creek). My words cannot even express what I saw and was experiencing on the way to the Creek. I thought the best word was “Majestic”, but that didn’t even cover it. The only word that could describe it was… GOD! IT WAS INCREDIBLE! The snow-capped mountains standing over the partially snow-capped mountains… the lake that was so big that we could see over the horizon without seeing the base of the mountains that were surrounding it… the Glacier Blue colored water… IT WAS INCREDIBLE! Dad and I had a great talk on the way there about the majesty of God and how this place has God’s, NOT MAN’S, handprint all over it! It was untapped! There was no form of society! No houses or buildings or cars or shops or electricity… Just what God created (not that God didn’t create those other things, but it was amazing because it was what He initially created!). I was brought to tears at one point because I was in complete awe of what I was seeing and in fact, at one point, my breath was taken away by it all! I hear people say, “Everything’s bigger in Texas.”. I DON’T THINK SO! It’s bigger in Alaska and more beautiful and more majestic and my words can’t describe it, but I’m trying!

Anyways, we got to Idavain (a creek that runs into the Naknek and truly looked like nothing I’ve ever seen before… the best way to describe it is like a river running into the ocean, except it was a creek running into a lake) and took off on our “Hike” up the river. IT WAS INTENSE and I just realized something… the enemy was trying to get my mind off of God and fill me with fear about the bears because of what I was about to say about the intensity of our hike up the river (thanks for that awareness Father!) Anyway, we hiked a little over a mile up to it. Here’s the thing though… our hike was not up a sidewalk, or road, or nature trail, or anything like that… IT WAS UP A BEAR TRAIL THAT WILD BEARS HAVE MADE AS THEY WALK AROUND UP THERE and it was through the BUSH and when I say bush, it was thick! The grass was up to my chest and in some cases over my head and when we weren’t in the grass we were in the trees and I couldn’t see but about 20 feet in front, beside, or behind me because the trees were so thick. That’s why I say it was intense because at any moment a bear could have been upon us or we could have even walked up on one that was sleeping or just sitting there or anything like that. Bar none, the most frightened I've ever been in my life! IT WAS INTENSE! However, we did make it through there to a place that Phil called “The Meadows” where we started fishing. On dad’s second or third cast he caught an Arctic Grayling (big long fin on top and looks like a brown, but different and smaller). I caught my first one about 10 casts later and once again, we had another memory… catching a fish that neither one of us had ever even physically seen before. After I caught mine and a couple of more, dad, Phil and John were around the bend and out of sight and God lead me to sit at the creek bank for a bit. I sat there for about 15 minutes and as I was sitting there, I was reminded of what God says in His scriptures… “BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD!” It was really cool because all I could hear were birds and a tiny stream trickling into the creek just across from me. I heard God’s creation!

After fishing for a couple of hours and each of us catching around 10 or so, we headed back through the bush (which hugged the rushing water from the river that was only about 30 feet wide at it’s widest point) and back to the boat which was anchored at the mouth of the river / creek. We left there and headed back for camp. On the way, I got to talk to Phil quite a bit (and even drive his boat using GPS since the lake was sooooo big!). Not about anything in particular, but it was cool getting to talk with him. We got back to camp and then went Sockeye fishing. Dad caught one more and I didn’t catch any, but it was fun watching dad because he was wanting to catch one REAL BAD and he did after Phil showed him how to do it. We got back to camp and ate dinner at almost 10:00 p.m. and now I’m here. We’re going to the Brooks River tomorrow which is where the guys who fished there today caught a lot of fish and saw somewhere around 40-50 bears. I’m excited to go there because I want to get over this fear and I think it would be cool to catch the 6 lb. line Catch and Release Sockeye in the river WITH the bears. We’ll see!

One more thing… I didn’t get to talk with Julie and the kids today, but I did just look at their pictures on my phone as I was looking through today’s pictures and I love them deeply and am ready to see them.

“Father, thanks for the realization that the enemy distracted me from how you blessed me this morning. I simply want to ask that you protect us and BLESS the day tomorrow, with no fear. I’m thankful that you keep reminding me of what you said in Joshua about being strong and courageous and that you are with us wherever we go! That’s comforting to me and for that I’m thankful. Also, please continue to protect Julie and the kids and please let her be blessed and encouraged by her flowers tomorrow. I love you my Father!”

Day 5: ALASKA!

6-27-7 11:43 p.m. and even though it’s raining outside, IT’S STILL DAYLIGHT! I’m more use to it now than before and I’m sure by the time we leave, I will be completely messed up and won’t be able to sleep when I get home.

Today was a pretty laid back day. This morning I slept until 7:52 a.m. and was sitting at the table at 8:00 ready to eat. We didn’t go fishing until around 10:30. I got to take my first shower since Sunday morning and it felt great even though the water cut out on me while I had shampoo in my hair. No worries though… it came back on about 3 minutes later and I got to finish washing 3 full days of Deet off of me (That stuff really works and I’m thankful because the mosquitos and “White Socks” are so thick you have to look around them to see anything). Anyways, everyone went fishing today and me and dad went to different spots. Him, Jim, Jim (Father and Son), John, Jamie, and Jim went Sockeye fishing and me, Phil, Scott, Roger (Father Son), Al, and Matt (Father Son) went King Salmon fishing. I’ll tell more about dad here in a minute but I do need to say this first… as we were all leaving to go fishing in separate boats, I walked over to dad’s boat and told him “Bye”. He told me he loved me and I, of course, told him that I loved him too and as I was walking away I turned back to him and told him, “No thinking about work today!” He said that he would try and I truly believe that he is trying and is doing a pretty good job of it.

King Fishing was pretty cool. There were three highlights for me while we were King fishing. First, Roger caught a 20 lb. King that hardly fit in the cooler, in fact, it didn’t. Its’ tail was hanging out when I tried to shut it. Second, was when Phil told me to run the boat for everyone (everyone was trolling out in front of Big Creek which is a creek that runs into the Naknek River) while he “wore his elbow out” (as he puts it) on the bank, fly fishing for Kings (that lasted about 30 minutes). The reason that was cool is because I got to run Phil’s mammoth boat and it also gave him the chance to fish for a little bit! Nobody caught any fish though (which was not unusual considering we only caught 4 all day OR it could have been the new “guide”). Third was how I found myself serving everyone there and I was doing it without really even thinking about it. What I mean is this… the way everyone besides me was fishing, was trolling, which was the most effective and least strenuous way to fish for Kings. I wanted very badly to throw my new G2 light action rod with 6 lb. Maxima on it so I could have a shot at setting the new line class record since it was open, but after I heard that it would take a long, long time to get a King in on 6 lb. line, I didn’t want to waste everyone’s time, even though it would have been incredible to at least try it. What’s cool is this… I’ve developed the servants heart up here in all aspects and I’m truly hoping that it continues when I get back, ESPECIALLY WITH MY FAMILY!

When we got done fishing for Kings, we came up the river and back to camp. As we were driving up to the dock, I could see someone cleaning fish and since Phil was with me, I knew who it was even before I could recognize them. It was dad! He was standing there filleting all the fish that they had caught AND THEY CAUGHT A TON OF SOCKEYE. They did better than 2 days ago when we slaughtered them. That’s cool, but the neatest thing about it is that I know where my benchmark is for the servants heart… IT’S DAD! He is the epitome of servant-hood (well, for the most part anyways and what I mean by that is that he is so excited to be here and is wanting to take advantage of every aspect of his time up here so he is making his preferences known which is pretty cool to me that he’s wanting to soak it all in!). He caught two big ones… an 8.12 and a 7.05! He also caught a lot more that were smaller. Once again, he did it on a fly rod and has even said that he might like to get one when we get back. I guess we'll see

!

We had dinner tonight at around 8:00 (salmon again… we have salmon at every meal except breakfast and the food is phenomenal) and at 9:00 I went and found Phil. I asked him if there’s anything I could help him with on his cabin and he had told me that all he was doing tonight was installing a heater. I told him I had never done that, but I looked around his cabin and saw that he needed some trim work done and asked him if he wanted me to help him do that and he said yes. Two hours later, I had finished the trim in his cabin. I trimmed the bathroom door, a ceiling piece and a window (that even had a little architecture to it). I was very thankful to be able to help him out, especially since he has to have it all finished by Saturday when he leaves. Once again, dad came by and asked if he could help and he ended up painting some trim on the outside and the front door. I got it all over me b/c it was wet, but I didn’t care because I was serving with a servants heart.

One more thing… John (the guy who dad and I are staying with in the cabin) came over to me while I was working with Phil and dad and told me that today his spirit has been renewed b/c of all that he’s seen and experienced while he’s been here and he felt he could share that with me because he’s seen that me and dad are “spiritual people”. I was thankful to hear that from John.

Julie got her flowers today and was encouraged by them even though today was a long day for her. I miss her and the kids especially after I talked to Drew for just a minute. Julie told me after I got off the phone with “Sleepy” sounding big buddy, that when I called, he had just woken up to go pee and he heard the phone ring and said in a sleepy voice, “maybe that’s daddy.” Blessed my heart. And Jill, when she heard the message I left for Julie to make sure she got the flowers I sent her, said, “I want daddy home!” Blessed my heart! I miss them and can’t wait to see them.

Overall, a great day! I didn’t catch one fish, but it didn’t matter. Today was about servant-hood and I think I did it today. Hopefully it will continue!

“Father, thanks for leading me in serving others today and in the time that we’ve been here. I want to ask that the heart of service you have given me will continue to be my lifestyle when I get home. I also want to ask that you would draw me to your Word tomorrow. Please continue to bless our time here. I’m so thankful that I get to experience this with dad. Also, please continue to protect Julie, Drew and Jill and give Julie your strength and provision in my absence. I love you my Father!”

Day 6: ALASKA!

6-28-7: 11:59 p.m. and yes, it’s still daylight outside.

I have to be quick because my battery is going dead. There are a couple of things that I want to highlight tonight.

First, I caught the 6 lb. line class C&R World Record Sockeye today. It was a 26 inch Sockeye and I caught it on a G2 (Clay's new rods) and Jamie netted it. The current record stands at 25 inches, but again, if everything tests out right, I’ll have my second record. I had two others on that would have beaten that one, but lost both of them… one of them right at the net (My Gosh these fish fight hard!)

Second, tonight I caught a “32” inch Rainbow, but it only weighed about 8 pounds and John (our roommate WHO IS SNORING RIGHT NOW ALMOST AS LOUD AS MONTE ALTER) netted it. The reason I have the quotations around that length is because I used Jamie’s measuring scale on the front of the boat, so I’m not sure whether or not it was just over that or just under that. Who cares… IT WAS A MASSIVE RAINBOW.

Tonight while we were at dinner at Eddies Bar in King Salmon, Al Waller told me that I was the best fisherman he had ever met. I was humbled by that statement.

Dad and I are having a blast up here and are catching a ton of fish. Tomorrow we are going to “Play” with the bears at Brooks River. I’m excited about it, but a little bit nervous. However, I trust God because even though the bears are really really big, I know in my heart that God is bigger and controls the bears too.

I also just got done helping Phil on his house again and we talked a little bit while we were working. I told him about the “Camp” that I’ve been envisioning and he sounded excited about it. I also got a really good compliment from Phil when I told him about my big Rainbow. He said, “That’s a good Rainbow. Did you get him on 6 pound?” To which I replied “No, 2.”. Then he said, “Wow!” Because Phil is not a man of many words, I knew that meant something. I truly wish that dad could get one of those or even bigger in all the fish that we’re catching b/c I want people to know, just like I do, that he’s one of the best fishermen around and is certainly, a better fisherman than me.

One more thing… I talked to Julie and the kids tonight before they went to bed and they are ready for me to come home. Julie told me that I’m such a good helper around the house and that they are all missing me. I love it that they love me and I love them deeply too and am excited to get to see them in 3 days.

“Father, thanks again for a great day. Thanks for the fishing today and blessing the time that we’ve had up here. It’s been incredible. I ask that you would give us plenty of rest tonight and protect us tomorrow at Brooks and that you would bless our time there as well. One more thing… again, would you protect Julie and the kids and give them rest in my absence. I love you my Father!”

Day 7: ALASKA… BEARS, BEARS, BEARS!!!!

6-29-7 11:42 p.m. and yes it’s still daylight for the “penultimate” day of our trip. I like that word.

I think that what we did today sums up the entire experience that we’ve had while we’ve been here… UNBELIEVABLE!!! Today, we got up and ate breakfast at around 8:00 a.m. After breakfast, we were sitting in the cabin when Tana (Jim and Phylis Johnson’s daughter) came and knocked on our door. She told us there was a bear coming up the shore towards our camp. Immediately, we all went outside and stood on the porch. Dad and Tana went down to the dock while me, John, Scott, Al, and Hunter stayed on the porch, until dad told me he could see it. At that point, I went to the dock and I saw my first wild bear. It was walking up the shore towards us (about ¼ of a mile away from us) and then it headed up into the tundra. We left the dock and joined everyone on the porch of our cabin (which is closest to the dock) and waited for the bear to show itself again. Sure enough, after a couple of minutes it peeked out from behind the white shed that sits behind the “Pink Palace” (which is a cabin that reminds me of something off of the Wizard of Oz) and it was headed straight for us, this time it was only about 1/8 of a mile away from us then it went back down to the bank of the river and proceeded to walk right by all of us (about 30 yards at it’s closest point). When it got to the dock, it sniffed around in the boats and then kept moving up the shore, where it disappeared into the tundra again. About 20 minutes later, another bear, this one a little bit bigger was spotted up by the ramp (about ¼ of a mile away) and we all watched it for a few minutes. Those were my first two bears and I felt pretty good about it because I wasn’t too nervous seeing them.

Me, dad, John (Jackson is his last name), and Phil waited to leave until around 11:00 at which time we were going to go to the Brooks River. While we were waiting, me and dad helped Phil work on his cabin a little bit. Dad worked on the doors and I installed all the blinds in the cabin. When we realized it was 10:45 and we were still working, we immediately stopped and went and got ready because we had to leave here at 11:00 to get to King Salmon’s Katmai Air to fly to Brooks. We left here at 11:00 (I was actually on time for this) and made it to Katmai at around 11:20. We loaded up the “Otter” and left the river in the plane, yes, I said, “left the river in the plane” and headed for Brooks River. The flight was incredible because I got a birds eye view of everything (except Idavain) on the way over to Brooks. On the way, we saw where we had been Sockeye fishing and the other guys were there today and we saw them from the plane… that’s how low we were flying. On the plane ride, I got to ride in the cockpit with the pilot and it was really amazing to get that kind of view of everything. We flew over Brooks lake (which feeds the Brooks River), then over the Brooks River and then landed on Naknek Lake at the mouth of the Brooks river. As we were landing, I looked out the pilots window and the first thing that I saw was a Sow and her two cubs walking along the bank up the mouth of the Brooks. What was amazing to me about seeing those bears, was that I had an overwhelming sense of peace about me. The reason that was amazing to me was because ever since we went to Idavain, I had been somewhat dreading going to Brooks because I knew we were going to see bears there, but I had also spent a lot of time praying over the fear aspect of what I was experiencing and God provided me with complete peace the entire time we were there. We unloaded off the plane and immediately went to “Bear Orientation” which was a 10 minute video and then a park ranger came in and gave us a 5 minute orientation on our time there. What was cool is that there were about 15 people in there and 11 of them were there to simply look at the bears at “The Falls” on the Brooks River. The other 4 (us) were the only ones who had lost their minds enough to attempt to fish with the bears… IN THE RIVER!!! When we were finished with that, we headed out and walked over to the bridge that crosses the Brooks because we were going to walk up and then fish down the river. God had other plans. When we got to the bridge, they weren’t letting anyone cross b/c another mom and her cubs were napping right next to the bridge and any time there are bears around that bridge, the rangers will not let anyone pass. After waiting for about 10 minutes, the momma bear took her two cubs across the river to our side, downstream from the bridge (we were down stream too), so the ranger told everyone, “We need to start walking away”, then he told us to get a little quicker b/c momma bear had picked up her pace and was heading towards us. We backed off to a safe distance (no less the 51 yards) and then she turned. After about 10 more minutes of waiting, Phil decided to take us up on another trail… A BEAR TRAIL ALONG THE BROOKS RIVER WHERE THERE ARE A LOT OF BEARS AND NOT JUST BEARS… BIG BROWN GRIZZLY BEARS! I still had peace consuming me b/c this time instead of being quiet and “frozen” as we walked the trail, I was yelling out “HEY BEAR!” (which is what you’re suppose to do to alert the bears that you are coming and so you won’t walk up on a sleeping bear). We finally made it to the bank of the river without any encounters with bears and waded across in about hip deep, running water. We got to the other side and we were basically in a U shaped curve in the river, when we started to fish. I forgot to mention one thing… two nights ago, after hearing all the stories about the other guys fishing adventures with the Bears on Brooks and how they were having to break their lines when a bear entered the water to steal their fish away, I thought of how cool it would be to catch the 4 lb. line class catch and release world record in the river WITH the Bears and so I had a motivating factor for me to do it. Now, back to what happened today… I was throwing my 4 lb. line on the Light Action G2 rod that Clay sent with me and I hooked into a BIG Sockeye (the bottom of the river is light colored gravel, but was green from bank to bank with all the Sockeye), fought it for about 3 minutes and then it broke me off b/c I was trying to horse it in, due to the fact that I didn’t want any bears coming out to get it. Dad hooked one on his fly rod (by the way, John, our roommate gave dad one of his fly rods this morning and dad was completely surprised by it and extremely thankful for it), fought it for about 3 minutes and then it broke him off. John hooked one and it did the same. I hooked another one, fought it for about 45 seconds and then the same thing happened and so after I asked Phil for another swivel and him telling me that he only had one more, I decided to go to a 1/16 oz. Black and Sculpin Olive Jig (one knot… more strength). In the midst of tying on, Phil says, “Bear coming… let’s move down!” so we started moving down, then we realized that it had just turned and looked our way. He was about 1/8 of a mile up the river from us and as we got to looking, I counted 6 bears that were up there with that one and they were all chasing Sockeye. We decided to stay there and fish and on about my 4th or 5th cast, I hooked into another one. I knew that it was a good one because of the way it was fighting me and because of the cartwheels it was doing on top of the water (these fish fight harder than any fish I’ve ever caught before including saltwater), so I decided to take my time with it, you know, because the 6 bears that were 1/8 of a mile upstream were feeding on the Sockeye 1/8 of a mile up stream, OR SO I THOUGHT! As I’m fighting this fish, I hear what sounded like sounds from the zoo, but we weren’t at the zoo, we were literally in the middle of the river an 1/8 of a mile downstream from 6 bears, of which, 4 were fighting over one fish. We knew that because we heard what sounded like horses running through the water, except they weren’t horses, they were bears that were ROARING at each other as they were fighting over 1 fish. The next thing I hear is “BEAR COMING DOWN!” It was Phil who said it and as I turned around, while still fighting this potential world record fish, I see a bear, running / floating, down the middle of the river that I was trying to land this fish in. The bear stops at a log that is lodged in the middle of the river and climbs up on it, waits for about 2 seconds and then does a nose dive into the water, then comes up with a huge Sockeye in it’s mouth and proceeds to eat the fish right there in the middle of the river. All of this is taking place about 75 yards from where we were and where I’m fighting this fish. Well, the fish gets away from the bear so the bear starts chasing it down the river. Guess who’s 75 yards down the river. WE WERE and as I’m watching all of this take place, I’m still trying to fight this fish. We got out of the water and up on the bank and as Dad, Phil and John are keeping a close eye on the bear, I’m still fighting this fish. The bear starts getting closer and closer and closer and at it’s closest point, it’s about 20 yards away from us (I should say 51 yards away b/c that’s the “safe” distance according to the Rangers). At the same time, about 19 yards away from us, was my fish that I’m still fighting. Dad was telling me to break my fish off because of the bear, but I wasn’t about to do that, simply because of the challenge I had set to myself a couple of nights earlier. So, I’m fighting the fish, the bear is right next to it, I’ve got my rod tip next to the water and just holding the fish in place so he’s not creating a commotion to draw the bears attention that was less than a yard away from him and the bear keeps going down the river trying to catch Sockeye. I fought the fish for about 10 more minutes, while dad, Phil and John were keeping an eye on the bear (as they were more concerned about the bear than my fish, and justifiably so) and I finally got him in a backwater and landed him. I didn’t have a tape measure so I measured him on my G2 and made a mark on it with Johns needle on his eye punch (GREAT ROD!!! because even after slicing the thing with a steel needle, I caught more fish on it with no trouble at all). After Phil took the picture of what I thought would be the new 4 lb. line Catch and Release World Record, we noticed that THE Bear was coming back upstream and since there were already 5 other bears that were fighting over 1 Sockeye 1/8 of a mile upstream from us and THE Bear about 51 yards down from us, we decided to cross back over to the other side and find a new spot to fish. AS IF WHAT HAD JUST HAPPENED WEREN’T ENOUGH, IT WAS ABOUT TO GET MORE INTENSE. As we headed across the river, THE Bear, who was about 51 yards above us, decided he wanted to come back down again, so there we were up to our hips and chest in rushing water and there’s a bear also in the middle of the river coming straight for the four of us, the biggest difference is that he was only up to his knees and was extremely capable of getting to us before we could get out of the water. For the first time in my life, I saw fear in my dad. He was closest to the bear and as we were running down stream crossing the river to get to the other bank, I could here dad saying in a loud voice, “HE’S COMING DOWN… HE’S GETTING CLOSER! HEY BEAR! HEY BEAR! WHOA BEAR!” Just as we got to the other side, THE Bear turned and headed back upstream. At it’s closest point as we were crossing the river, it was about 20 yards from dad, about 22 yards from John, about 25 yards from me, and about 30 yards from Phil (JOHN IS SNORING RIGHT NOW AND I FEAR THE BEARS AROUND HERE MIGHT THINK IT’S A MATING CALL). We got out of the water and up on the bank and looked up and THE Bear was headed back up to the lodged tree to try and catch another one. IT WAS INTENSE!!!

After that encounter, we waded down the river (with the potential of a bear coming out of the grass and into the river to catch fish at any moment) and to the bridge. We got up on the trail and headed for “The Falls”. On the way up there, we stopped at the bathroom and as I went to open the Men’s Restroom door, I heard someone scream, I shut the door, turned around and saw nothing so I opened the door and there sat a woman using the bathroom. She was screaming at the top of her lungs because I had just walked in on her. I immediately shut the door and there were about 10 people standing around just laughing because of what they had just witnessed. All of us were laughing and when the lady came out, she was 5 shades of red from embarrassment so I walked over to her and said, “We haven’t been formally introduced… my name is J.D.” Everyone there busted out laughing, as did she. We saw her again at the lodge, then again as we were getting back on the plane and then one last time at Katmai Air in King Salmon and every time I saw her, she would turn those same shades of red. I did actually get to talk with her. Her name is Cindy and she’s a 50 something woman from Seattle. When we got to Katmai, I asked if she would mind if I had my picture taken with the lady that I scared more than the bears did... again, she laughed and turned red again and then we took the picture.

When we got to the falls, we got to see 5 bears, including one that caught 2 Sockeye as they were jumping the falls. These 5 bears stayed around until “BB” came walking up the river. BB is the granddaddy of all bears. They estimate his weight at around 1,100 pounds and that’s before he starts feeding on all these Salmon. They say he’ll get up to around 1,500 pounds after that. As soon as he got there, it’s like he said, “I’m here, if you don’t get out of my falls, I’m going to kill you and then eat you” to all the other bears. They immediately scattered! After watching BB for a little bit, we headed back down the trail and then fished the mouth of Brooks. Dad caught a 9 pounder, again, on a fly rod and I caught one more that was about 29 inches, but it was foul hooked so I didn’t measure it.

As we got on the plane to leave Brooks, I got to watch a sow nursing her cubs. She laid on her back and the two cubs jumped up on her for dinner. As she was feeding, a HUGE male came up on here and she charged him. He didn’t back down, but he didn’t come any closer either. IT WAS AWESOME! And as if that weren’t enough, as we were about to board the plane, a bear came down the shore line and we had to wait on him to pass before we could get on the plane. THE BEARS HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY (all except when they’re trying to keep me from catching fish… I’m kidding of course! It’s their world and I completely respect it!)

My fish measured 27 inches… a potential new world record (current record stands at 24 inches)!

My battery just went dead, so I have to quit because I only have about 20 seconds left…

“Father, thank for the peace that you provided me with and thank you for the opportunity of a lifetime that you gave me and dad to experience what we experienced. Thanks for protecting Julie and the kids and please continue to do so. I love you my Father!”

LAST DAY: ALASKA!

7-1-7 10:20 a.m. on the plane between Anchorage and Salt Lake City

Right now we are on the plane headed home. I didn’t get to journal last night because we didn’t get into the hotel in Anchorage until about 11:30 p.m. and I was too tired. Here’s what happened yesterday…

We woke up at about 7:45 and went to our last breakfast together. The funny thing that happened at breakfast was when I was getting everyone’s e-mail addresses and as I was writing them down, I got to Matt (Al’s son) who began to tell me his e-mail. Here’s what he said…

“j-d-s-t-r-u-c-k…”. I was sitting there waiting for him to say “AT” something until I realized that he had just spelled out my truck. When I realized what he was saying, I, and everyone else in the room began to laugh uncontrollably, simply because I had just been burned (the joke behind it is that I had been telling Jamie all week about my truck, “Big John”, and how special he was and that he was faster than anything on earth, that I could communicate with him from Alaska through my mind, that every fish in the world that goes to spawn has to enter their grounds through my truck, that it was bear proof, that it went to special truck school to train on how to communicate with anything in the world, that if I told him truly how fast it could go by “mph” that his head would explode because he couldn’t understand it, and on and on and on, and the rest of the guys at some point or another caught on that my truck was special and they all began to chime in with what my truck could do). We got all the e-mail addresses together and we are planning on getting everyone’s pictures and video from the trip together on a few CDs for everyone to view. I’m extremely thankful for that because neither me, nor dad had a way of taking pictures or video (except for my cell phone that has absolutely no more memory on it) because my camcorder was broken on the flight up and dad dropped his camera in the river. Anyway, we said goodbye to John and Matt and then the rest of us went back to the cabin to pack up to be out of the cabins before 10:00 at which time we were going fishing one more time. Phil told me that I could take his boat out and “guide” everyone (if you can call it that since it was my only my second time to drive his boat without him in it and the first time to take it out without him at all) and I was extremely honored that he would trust me with his boat and with the other guys on a river that I personally had never driven down or up before. Me, dad, Al, Scott, Roger, Big Jim and little Jim went down to the “honey hole” for Sockeye. I had two missions on this particular trip. First was to get everyone down the river and back safely and the second was to catch one more line class record… the 30 lb. line class Catch and Release Sockeye World Record. We all made it down there safely and with about 10 minutes before I had to take Scott, Roger, and Al back up to the cabin, I caught my 4th World Record of the trip. It was a 19 inch Sockeye on 30 pound line that I caught on my 7’1” Mag-Heavy Loomis Worm Rod. After I hooked it, I told dad, “Watch this!” and then I jerked the fish out of the river as it came shooting out of the water like a torpedo and then did a nose dive into the mud on the bank. After taking the hook out of its mouth, measuring it, taking a picture of it, and then releasing it, I had caught my 4th World Record of the trip. I’m not sure if I’m going to register that one, simply because it’s 19 inches, but since it’s open, the record might as well start somewhere.

After that, I left dad, Jim and Jim where they were and went and picked up the 3 others and took them back up to camp so they could get to the airport for their flight. I picked up Jamie and took him back down with me. On the way back down to pick them up, I asked Jamie if anyone on the trips before were crazy at all or if they were all serious, to which he replied, “Yeah, but none as crazy as you!” I really liked Jamie and I’m pretty sure that he liked me too because I showed him that there is definitely a fun side to life and I could tell that we had fun together b/c we laughed a lot!!! Dad caught 11 Sockeye while they were down there and he had certainly caught on to how to catch those fish with a fly-rod. I only caught a couple! He is an incredible fisherman because he can learn and adapt to any fishing situation that he faces, just as he proved on this trip.

As everyone headed back down to the boat to go back, I decided that I would give myself 5 more casts before I was leaving (since we had until 2:00 to fish until our licenses expired and it was 1:56). On my 4th cast, I hooked one more Sockeye and I really wanted to get it in because it was about a 27-29 inch fish and I would have much rather had that one instead of 19 inch fish to go in the book, especially on 30 pound line. As I was fighting it down towards the boat through the rapids, it came unbuttoned and that was my last cast of the trip. Rightfully so, the fish got the better of me. I say that because these fish are incredible. They fought harder than any fish I have ever fought before and it makes sense because of the journey they had been on and where they were going. In short, in their lifetime, they were born, swam down the Brooks river, through Naknek lake, down the Naknek river, into the Pacific ocean, all the way across to Japan to feed, grow, and mature, back across the Pacific, up the Naknek (where we were catching them), and then all the way back up to Brooks to just above “The Falls” all the while, fleeing from Seals, Whales, Bears, Nets, and Fisherman (we caught a lot that had HUGE battle scars on them)… to spawn, where they would die from starvation and exhaustion. QUITE A JOURNEY FOR THEM and we had the privilege of seeing them and catching a few.

We left the “honey hole” at 2:00 and headed back to camp where we packed everything up, helped Phil finish his cabin, ate some lunch (Sockeye Chowder) and then waited around until 5:00 p.m. to go to the airport. While we were waiting at camp, we had the privilege of seeing two more bears down by the dock feeding on the remains of the Sockeye we had cleaned. What a way to end our time there. They were swimming in the water and at times all we could see were their ears in the water… the rest of their bodies were under water searching for fish. IT WAS AMAZING!!!

We said our goodbyes (especially to Jamie who was an incredible 14 year old young man with a servants heart that I wish the majority of the interns could learn) and I showed Jamie (one more time) the trick on how to get the Sockeye into the backwaters so his clients could land them (the left hand at the hip, snap your fingers twice, and then give a right side up all fingers wave and then they’ll come runnin’ towards you through the backwater… it was like clockwork… or luck)) and then told him that if anyone had any of my record fish on in the future, to simply cut their line and if the people wouldn’t allow that, for him to tackle them and drown them… once again, he laughed! Me, dad, Phil, Jim J., Jim, and Jim headed for the King Salmon airport and then me, dad, and Phil waited around until about 8:15 before our flight left for Anchorage. While we waited, we went to the gift shop and got souvenirs for everyone in the family. We left the ground at about 8:30 p.m. and headed for Anchorage. As we flew out, I could see our camp, the river and the lake and it was really cool getting to say goodbye one last time.

We got into Anchorage at around 9:30 and OF COURSE, my big Loomis bag and dad’s cooler (with all the Roe and fish in it) had not made it onto our plane so as of right now we don’t know where it is, but hopefully, it will make it to us in time for dad to salvage the Roe and fish. I also just realized that I left my rod tube in the hotel (two G2 rods and my 7’1” Mag-Heavy Loomis). Better call the hotel when we land in Salt Lake.

I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE JULIE AND THE KIDS! I’m getting more and more excited as we get closer because I have missed them. Me and dad just got done looking at the pictures on my computer and that made me more excited to see them.

I owe Phil, Jim, Phyliss and Jamie Johnson, mom, dad, Julie, Greg Billingsley, Mike Lumpkin and most of all MY FATHER, a huge debt of gratitude for allowing me to come on this trip with dad.

JULIE FOR ALLOWING ME TO COME ON THIS TRIP AND TAKING CARE OF OUR CHILDREN WHILE I WAS AWAY!

Phil because it was his idea for me to come on this trip, for trusting me with his boat, and for guiding us on BAR NONE THE BEST FISHING TRIP I’VE EVER BEEN ON!

Jim, Phyliss, and Jamie Johnson for their generosity and their hospitality. And especially Jamie for being a friend on the trip and the laughter that we shared!

Mom for sacrificing for my trip and for running dad’s business while he was gone which allowed him to forget about work for the first time since I was a teenager.

Dad for desiring me to experience this with him and the way that we got to create this UNBELIEVABLE memory together!

Greg Billingsley for providing me with waders that I used every day of the trip (except for when we went King Salmon fishing, even though I should have worn them then)

Mike Lumpkin for giving me time away from work

And most of all MY FATHER, for allowing me to take this trip with dad and letting me experience the work of his hand in what he created, the way that he has taken care of and provided for Julie, Drew and Jill, the peace that he provided me with among the bears, the servants heart that He showed me that I have somewhere deep within me, and the revelations that he gave me about my relationship with dad and about the “Camp” that He’s leading me to.

In closing out this entry, the one word that keeps coming back to me is “UNBELIEVABLE!!!!”, because everything that I’ve experienced on this trip has been just that, unbelievable. At the same time, as I’ve been journaling this trip, I’ve come to realize that it actually is believable because it all just happened. It’s just that it’s something like I’ve never experienced before and I got to experience it with my DAD’S… ONE MORE INCREDIBLE MEMORY WITH BOTH OF THEM!

Father, all I can say is THANK YOU!!! I love you!”

[Phil Lilley]

Thanks JD for the entries... excellent. I relived the whole week.

[Kansas Fly Fisher]

Great read JD! It was like living it all over again. And, not meaning to correct you or anything, my snoring is not a "mating call" it's a warning sound to scare all the bears away! They think that theres a bigger, meaner bear in that "den." Now think about it . . . did we have any bear problems when I was sleeping?

Take care brother . . .

John

[Terry Beeson]

Great read, JD!

John was your roomie? No problem... He's an Arkie like me... We whup bears with a switch...

[Danoinark]

An excellent and well authored report JD. Thanks a bunch for letting us live your experience. Thanks to all the Alaskan trippers for giving us more impetus to say yes to this adventure.

Dano