I drove this morning to the Whitefish Campground and Boat Launch on the Chatanika River today. The access didn’t look great for fishing more than 40 feet of river, so I moved on. There is a lake just outside of Fairbanks, Bathing Beauty Lake, that is full of Arctic Pike. Unfortunately so, as the pond was a haven for small children to fish for stocked rainbows with their families. But, someone threw some Pike into the pond, which easily ate al the rainbows, and now is a lake filled with toothy fish just looking for bite sized pieces of children. Aarrgghh.
I’ve spent today in the library, posting blog updates through today, with my priority being what to decide to do for my last 4 1/2 weeks in Alaska. Then, my future van type showed up in the parking lot. I could easily move all my solar, electrical, batteries, bed, and shelves into a van that size. I would then have a ton of space to fill up with crap!
Earlier in my pre-trip blog, I spent 3 days and $$$ trying to put bug netting into the open sliding door area of my van. I used Velcro, magnets, metal strips drilled into the van, and Gorilla Tape, to not useable effect. Luckily (sadly?), with all the rivers blown out I never fished around a lot of mosquitos. This will not be true, most likely, in future trips. Note that a large van can use a magnetic, $25 screen door for a patio. Yay, and Aarrgghh.
After I post this update, I’ll spend the rest of the afternoon planning the rest of my trip. Coho / Silver Salmon are on my list to find. Also, September is THE time of year that lake fishing for rainbow trout is Good to Excellent. I plan on spending more time on Upper Summit Lake before I leave Alaska. Hank, my guide gave me directions for a road trip to Valdez. And of course, I’d enjoy a combo ocean trip for Silver Salmon and Halibut, to fill up my freezer.
Many more miles to go, and many more fish to target and catch. Time to do it is now, and today is the start of planning my strategy and routes.
Tight Lines!