Wednesday, Sept. 4, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
IT'S NOT necessary to take a second mortgage to afford a trip to Alaska, but it does take some thoughtful planning. My family and I just returned from a 10-day excursion that was a combination of fishing, sightseeing and meetings, all aimed at developing an "Alaskan Experience" that we would always remember.
You shouldn't put off an Alaska trip because you think you can't afford it. It's not as expensive as you think and visiting there is too wonderful to miss. We've all been conditioned to believe that everything is very expensive in Alaska.
Things are more expensive than they are in the Lower 48, but not dramatically so. For instance, much to my kids' delight, Happy Meals at McDonald's cost $2.79 vs. $2.25 here. And, yes, you can find hamburgers in Alaska -- more than I wanted to see.
Espresso popular
Since my last trip to Alaska 10 years ago, espresso coffee has become the rage, too. You can find espresso coffee up and down the Kenai Peninsula in the smallest of markets. Micro breweries are also becoming popular and you can find some very good local brews, but then I digress.
Other things cost just slightly more than what you'd pay here: Good halibut fishing can be found for $130 per day per person. A day on Lake Mead will cost you about that much.
One good thing to note is that the "summer season" basically ends about midway through August. Once that midpoint is over, you can find vacancies at most cabin facilities, with most fishing guides and with most motels and lodges. Prices for those amenities also go down once the busy season is past.
It all depends on how you want to organize your trip. Doing it yourself gives you all kinds of control and flexibility. It also gives you all the responsibility of researching the kind of fishing you want to do and trying to match that up with lodging and travel facilities. If you've never been to Alaska, that may seem like a daunting task.
Many choices
First, you need to seriously consider the kind of fishing you want to do. Do you want to catch halibut? If so, then you need to decide if you want to fish on the serious boats that take anglers out after big fish -- 100-pound range and bigger. Most often these boats go out in deep water and use heavy rods to get the baits down 200 feet or better to the bottom. The weights used to keep the bait down may weigh four or five pounds.
Halibut fishing requires jigging to move the bait around. You must move that rod almost constantly. It can be a lot of work. You must be physically prepared for this kind of fishing or you'll be miserable. Anglers on these boats are serious big fish anglers and really could care less about the "Alaskan Experience."
If you are more interested in catching halibut, but in a more relaxed kind of way, you'll want to hire a guide who fishes out of a smaller boat and is interested in working with you to catch fish. Five anglers on our Dory captained by fishing guide Will Bailey caught their limits of fish weighing from 30 to 60 pounds -- just the right size, by the way, for eating. Will used a small bait, herring, on a salmon rod to help Kevin and Katie catch small fish that they could reel in -- they call the small ones "ping pong paddles" or "toaster fish."
Big ones available
We also trolled for salmon for a while, but weren't successful. We did catch a few pollock--excellent eating fish. We were more interested in letting the kids catch fish, learning about Alaska and its wealth of resources, watching birds and relaxing than we were about strong-arming big fish--though there's always a chance of catching a big fish.
Either way, knowing what's available helps you make your decision about what kind of fishing you want.
The right tides for halibut were happening in Cook Inlet during the afternoon, so one morning we told Will, our guide, that we wanted to go clamming. He took a group of us down to the beach and showed us how to dig for razor clams. There is definitely a technique and certain tools that make it easier. That night, we cooked up clams, silver salmon (caught from one of the streams that runs through Ninilchik where we stayed), and Dungeness crab. Definitely worth the trip!
In most of the smaller fishing villages, there are no motels available but plenty of bed and breakfasts, cabins or camping facilities available. In the bigger towns, like Homer, motels are available.
Ninilchik our base
We stayed in cabins for three nights while we fished out of Ninilchik. The proprietors, the Chihuly brothers, were the first fishing guides to start businesses in the town, but by the end of August they're getting ready to hunt moose and caribou to get prepared for the winter and are no longer fishing with clients.
The cabins are quaint and wonderfully comfortable. Most of them sleep four and come complete with all your bedding and towels (nice not to have to pack sleeping bags). There are shared bathrooms that are well-appointed, clean and modern. One cabin sleeps six and has its own cooking facilities and a bathroom.
The small cabins run for $75 per night--quite reasonable.
If you want to fish the infamous Kenai River -- home of the world record king salmon--be prepared to stand elbow-to-elbow along the shoreline. In Alaska, they call that "combat fishing." There are other good king salmon fisheries that produce big fish, too, that are more remote. Again, it all depends on the kind of fishing you want.
Many opportunities
If you want a more quiet experience, try the Kenai at the end of August when the silvers are in and there aren't nearly as many anglers. The fishing is still good and less competitive.
There are other types of opportunities available that range from a fully outfitted trip (expensive) to being dropped in at a camp somewhere and fishing yourself.
Once you've committed to the kind of experience you want, and the kind of money you have to spend, there are many ways to explore the options, including contacting local chambers of commerce, etc. For specific names of local fishing guides that I could recommend, drop me a note at the SUN and I'll be happy to.
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