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Picture Of The Month



SD2OR with a trophy fall walleye

Topic: Moving to Alaska  (Read 2700 times)

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YakBum

  • Lingcod
  • *****
  • guided by Wind and Emotion
  • http://www.heroesonthewater.org
  • Location: Germany
  • Date Registered: Jul 2012
  • Posts: 284
Hey all, hope you are doing well.  its been a little over four years since i moved from Washington state to Germany, and it seems at the end of this year/begining of next year I'll be moving back to NWKA territory,  specifically to Fort Greely/Delta Junction Alaska.  looking forward to the new adventure and any information you all might have bout the area.
Thanks, -Fil
Call me FIL THE CHUB MASTER!


MikeA210

  • Herring
  • **
  • Location: JBER, AK
  • Date Registered: Jun 2016
  • Posts: 31
Cold as hell up there bro.  Im stationed at JBER, other then the obvious, awesome hunting and trophy pike up there. If you got any questions holla


kardinal_84

  • Sturgeon
  • *******
  • Perseverance Pays!
  • Kayak Fishing Southcentral Alaska
  • Location: Anchorage, AK
  • Date Registered: Mar 2011
  • Posts: 4216
It's going to be frigid, during the winter times.  But there are lots of opportunity if you are willing to drive a little bit. 

Valdez is going to be the closes saltwater port.  I don't much about that location fro kayak fishing except for the coho fishing which is happening right now.   I rarely hear of other fisheries there though I think there would be some closer to port.

The freshwater fishing opportunities should be pretty good as well.  Pike, lake trout, stocked rainbows and char will be your main targets I would think. 

Personal Chauffeur for Kokatat & Hobie Fishing Team member, Ryu .

Personal fishing sites of Alaska Kayak Angling adventures of my son and I. I am NOT a guide.
guidesak.blogspot.com
AlaskaKayakFisher.com


YakBum

  • Lingcod
  • *****
  • guided by Wind and Emotion
  • http://www.heroesonthewater.org
  • Location: Germany
  • Date Registered: Jul 2012
  • Posts: 284
yeah,  I keep hearing its gonna be colder than i can realistically comprehend, like what is -60 anyway?  can you even live in that or will your lungs freeze instantly on contact?  haha but anyway i do have a plan for the cold, im gonna shoot a bear and make a coat with its skin.   seriously though, is it like a solid 8 months of winter, and 5 days of summer? 
im getting the impression that if you want to do anything up there, you are going to have to drive quite a ways, so a four and a half hour drive to valdez to fish for bottom fish and salmon really doesnt seem that bad, specially when it was a little less than that from tacoma to hobuck. 
now im guessing for the deeper local intel i will have to wait till im on ground, but it seems like some of the rivers are floatable, tho im sure all the normal PNW precautions will be required at all times, plus some for bear considerations and being so far away from everything, probably a good set of maps, compass, GPS, and satelite phone, bear mace and a larger caliber handgun or a shotgun, or like a 45-70 or something. 
it appears i will be within a reasonable distance of Harding lake, which looks like a good char/lake trout lake,  perfect for the hobie,  also i will be very close to the delta clearwater river, for trophy size grayling and a good coho run,
so for the rivers and more remote locations i was leaning towards purchasing an inflatable kayak or what have you capable of safely running  some moderate rapids, and with enough weight capacity to hold me plus gear plus, well honestly, a black bear cause i really want to make that bear skin coat,.   
so to sum up, i guess my current RFIs are as follows;
-how long are the winters?
-what safety gear will i need besides a dry suit and pfd?
-what would the ideal non-hobie (since i already have that covered) watercraft for rivers and remote lakes ?(im intending on getting an ATV once on ground to be able to get to more remote places)
-what does it seem i am being naive about?  i dont know what i dont know until it turns out i needed to know it...

thanks all for the assistance,  this will be the biggest move ive ever done - 10 timezones from europe to interior Alaska - and i anticipate it will be very stressful and not easy in any way, especially right in the middle of winter. (which will only drive the requirement to get out on the water and decompress once the ice breaks up)

-Fil
Call me FIL THE CHUB MASTER!


Klondike Kid

  • Lingcod
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  • The Eagle Whisperer
  • Alaska Outdoor Journal
  • Location: Kenai Peninsula, AK
  • Date Registered: Sep 2016
  • Posts: 488
There's always room for another new Alaskan! Especially a yakker. Welcome to the neighborhood. You may find that a good ice fishing pop up tent and propane heater will come in handy for those winter lake trout outings on Harding and other lakes. Harding has some really awesome lake trout once you get the right methods dialed in. Think white leadhead jigs and deep water.

Glenallen is the main ADFG hub office for that region and getting to know the local biologists that keep a pulse on the outdoor activities, i.e. hunting and fishing, will be helpful for getting up to speed faster.  And too, befriending those fellow soldiers who have already been through a winter or two as well as the summers with give you plenty of "survival" pointers. 70s and 80s in the summer. Once you get past -30°F its all relative for being out in it except for your vehicle which continues to be more impacted the colder it gets. I never relished the idea of putting heating blankets on my truck batteries and well as engine block heaters and interior cab heaters to keep your leather or vinyl seats from cracking when sitting on them at 40 below. I'm a banana belt kinda guy ALTHOUGH you will find that in all of Southcentral the Soldotna area will be the coldest spot next to the temps at Glenallen so I don't have it that great here either.

TIP: I suggest you subscribe to the ADFG Weekly Fishing Reports for the areas that will be within "range" of your home base.
http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/sf/FishingReports/
Select the main region, then the sub unit area report and at the top of the page there is a SUBSCRIBE link that you can provide your email address and get their weekly reports on what's going on in that area, any EO's that are in effect, etc. A real great feature of these reports is you can access all the previous reports in their Archive and review what sort of opportunities were available from week to week in the past. That will give you a great idea of what is to come the next season and what the timing of those fisheries are give or take a few days or week.

Last summer I was up in that area and tracked down the campground on the Delta-Clearwater to see if there was any way a float could be done. No problem launching at the campground (there is a boat launch there for the many jet boats that run the river) but I never could identify a spot to haul out where a vehicle could be shuttled. Summer grayling is awesome once you get outside the public access spots and silvers should start trickling in about now and into October.

If you are a bird hunter there can be some terrific duck and goose hunting in the Interior if you know the spots. I used to hunt the barley fields in Delta Jct until the farmers slowly dropped out of the program. One guy runs a buffalo and elk game ranch there now.  Your kayak may come in handy for getting to remote wetlands at the backside of lakes where the duck hunting can be good.   Crane hunting "can" be great too if you get lucky. The mass migration is on or about September 15th every year with 80,000 sandhills moving through Delta Jct to line up on the Copper River and follow it down to the Copper River Delta for staging. But there are only a few areas around Delta Jct where they come down and stage/roost for the night. The "show" is awesome to watch every morning as the thermals begin to form and thousands of cranes start circling endlessly in huge flocks until they hit the "stratosphere" and then line out for the Copper Delta.

You will find surviving in Ft Greeley area weather just another entry in your list of "things done" in your life. HA. There are plenty of folks in the Interior that wouldn't live anywhere else in Alaska. Look at the population of Fairbanks as an example.

You'll have to consider a "vacation" down here in our neck of the woods next summer. There is usually someone going fishing at Homer or Seward or Whittier or Whiskey Gulch most of the summer so the NWKA forum is a good place to query who may be getting wet during your trip down here.
The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

Take a Kid Fishing and Hook'em For Life!  ~KK~


craig

  • Sturgeon
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  • Location: Tualatin, OR
  • Date Registered: Jul 2008
  • Posts: 3814
-60 is warm.  -96 is cold.  That is the worst I have experienced.  But it was in North Dakota so it was a dry cold.  ;) If you breath too deep through your nose your nostrils freeze shut briefly.


Low_Sky

  • Salmon
  • ******
  • Location: Anchorage, AK
  • Date Registered: Oct 2015
  • Posts: 521
-what would the ideal non-hobie (since i already have that covered) watercraft for rivers and remote lakes ?(im intending on getting an ATV once on ground to be able to get to more remote places)

Sounds like a pack raft might not be a bad fit for you.
2016 Hobie Revolution 16
2014 Perception Triumph 13


jmbx2ditto

  • Rockfish
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  • Location: Fairbanks, AK
  • Date Registered: Jun 2015
  • Posts: 193
There are some things to look forward to in Interior AK


jmbx2ditto

  • Rockfish
  • ****
  • Location: Fairbanks, AK
  • Date Registered: Jun 2015
  • Posts: 193
And Artic char, Lakers, Pike, Burbot and Rainbows.


YakBum

  • Lingcod
  • *****
  • guided by Wind and Emotion
  • http://www.heroesonthewater.org
  • Location: Germany
  • Date Registered: Jul 2012
  • Posts: 284
jmbx2ditto now you're just getting me real excited,  caught a few grayling in Germany, and on the Sava and Soca in Slovenia, they're cool fish and I really want to get into them a bit more.  and the char and lakers…… yeahhh,  I want some of that.  I am even okay with the dirty boot ass salmon that show up in the nearby rivers, and have no issue with a bit of a drive for the ones fit for consumption.  Basically I am excited, and my wife is terrified that 1. she will never see me and 2. I'll never want to leave.

Call me FIL THE CHUB MASTER!