Rainbow Connections
To fish for rainbow trout in an Alaskan river at dusk is to tempt a monster. Depending on where you’re fishing – say, a wilderness dream like Southwestern Alaska’s Alagnak; the swift, mountain-clear waters of Southcentral’s Russian; or an evening tide in April on the whiskey-tinted streams of Southeast’s Prince of Wales Island – nighttime here is the venue of 20-pound legends.
Return to Winter
At my cabin late in the evenings, worn from the winds, drifts and adventures of the day, I would kick off my snowshoes, knock the snow from my boots, and follow my headlamp beam into the darkness where the woodstove waited to be lit and fed.
Little Grouse on the Prairie
I’d come to hunt a vestige bird, a prairie grouse whose origins can be traced to Alaska’s bygone steppes. Commonly associated with the fields and dry gullies of the American West, the bird I pursued was the sharp-tailed grouse.
The Art of Grayling
Ancient, elegant and, in a most innocent sense, gullible, grayling are unique characters cut from the rare and precious tapestry that is Alaska. For a few old-timers (and for this one in particular) they compose the first lines of a long, colorful angling story.