31 years ago, I decided to fulfill a dream and head NORTH TO ALASKA to land monster silver salmon. I fished for silvers ( cohos) in my backyard, Lake Michigan, but was tired of the crowds and having steel mills for scenery. Images of virgin, uncrowded rivers teaming with salmon went through my mind. After lots of research, I booked a week at Painter Creek Lodge on the Alaska Peninsula. My dreams were met as the King Salmon River was chocked full of silvers while Painter Creek was stacked with sockeye salmon and arctic char. I met numerous fantastic fishermen along the way. Angleo, George, the Jarvis brothers, and many more remain friends to this day. As the years passed, I would venture for 2 weeks to the Land of the Midnight Sun. Week 1 would be with the Jarvis brothers and I catching huge halibut out of Valdez or Homer before heading to Painter Creek.
Our best year saw us put 12 halibut over 200 lbs into the cooler of which 2 were estimated at 300 lbs. Also numerous huge lingcod and numerous species of rockfish were landed. One year we put out shrimp cages and wound up with hundreds of giant prawns! At the lodge, owner, Joe Maxey and Jon Kent would arrange for me to spend the stay in a tent on the Pacific on Amber Bay. Joe would land on the Pacific beach during low tide and drop my guide and myself off. The fishing was insane. Huge silver to 20 lbs were landed all day. My best day was over 150 silvers landed on a spinning rod rigged with a pixee spoon. We were the only fishermen at Amber except for the numerous Brown Bears where my guide always had a rifle in hand just in case. One year we walked upon a sow with a cub. Luckily after a shot was fired into the sky the bears ran off without inflecting any damage! On August 23, 2000 while returning from a successful halibut trip, we heard on TV that Joe Maxey was killed in a plane crash flying back to the lodge from Amber.
We were shocked. Flights to Amber were no longer an option in coming years. In 2005, I was sitting alone in the King Salmon Airport. Normally others heading to Painter would be present. The PenAir pilot informed me that the Mount Chiginagak Volcano erupted a few weeks ago sending an acidic discharge into Mother Goose Lake and the King Salmon River. While at the lodge I saw countless dead salmon filling the river shallows which has an orange tint with a sulfur odor. The salmon would not return for a few years. During the week, Jon introduced me to Gary LaRose who owned nearby Pumice Creek Lodge. I hired Gary to drop me off on the Cinder River so I could catch some silvers. The results were spectacular as the silvers were huge and abundant. After numerous talks with Gary and Jon, we decided the best option for me was to book future trips with Gary as Painter was going to fly fishing only lodge. I absolutely fell in love with Pumice Creek Lodge.
We would fish alone at the Cinder River for silvers or Lava Creek for char. 100 + silvers per day per person were the norm on the Cinder and they were even larger than the huge Amber silvers. Gary LaRose and his lab Cinder, more or less became family. Guides Rudy and Todd were 2 of the best guides to date. Countless friends were made. In 2020, Gary decided to retire and stop booking fishermen. This left a void in my heart which, remains to this day. The base was set too high at Pumice Creek to go to another Alaska Lodge. Sitting back and looking at old photos and video, I was blessed to fish both Painter, Pumice, and some saltwater. Plus having the honor to meet such great people. Boy do I miss Alaska!
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