Silver Salmon Fishing in August: 5 per Day
by Bob Adams
I have just finished the best English Trifle desert of my life. I am not in England. I am in Alaska at a remote resort on the Nushagak river of Alaska silver salmon fishing with a limit of 5 per day this August.
Today began early in the summertime land of sunshine with the bell ringing for breakfast. I rolled out from under my soft and warm-quilted slumber to a breakfast of spiced eggs, fried potatoes, fresh pineapple, hot coffee and pancakes. With my once again happy stomach in tow, I wandered to the waiting boat where expert guide Bill DeAvilla waited to launch for another amazing day silver salmon fishing for coho that were stacking in their prehistoric hiding places for us to find.
“Fish on,” began the day as eagles soared overhead and the boat erupted in activity to make room for Bill to guide us and net the eight pound fresh silver salmon that moved past us to their spawning grounds. We could each keep five silver salmon fishing today, and that was not an achievement we would have trouble obtaining. The ballet of rods, and lines, and nets would dance to the music of clear skies, moose swimming across fast waters, and ever changing skies as we fought to fill our boxes with carefully filleted, vacuum packed, hard frozen filets to take home and share with family and friends.
We were not harvesting. We were silver salmon fishing, and the guide made us feel like we knew what we were doing. There were 20,000 new silvers in the river today, according to the Alaska fish and game counters. There were chum, and kings, and pink salmon all counted by the new cameras and sonars along the river. We just wanted our limit of five silvers per person.
Nushagak River Adventures is a soon to be legendary resort on rare, privately owned property, nestled on the shore of the famous Nushagak River. The lodging is new and welcoming. It has cabins with solar powered heat and electricity, hot showers and real flush toilets, treated well water, and views of the slowly meandering river only a few steps away where moose, eagles and bear were common sights.
Pictures taken in the boat and shoreside were the stuff of legendary stories of silver salmon fishing that will be told for years to come. Fish get eaten, but pictures last forever.
I feel privileged to write of today after a meal of tender prime rib, grilled broccolini, roasted red potatoes, fresh salad, and a surprising desert trifle that would make most British chefs blush with embarrassment. The sponge cake was light and flavorful, the blueberries and peaches sweet and bursting with flavor and the hand whipped cream topping just sweet enough to accent, but not dominate the favors of fruit and cake. I had seconds and saved one for breakfast.
This is not a blog about food. It is a story of laugh-out-loud fun, accented by great food, good company and memories that will last a lifetime.
Thank you to the staff and guides of Fish The Nush Lodge, the dedicated professionals that made this trip an adventure that men and women will treasure always.
“Fish on.”
Robert Adams
