The memories of many fishing trips fade with time, but, thankfully, a few of them remain unforgettable. My fishing trip last summer to the Alaska Peninsula with my 15-year old son, Jack, will certainly be one of those.
I’d been wanting to go back to our 49th state for a while. Last fall, I got wind from a local fly fishing club of a fish camp near King Salmon, Alaska on the Naknek River just inside Katmai National Park & Preserve.
The idea of finally fishing the famous salmon runs of the Bristol Bay watershed piqued my interest—to say the least.
Jack had been agitating for a trip to Alaska for some time, but he’s not much for fishing, especially when it comes to fly fishing. In his mind, if the sport doesn’t involve shooting, throwing, or hitting a ball, it’s not really worth his time.
Despite this obvious character flaw, in December, I secretly scheduled Jack and I for a weeklong, late-July trip to Naknek River Camp. His mother and I kept the trip under wraps for months, using code words when Jack was in earshot.
When the big reveal came, Jack was pumped about a trip to the land of Jack London legends, but less than thrilled about six days of fishing. I can still recall the look on his grimaced face when he groaned with slumped shoulders, “A weeeeeek?!”
