Sept 3-12 2023   This year, I missed out on much of my destination flyfishing due to unforeseen circumstances. I had planned trips for Tarpon in Destin, Florida, Dorado in Mexico, and Redfish in the grass flats of South Carolina. Unfortunately, I had to cancel trips to Pyramid Lake and Wildhorse Reservoir as well. As a result, my annual pilgrimage to my favorite Spey fishing destination became the main event. But, weeks before I was set to leave, I received some disappointing news. The silver salmon run in Alaska was reported as “sluggish” in many areas, with later than usual runs and lower numbers. On top of that, the entire 2023 Sapsuk River Camp staff wouldn’t be returning this year—new guides, new cook. And to add to the disappointment, Jerry informed me that Diana couldn’t make the trip this year. After five years of fishing the Sapsuk with the same group of friends and guides, some core fishermen wouldn’t be returning either. Mark Won, Glenn Chen, Wayne Syn, and Charlie Bunch (RIP) were greatly missed, along with Diana Wang.  Kirk made a return after a 2 year hiatis mainly because of Charlie’s passing. It seems the older you get,  the more this trip becomes special and he wanted to make it one more time.    It was great hanging with my old roomate Kirk this week,  I forgot how much I miss his sense of humor and wise advice.    I hope he makes it again next year.

In premier destinations like this, it’s tough to book unless the core group decides not to rebook. Many in our group have returned for the same week for 5-10 seasons, a testament to the consistently excellent silver salmon fishing on the remote Sapsuk River.

New Staff

This year, we were joined by two new guides, Chris and Ryan. Our group would be among the first to fish with them, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit concerned about their inexperience on the river. Between the six of us—Jerry, Pastor Mike, Tom, and myself—we had over 150 days of experience on this river. Fortunately, Chris, the new head guide and a good friend of Trevor Covich, was excellent, and Ryan, who was filling in until Marty (another friend of Trevor’s) could join, was equally impressive. Trevor, Marty, and Chris have been known as “the three amigos” from their years guiding on the Kanektok.  Ryan is the logistics and  Client Relations Specialist for the APICDA (Aleutian Pribilof Island Community Development Association) which owns Aleutian Adventures which owns Sapsuk River Camp.   Ryan is a true jack-of-all-trades. His wealth of knowledge in hunting, fishing, and logistics was remarkable, and he proved to be a heck of a part-time guide. I learned a lot from him. Before leaving, I had the chance to talk with Marty, next year’s guide. Not only is he Korean, but he used to work in acquisitions for Aspen Dental. Marty is a Striper guy at heart and has guided everywhere I’ve fished, including the Lowcountry Flats in SC. I’m excited to fish with him next year since we have much in common. .

But the biggest improvement to the camp was the new chef and hostess—Aubry Barton. There’s no doubt that Aubry is now the heart and soul of Sapsuk River Camp. She transformed the atmosphere with fresh flowers in the cabins and decorations made from Sapsuk artifacts. Her voice filled the air with Joni Mitchell songs, and every day, there was the scent of freshly baked bread. Her culinary skills surpassed any chef we’ve had at Sapsuk. Memorable meals included prime rib, roasted chicken, salmon with beurre blanc sauce, and BBQ pork ribs, all served with fresh breads and perfectly prepared desserts, including homemade ice cream, cheesecakes, and cobblers made from handpicked local berries.

Aubry, at 29, is a veteran off-grid lifestyle influencer who hunts, traps, and processes her own kills for fur and food. She lives in the Frank Church Wilderness on the banks of the Salmon River and was featured in Discovery Channel’s River of No Return and Salmon River Lodges and Legacies.  She was truly the highlight of the year at Sapsuk. You can follow her on Instagram and TikTok @aubreybarton3.

Father Daughter Spey – the Wang Gang

Jerry had the rare opportunity to bring his daughter Jennifer along this year to fill in for his wife Diana. Jennifer learned to spey cast from her dad just weeks before the trip. As a backup, Jerry also taught her to cast a 3/8-ounce Vibrex on a baitcasting reel, which isn’t as easy as it sounds. It was a joy to watch father and daughter tackle the Sapsuk salmon together. Jennifer quickly mastered the spey rod and ended up catching the most and biggest salmon in our boat all week. She and Aubry bonded as the only millennials in camp, giving the group a fresh and youthful energy.

Watching Jerry fish with  his adult daughter made me a little envious. It’s something I had hoped to do with Mia or Mark, but millennials are often busy with their own families and jobs. The window for a trip like this with their dad is a rare thing indeed. Jennifer was a fantastic fishing partner—polite, well-traveled, and smart like her parents. She’s on her way to becoming a great Nurse Practitioner, and I hope she’ll return next year with her mom.   Rumor has it that there will be three boats in camp next year and two fishermen to the boat which means Jerry and I can fish together again.

Chris and Ryan fine-tuned Jennifer’s casting, and there’s no better place to learn spey casting than Sapsuk.  The Sapsuk is the ideal destination for a beginner Spey Fisherman. I brought a one handed 9 wgt,  an Ocean Beach switch rod,  A 13.6 inch Meisner 7wgt spey rod and an 8 ft MH baitcasting rod with an Anteres DC reel.  Although you can catch Silver Salmon on any of these rods,  the ideal way to fish the river is with a spey rod.  The river is the perfect size and the guides can fine tune you in the field with lessons which are often interrupted by fish every dozen practice casts.

Jennifer celebrated her 31st Birthday this week and we all sang for her.   Aubrey made her a birthday cake   with 31 candles as well as a nifty gift of her mountain art and macrame complete with one of Jerry’s flies incorporated .

B Run Silver

The Fishing

Despite some discouraging fishing reports from nearby areas, the Sapsuk River always seems to produce fish in good numbers somewhere along its stretch. While the fish weren’t as plentiful in the usual holes this year compared to last, we still managed to find spots that gave us all the action we needed. My estimate is that everyone in our group caught between 15 to 30 fish a day, and most of us weren’t even fishing very hard. Aubry’s streamside lunches, with her hot soups and stews, were so satisfying that they often led to extended breaks.

We easily filled our six freezer boxes with around 40 pounds of fillets each, and I was also able to harvest about ten pounds of salmon roe. The fish seemed especially fresh this year, many still carrying sea lice, showing they were just hours out of the ocean and still fighting fiercely. I had the chance to use my VR Click Drag spey reel, and now I understand why Glen loves click drags. The sound of a Coho making a long run will stay with me for a long time.

As usual, we had success locating fish with the trusty number 5 Vibrex spinner, rigged with pink rubber tails. This year, I perfected my “Flybrex” spinner fly, which can be easily adapted to fish along the bottom or over the top like a gurgler—it’s deadly either way. It’s a fantastic fly for searching out fish or fishing behind others. One afternoon, I fished behind Jerry on a long run, and he kept glancing back at me as I landed fish after fish. When we reached the tailout, Jerry headed back to the boat for coffee. I suggested he swap his fly for the “Flybrex” and re fish the stretch where he’d been skunked, using the same rod, line, and leader. Jerry couldn’t resist testing the theory, and on his very first cast, he hooked and landed a solid fish. We celebrated, and after repeating the success, we both agreed the “Flybrex” made all the difference for those lock jawed coho.

I prefer using the Wicked Lures blade for this setup since it’s lighter, engineered, and patented to perform well. The beauty of the blade is that it can be added to any fly. If the fish are deep, it works great with a tungsten-head fly. On a lightly weighted fly just under the surface, the blade becomes my topwater weapon of choice. Jerry and I had no trouble casting this awkward fly on switch rods and standard 7-weight spey rods with 450-550 grain lines.

The Sapsuk silvers love topwater flies, especially in the early mornings. A few weeks back, Tony Yap gave me some crease flies to try on the silvers. He sent me pictures of huge salmon he had caught on them, raving about how well they worked. I promised I’d give them a shot, so one morning during a hot bite, I tied one on. The crease flies swing and wake beautifully, much like a gurgler, and while I did get some follows, I couldn’t seem to hook any fish. From drone video footage, I’ve noticed that salmon often take more than one pass at surface flies, usually nipping at the tail. Similarly, when using a Vibrex with a plastic tail, I’ve observed fish hitting the tail and pulling it back. This year, I tied flies with longer, smaller trailing hooks, and my hook-up rate improved. Additionally, I’ve switched from using Gamakatsu Octopus hooks due to some issues I encountered.   Im liking the Firehole 801P in a size 1 for next year.

Camp Life

Every year, without fail, there’s always some kind of equipment failure or something I either forget to pack or realize I didn’t need to bring. After five seasons, you’d think I’d have it all figured out, but my luggage still manages to hit the 50 lb limit, no matter what I leave behind. This year, the only real casualty was my iPhone 15 Pro Max, and it happened on day two.

For the first three days after camp, the routine is always the same: filleting and collecting about 250 pounds of fish fillets, bellies, and roe (six boxes, 40 pounds each). After processing the salmon roe skeins, I usually wash the cutting boards, bowls, and strainers in the river next to one of the moored boats. But on day two, as I leaned over to wash a cutting board, my iPhone slipped out of my shirt pocket and into the deep, fast-moving water. I almost jumped in after it, but that would have been a fatal mistake. Thankfully, I had a spare phone and was able to activate it using the Starlink at camp. It was a huge relief because all my plane tickets, hotel reservations, and communication tools were on that phone. It’s easily the most important piece of equipment I bring. Luckily, my photos had synced to the cloud, so I didn’t lose any data.   The iphone 16 goes on presale in a couple days.   Looks like an upgrade year for me <wink>. <wink>.

The Starlink at camp is a total game-changer.  During the week,   I managed to watch the Oregon Ducks Football opener and the SF 49r opener after dinner. YouTube tv let us time  shift both games for after dinner. Each year, our tailgating in the lounge gets more elablorate.  I think next year I will bring a small projector so we can watch it big screen.  In my opinion, Aleutian Adventures should get an EcoFlow Delta  Pro to keep the Starlink and the two chest freezers running through the night. The camp generators only run from 6:30 AM to 10:00 PM, so it would be a great improvement.   Two freezer will draw 300W total in 9 hours thus needing 2700 Wh,   A starlink mini draws 50W in 9 hours thus needing 450 Wh.   The total energy requirement would be 3150 Wh.   The Ecoflow Delta Pro has a capacity of 3600 Wh.   The Ecoflow Delta Pro takes 3 hours to charge fully from empty on 110 volts 15 amps.

We did run into a mosquito problem on a couple of days when the wind died down. The best solution was DEET, or wearing nets. Wearing 9mm nitrile gloves and socks helped keep those pests off the backs of our hands and feet—something I only thought of after dealing with the itchy consequences.

Interestingly, we didn’t spot any bears this year, probably because there weren’t as many fish in the river. But we did see plenty of eagles, cranes, river otters, ermines and other wildlife. The Sapsuk is a beautiful place for long-lens photography, and next year I’m planning to bring a micro four-thirds camera with a long lens to capture the volcano and distant animals. I also plan to bring an extra drone battery—by the time I get back from fishing, I’ve usually drained all three of my drone batteries. I missed some great opportunities for drone footage, especially before and after dinner, just because I didn’t have a charged battery. The island’s native wildlife, especially the ones hunted for food, tend to stay away from people, so capturing them requires some preparation.

I only fished the camp spots—Silvertree and Petersons—on two evenings, and both spots delivered fish. I’m sure I would have fished them more often if it hadn’t been for Aubry’s incredible meals keeping me in camp.

Because of a low tide on our exit day.   We cut our fishing back one hour and ended up going to Nelson Landing the night before our charter flight out.   The bunkhouse was comfortable complete with hot showers ,  food and all day Starlink Internet.   Flights in and out of Nelson Landing were uneventful and on time.  We were able to store our frozen fish boxes at Huntleigh’s Bag storage and freezers fro 20 bucks a box.  They are located  at the South Terminal  near Baggage Claim 4.

The Fish- Google Gallery

The Camp – Google Gallery

The Food – Google Gallery