The drive south – Anchorage to Soldotna
Driving south from Anchorage to the Kenai Peninsula is another one of those Alaska moments that just takes your breath away. The road follows the north side of the Turnagain Arm (large body of water) of the Cook Inlet. Here mountains are all around you. On this particular day there was sea fog along the water. This made the mountains on the other side of the water seem as if they were floating as we could just see the tops of the mountains. It was a pretty cool illusion to see.
We soon rounded the end of the Turnagain Arm and we were on the peninsula! The peninsula itself is 150 miles north to south with glacier-covered mountains along its east coast and relatively fertile flat ground on its western side. Most people come here for one of two things….fishing or driving to the most western town in North America accessible by paved road. We were doing both!
Our destination for the night as well as the next few days was in Soldotna. I had been here back in 2007 with my buddy Matt as well as my Dad and had stayed at my Dad’s friends (Dick & Stevie’s) Bed & Breakfast. The Bed & Breakfast had closed the previous year but as Dick & Stevie were still living there they agreed to let us stay with them. We were both overjoyed at this as I had such wonderful memories of the house back in 2007 and both Dick & Stevie were great hosts and people in general.
Driving through a forest fire
The drive once you arrive on the Kenai Peninsula is just as stunning as the drive around the Turnagain Arm. You pass mountains, rivers, lakes; just stunning scenery. This drive wasn’t without its scary parts though. There were many wildfires eating up acre upon acre of forest in Alaska in the summer of 2019 and one of them just happened to be right along the road. Seeing a forest fire close up is something that neither of us had ever experienced before. Smoke so thick that you could only see 20 feet in front of you. The sky a combination of smoky greys and blacks combined with dark reds of the actual flames. Every now and then a helicopter would fly over carrying a bucket of water over to the fire before opening it up and dropping all of its contents. Fire crews were on the road waving people through so we inched through the smoke, shutting all the vents in the van. Eventually we came out the other side, the smoke eventually lifting and blue skies returning.
Dick & Stevie’s in Soldotna
We pulled into Soldotna and into Dick & Stevie’s. The house had looked just as I had remembered it. Located directly on the Kenai River and surrounded by trees it was beautiful. We walked in and were greeted by Dick, his daughter Pegee and family friend Michael. This was an unexpected surprise, as we did not expect to see Pegee or Michael. We sat down with them for about an hour telling them about our trip, how we met and also hearing what they had been up to in the last 12 years. It was a lot of fun and almost like we were seeing family members who we hadn’t seen in a very long time.
After a great conversation of catching up and going over our itinerary for the next few days we brought some clothes into the house and headed out for dinner. We were told to go to a local restaurant called Mykel’s so we did. The recommendation was a great one as the food turned out to be amazing. We both had local seafood (halibut & salmon) and went to bed happy.
Halibut Fishing Time
We woke up the next morning excited, as it was our 1st day of fishing. Today we would be fishing for halibut. The drive to the boat launch was a little over an hour south. Today we would be “killing” two birds with one stone; going fishing and driving to the most western point by road in North America, Anchor Point, AK. The drive (as most of the drives in Alaska) was stunning. The road followed the coast along the Cook Inlet going south and went through a few small towns before arriving in Anchor Point.
Our boat as well as many others left from the Anchor River State Recreation Area. This was truly as far west as you could drive. After arriving we met the others on our boat we had booked through Alaskan Widespread Fishing Adventures. We met Alison & Scott – also RVers traveling the country, David from Montana and Mike from Minnesota. Also on the boat was Captain Mike and first mate Nathan.
After introductions and a brief safety overview we were off. As we were fishing in the ocean and there was no marina to speak of, putting the boat in the water was a bit different than your normal boat ramp. The boats sat on trailers with oversized tires that looked like tubes that you would go down a lazy river on. Once everyone was on the boat a large/tall tractor would come and attach itself to the boat’s trailer. It then drove the boat down the beach and into the water. When the boat was in deep enough water it simply floated off the trailer. The tractor then took the trailer back up the beach and we sped off into the ocean.
The first part of the trip consisted of just getting out to where the fish are. This was 30 miles out into the Inlet and took about an hour to get out there. On the way there we saw something bobbing up and down in the water so we went over to investigate. It turned out to be not the best sight as it was a dead whale floating belly up with a few sea gulls perched on top of it looking quite content. While not the ideal way to start our first fishing trip, it was still a beautiful day and the ocean was not too choppy.
Finally Captain Mike said that we reached our fishing sweet spot and he slowed down the boat; it was time to fish for halibut. Halibut are a flat bottom feeding fish similar to flounder. They are pretty strange as they start out life swimming as normal fish, then transform so that their eyes go from opposite sides of their head to the same side, so that they can stay flat along the sea bed. These are some ugly, weird fish. They do however; taste amazing.
Prior to the fishing trip Julie and I had to get a fishing license. With this license we were able to pull in one fish 28” or less and one fish over 28”. It was time to start fishing. The way the boat was set up 4 people could fish at one time and Julie was the first to go. Nathan baited her hook and away she went. Halibut fishing isn’t the easiest fishing in the world since they do live on the ocean floor. Your weighted line must drop to the bottom, a depth of around 200 feet. When you think you have a fish on you have to reel it all the way up again. Even if nothing is on your line it can feel like something is due to the weights. If a fish is on there they weigh anywhere from 25lbs to 100+lbs. Get ready for a fight!
As luck would have it, Julie was the first to land a fish. FISH ON she screamed and started to reel it in. The fish was a fighter and what must have seemed like forever to her (in reality maybe 5 minutes) she had the boat’s first fish, a 30lbs beauty. After posing with her catch the ocean wanted a little payback for taking one of her fish and Julie got a little seasick. One of the funnier moments was when Julie was heaving over the side of the boat the first mate just patted her on the back and said “Ah your not so bad, your still standing!”.
It was my turn to go and after a few bites taken out of my bait but no fish I finally landed one; a 35 pound keeper. The rest of the day went pretty well. Julie’s seasickness eventually subsided. Everyone on the boat was successful in catching his or her allotment. The two big winners on the boat this day were David and Mike. David caught an 80-pound fish while Mike reeled in a 100 pounder. The size of those 2 fish was insane. I hope their hungry as after the fish were cut each of them was getting around 60-80lbs of fish off of just one single fish.
As we were heading back Nathan was filleting the fish on a built in table on the side of the boat. It was amazing to watch him fillet these fish with a razor sharp knife and be remarkably accurate as the boat is bouncing around at 30mph. Once back on shore (and feeling like we were still on the water) we headed back to Soldotna and to the fish processor.
Alaska Fish Processor
When fishing in Alaska and unless you are planning on cooking 50 pounds of fish yourself in a few days, you take your catch to one of the many fish processors. You give them your catch; they freeze it, then wait until you are completely done fishing. You then tell them how you would like it cut (or smoked if you prefer) and where to ship it. It’s a very simple process and cuts out the need to have a freezer yourself.
From the processor we grabbed a quick dinner at the local supermarket and headed back to Dick & Stevie’s. Every part of the day had been awesome! We had driven as far west in North America as you can on a paved road and had caught some of the largest, ugliest and tastiest fish that we had ever seen!
Next up….We continue to fish the Kenai. King Salmon & Red Salmon next!
