Experience a Virtual Alaskan Fishing Adventure with Me...

Dear Reader,

Captain Mac here, inviting you to experience a virtual Alaskan fishing adventure with me. In real life your adventure would include non-stop fishing action; pristine Alaskan scenery; wild life sightings that might include bald eagles, humpback whales, killer whales, seals and sea lions, black bears and deer, not to mention the critters like mink, marten and otters that hang around the Lodge. You'll experience fabulous dining, and unbelievable serenity. Read on, and I'll do my best to paint a realistic picture for you with words.

The Adventure Begins ~

Sportsman's Cove Lodge is located on Prince of Wales Island, the third largest island in the U.S. and the closest point in Alaska to the Lower 48. There are no roads, no hiking trails and no mountain bike trails to get here. The only way in is by float plane or boat.

You flew into Ketchikan yesterday and spent the time sightseeing this historic old fishing town. Since 1886, when white settlers began opening dozens of canneries, Ketchikan has been known as "the salmon capital of the world." You've walked the boardwalks, visited the old bordellos (now housing much more respectable businesses), inspected dozens of totem poles, visited the Deer Mountain Tribal Hatchery & Eagle Center, and maybe even attended the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show or went zip-lining and rock climbing on 1,000 foot granite faces. But, the best is still to come.

At 3:30 PM, you show up at the Pacific Airways "terminal" to catch your ride to the Lodge. You've already placed the distinctive hot pink luggage tags on your baggage to aid in getting your bags delivered to the right room at the Lodge. Your group of six (including you) is called up and you muster out to the de Havilland Beaver float plane that eagerly awaits you. You've never flown in a plane this small before and you're experiencing a few jitters about climbing into this ancient plane.

Relax. Although it has been around for over 60 years, this bird is incredibly dependable and reliable and is used for everything from hauling people and freight, and occasionally to delivering the mail. This short takeoff and landing work horse was designed in Canada specifically for the Canadian bush, and the reason it is still going is because no one has been able to come up with anything better in all those years.

One of our fellow passengers brought along his ten-year old son and he's sitting in the co-pilots seat grinning from ear to ear, eyes big as saucers.

Goodbye Ketchikan as you head out to Sportsman's Cove Lodge

Randy, your pilot, kicks over the powerful Pratt & Whitney Wasp Jr., engine and it is purring away as you pull away from the dock. He's taxiing out to the open waters of the Tongass Narrows to begin his take-off run. Ahead of you on Gravina Island (home of the Bridge to Nowhere) lies Ketchikan International Airport. A glance to your right reveals three huge passenger ships while on your left you spot fishing vessels of all types. There is a lot of activity on and around this water but Randy's not concerned - he has over 10,000 hours of bush flying and he's done this hundreds of times.

A quick turn into the wind and he's begun his takeoff run. In a few seconds the Beaver is skipping lightly across the waves and then bids adieu to the surly bonds of earth. Looking down you see Ketchikan slip slowly behind you as you head westward towards Prince of Wales Island and your Alaskan fishing adventure.

Randy cruises at no more than 800 feet altitude so you have a bird's eye view of everything going on around and below you. The short 20 minute flight from civilization to wilderness passes far too quickly when you feel Randy make a slight left turn and throttle back to begin your descent into Saltery Cove. At about a one o'clock position you spot what must be Sportsman's Cove Lodge and your heart picks up a few beats. You're only minutes away from a lifetime dream.

Arriving at the Lodge

Randy sets his Beaver gently down on the protected waters of the cove and taxis to the dock. My boat captains and I (the Band of Brothers) are there to meet you, eager to show you what you've been missing to this point in your life. You will spend almost all of your waking moments with Captain Neeley during your stay.

After the greetings on the dock, my Hospitality Team escorts you to the dining room. The other guests who took an earlier flight are already grazing on shrimp, smoked salmon, the Lodge's famous salmon spread, and other delicacies. You look around at your fellow fishing mates and notice that they are more varied than you had expected. All ages are represented from pre-teens to the elderly. And, there are girls and women present. OK, maybe you were a little dated in thinking that this was an adventure that appealed only to men.

While you are snacking the crew is stowing your luggage in your room making last minute preparations for your stay. The last plane arrives and its passengers join up so and it's now just you and your fellow 29 guests along with 32 staff members against all the salmon, halibut, cod and other fishes that southeastern Alaska can throw at you.

Stacy calls your name along with the other five guests and beckons you to follow her to your rooms. The Lodge is built on a hillside, like most of Southeast Alaska, so it's a bit of a hike up to the Eagle's Nest, the highest guest quarters, where you will be staying. Your name is on your door so you venture into a large cozy room wit a private bathroom. You're immediately drawn to the large sliding glass door where you exit onto the wrap-around deck.

The view is breathtaking. Across the cove are low tree-lined mountains. In the distance are the snow-caped peaks of the Coast Range. The protected waters are rippling slightly and reflections of the opposite shoreline dance gently across the placid waters of the Cove. Down below and to the left two Sitka Blacktail deer casually browse, oblivious to your presence and contributing to the peaceful, relaxed fee here. Just a few feet off the dock you spy the inquisitive eyes of a seal casually scoping out the Lodge to see if any errant fish slip away from a dock hand.

At six o'clock you scamper down to the dining room and discover that you will be dining each morning and evening with your boat captain and five other boat mates. As you sit down to dinner there are introductions all round. Jim is a doctor from a large city in south with his father, Mike, and teenage son Caleb. You quickly learn that the grandfatherly Mike has always dreamed of an Alaskan fishing adventure and Jim decided to fulfill that dream for him. Jim also thought it would be great for Caleb to spend quality time with his father and grandfather.

Your remaining two boat mates are Ed and Terri, a young married couple from Kansas City. They're simply here to appreciate the Alaskan wilderness, experience and Alaskan fishing adventure, and spend time together. They're both attorneys and don't get a lot of private time so this is a second honeymoon for them.

And, your boat Captain, Cecil Neeley joins you at the table. He's a retired newspaperman who prefers to be called Neeley. After 31 years with the San Diego Union-Tribune he and his wife moved to New Hampshire. He's captained for Mac since 2005.


A delicious, locally caught prawn appetizer is already waiting at each setting when you sit down. As soon as everyone is seated I stand, welcome you all, and call for the Chef to come out and introduce the meal. Chef Jason, decked out in his whites, comes out and goes through each of the four courses in detail. You learn later that all of his recipes are available when you leave.

During dinner Captain Neeley briefs you thoroughly on the daily routine and what to expect each day. He asks for guidance on what your wishes are regarding fishing: What species are you interested in catching? What are your priorities? He factors this information into his fishing strategies. In the course of this discussion you discover there are a wide variety of fish that you will target.

After a gourmet meal, I lead the group in introducing themselves to all in the room. This is a fun time. There is a lot of energy and anticipation in the room and when we are finished everyone knows one another and many connections and friendships are begun. The end goal of the introductions is to cement all of the different personalities and interests into one group with a mission...to have fun and catch fish!

When the introductions are finished everyone heads down to the dock for a safety briefing and fishing lessons on the boats. You're team is assigned to the Friendly Lady. As you approach the boat, Tom, your deckhand, is just finishing cleaning her from today's fishing action and she's ready to go for tomorrow morning. You look around the boat. It is spotless and big. The decal on the cabin says "Coast-Wise 37".  You have heard that Captain Mac spent years developing this no nonsense fishing machine and that they are custom built for his operation. There's a nice warm cabin with upholstered dinette and another settee in the pilothouse and a stand-up bathroom; kept hospital clean. Outside there is room all around the rails from front to back. You could run from one end of the boat to the other if you had to chase that wild king salmon. Lots of deck room up on the bow and a huge back deck as well. Nice!

Captain Neely gives your team the safety briefing and then explains the fishing technique, demonstrating with the Lodge's first-class fishing gear you will be using. You notice the gear is all American-made, and the rods are custom built, with the Lodge logo on them. As you follow the fishing lessons you realize that you're not going to be sitting back sipping rum and cokes as Captain Neeley drags down-riggers all around Clarence Strait. Instead, you'll be "mooching" - you will be up close and personal with your rod and reel all day. You'll drop your baited line down to the depth provided by Captain Neeley just the way he has demonstrated and then quickly reel it up in successive ten-foot intervals - a technique virtually guaranteed to drive salmon to a feeding frenzy.

After the safety briefing and fishing lessons, it's time to try on your rain gear and boots and stow them in your locker. The boots go on your own person boot warmers in your locker. Nice touch. They'll be toasty warm in the morning!

Day one ends as you crawl into a nice comfortable bed and begin dreaming of the fishing ahead of you.

....That's a start for all my readers, next couple of weeks we will continue with part 2 of 3.