It was last March at the International Sportsman’s Expo,
that Kelly Crump, owner of Water’s Edge Lodge drew a lucky
winner to join us on a all expense paid fishing trip to
Alaska.
(elizabeth) I don’t know if I want to
answer this. (adam) that was fast. Are you Elizabeth
Houggard? (elizabeth) yes I am.
Unfortunately Elizabeth wasn’t able to make the trip. So
she donated it to her friend Chris Quartuccio.
(Adam) How about that. (chris) you know a guy can never
have to many friends. (adam) that is so true. Dude we are
going to have a good time, first time to Alaska? (chris)
first time, I’m excited. Well the next stop is we are
hoping on a Ward Super Otter Elfin Cove the flight is
awesome. (chris) these are my new friends. (laughs)>
I’ve been to Alaska seven times and one of my favorite
parts is the float plane ride in.
The beauty of the peaks, and the inside passage in a word
is breathtaking. You know, Alaska is one-fifth the size of
the Lower 48 with less than 10,000 miles of road. Here
flying is a way of life. Air taxis are to Alaska what
yellow cabs are to New York. This is the only way to get
to our final destination of Elfin Cove…
Our home for the next week.
<(Chris Quartuccio) It was smooth and beautiful. Saw a few whales leaving the water, yeah great flight.
Water’s Edge Lodge is situated in Elfin Cove, an old
Commercial fishing port that recently has become a popular
destination for sport fishers.
(Kelly Crump, Co-Owner Water’s Edge Lodge) Elfin Cove is
about 90 miles almost straight West on Chichagof island.
So we are right out on the edge of open ocean. You go
right you come back into the inside passage, if you go
left you go to the open ocean.
(Kelly) elfin cove is amazing, it can be intimidating,
it’s the real deal.
Water’s Edge Lodge is the only self guided operation in
Elfin Cove. Here there are no boat Captains, no guides,
you are the captain of your own boat.
(Kelly) the majority of self guided lodges do not have
our type of boat. That’s one thing that’s hard to explain
to people. Once they come up, they understand. They are 22
foot with a 150 HP motor and they are made for the ocean,
so maybe the wind comes up you don’t want to get caught up
in, you are going to be safe. You are not going to have
water come over the bow, you are going to make it back
safe every night and that’s important to us.
(Mike Hurst, Water’s Edge Lodge Deckhand) So the most
important is your GPS
Mike Hurst our deckhand for the week, gives a tutorial on
the boat, the GPS, the radio, the safety gear, and in my
mind the most important gear we’ll need, our fishing
tackle.
(Adam) Do you have a bat? (mike) we do have a bat. A bat
is a necessity. (adam) oh yeah, in case the crew gets out
of hand. (laughs)
(Kelly) We want this to be a place where you come, you
get in the boat, you go fish and you worry about nothing
else. We want to take care of your food, do you laundry
for you everyday, we just want you to worry about fishing
and have fun and not have any worries at all.
(Adam) well let’s get out of here and go catch some
kings! (chris) alright I’m in. (adam) what a day, a little
foggy. (chris) beautiful.
Since we are unguided and Kelly isn’t able to tell us
where to go, it’s up to us to find the kings. So we
followed the other chartered boats out to the open ocean
and dropped a line.
Trolling for kings in the open ocean is not that different
from trolling for kokanee at Strawberry or Flaming Gorge.
The gear is almost exactly the same, other than the
dodgers and the squids are a bit bigger.
<(Adam) We've got a king on the line, charging the boat, he's ripping line, he's going to come up. Man he is all over the place.>
(Adam) Never caught a big king. my dad did, back on the
Alagnak River when we went there with Doug maybe 12 years
ago, big hen and I’ve never caught a real big one so. I’ve
been with a lot of friends who have caught them, so it
would be kind of fun to land one. This one is definitely a
good one.
<(kelly) Half the fun is learning how to do it. Some of these guys will buy a lure in the winter and they'll have it on their desk all winter waiting to come use it and catch a big fish on it. That's what makes it fun, it's your deal.
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