Original subtitles

(intense music)

This is the place.

If you want to fish, you come to the state of Alaska.

This is the alpha.

It all starts here.

You say "Alaska" to a sportsman

and it just conjures romance.

It conjures epic snow falls and survival in the wilderness

and then there's people say well what's the next Alaska?

There is no other Alaska

and there never will.

They don't make this stuff every day.

This is an American birth right.

If you love to fish, if you love the outdoors,

you got to get to Alaska and try this.

It is just simply wonderful.

Kodiak can be a very very challenging place

to forage and fish.

There's no rest for a guide around here.

Inch for inch, pound for pound,

those fish are the toughest fighting trout

anywhere in the world.

Tough one.

Alright, here we go.

Team number one.

Come to Alaska and get spoiled.

You think how in the world is this possibly going to work

yet, it works time and time again.

And you're hooked up here more than you're casting.

Well, this is Alaska.

(wind sounds)

(upbeat music)

When is comes to fishing, especially fly fishing,

there is no place on the planet that rivals Alaska.

You owe it to your DNA to answer this

call of the wild up here.

This is the alpha.

It all starts here.

Alaska has, I think,

the most exciting and widest variety

of fishing up anywhere in the world.

There we go.

I'm fighting that beast.

And that's why you come to a place like this

because you want a tiger by the tail

on the end of that line.

You want the fight of your life,

you want lots of action.

And Alaska has all that and more.

Alaska is an anglers dream come true.

Its rivers are home to five different species of salmon.

Freshwater lakes are filled with six foot pike

and 100 pound halibut are often snag in the ocean's waters.

Over 200,000 non resident fishing licenses

are sold annually, and every year,

recreational fishing brings millions of dollars

through tourism into the state's economy.

It's been 15 years since I've been back

here to fish in Alaska and it's just like I never left.

This place is better now than it was 15 years ago.

And get them up here and these are wild fish, cold rivers.

They're fighting current all the time.

They're ultra strong.

Alaska just has the diversity, has the volume,

and when you've got places like Bristol Bay Lodge

where you've got these fly out opportunities,

you could overnight out here in camps,

you get different species that are hot in different rivers.

So you get the smorgasbord of fishing experience

when you come out hear that just is

not rivaled anywhere in the world.

You know the weather in Alaska, it's the old saying

just wait 10 minutes, it'll change.

In Alaska, that's really true,

and day one we arrived, and, I mean,

it's bluebird skies, beautiful sunshine.

It looks like something that Chamber of Commerce

would have prescribed for us.

And of course you know we just soaked it up.

We know how rare it is for this time of year

to have sun in Alaska.

To be able to just enjoy the beauty of it

without putting rain gear on

and catch a lot of fish at the same time.

So we just lived in the moment, caught a lot of fish,

and lived a day We'll never forget.

That's fishy looking water, right there.

[Blake}This is what we call back river.

It's some of the craziest, biggest bows

we have here at Bristol Bay Lodge.

Fish on!

Not three minutes into it,

we were already hooked up with a nice rainbow.

You look into one of these giant leopard bows,

these rainbows up here that

are big beefy 24 to 30 inch rainbows.

That's a different kind of fishing experience.

I mean it's like it's a different species.

I can barely fit my hand around her.

Get em, get em, get em.

Whatever you do, don't lose him, Matt.

Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867

by US Secretary of State, William Seward for $7.2 million.

At the time, Seward was criticized for this purchase,

which was quickly dubbed Seward's folly,

or Seward's ice box,

but America's 49 state quickly proved to be a bargain.

As the massive state covers

over 1.7 million square kilometers,

and is rich in natural resources,

including the world's most prolific fishery.

Alaska's massive fishing fleet of 9,400 commercial vessels

will span over 110 kilometers if you line them up

from bow to stir and every year,

commercial and recreational fishing in Alaska

generates over $5 billion in total revenue,

with over half of that value coming

from recreational anglers.

The recreational fishing industry

creates more jobs than just the fishing guides.

The fishing tourism industry employs managers,

staff, cooks and pilots.

We own and operate three de Havilland Beavers

here at Bristol Bay Lodge.

I have three different pilots on one included.

The beaver is this amazing passport

to adventure in Alaska.

The throaty sound of a beaver engine is just unmistakable.

If I ever loose my sight, I'll remember that sound.

The beauty of Bristol Bay Lodge is the fact

that they've got so many different locations

so that if they can't fly, you can hop in a boat

and you can go someplace else

and have a great day of fishing.

After day one of beautiful sunshine, gorgeous weather,

getting a suntan out there catching rainbow trout,

we knew there was a big weather system coming in

and boy did it just sock in this whole Bristol Bay region.

We go to the Angola walk, it's about 30 minute ride.

And we didn't care about the weather

because we were well prepared for it.

There's a lot of great satisfaction

that comes to you if you bundle up

in all your high tech stuff and you go out there

and they're throwing everything they can at you,

elements wise.

When it rains it pours, right?

Rain or shine you know we're getting out

and hitting the rivers hard

and having a good time every day.

And we're in the fish like you can't believe.

If I were a big, fat bow, that's where I'd be.

Sinkin em, sinkin em, sinkin em.

I'll tell you, there's no rest for a guide around here.

It was infested with rainbow trout

and char and dolly varden.

I mean, one after another, after another.

Absolutely incredible.

And just think, we could have stayed

in the lodge and watched football.

The fish are always unpredictable.

It's not always easy just to make a stab at a fish.

You know, it has to be a teamwork

between the angler and the guide.

Getting that fish up on the surface is your best bet.

You know and you'll find some fish just will not cooperate.

There we go.

Fantastic.

Good job.

Nice Dolly.

Nice fish.

Yeah, look at that. Very nice.

Very nice Dolly.

This thing was like paint by numbers.

It was just so stunningly beautiful.

Yes, yes, yes.

Rub your nose on the bottom.

The honey whole.

There you go, doubled up!

It's a rainbow.

You got to bribe your guide a lot of money

to come into this hole.

The rainbow trout are tough, strong,

hard fighting fish but you put em here in Alaska,

in these rivers where they're fighting current all the time.

Inch for inch, pound for pound,

those fish are the toughest fighting trout anyone world.

It just doesn't quit, does it?

No sir.

While Alaska's home

to an amazing array of fish

it's the annual salmon runs that truly make

this state an anglers paradise.

Salmon live an amazing life cycle.

Starting in fresh water

where they live in infancy, for up to two years,

then swimming downriver into the open sea

where they live and grow for up to seven years

before beginning they're long migration home.

Salmon appear to use the sun, the Earth's magnetic field,

and their sense of smell, to navigate through the ocean

to return to the same river where they were born.

Salmon are a keystone species,

meaning they have great influence on the survival

of other species in the area.

Over 40 species of birds, fish and mammals

depend on the annual salmon run for their survival.

And the most famous salmon catchers in Alaska

do not walk on two legs as this land is

also home to the largest land based carnivore on earth.

The brown bear which gorges itself

on up to 47 salmon a day.

(upbeat music)

That was a fabulous one.

When they see you, they take off.

They think you're a bear.

Salmon behind me.

Salmon in front of me.

This is why we live in Alaska.

That's a dolly varden.

The fishing in Alaska is so good,

you don't have to catch em.

They just swim up on shore.

Buckhorn Bay, Alaska is one of those places

that could be the center of a TV series.

Cheerful people. fun people.

Knowledgeable people.

People who love the outdoors.

Well, one thing about late August in Alaska.

It's a land of plenty.

Salmon are coming up the rivers.

Deer are in the high country.

Bears are out foraging for berries and,

if you're a berry lover,

there's no better place to be.

I can't help myself.

The Tongass National Forest is

our largest forest set aside

by our Teddy Roosevelt 100 years ago.

This is a forest that's filled

with salmon, bears, suka dear.

It is just a fabulous place.

It's your land, my land.

This is public land belongs to all the people.

There we go.

Pink girl, isn't it?

No, it's a silver.

Been in the system for a while.

Yeah.

You'll have fun with that one.

(upbeat music)

The silver is starting to go red on it.

That fish ate it, boy.

He ate it.

But I'll tell you what,

Alaska has five species of salmon.

The pink, the next one is the sockeye or the red,

followed by the coho or silver,

and then the dog or chum salmon and then the big guy,

the king salmon or chinook.

Hey, are you having fun yet?

Salmon all go to the ocean and return

to the fresh water system

where they spawn and then die.

Their bodies add enormous amounts of nutrients

to these systems and this cycle of life up here

is really a cool thing to watch.

There's two kinds of fishing here.

You can fish out in salt water.

Catch nice bright fish.

And we were catching fish that have been

in the system for a while.

They'd probably be fine to smoke,

but not the best eating fish

but they still have a lot of zing in em,

and they can be really hot.

Oh, he's coming up stream.

Look at em, look at em.

Salmon behind me.

Salmon in front of him.

Whoa!

That was perfect.

Oh geez, that's wonderful!

What a fish!

What a fish!

There we go.

Now it's coming at me.

Grab the end of the gill.

Put your finger in there.

I got em, I got em.

He's not going anywhere.

He's a nice little silver.

Back over here.

Well, ol boy.

He's fresh enough.

I think we've got dinner.

There you go.

That's about a seven pound silver.

Beautiful.

That was kind of fun.

Now I got to go get one.

You want to?

I do.

(Jim laughing)

This is why we live in Alaska.

There's a great fishery.

Small silver's come into these systems by the hundreds.

They've got a fish ladder that accesses

about eight, nine miles of additional habitat upstream

and these things have been increasing in numbers

over the last 10, 15 years since

that fish ladders been put in.

And it's a great sport and got to see

if we can get one for him out there.

Here we go.

This is called salmon wrestling, baby.

Salmon wrestling.

Anybody that poo poos these things,

haven't caught big ones on a fly rod.

Boy, they don't want to give up.

I think that's the biggest pink I've ever caught.

That's an honest to goodness seven or eight pounds pink.

He's just an absolutely incredible shade.

The river here has been really hot.

Mostly pinks.

Now, that's fun.

That's a lot of fun.

Really got a little cutthroat, and when I was standing

on the shore looking down,

and a dolly varden swam right up on the grass,

right next to me, I just reached down

and picked it up. That's a trout.

That's a dolly varden.

I don't know where that fish came from.

But that's a dolly varden.

We'll put him back where he belongs

I just don't know what I like more,

these blueberries or catching salmon.

If you fish, and you haven't been to Alaska,

you should put the state, known as the last frontier

on the top of your to do list.

A trip to Alaska to test your skills

against the famous annual salmon run

is more doable than you might think.

It is early on and three anglers are getting ready

to test themselves at one of the world's

most famous salmon honey holes.

The Kenai River.

Each year, the largest salmon in the world,

king or chinook, some weighing as much as 30 kilograms

run the river and drop 10s of thousands

of anglers to try their luck.

It is not long before the spinning rigs

baited with cured salmon eggs

entice the fish into action.

And while the pink salmon offered plenty of action,

these anglers are after silver salmon,

which give you an even stronger fight and great eating.

I think this is a silver.

There we go.

Oh yeah.

This is a small silver.

Take him.

Gonna have to bring him higher.

Got em?

Yeah.

Good man!

That's what we're fishing for.

That's about an eight pound silver.

Yeah, there we go.

Boy, that's good eatin stuff.

There are many places up and down the West Coast

of the United States and Canada

where you can catch a lot of salmon

and the thing to remember here on the Kenai

is that every one of these salmon is a wild fish.

Salmon really do.

You put this thing on.

You put it like that.

It may look funny but you watch.

I'm gonna catch a fish.

No, I'm telling you. It doesn't look funny at all.

On you it looks normal.

It looks normal. I like you.

You can pull it off.

There's something definitely yanking on this.

There we go.

It's a nice, nice silver.

Got him!

Boy, that's a good silver.

That is a serious Silver.

Look at the size of that.

That is a serious silver.

Man, that is a big male.

So, so let me, let me ask you a question.

Do you think that do-rag had something to do

with catching that salmon?

(fisherman laughing)

Give me that thing.

There, now I'm gonna get one too.

Come on, eat it.

There we go.

Boy, you got that one.

Keep that rod tip up.

He's gonna to run on ya.

Nice fish.

You didn't let the salmon, I don't believe.

Yeah!

Nice fish.

(laughing) Yep.

They're just wonderful fish.

I do like that do-rag.

I like that do-rag.

The Kenai river offers spectacular wildlife,

gorgeous scenery and, for fishermen,

the chance of a lifetime to dance with silver salmon,

as they make their annual run.

Alaskan waters provide a great food resource

for animals and humans alike.

Professional chef Bradley Ewing knows

how to prepare these local delicacies

to create amazing meals,

even from a species of fish

that most Alaskan chefs would throw back.

Today I'm looking for dog salmon

on the fact that it's so fatty.

So I'm going to make a smoked salmon moose

to go with a starter.

I got fishin to do.

It's getting windy.

Kodiak can be a very very challenging place

to forage and fish.

The wind can come rippin in here right off the river

at 60 miles an hour.

Oh, my line.

The wind is completely blowing line

in total opposite direction of where I need it.

All right, here we go.

Oh yeah.

She's a biter.

Oh yeah, here we go.

She's got some weight to her.

She's feeling hefty.

I wanna buy you corn dogs and take you out to prom, girl.

Oh Yeah, buddy.

This is an amazing dog.

This is exactly what I'm looking for.

And this is considered a junk fish.

Alaskans don't eat this.

A funny little thing about Alaska people

is they're seafood elitists.

And like my clients, I'll tell them

what they're eating for protein and

they're like blown away.

This is just pure love.

What up, girl?

Let's go home.

Along with his mother and sister,

Bradley prepares to serve a meal

with the species of fish that

is often considered as river trash.

Yeah man.

Looks like everything is working.

Moments before service, and it's time

to rock this stuff out.

Let's do this.

All right, here we go.

[Bradley's mother] Hi guys.

Come on in and have a seat.

Beautiful, beautiful.

[Bradley's mother] Chop, chop.

Guests are here.

Guests are here? Perfect.

We are ready to rock.

This is our first course.

Salmon moose.

These flowers are completely edible,

and sweet and tasty.

[Bradley's mother] Guys, let's move,

they've reached their limit.

Alright, alright.

I'm going, god. Leave me alone.

A little bit of olive oil just

because olive oil is good, man.

[Bradley's mother] Oh Bradley, it looks gorgeous.

Let's go.

Here you are, my kind sir.

This is gorgeous looking.

Thank you.

I never knew dog could taste so good.

My compliments to the crew and chefs.

Excellent meal.

[Bradley's mother] This is the part

where I get happy because I already heard him say,

"You guys are first class."

Thank you guys so much.

(guest clapping)

(upbeat music)

When fishermen dream of going to Alaska,

they're often intimidated by the sheer cost

of such an expedition.

While the state is home to amazing lodges

offering first class amenities,

you can also go to Alaska on a tight budget

and fish on your own.

I'm moving to Alaska.

That's it.

I'm moving to Alaska.

There's very affordable fishing

available than the last frontier.

Just a one hour drive from Anchorage,

is Wasilla, Alaska, who's rivers hold billions of fish

every year and are accessible to the general public.

Millions of fish come up this river.

10s of millions of pounds of fish die in this river,

putting the nutrients back into the system.

This is how the system works.

It's a miracle really.

And it's something you really got to see to understand.

All those root wads and drift piles

were from a big flood that we had about two weeks ago.

In all of these parts, the highway streams

originate in the mountains nearby here.

There's no lake to work as a reservoir

and those streams go up real fast.

There were a number of homes unfortunately

and cabins, got swept away.

This flood's gonna to do good things

for salmon habitat, from what I can see.

It's kind of scoured the bottom.

We've got some good clean gravel for spawning gravel.

It's also created, with all these root wads and drift heaps,

some wonderful habitat for young salmon.

For young silvers, particularly.

It's also going to be very good for the rainbow.

I really like this Alaska, thing.

Everybody's eating everybody else.

Let's go.

Yeah.

Let's see we can find some up here.

There he is.

No, I'm not going to see rainbow yet.

That's a nice dolly.

This is just a nice fat dolly.

Not quite a football but he's working on it.

Give him a couple more weeks, he'll look like a football.

Nice fat fish.

You're eating well

Go play with your little friends.

There are a few places the one has more reverence

for life than nature in the cycle

than one would on the salmon stream

late in the fall here in Alaska.

This is the miracle of life.

Just an incredible sad beauty and look, he's made it back.

He's going to make it back once more

into the deep water to feel it around him

once more before he dies.

There's good one.

That's a rainbow, I think.

But he's acting like a dolly.

But he didn't jump.

He's a nice rainbow.

Oh, man.

What a fish.

Fishing in Alaska at this time of year

is where the dream and the reality come together.

This is public water.

Public access.

Easy to get to.

This is an American birth right.

If you love to fish.

If you love the outdoors,

you've got to get to Alaska and try this.

It is just simply wonderful.

I suppose the Alaskans will kill me for telling you this

but it's here,

it's relatively cheap,

and it's all open to the public.

Whoa, that was a hit.

Is that a rainbow?

Can't be anything else.

Oh, that's a rainbow.

Hang on!

I mean that thing almost yanked

the rod out of my hands.

I mean it was like wack!

Isn't that a great feeling?

Come to Alaska and get spoiled.

This is the best I've ever seen.

I'm moving to Alaska.

from a mile down from the public access ramp.

Nice.

You know I think you might have a hot dolly.

Really?

Yeah, it's a dolly,

Dolly?

Yeah.

If you're old bookshop fishermen like I am,

This is a very close cousin.

How's that for char?

Boy, what a fish.

What a fish!

Public access.

Public land.

Alaska, the best.

Hot stuff.

(upbeat music)

Bristol Bay Alaska is home

to the world's largest sockeye fishery.

Here fishy fishy

Which might be the best tasting

of all the subspecies of salmon

and anglers that have been to Bristol Bay once

always want to come back.

Hello.

Come on up and show yourself.

It's like pulling in a Volkswagen.

I was gonna say.

That was awfully quick.

Yeah.

I'm sure he's got something else planned us here.

I'm having flashbacks.

15 years ago, huh?

Absolutely.

(fish splashing)

Very good.

Nice one.

I love seeing the healthy ones getting all the way up here.

Gosh, they're strong.

I guess when you get everything in the ocean chasing you,

you're bound to be strong.

Only the strong survive.

Nice fish.

Thank you, girl.

No place like Alaska.

Nothing even close to Alaska.

Matt and I have been so looking forward

to coming back to rainbow camp

because we had the most amazing experience 15 years ago.

We came to this river.

So we get up there.

We start making a couple of casts

and Matt hooks into a beautiful big silver.

Here we go.

Hey, nice chrome fish.

A lot of fight in that beast.

When you're connected with salmon,

it's a much more intimate experience.

You think how in the world is possibly going

to work yet it works, time and time again.

If you're hooked up here more than you're casting

and then it's non stop action.

There she goes.

Sayonara.

(upbeat music)

There's nothing like it in this whole world.

You come here and it is primitive.

We get to come to a wilderness that has remained the same.

It's paradise.

It's Eden.

So it's nice to know that

when so much has changed in the world,

it's great to come back to a place

where it is even better than it was 15 years ago.

The memories, frankly, are pale in comparison

to the reality of the place.

So that's Alaska.