An Alaskan Fishing Guide’s Farewell - Day 7: Great Fishing, Coastal Brown Bears, And One More Goodbye

After walking away from a twenty-year guiding career in Alaska to write full-time, I’m getting the chance to return for one more week on the water. This is the 7th installment of a ten-part series where I’ll share each day’s story—the fish landed, the humor that comes with helping people catch them, the inevitable encounters with bears, and an insider's view of the life of an Alaskan guide.

Time to leave. | Photo by Ken Baldwin

• Read Day 1-6 of my final guiding week in Alaska

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I'm tired, my brain is tired. Going full speed every day, senses on high, and navigating myself and guests safely around the interior of Alaska is a young man's game. I can do it for a week, maybe a month if pushed, but gone are the days I can do it for a full season.

My Last Day

Today was my last day of guiding for John Coffman and the Ridge Lodge. Instead of sending me out with the guest, John suggested that I go upriver and spend a few hours fishing by myself. I've been running hard all week, and he was gracious enough to give me some time to sit with Alaska and enjoy my last moments here.

A Chance to Fish

The Ridge Lodge overlooks the Copper River, and a ten-minute hike brought me to a run that was full of salmon and trout, and I had it all to myself. The location of the Ridge Lodge can sometimes be an embarrassment of riches, with the river so full of salmon that it becomes hard to access the trout.

Sockeye salmon schooled up in a deep, green pool. The colors are so vivid, it's like looking into a living painting. | Photo by Ken Baldwin

Words Fall Short

I’ve been coming to this part of Alaska for more than twenty years, and I’m still not sure I’m a good enough writer to capture what it feels like to stand in a crystal-clear river in the Alaskan wilds.

The Magic of Wild Places

The feeling is tangible and never fades. The only sights and sounds I experience are wild, natural, and untouched by human presence. I can feel the immensity of the land and sky, and it causes me to take pause.

Drifting to big trout amongst the red salmon. | Photo by Ken Baldwin

Bigger Than Words

If I were to try, I’d reach for words like big, majestic, light, clean, stimulating, and calming. But those still fall short. Can something feel like opportunity, God, and freedom? Because that's what I think of when I'm out here.

Alaska is a landscape that always leaves me in awe. | Photo by Ken Baldwin

Sharpens the Sword

There are bears, storms, and hazards way out here. But the walls and defenses I surround myself with in the city are gone—my armor against the constant bombardment of noise, negativity, people wanting something from me, and rudeness in my day-to-day encounters—melt off. I’m open and unguarded out here. Yes, I have to be in constant awareness, but it is a sharpening, not a dulling of the senses. The city has a way of beating you down; being out here, it's the opposite.

There is more to Alaska than the great fly fishing. | Photo by Ken Baldwin

Gone Fishing

I took John's advice and, with my purple Loop fly reel, a nod to the University of Washington Huskies, and my Loomis 7-weight, I threw some streamers and drifted beads to hungry rainbow trout.

Pure Pleasure

An Alaskan wild rainbow trout is all muscle, bright and colorful. A 20-inch fish is an average to small fish in these waters, and it can still take you down to your backing. I caught fish, I saw one last bear, and I sat on the riverbank to watch the salmon.

Second Chances

I wasn't sad that it was over. A year ago, guiding in Alaska again wasn't part of the plan. Standing in the river today, I was feeling grateful for the second chance.

Clear water and big fish. | Photo by Ken Baldwin

It's Time

Is this really my last trip to Alaska? As a guide, probably. I can still run jet boats, carry a raft across the tundra, and work among the bears. But guiding here means delivering every day for four months, not only when Alaska is beautiful and serene, but also when it becomes dangerous and unpredictable. That’s a younger man’s game.

Perspective

This week gave me one more quarter at a game I loved, and I owe the Ridge Lodge a sincere thank you for allowing me the opportunity. I saw Alaska with a deeper appreciation this time; second chances will do that.

Time to go. | Photo provided by Ken Baldwin

A World to Fish

Now I get to draw on a lifetime of fly fishing and write about it—and beyond Alaska, there’s the rest of the world I want to fish. KB

"Slow down...listen to the hoppers...be patient with yer wife...eat sardines with hot sauce... catch “Gagger” trout!!!" –Flip Pallot

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