A Rare Father's Day Treat

The next day was Father's Day. We were supposed to ride a jet boat but neither of us wanted to do that. We decided to try fly fishing. Then our guide told us about how bears came into bathrooms and moose could be out in the wild. I suddenly pictured myself alone in a stream with a huge line and reel and nobody anywhere near me. So I prayed that no bear or moose would come near us. Well God answered that prayer so well that none of us saw any bears on the whole trip. Six of us ended up back trawling from a boat on the Talkeetna River (We never did do fly fishing.) Our guide put Larry and I in the back. We hadn't started fishing for five minutes when I got a pull on my line. Larry was yelling what to do. I reeled as well as I could. It was on the left and very hard to turn. Finally the fish cleared the water and Shannon, our guide, scooped it up in the net. It was about an 8 lb salmon. Then the show started. He yells, "lines in." He pulls the chain and anchor in. He moves the boat to shore and I get out in my big waders and we lay the fish down. Someone took my picture with the fish. I didn't want to keep it so I was not allowed to hold it up. In fact, the fish's belly had to remain in the water at all times. Then we let it go and it swam away. I got back in the boat feeling like a celebrity. He put me in the back of the boat so someone else could have that good spot. It turns out that all of the spots got fish and everyone caught a fish. A young couple each caught a huge King Salmon. Then it was Larry's turn and he caught a 35 lb King Salmon. He also got a picture and released it. The young couple were the only ones to keep their fish. I have six pictures of Larry with that fish. I don't think he could have experienced a more exciting Father's Day than fishing in the Talkeetna River in Alaska and catching the record fish with his adoring wife looking on. That turned out to be our favorite day of the trip.

Next time, I'll tell you about the wildlife park at Denali and I'll let you in on the one moment of our trip where I was truly frightened. See you then.