Once a year I use this page to temoprarily depart the world of guitars and talk a little about fly fishing.  I know that there is a fair amount of cross-over between fly fishermen and guitar players, so those of you who enjoy both may enjoy hearing about my recent vacation.  For the week of 7/30 through 8/6/08 I was in Alaska fly fishing for Salmon, grayling and trout with my father and a good fishing buddy from my area.  The lodge that was home for the week (Lake Creek Lodge) is the oldest lodge in the Yentna valley and sits at the confluence of the Yentna River and Lake Creek, 85 air miles north of Anchorage.  The Yentna valley is the path of the first leg of Alaska's Iditarod dog sled race.  Lake Creek runs out of Chelatna Lake and runs crystal clear and very cold.  The Yentna runs mirky in the summer from the silty run-off of from melting glaciers and snow in the Alaska Range of mountains, which can be seen rising dramatically to the north of camp.  Mt. McKinley as well as several other peaks in excess of 15,000 feet can be seen on a clear day.

 

In late summer these rivers are full of Salmon (Silvers, pinks, chum salmon and sockeye) but also have rainbow trout, dolly varden and greyling as well.  We were mainly after Silvers and there were plenty available and cooperative.  The best times of the trip were spent walking Lake Creek and fishing it's many large pools, swift riffles and pocket water.   We would occasionally see other fishermen but most of the time spent on Lake Creek was near perfect solitude.  Lots of grizzly tracks around as evidence that we were not the only creatures high on the food chain who were interested in the fish, but thankfully we had no personal encounters with any large furry critters.  The average afternoon on Lake Creek provided a mixed bag of all of the fish to be found there, most often numbering well into the double digits by day's end.  By far the most numerous were the pink salmon, which readily take a fly, sometimes quite aggressively.  The strongest of the fish to be had were the chum, who tend to put their head down and bulldog you when battling.  The most fun are the silvers, fish that blend a strong strike on the fly with the tendency to run hard and jump high.  The biggest of the silvers ran about 13 Lbs.  The flies used ran the range from olive and brown wooly bugger to the most flashy chrystal chennile and maribou streamers, mickey finn streamers and salmon egg imitation patterns.

 

I'll take a moment here to recommend Lake Creek Lodge to anyone planning to visit Alaska's interior for fishing.  The lodge and cabins are not fancy but very welcoming and comfortable.  The quality and quantity of the food is very good and the staff friendly and helpful.  Rates are very reasonable and include cabin with hot showers, use of a boat for daily fishing excursions, and 3 hot meals a day.  I highly recommend it.   Anyone wanting more information on this lodge please follow this link for more information:  http://jeffwoodwardsportfishing.com/lake.htm

 

Back in the world of guitars...I've been getting caught up with some cool projects that were left undone prior to my leaving for Alaska.  I just completed a restoration on a lovely 1890s Washburn model 1897 (presentation grade) parlor guitar.  This little rosewood beauty features a pearl veneered fretboard, Durkee's "duck foot" bridge, abalone top purflings, wood marquetry side purflings, Handel tuners with engraved plates and pearl inlaid ivoroid buttons, a gorgeous little thing.  Go on over to the Gallery page (link here) to see pics and a description of this very cool piece of eye candy.  Also on the Gallery page you can see pics of the 1968 D-45 reproduction that I just completed for Blue-G Guitars in Tokyo.  This guitar faithfully re-creates the specs offered in the D-45 the year it was brough back into the Martin line right down to the square tube neck reinforcement, the pearl "boxed" end graft and the quarter sawn old growth brazilian rosewood. 

 

Some of you who shop the inventory pagee of my website may have noticed that the link to "inventory" now takes you directly to my G-base dealer webpage.  This arrangement makes it easier for me to keep my website listings more up-to-date than previously.  I will be adding new inventory items (guitars and tuners) this week so check back often if you are vintage guitar shopping.  I will also be updating the tuner inventory list to reflect sets that have sold recently.  My apologies to those who have inquired about sets on the site that they found were sold but the better tuners tend to go faster than I can keep up with on the site.  When the current update is complete it will reflect the most up to date listing.  Finally, from the world of guitar kit building, I will soon be adding a guitar kit inventory to the website.  Typically I have sold most of my kits through ebay but will be adding a list of current holdings soon for those who would rather buy direct.

 

Only about 2 weeks left before the Chinook and Coho (not to mention steelhead and brown trout) begin their spawning runs into the tributaries of Lake Ontario....gotta get some work done!