Rogue Angels

Sturgeon Sweeties!

2008-07-25T11:40:00.001-07:00

Rogue Angels Ade and Nicole, originally uploaded by k8.Rogue Angels.

Pescado Moi Bueno!

2008-07-23T20:56:00.001-07:00

I love this. I absolutely love a good day on the water.... a flight into somewhere with enough turbulence to remind me that I am flying-a few oh grandaddy stomach lifts, a choppy landing, maybe a cloud or two in our field of vision....throw in a couple glances left and right to look for other planes coming our way, and then land me on some remote creek and let me take someone fishing who has the itch to catch....send me into those waters, by the grace of god let us find those beautiful rainbows and let me gaze upon the mysterious sleek creatures that I am deeply in love with, and throw in some rain to remind me that it is the source....i truly love this.
...And at least once a year on my birthday give me fish and beer, I don't give a damn if its canned beer and sockeye, just hand it my way...

Summertime!

2008-07-22T14:32:00.001-07:00

Rogue Angel April with Rainbow , originally uploaded by k8.Rogue Angels.

April you make me envious of warm weather and leave me longing for sunshine! Great photo you beautiful and sexy angel!

One Eyed Jacks and a pair of Kings

2008-07-16T16:51:00.000-07:00

Had a few hours in between the lodge change out to put an all out ambush on the kings in the river....the morning bite was less than perfect backtrolling plugs, although those running the best lines were rocking the boat...not great etiquette as a lodge guide to go run those same lines while our clients are in the other guide boats and pull fish out around them, so we were pushed to lesser runs, which resulted in hook ups, but no fish in the boat...we begrudgingly headed into dock after an hour or so out with no fish to show, only some exhilirating hook ups:A bit discouraged, but estatic about having a few more hours, we headed back for some king revenge just as the tide was about to come in...backtrolling was obviously useless as I tossed out the watermelon rind only to see it float UP river...for a second I felt like I was in a Shel Silverstein poem. Reeling the boat around, we hooked up some spinners and got in the game. Standing on the back of the boat and running the sweet kicker motor, I felt kind of bored despite good conversation...I truly could only think about rainbow fishing and fly casting. Knowing that was a sure way to waste my time, I switched my gears to thinking about eating salmon in the winter...I put myself into provider thought process and went all out hunter mentality. Finally I started to feel like I was in the zone....the salmon zone... my spinner was churning just right, the motor was purring perfectly, and my focus lied on the run below me and my position....sure enough, FISH ON! I threw the motor into neutral while my fishing buddy and I spat back and forth about who would fight the fish, (he wasn't taking my rod for nothing)...I fought the beast of a king into our boat and decided that this beat up beauty was coming home with us:
Another run through and we hooked into a tasty little Jack, two more kings that we LDR'd, and another big beast we released:

Lessons I have learned while Salmon Fishing:

Sometimes you just have to know when to let them go....

other times it is in order that you deliver a bloody beating.....at times you may have to also cut them up...

and eating them is your reward..

The Touch of an Angel

2008-07-13T23:43:00.001-07:00

Katherine's_hands r, originally uploaded by k8.Rogue Angels.

Photo courtesy of Rogue Angel 'Loretta'

My water smells like rotten eggs and the sockeye are running

2008-07-10T11:06:00.001-07:00

k8 sockeye 2 r crop, originally uploaded by k8.Rogue Angels.

Adding powdered flavor to my water really isn't so bad, Gatorade some days, Tang the others...the only time I drink fresh water is out on fly out trips when I filter the stream water, and at that point good, clean, fresh, non-stinky water seems like a luxury comparable to silky chocolate. And on that note, add to your notebooks for the next time you take a guided trip, almost everyone loves good chocolate especially great guides ;)....my recent clients brought heaven in a little extravagant form of double stuffed oreos dipped in heavenly white chocolate, dark chocolate, or chocolate caramel.....all worth hiking into the deep wilderness and all completely devoured by the time we hiked out. I love chocolate breaks....

...And when you are ripping sockeye left and right, you need a little chocolate boost...those silver torpedos zoom outta the gates of hell once you hook up on one. And they are flooding through the shallow waters next to shore in droves. We were well over our escapement goals the other day and judging by the numbers and how quickly we meet our daily limits, these chrome delights are abundant....all heading up river. The technique being overrated snagging, or as we like to gently say "flossing", I guess somehow that seems a bit more refined when I spent all day tyeing "sockeye flies" (I kid you not, red ribbing on gami 2 red hooks) oh hell nothing is refined about sockeye fishing...but it is great fun to fight those tasty chrome fish on an 8 wt fly rod, beach them, and bonk them. I must admit that I really like to bonk fish....I really kind of like ripping their gills and bleeding them. I think that is the provider instinct in me. Yep, I am sure of it...

...Went to the dump yesterday, it is by far the most highly decorated place in King Salmon, I am pretty sure it is the only place here with a zebra hide on the wall too:

That is the free pile behind me.
Please notice that the free pile is larger than the trash pile.

Rogue Angel Jenny's Fish Art

2008-07-04T10:33:00.001-07:00

Rogue Angel Jenny's Fish Art, originally uploaded by k8.Rogue Angels.

Our Bad Ass Swedish Angel proving that that the talents of the Rogue Angels extend far beyond fish roping....
...I love the meanness of this and the movement she created by the angles...really well done fish art I do say...

Trust Me, I am an Angel....

2008-07-01T19:37:00.001-07:00

Angel r, originally uploaded by k8.Rogue Angels.

;)

Recent Trip out fishing sockeye, turned into big rainbows instead!

Wolf tracks on the tundra!

Big Sky...small water...Big Fish

2008-06-24T23:05:00.001-07:00

Kings are just starting to come in!

This feisty hen was served for dinner

at the lodge, encrusted in coconut and

served with Mango Pineapple Salsa, unbelievable...

Our Pilot fishing, originally uploaded by k8.Rogue Angels.

So this week...I really have no idea what day it is anymore....and the only time I really know the time is when I have to meet the float plane for a pickup....which brings me to all the new adventures I have been swallowing like a grayling on a...ha ha like I would tell anyone what they have been taking and where..I have been doing fly out trips as we patiently wait for the Coast Guard to send me a license-which frankly at the rate of my fly out trips the CG can keep taking its merry little time...

Anyhow my strength here seems to be on the fly fishing end of things anyway and I feel pretty useful in escorting people out for rainbows, grayling, and char on the fly. We have managed to watch them all munch several presentations with the aggression of a tasmanian devils-kid you not. I gleefully cheer on the fish as they burst their chrome out of the water raging a fight beginners will not soon forget...if ever. This is really nothing to brag about-so hear me out... but yesterday I mistakenly dropped the f-bomb with my client when the second rainbow in a row over 22 inches completely crashed his dry fly and went flying up into the air-Vertically!, only to tear like a bat outta hell right into the sweeper on this insanely small stream and watch it turn on a dime out the back of snag city, flash us the universal sign of insubordination, and bam! went reeling downstream while I could only manage to mutter the unsophisticated obscenity as my brain pathetically attempted to cope....he looked at me surprised with the labrador head tilt and said, " I agree."

So I think I am reaching Joan Wulff's alleged sixth stage, fishing through others. My soul feels like its sitting at the table on Thanksgiving with the action I have helped people find...however I must say that I do cherish those five minutes at lunch break to cast though...fo' sho'I am really having some of the happiest days of my life out on the water heightened by a plane ride over sick tundra and lakes there and back again. The level of gratitude I express daily is becoming a deep foundation of who I am:

I may have expressed a bit more gratitude this afternoon when the pilot landed early and signaled us out of fishing through gale force winds. Pulling through that wind and whitecaps only to be a teetering seesaw tossed around in the air like pigskin definitely highlighted my plane rides thus far. I can't believe the intensity of the situation and my supreme calmness through it all...I really wanted it to continue....man, I am sick....I love the flying.....absolutely love it....love the feeling of my stomach hopping around inside me like popping corn....it is a drug like feeling....(um...I think anyway...) This pic was on that flight...don't I look absolutely alive and glowing!?!

And for the record, my time has been spent between Beavers and Cessnas. I have also had the joy of steering the beaver--may I improve on the very poor poor steering jobs I have demonstrated....I wonder what the clients are thinking when they see me put my hands on the handles????....Much easier to fly without people though I have found....'prolly safer.
Been tying lots of flies when not out on the river.. would love to post a picture, but alas! if I did, Heath would find out and there would be a dead body out in the Alaska bush, and it would be mine! :(
Weather has been phenomenal the past few days... bright sunshine, blue bird days with just enough breeze to send the mosquitos outta here! I h8 the mosquitos. period. h8 them. I felt like I was going to lose my mind the other day fishing in the evening when they were so thick they were crawling up my nose- i ended up fishing the other side of the run with a slight breeze because I thought I was going to go mad. They make me cough when I accidentally inhale them, and then begins a series of gagging and hacking...pretty darn unpleasant...I thought my client was dying on the river yesterday, but he had just that experience. I h8 mosquitos....so I take a deep pleasure in eradicating them whenever I see them if I am not fishing. I am becoming a mosquito bounty hunter. I tried using my mitten scissors to pinch the wings off one in the plane the other day, this is so gross...that was so full of someone's blood that it could not fly or move...just batted its wings futively...it managed to escape between the cracks, escaped the bounty hunter. I am itching a bite on the back of my hand right now....i h8 them.

...but I love this:

Korkers boot ad: (Korkers boots rock btw)

Was l8 to the float plane the other day because of a moose......way better than being l8 due to traffic or being out of fuel....and all of this life is way better without a cell phone much less a crackberry...I am just now becoming accustomed to occupying my mind space instead of instantly texting or emailing while I am waiting for someone....it is hands down a healthier lifestyle. Although I must admit that I have wished to ring some friends at crazy points out there and say hi! This is my best effort to do that..... :)

xoxoxo

-k8

ps: this is my sweet little home that I get to come to every night and de-wader and pass out. (sometimes I eat there, and other times I drink beer there...mostly sleep tho')

my walk to my bungalow:

Oh, and look close, cause on the left is a duct tape pirate flag- made by Nanci's daughter, Riley....it is my favorite landmark on the walk home besides my tree there.

I think I want to paint my truck this color green....

The Naknek! Week 2 in AK!

2008-06-13T20:15:00.001-07:00

k8 with bo on spey, originally uploaded by k8.Rogue Angels.

First fish on the spey! I devirginized this rod too...an 8/9 G.Loomis 13'9" Spey Rod, the Dredger with a 550 Skagit Line-cheater- and Type 3 sink tip and heavy eyed rabbit fly...it is Nanci's rod and she hasn't gotten around to breaking it in, so I hucked it and scored!

Damn miserable days for the opener on the Naknek...cold mornings at around 35 and barely warming up to 45 during the days-add some wind and rain, and I think you can tell by the look on my face that although there is quite abit of joy in those eyes and smile, the rest of my face is wincing at the conditions. Luckily we had two of my favorite folks up here for three days fishing with us, Big G and Lil' e, so amid their chatter about bow bows and ole' boo boo the bear as well as their fishing battle for musical freedom (Lil' e won), I laughed my way through each day relentlessly as I tagged along with them and Heath to learn the ways of the Naknek. Not only did I get to wet a line often, I also got in on some netting action and of course photography. And I got some tips both from watching the infamous Big G "huck" lines out to the other side of the river and Lil' e's ability to read water like its his native tongue. Needless to say we did not feast eyes upon any over 30, but they got close to that with 27-28 inchers..much better than most everyone else on the river.

In other news...

One night this week at the saloon, King Ko's, I feasted my eyes on a char 33" by 23"...i kid you not. This beast is completely unbelievable...almost grotesque, just a big fatty football, no shoulders, no neck. Popped out of Naknek Lake no doubt.

Broke my rod the other day...my Winston Biix 9'6" 8 wt. Not even on a fish by god, just trying to get my line out there...not sure whether to be upset or not...being surrounded by fishing gear makes one a bit jaded I think. And on that note, I got my king box! It was like freaking Christmas in the stinky wader and tackle room, unwrapping new plugs and spoons, and organizing the old ones...I am fully stocked with plugs for king season, if only those bad boys would show up in numbers! First ones through a net reported today, way l8 for this river. :(

My waders still leak...oh wait that is old news...

Despite the cold temps, I have watched the scenery turn from brown to green over the last two weeks, and seen some flowers blooming...

I've also to d8 seen a bear with a big butt sauntering down the driveway, a moose and baby on the river, a couple beautiful and tall orange foxes, and more eagles than you can shake a stick at. Wildlife galore here in the last frontier.

I still am not drinking coffee although with 6 hours of sleep each night, this is becoming tougher and tougher I tell you...

Reach for your goals Angels! Everyone is a star!

The Naknek!

2008-06-13T20:11:00.001-07:00

k8 with first naknek bo, originally uploaded by k8.Rogue Angels.

My first rainbow on the Naknek!

Fish Drawings!

2008-06-10T18:47:00.001-07:00

Go Rate it!!! Rogue Angel Jenny rocking the fish art, this is cool stuff!

http://www.ratemydrawings.com/drawings/animals/235358.
html

Week 1 in Alaska!

2008-06-05T23:53:00.000-07:00

Oh wow! I am at home. One week so far in the wild frontier, and I am near speechless.

My favorite things this week:

6. no cell phones.
5. Who needs trailer lights in Alaska?
4. F--- seatbelts.
3. Float Planes
2. The Naknek River
1. Driving Jet boats

Least favorite things:

1. $18.00 for a 6 pack of Alaskan Amber (B.S.)
2. $5.28/gallon of gas (luckily I don't need to fill up any tanks)
3. no high speed internet.

Looks like the good outweigh the bad.... ;)

-k8

Carpon Fishing with Sarah

2008-05-23T08:55:00.001-07:00

Carpon Fishing with Sarah, originally uploaded by k8.Rogue Angels.

The poor woman's permit fishing...this seriously is one of the most technical and difficult fish to catch, and they are EVERYWHERE!

More Sturgeon!

2008-05-21T11:04:00.001-07:00

Ade with Big Sturgeon head, originally uploaded by k8.Rogue Angels.

Ade rocking it with a big momba jamba!

Angel of the Lake!

2008-05-06T20:52:00.000-07:00

Sandy River Spey Clave!

2008-04-30T14:52:00.001-07:00

Abel Ad, originally uploaded by k8.Rogue Angels.

It's that time of year again! "The Woodstock of Spey Casting Events", The Sandy River Spey Clave!

This is such a gr8 opportunity to check out new rods and lines, or to just pick up a spey rod for your first time! The wealth of knowledge at this show will astound you! Lots of on the water instructional seminars...tons of folks dying to show you a thing or two about casting...and a plethora of gear to mess around with. Top that off with an evening barbeque, lots of chatty fishermen....and you got yourself a great time!

Brought to you by The Fly Fishing Shop in Welches, Oregon!

for more info and directions: http://www.flyfishusa.com/spey-clave.htm

ps...there will be a gathering of Rogue Angels here, I just know it! ;)