The Crystal Creek Lodge Blog is a place of possibilities, where to learn deeper insight into how to explore the tens of millions of acres of wild Alaska surrounding us. Whether you’re after fishing, wildlife, the perspective of history or simply feeling the awe of being in wide-open spaces, it’s all here. Enjoy the journey.
A Crystal Creek Lodge first was landing upon Aniakchak National Monument. Located 120 miles south of King Salmon on the west side of the Alaska Peninsula, Aniakchak is one of the most remote and infrequently visited National Monuments. The main feature of the Monument is a 6-mile wide caldera created 3,500 years ago…
Read more »Heather Oberholtzer accompanied a party of guests for a tour of the Alaska Peninsula, a tour that included a stop at the walrus cape, a spin around the inside of the Aniakchak National Monument and a brief stop at a beach on Bristol Bay wherein we found several antique glass fishing floats. Here are three…
Read more »It’s a close call and the fish may have it by a fin. Alec J. of California, along with his father, David, scored this beautiful string of Sockeye Salmon recently on a sunny day, fishing together on the Kvichak River.
Read more »Glenn and Sam H. from California fished together on the Kvichak River during a beautiful Bristol Bay day, July 4th. Together they watched thousands of Sockeye Salmon stream by the bank and they caught their limit of five apiece in a matter of a couple hours. Sam is holding his first fish of the…
Read more »The Valley of 10,000 Smokes is a prominent feature of Katmai National Park. It is a gigantic ash field about 10 miles long and three miles wide remaining from the eruption of the Katmai Volcano, shown in the background, in June, 1912. The eruption was the most powerful of the 20th Century and was felt…
Read more »The first King Salmon of the 2014 Crystal Creek Lodge season was caught today at the Nushagak River by William Oberholtzer, age 6. Guiding him was his dad, Alex Oberholtzer, pilot/guide and partner at Crystal Creek Lodge. The Nushagak run of Kings is ahead of schedule and the run is predicted to be strong!…
Read more »Giant Rainbow Trout lurk in the wide-open Naknek River and the air is stone silent, save the occasional whistling wingbeat of diving ducks as they trade amongst their flocks. Crystal Creek Lodge awaits the throng of staff to arrive late May to begin another season.
Read more »
In a stunning announcement on September 16, international mining giant Anglo American said it was abandoning its claim to the Pebble deposit in order to pursue projects with less risk and more value. While that is a huge victory for those of us who desire to protect the wild salmon runs of Bristol Bay from…
Read more »Paul and Jeff H., father and son from North Carolina and Pennsylvania respectively, are smacking their lips as they anticipate delivery of fresh Silver Salmon to their plates. Paul and Jeff have fished with us several times, but for the first time they did an overnight at Yantarni. We treated them to a fresh-caught…
Read more »We are at the peak of the Yantarni camp runs Silver Salmon. Shown is Ryan Thompson of Whitefish, Montana, holding beautiful Yantarni Silver. Ryan works with the Fly Fishing Film Tour and was at Yantarni this week to shoot a commercial short. Yantarni Salmon Camp will be a presenting sponsor of the Fly Fishing…
Read more »