Hello, Dan Michels here. It's been said that after 27 seasons at Crystal Creek Lodge I am the only constant. Yet, that being said, it's not about me. It's about our guests, and the staff, of Crystal Creek Lodge. Our guests dedicate their free time to experience what we do and our staff dedicate their careers to serving our guests. This blog series is about snippets of insight as to what we do, and how our guests experience Crystal Creek Lodge. Enjoy.
It’s been one of those drizzly summers. This year, we’ve experienced a handful of “no-fly” weather days, where we won’t fly due to extreme wind, low ceiling, poor visibility or all of the above. This has inspired me to write a little bit about flying, weather, safety, and the unpredictability of our wild Alaskan environment….
Read more »Perhaps you have heard of the “Grand Slam” in fly fishing. A grand slam is the achievement of catching a collection of game fish in a single day. The most notable is the inshore grand slam where a saltwater angler catches a tarpon, permit, and bonefish in a single day. It’s a common target in…
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For better or worse, social media has penetrated many aspects of life. This insightful podcast from The Drake Cast explores the pros and cons of social media in fly fishing. At Crystal Creek Lodge, we do our best to use social media to inspire others without compromising our conservation ethics and the unique Alaska experience…
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The Naknek River produces some of the largest and hard fighting rainbow trout on planet Earth. From mid-August until mid-October, we have the opportunity to catch steelhead-like rainbows that move into the river from Naknek Lake. During this time, you start to see the trout transition from eggs to eating salmon flesh. So, you can…
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Naknek River, Alaska If you were wondering what fishing would be like in late September and October at Crystal Creek Lodge, check out this photo gallery of the big Naknek River rainbows that we see each fall (click on image to enlarge). This late fall time is ideal for for landing one of these giant…
Read more »A Crystal Creek Lodge Hat Trick is three fish in the net, and that’s about 20 lbs. of Rainbow Trout in the bag courtesy of (left to right) Dan Michels, Shannon Ward and Cole Marston. What a magnificent September day!
Read more »Katie E. of Kalispell, MT is holding one of the many Silver Salmon rushing into the streams at Yantarni this week. We expect the run to peak in the next 14 days. This year we have been blessed with spectacular weather and abundant runs of Silver Salmon. Be sure to visit Yantarni next year during…
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 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 »Two fish, caught from two rivers, two days apart. One, a 20-inch fish that lives it’s life year round in a stream far from a lake connection, turns pigmented, spotted, green and bright red from exposure to sunlight. The other, a 29-inch fish, remains chrome and without pigment from living it’s life year round in…
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