Hello, Dan Michels here. It's been said that after 36 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.
You have a box of wild Alaskan salmon caught at Crystal Creek Lodge and now you’re looking for some great salmon recipes right? Crystal Creek Lodge Chef Brian has outlined one of his favorite salmon recipes below. Give it a whirl and tell us how it goes. INGREDIENTS 10 sprigs fresh thyme 1 large sprig…
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Aniakchak National Monument sees under 300 tourists every year. Each year, Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve is consistently the least visited of all National Park Service lands. It is a truly primitive area, located half way down the remote and rugged Alaska Peninsula. The volcanic geology and natural history of Aniakchak tells a tale of…
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Our Backyard Wilderness at Crystal Creek Lodge The location of Crystal Creek Lodge on the Naknek River in King Salmon, Alaska was chosen with great intention. Most notably, the lodge is a mere 5 miles downriver from world-renowned Katmai National Park. Although Katmai is known throughout the world for its brown bears, fishing, and wildness,…
Read more »A herd of Pacific Walrus has relocated themselves to the nearby Bristol Bay coast at Cape Grieg, about 60 miles south of Crystal Creek Lodge. We went for a quick scouting trip yesterday and saw 1500-2000 animals either beached or in the water. Shown is the herd after a rain squall came through and the…
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Miss Rosanna Trestman of Connecticut returned to Crystal Creek Lodge in search of a King Salmon to exceed her personal record of 42 inches, set in 2014, but, alas, she didn’t beat her record, yet she still caught some nice Kings and Sockeye Salmon. Here is Rosanna with her best King of the week, held…
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As we are busy preparing the lodge for opening, a series of earthquakes has been shaking the Alaska Peninsula. We were woke last night to the lodge rolling and shaking to an earthquake of 6.7 magnitude, centered about 100 miles south of the lodge near the Yantarni Salmon Camp. The Peninsula is essentially a…
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 »The ducks have been flying really good on the Naknek River and all of the coastal ponds we have been hunting. The variety of ducks have been great this year from Mallards to teal and both greater and lesser scaup. Dan has been flying some trips down the Peninsula for Lesser and Cackling Geese…
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