Back In The Day
This one is just another nugget from my archives. This photo goes back to 1990. My second season guiding, I worked for “Rainbow King Lodge”, at the time. The lodge is located on Lake Iliamna. The town of Iliamna had a post office, general store, and a school down in the Village of NewHalen. There were just a few fishing lodges around, then. I worked for a Pioneer of the fly out fishing lodges “Ray Loeshe”. Ray did not allow us to fraternize with guides from other lodges. There were still fishing secrets back then, and Ray liked to keep it that way. In my mind it was highly honerable to fraternize with gals from other lodges, some stories can’t be told. Ray was ahead of his time, and realized back then that trout waters were a delicate matter. Ray was the first guy to lease streams, and rivers from the natives. The leases that Ray had were spectacular! It was the best rainbow fishing in the world, if you were lucky enough to work at this place and willing to tend some of Ray’s out camps you could fish all night and guide all day. Trout 24/7, so to speak, a young guides dream come true.
Since I was a second year guide, I was in charge of jet boat training that year. Iliamna had about 20 miles of road that headed up to Non Dalton. When you come to the New Halen river the road ends, “the bridge to nowhere”. We had about 4 or five boats parked here, if I remember we had a 45 minute run to get to the Tasinmia River, or as Ray called it the Rainbow River. Back then the Tas had some pig’s, and they were real red river colored rainbows.
I learned quick, that if you wanted to fish at these lodges you must be resourceful. Of course, I was packing my rod for this boat training. We might of had 6 guys to train on the boats, then fishing for a few hours. It would have been early season, maybe opening day,June4. I, for some reason loved Purple Zonkers back then. At this stage in my guide career, I was still real green. The new guides, gave me confidence that I was at least better than they were. My young guide mind had some ideas about were to fish this fairly large, very swift river. With limited guide experience on the Tasimnia, Boat training day was also learning day for ol Lindsey, I kept that part to myself.
The psot I picked was slight inside bend, with a shelf far off the bank, so you could back cast. It was a beautiful spot, you could see the color change were the water drops into a slow pool with a diamond chopped surface. Fast and dangerous water, outside of the pool, and a high sand bank aross river. I had two other guides fishing that hole with me. I might have “low Wholed” the guy’s, just a little. On my third cast I hooked and landed the beast in the picture. This was a big fish in my career. My first 30 incher, and instant respect from the young guides. My confidence was soring, I was ready to take on Alaska. It was going to be a good season.
Back then you didn’t get to look at your pictures till you got home in the fall, or if you were real hard up your mom might get them developed and send up to you, with a pint of whiskey. It would still take a month ot two. I wonder if purple zonkers still work?
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