DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES A pair of guests toasts to a good day fishing at Alaska Wildland Adventures Kenai Riverside Lodge in Cooper Landing.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES A morning's catch on the Kenai. That's Paul Klintworth, from left, Alaska Wildland Adventures guide Brian Kaferstein, Urban Klintworth and Todd Henninger of San Antonio.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES Dean Fisher of Oregon caught this rainbow in a wide spot in the Kukaklek River.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES A juvenile humpback whale displays its pectoral fin and slaps the bay surface. We saw a lot of this behavior during our boat tour with Kenai Fjords Tours out of Seward.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES Here is a second ice field near the Holgate Glacier within Kenai Fjords National Park.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES Cal Judah of For Myers, FL wrestles with a powerful Kenai River sockeye during the late-July run.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES This double catch was the first of many. It came on Day One of our adventure on the Tazinima River across Sixmile Lake from Newhalen Lodge.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES A view of Bridal Veil Falls from Resurrection Bay during our Kenai Fjords boat tour out of Seward Harbor.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES This is the menu board at Newhalen Lodge in Nondalton, where Chef Stephen Weiler dazzles guests with his recipes.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES Remnants of last season's salmon run. I think I found this on the bank of the Tazinima River.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES Grayling such as this were abundant in the Tazinima River near Newhalen Lodge. Katie caught a 20-incher, which is considered a fairly large one for the area.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES Steller sea lions lounge on the rocks along Resurrection Bay during a wildlife viewing excursion with Kenai Fjords Tours out of Seward.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES Newhalen Lodge has five airplanes, three on floats on site, plus a fleet of small boats and rafts for accessing solitary trout waters.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES I'm not a good judge of age in bears. But this sow seems to have led a hard life judging by the patch of fur missing from her rump.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES A single male killer whale puts on a show near the tour boat in the Gulf of Alaska.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES We shared Newhalen Lodge with wine makers Ann and Dean Fisher, who supply Newhalen Lodge with their ADEA Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES This northern pike represents the larger size that we caught in Fog Lake and in the slough that connects the lake to the Copper River.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES This brown bear swam into a school of sockeye. Notice the fish above the surface. Eventually she caught one.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES Lake trout grow a lot bigger than this one. But we enjoyed the variety.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES After rolling on the surface for a while this humpback swam near our tour boat and rose from the surface, splashing down within splashing distance of passengers.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES Newhalen guide Ian McDonald shows one of the larger lake trout we caught.
Some of the flies we used were tiny nyphs or egg imitations. While others were tied to imitate a piece of salmon flesh.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES The cabins at Newhalen Lodge overlooking Sixmile Lake were comfortable and warm with private baths.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES Katie gets a fly-casting lesson from Newhalen guide Reed Curry on Day One of our fishing adventure.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES Mealtime at Newhalen Lodge is a celebration of the day's fishing. Bill Sims, founder and owner of Newhalen, with his back to the camera, is a gracious host with stories to tell.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES The flukes or tails of whales are unique, each displaying a different set of markings like fingerprints.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES Visitors to Alaska may keep three sockeye salmon a day. So we did. Most are vacuum sealed and shipped frozen by outfitters.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES Katie also caught the smallest fish of the trip.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES Anglers shrouded in fog along the banks of the Middle Kenai River, where the sockeye salmon run provided fast paced action and plenty of take-home fillets.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES Newhalen guide Cory Monroe prepares to release a sockeye salmon. The red color indicates that this fish has spent some time in freshwater.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES Steller sea lions sun themselves on rocks during a tour of Kenai Fjords National Park with Kenai Fjords Tours out of Seward.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES A mix of black sand and rocks carpet the beaches at Homer.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES Ray Judah of Fort Myers braces against the acrobatic run of a Kenai River salmon during the late-July run.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES This is the top edge of the Holgate Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park as viewed from a tour boat with Kenai Fjords Touts out of Seward. The glacier is about 600 feet thick (tall).
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES Dean Fisher, an Oregon wine maker, caught this nice rainbow in a bend of the Copper River. That's Newhalen guide Mike Abramczyk with the fish.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES Quite a sight to see a brown bear swimming beside your boat. This happened on Day Two during our stay at Newhalen Lodge in Nondalton.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES A shot of the harbor from the Homer Spit, a skinny peninsula that extends into Kachemak Bay at the southern tip of the Kenai Peninsula.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES Newhalen Lodge owner Bill Sims, on left, shares appetizers and wine with guests before dinner. Newhalen is said to be the oldest sole proprietorship fishing lodge in Alaska.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES This pair of anglers were the only other humans we saw during an entire day on Fog Lake and the Copper River. We continued to catch trout immediately after they passed.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES In addition to sea lions, we saw two kinds of puffin birds, humpback whales, orcas, harbor seals, Dall's porpoises and a bunch of other birds.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES Pilot Larry Michael came to meet us early at Kukaklek Lake, where Katie caught her biggest rainbow of the trip.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES Grayling grow bigger than this. But this 20-incher caught by Katie near Newhalen Lodge was the largest of our trip.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES Newhalen guide Cory Monroe measures Katie's trout. Yep, 25 inches.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES Our boat tour of Kenai Fjords National Park included two glaciers. This is Holgate Glacier, a magnificent sight.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES This is the float plane that flew us to Kukaklek Lake earlier this morning. The Newhalen pilots generally stay within radio distance of the guide rafts so they can take anglers to another location if they want.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES Shops along the Homer Spit cater to souvenir shoppers, hungry tourists and anglers looking for a bargain halibut trip.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES These were the only other anglers we saw during our trip to the Copper River. Katie caught a trout immediately after they passed.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES Sometimes we used small nymph flies, but at other times we used these for aggressive rainbows.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES This young humpback put on a show for the tour boat and nearby anglers during a tour of Kenai Fjords National Park out of Seward.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES Another good rainbow from the Kukaklek River with Newhalen guide Cory Monroe.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES A school of orca whales surfaces in the Gulf of Alaska during a sightseeing tour with Kenai Fjords Tours out of Seward.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES Sockeye salmon were everywhere in the rivers and lakes of southern Alaska. These salmon are in the Copper River, which is in the Bristol Bay watershed.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES This juvenile humpback entertained passengers on several fishing boats and tour boats for about an hour.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES I believe this is Katie's 25-inch rainbow caught in Kukaklek Lake on Day Two. That's Cory Monroe of Newhalen Lodge holding the fish.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES I lost count of the number of rainbows we caught in this size range in the Copper River. That's Newhalen Lodge guide Ian McDonald holding Katie's fish.
DAVID SIKES/CALLER-TIMES These penguin looking birds are common murres, which are the deepest diving sea birds that can also fly. We spotted these during a boat tour of the Kenai Fjords National Park.