The DrakeCast #71: Bristol Bay, Part 2

In this episode of The DrakeCast we return to Alaska’s Bristol Bay with The Lodge at 58* North. This is the second part of a series, so if you missed the first one, go back and listen to Episode #70: A Week in Bristol Bay w/ The Lodge at 58* North.

I started the second half of my week in Bristol Bay by chasing pike with Lodge at 58* North guide Gabe Cunningham. He had been to this spot once before and the fishing had been slow. “We caught like three or four pike the whole day, but it just looked way too good,” Gabe told me with a knowing look. “Like, it just didn’t make sense. But it was earlier in the season, the water was colder…” By the time I was there in mid-July the weeds had filled in and the dark, shallow water was much warmer. The fish seemed to enjoy the improved conditions.

Later in the episode we speak with Lee Borden, the sport fishing management biologist for the Department of Fish and Game in Bristol Bay about how the pike there are faring, and why they may not receive the respect they deserve. “They do receive a little bit of effort from locals that live out here,” Lee told me. “And then there is a little bit of subsistence fishing that takes place for them in the wintertime under the ice, some of the local villages and communities along some of the lakes and rivers. But in general, they don’t receive a whole lot of angling attention.”

We also get out on the water with lodge co-owner Justin Crump to chase migratory rainbows and hear about the sport fishing seasons in Bristol Bay. “I think what we really do well is listen to people and try to do things in the trip that really fits them and makes them feel heard and feel comfortable,” says Justin. “And being a small lodge, we can really do that.”

The episode ends with a search for the elusive king salmon with guide Sofia Newton. While swinging flies we learn about the troubles facing Bristol Bay kings.

The DrakeCast will be back in two weeks, where we shed light on a problem in Alaska that no one wants to talk about.