Simply the Best – Midnight Sun 2023
Flooding and a major slog to good numbers
Photo Cred to Chris Hagness
Check out his Instram / Facebook for more fishing content @Christopherhagness on instagram same for Facebook
Overview
Seems like most of these trips have a backstory. In this case it is simple. I had already booked 3 trips and I swore I’d stick to three trips. Then Scott Kowekamp called me in December and said I have a slot for a single. It also fit between my two Saskatchewan trips. I quickly said no and that was that. Then I tried to sleep that night. I just couldn’t sleep. I’d turn one way and I thought about all the huge fish then I’d toss and turn and come back to quality of the trip. Hey – I think I can afford it. So, I finally fell asleep resolved to talk to the boss. After what was at best a neutral response, I immediately contacted Scott and booked the single slot.
Getting There
In many ways getting to Anchorage is easier than a lot of Canada these days. Most US airlines canceled so many US to Canada flights there are way more options to Anchorage and those options create a little competition and prices stay down. As an example, I had one connection to Anchorage from Albuquerque and the flight was about 60% of my flights to Saskatchewan. The SK flights were so high I seriously considered doing the 21 hour drive each way verse the cost of 3 connections and 17 hours of air travel to get there.
Once in Anchorage you overnight and then grab a charter which Midnight Sun Organizes to a remote village in western Alaska (~300 miles West of Anchorage). This adds about $1100 to the cost of the trip but hey a 300 miles charter isn’t going to be cheap.
Camp Life
Accommodations for these trips are on Midnight Suns 40 ft catamaran which meets you in Holy Cross after the charter. The boat has 2 bedrooms with single bunkbeds. The bathroom has a shower with on demand hot water and a composting toilet. The longue dining area is comfortable and convenient.
The food is cooked by the guides. Simple hot food that provides energy to go out and wrestle a ton of big pike.
i.e. – Breakfast – Scrambled eggs / Bacon / Orange Juice / Toast
Lunch deli sandwiches
Dinner Appetizers – Steaks / Ribs / etc.
Fishing Techniques
Above is a picture of the lures that caught 50 in pike recently. Let’s see:
Lots of Johnson Silver Minnows with trailer tails / Some flies / then random lures. This is a more practical approach to what works vs a scientific way of describing the techniques. One more practical suggestion. Scott Kowekamp has guided this section of the Yukon/Innoko drainage for more than 30 years. LISTEN TO SCOTT. Leave behind what you think works at home or in Northern Canada and listen to Scott. He has the fishing dialed in with 30 years of experience and also fishing it for 7 days a week for 12+ weeks a year. LISTEN TO SCOTT.
2023 had massive flooding issues. The river flooded later than normal and normally goes down around the first of June. Oh btw flooding on the Yukon in the spring regularly exceeds 10 ft. It was still 8 ft high when I arrived in mid July. So the fish were spread out and just cruising around looking for food as singles verse sitting on a bunch of bait fish. It was the toughest fishing I have seen on the Yukon. This is my 4th week of fishing the Yukon and it was rough by historic standards. Aside from the flooding we had the normal (kidding) Alaska July weather. Highs were low to mid 50s and we had a near constant drizzle for 5/7 days. Then just to create the perfect storm the winds were 15-25 knots 5/7 days. It was rough, BUT what is rough for the Yukon!??!!
We had 54 pike over 40 inches for 4 guys. We finished with 1×49 / 2x47s / 4x45s. That would be an EPIC trip anywhere else and it is a real credit to the insanely hard work Midnight Sun puts into the week to help us find / boat fish. Oh and BTW my previous worst week was 121 over 40 for the week so I look forward to better fishing in 2024.
Wrap
I love pike fishing. There really aren’t many places that come even close to Midnight Sun. In Sept 2024 I have a return trip booked to Midnight. Going to try Mid-September heck maybe it will be warmer! LOL In 2025 going forward I am thinking of trying to cut back to two trips and make them both to Alaska. It is really my best trip of the year so why not double dip.
Fishing – Off the charts
Camp – Good
Travel –Expensive
Guides – Exceptional
Value – Very Good