Willow Creek

After leaving the penninsula we went north to Willow, still in search of our silver and chum salmon. We stayed in the Pioneer Lodge RV park in Willow and it sits right on Willow Creek. We walked out of our trailer and watched silvers and chums right there in the camp ground. The chums were about done as were the silvers. We really didn't care though, as we just wanted to catch them, we didn't want to eat them! Our freezer is still full of halibut and Copper River Reds that a friend gave us.

We really enjoyed the park in Willow. It is a tiny little thing, maybe 15 sites with a restaurant and bar. The first night we were there, we went to the bar to get local info about the fishing, and meet some of the locals. I'm not sure, but I think if you want to live in Willow, you have to have several teeth missing! We met several people that could have really benefitted from dental work. The first guy we met was an expert on shooting pool and drinking Miller High Life, (That seems to the beer of choice in Willow!) His name was Fuzzy. Fuzzy didn't know a damn thing about fishing, but he was really quite the character! He did tell us that we needed to come into the bar the next morning and talk to Jerry, as evidently he is the local fishing expert. OK, so we visited with and laughed at Fuzzy for the evening, along with Tom, who is leaving soon to go to Thailand as he thinks he wants to live there. And Kathy, a lady who has lived in AK for 20 years, is currently between husbands and you guessed it......has some teeth missing! Fuzzy, Tom, Kathy and Jerry are not natives of AK, but transplants. So, the next morning, we went into the restaurant for breakfast and to talk to Jerry. He also is a piece of work, will talk to you forever about fishing and put us on to some great places to fish. He is the chief cook and bottle washer there at Pioneer and prides himself on being able to do it all there. He doesn't have a vehicle and lives right there on the property. Makes me think he is like many here in AK who are running from something on the outside. But anyway, Jerry was a wealth of information about fishing the Willow, since, I guess he doesn't do much else other than work, drink, shoot pool and fish!

So, we went down to the mouth of Willow Creek where it flows into the Big Susitna and fished there one day. The only really bad thing about fishing AK this time of year is, it smells terrible! There are dead fish everywhere, as the salmon are finishing spawning and then they are done. The bear love it, and you have to be constantly on the lookout for bears. We were lucky and didn't have any encounters. But , does it stink! I had taken halibut out for supper that night and after fishing all afternoon with that nasty smell, I didn't know if we could eat fish, but after being off the river for a while and having a cocktail, we were OK! So then the next day we walked up Willow Creek and got into some absolutely wonderful rainbows! They have been eating salmon eggs for several weeks and they are like footballs! Just beautiful fat fish! They were also hitting beads and we had a great time.

Barry got his silver and his chum. I got my chum but didn't land my silver. Barry's silver was already red and wouldn't have been good to eat! So, Barry got his salmon slam, catched all 5 different kinds of salmon. Then we went after rainbows and that was just a blast! They were such fat heavy fish it was wonderful fun. We also have those pictures that we will post later.

So, now we are back in Glennallen waiting for our mail and we will be on our way back to the outside on Tues. after Labor Day. I probably won't have cell or internet through Canada, so probably won't post until we get back down.