Recently I had a discussion with a good friend of mine, Anthony Carruesco, regarding the unique and exciting fishing that we have each year in Alaska. We both were reminiscing on the springtime baitfish migration, agreeing that it can provide some of the most spectacular fishing for the big red-sides of Alaska.

Every river that has a salmon run, will also have a baitfish migration at one time or another. Specifically, river systems with heavy sockeye salmon returns provide some of the greatest near surface streamer fishing found anywhere in the world. As the snow melts, and spring starts to become summer, the fragile aelvin stage salmon begin to take shape. Now considered "fry," they move from their natal hatching grounds towards the lakes where they will grow before migrating to sea.

Not only do the fry stage salmon move during the Alaska spring, but various species of salmon "smolt" also migrate towards their salty feeding grounds, where they will spend a few years growing before returning back to their home water to spawn. Depending on the species, the "smolt" will vary in size and coloration, but in general they are larger than their "fry" cohorts.

Getting your fly hammered by trout that are acting more like a school of saltwater tuna is some of the most exciting trout fishing on the globe. Soft hands need not apply as there are no soft strikes here, every fly gets hammered, nearly pulling the rod out of your hands every single time. At times it can be slow, and patience is a must. But if you are positioned correctly, and the fish gods smile down upon you the way they sometimes do, you are in for the ride of your life.

Captain Landry was hard at work this past summer guiding flying and filming at Angler's Alibi. There really is some unique footage here, showcasing the incredible salmon runs and wildlife on the Alagnak River.

On a side note: For all those aspiring drone pilots, let's be respectful with these flying/photography tools so that we can continue to use them.

I think taking on full manual control of a camera is a goal for any aspiring photographer looking to improve their skills. While it is very intimidating at first, learning manual control can be taken one step at a time through the use and understanding of the camera’s preset priority modes. In the last “Behind the Lens” article we discussed choosing the proper lens for your fishing photography. Building on that, I will briefly discuss using priority modes in preparation for takingon full manual control of your cameras settings.

Shutter Priority -

Outside of full manual control, using your cameras shutter priority mode (“S” on Canon or “Tv” on Nikon) is the best way to learn how to control the amount of movement and/or blur produced in your final image. Here, your camera allows you to choose the desired shutter speed, while it takes control of the remaining ISO and aperture settings. When trying to capture fly line in flight, or a fish doing mid-air cartwheels, you will find that cranking up the shutter to the maximum possible speed is necessary to get a sharp, clean image. While this is not exactly rocket science, it is necessary to understand completely. I can hold my camera steady at a shutter speed of 1/60^th or faster by hand, but if I need to shoot any slower, a camera support is necessary to avoid blur in the final image.

The downside to using the shutter priority mode lies in the photographers inability to set the desired depth of field. Keeping this limiting factor in mind, I always enjoyed experimenting with the shutter speeds when trying to capture a fly line in flight. I would start at a low shutter speed, and continuously analyze how “frozen” the line and angler were as the speed was ramped up. Over time I realized that sometimes a little blur is a good thing, giving the image a sense of movement and action that a completely still frame does not have.

After a devastating fire consumed Intricate Bay Lodge a year ago, the eight owners decided to lick their wounds and go for the impossible: design, fabricate, ship and build a new replacement in a single year.

"We knew rebuilding off the grid in just one year would be a huge challenge, especially in this remote part of Alaska, but we were lucky enough to find a great collaborator who could fulfill our wish list", said Brian Harry, owner and manager of Intricate Bay Lodge.

The reincarnated lodge, erected on the same location, incorporates dozens of improvements suggested through the accumulated knowledge of many fishing expeditions. Guests will have spectacular views of Lake Iliamna, short boat or float plane rides to Alaska's unparalleled fishing, meals from the new gourmet kitchen, and a new hot tub to relax muscles worn from handling large fish.

"Since this is a small-scale, remote, off-the-grid, commercial fly fishing lodge in Alaska, every design choice was critical – driving cost, functionality and the business model itself," explains Harry.

"We are very grateful to the community for their help and support throughout this process. We're updating our IntricateBayLodge.com site, and are once again booking reservations. The lodge will operate for years and years to come, giving hundreds of people a dream-vacation experience in a very special place."

How do you like to recreate in Alaska? These guys are taking speed flying to another level in Alaska's Tordrillo Mountains. AK is a wonderland for adventure!

Tordrillo Mountain Lodge supported this film shoot with Red Bull Media House. 

From the Filmmaker:

So this is what I did over this past winter when I was not making people coffee.

It's all time-lapse footage shot in and around Anchorage, Alaska, with the emphasis on the nature around the city rather then on the people and buildings. This is a collection of the nicer stuff I shot of the northern lights, stars, sunset, and the tide. All of this was shot between October 2011 and April 2012.

Simply put, a father and son's journey into becoming fly fishermen. Beautifully done, and what a fantastic way to spend time together. Makes me yearn for my youth again.

When you teach a kid how to fish, you inherently teach them respect for our fisheries and natural world. Alaska is a great place to start.

Recently, I have had a few people ask me about lens selection in regard to fishing photography. More precisely, "What is the best lens I can get for the majority of my fishing situations?" While I wish it were a simpler question to answer, the fact is, each lens type has its own pros and cons. Every individual lens captures emotions differently, almost as if they have their own unique "personality." Here's my rundown:

Wide-Angle - The Hank Patterson of Lenses

I think we all have that fishing buddy who always brings the party. They always bring the beer, and are fun as hell regardless of the fishing conditions. They often get worked up over every fish, and are relentless in hassling you after you farm a monster. Simply put, a wide-angle lens is more or less the "Hank Patterson" of camera gear.

I find that images taken with a wide-angle lens have their own special kind of excitement to them. This lens style has a tendency to separate a subject from its background by maximizing the foreground and minimizing the size of the background. This will in turn add a lot of depth to your imagery. I find I most commonly use my wide-angle lens for grip and grin, close up action, and just all around energetic fishing situations.

While this style lens has provided me with a lot of great images, it also comes with it's own set of disadvantages. Unless you are shooting landscape images, where you are trying to shoot an entire scene, capturing your subject full frame requires the camera to be tight to the subject. Mountain ranges, trees, and other parts of your background tend to shrink in comparison to your subject. So if you are looking at capturing the details of the background, you may need to go with a longer style lens. When used properly though, a wide-angle lens can be one of your favorites, and is a must have in any photographers arsenal.

My personal favorite is the Cannon 20mm F/2.8 Ultrawide. It provides crisp, energetic images with minimal distortion, and won't completely break your bank at about $539.

A new film from the Kokkaffe Media team. A portion of the film explores the Kanektok in Western Alaska. Looks great!

From the Filmmaker:

THOSE MOMENTS is a feature film for the 2015 fly fishing festival cycle, following fly fishing guides on their day off. We start in Alaska with Hawkeye and Zac searching for giant, flesh-eating rainbows on the Kanektok River, then join Torrie and Josie on Andros, Bahamas, for some mellow bonefishing and finish in British Columbia, where Scott and Kara swing for steel on the Dean River.