This all started in January 1996 when my friend Charles Stuart called and invited me to join him in an outing that I couldn’t attend due to a prior commitment. So when he called again, a month later, and said had a couple of other activities, I replied I would accept both offers before I knew what they were. Then Charles said “first I have two extra tickets to a Billy Joel/Elton John concert in Tampa”…So far so good. I had agreed to see a fantastic dueling piano concert in advance. The other activity according to Charles was a fishing trip. Since I had already agreed to go, I asked him “where are we going?” His response “ALASKA”. Now you have the background on how it got started.
Charles wife, Judy, began planning our trip. She was a fantastic travel agent. Charles and I just sat and watched her plan a two-week fishing trip with George Reith, a local doctor, one of his friends whose name I can’t remember, and Georges two sons, George and John. The younger George has a CPA firm on Kodiak Island. What a change, St. Petersburg to Kodiak.
We set off in late June, north to Alaska and in search of King Salmon. It was a 10-day trip I’ll never forget. We bummed around on our own for a few days taking in the sights around Anchorage and up to Talkeetna where I got my first view of a clear shot of Mt McKinley. Then it was down to the Kenai Peninsula and Cooper Landing where we fished the Kenai River out of Soldotna’s Centennial Park. SUCCESS! Saw a lot of wildlife, bears, moose, eagles, and a 37-pound King Salmon in the fish box. This fish would probably be, and as it has turned out, the only King I ever caught.
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