Remember that old movie starring Jimmy Stewart doing Alaska in the early days? As I recall it was called, “The Far Country.” Departing the Inland Passage at Skagway and taking the long route around the mountain to avoid the avalanches in White Pass ... In the end, Jimmy found gold in them thar hills; he also found a girl. All in all, I thought the best part of the movie was the scenery – Alaska is Big Country.

Jimmy always sort of fascinated me: he wasn’t a particularly good shot with his 12-shot six gun, and the women were always so far ahead of him it was pathetic. He reminds me of Forest Gump without acting lessons. Importantly, Jimmy left behind one of the world’s greatest fisheries when he climbed around White Pass -- a fishery that to many of us think would have made a better fly fishing story than the movie ever did, provided, of course, that you could find a fishing story to tell. I respected Jimmy Stewart: as an officer and a gentleman he was a role model; as an actor, he was simply Jimmy Stewart – regardless of the role.

It just so happens that I have a few friends out there and occasionally one of them does something worthy of special note. Karl Leslie did what most of us would like to do but don’t – along with his cousin Chance, he fished Alaska’s waters on a shoestring … He also did one other thing most of us do not do, he recorded his memories when they were fresh. When the opportunity came to review his trip report, I damned near fell out of my chair laughing … My hope is that you will too.

This story takes place in the vicinity of Cowee, Alaska. Cowee, as most of you know is the fastest growing community in North America even though it was overlooked by the last Census. Only God really knows how many thousands … well, maybe hundreds … or even less, a lot less, live in Cowee. Cowee, as you may or may not know, takes its name from Chief Cowee of the Auk Indians who produced some gold ore that impressed a fellow by the name of Pilz. Pilz sent Richard Harris, Joseph Juneau and three Natives to prospect the area of Chief Cowee’s find. By October 1880 folks were staking claims in what became known as Silver Bow Basin.

Cowee is not what you would call a party place for Hollywood Stars or the playground for our sterling members of Congress. In fact, Cowee doesn’t even have a theater suitable for New York’s plays… Truthfully, Cowee Alaska is a single log cabin located in Cowee Meadow close to Cowee Creek.

You see, Cowee is more a state of mind than a place. What Cowee offers is the grace of God’s handiwork in perfecting beauty, putting Man in harmony with Nature, great fishing, interesting animals, and neat people. This is a fishing story … so come back with me to the days of autumn in 2002 when Karl and Chance prowled the waters of Cowee… The words are Karl’s and, therefore, set forth in the first person.

The Guide. When you go where you’ve never been before, genius tells you to get a guide ere you loose your way. While neither Chance nor I consider ourselves geniuses, but we do have common sense when working together. In short, we got a guide. And what a selection we selected – our selection was Captain Joe, truly a man of the Far North. Captain Joe held to his own code ethics and believed only in himself and his way of doing things. He could speak for hours on the subject of politics, politicians, and government. In sum, he held all three in contempt, noting that lumped together they might have value as fodder for brown bear.

Captain Joe smoked pot before breakfast. He said it cleared his head for the challenges of the day that lay ahead … and that’s not all -- Captain Joe would down his first cold beer before I finished my last cup of coffee. As an interesting aside, it seems that Captain Joe plea-bargained with local law enforcement to postpone his jail sentence for assault until after Labor Day so that he could fish the Golden Salmon Derby and guide us for a week.

One thing is certain: Captain Joe knew the territory, the people, the fish, and the wild life, the most important of which were the bears. No question about it, we caught fish … and we saw bears.

Our Rent Car. To save us money, Captain Joe loaned us his truck. It was an '86 Ford pickup that was destined for either the scrap heap or a major restoration. It leaked gas and had no starter. To jump-start it, you had to leave it on a hill ... but you had to be very careful because the parking brake didn't work.

Our Bed and Breakfast. The first three nights we were in Juneau, we stayed in Miss Sara's House. Before you ask, it wasn’t that kind of house. Miss Sara had a hot tub and Domino's delivered to her place. Miss Sara’s house was near the end of the road. Keep in mind that Juneau’s road system is only 60 miles long.

Our Boat. Captain Joe didn’t exactly have what we could call a 23-foot center console fisherman … being a man of the Far North, he had settled on a 15 foot aluminum skiff with a 40 horsepower; for a spare motor, we had prayer and or the wind, whichever came first.

Our Life Jackets. Our life jackets were not what you would call hi-tech; in fact, they were made for kids. What good did they do? Why, they satisfied law enforcement that floatation devices were aboard … of course, Captain Joe told us that if you fell overboard, you might live for 30 minutes before the cold water sucked the life out of you. At times, I tried to wear a kiddy vest in the event Captain Joe was wrong. Even if it didn’t work, it made me feel better when I couldn't see land, other boats, or when we were in the middle of a pod of Killer Whales.

Our Water. The sea, also known as the Inside Passage, averages a depth 500 - 600 feet. I think that’s why the halibut grow so large … of course we really didn’t go after them. After all, a 400-pound halibut on an 8-weight rod isn’t exactly sporting –- when you are as good as the two of us, the poor fish is at a big disadvantage. In the warm waters that averaged 34 degrees Fahrenheit, we didn’t want to do anything during catch and release that could harm the fish.

Our Game. We chased the very best Alaska has to offer: Pacific salmon, trout, halibut, deer and crab. (One morning Chance caught 10 huge Dungeness crabs. While they don’t qualify as sporting game or fowl, they do qualify as a delicacy when filling a man’s stomach.)

Our Wildlife. Lots! Bears – only 4 encounters, including one with a Brown bear on a creek on Admiralty Island called, of all things, Bear Creek. The others were black bears, one of which was thrilling (or should that be chilling). Whales – we ran into, around, and over bunches of Orcas and Humpbacks. Seals and Sea Lions abounded. And on land, Blacktail Deer were plentiful. I was amazed at the numbers of Bald Eagles we saw. There seemed to be hundreds of them. We had a Martin that lived in the outhouse and a mouse that lived in our cabin.

Our Cabin. Beautiful log cabin in a meadow, on a creek, a quarter mile from the water.

Our Menu. Our cuisine was extraordinary. Just think of it for a moment –- your choice of fresh grilled salmon, halibut steak sautéed in wine sauce, or fresh boiled Dungeness crab. Of course, all meals were accompanied by side dishes of potatoes and fresh corn on the cob. During our adventures on the water we survived on tortillas, cheese, granola bars and, of course, LBFM.

Famous Quotes.

"God D%#@! it Puck, Get back in the truck"... the Captain, to his Black Lab after he flew out of the back of his truck doing 50 miles an hour. It was lucky for 'Puck' the boat trailer didn't run over him.

"What do I do now?!?!"... Chance, before he handed his rod to the Captain Joe after he hooked a HUGE dolphin (Flipper).

"There's a G D%#@m WHALE!!!"... Me, before the Captain Joe almost ran over a Humpback Whale.

"There's a F'#&#^ ing BEAR!!!"... Me, when I saw this HUGE Black Bear, 30 yards from me, running at full sprint towards me... all I could do was yell - I had a pistol on my belt, but it would of taken to long to draw it - fortunately, the bear turned and headed for the mountains. Fortunately, we brought extra underwear with us.

"Turn this F'#&#^ing boat around!!!"... Me, to Captain Joe as he headed bow and at flank speed into 3- foot seas.

I remember my quotes because I was scared when I yelled them. Alaska is an incredible place. We had a 'lifetime' experience ... but at the times these quotes were uttered, I thought about how nice it would be, to be 'living life' in Texas right about NOW! We rarely saw the snow peaked mountains that surrounded us. It rained hard ... everyday ... and there were bugs, lot and lots of bugs… Most were the latest supersonic model of the Mosquito. They came at us in close formation and mimicked the attacks of the Kamikazes of World War II. Although our ship was hit several times, the skilled seamanship of Captain Joe brought us through.

In the end, our adventure is never to be forgotten … May yours be the same.

Karl
PS. LBFM = Light Beer From Miller

Karl Leslie, an ardent fly fisher and friend, is a professional photographer. All photographs featured in this article are copyrighted and cannot be used without his permission.