Mark's Vintage Gear Adventure In Alaska

Mark Baker, a.k.a turtledoc, is a fiend for vintage Bogdan reels and Hardy sticks. He recently posted up a thread on the Fiberglass Flyrodders forum of his yearly Alaska trip and I figured that the T.F.M. readership would enjoy this stellar journey as well.

The photos of the silver, chum, and pink (humpy) salmon were all taken on creeks within the Susitna Valley in South Central Alaska. The rod used was an early Pre-JET Hardy 8 1/2 foot six weight that still had the plastic on the grip. It rained a lot during the trip and you’ll notice in the photos that you can almost tell what order they were taken by how much area of the cork has water under the plastic.

The reels in those photos are all mid 1960's to early 1970's single action Bogdan Model 00 and a special Hermann Sea Trout that is #1 of five reels that Paul made of this model as the last five salmon reels he finished before retiring from reel making.

The photo of the Rainbow and the shot of me with the Dolly Varden was with the Bogdan 00 SA and a 1960's vintage Hardy nine foot three inch Richard Walker Superlite which is rated as a 7/8 weight.

These photos were taken on a stream within the Kenai Peninsula. I had hoped to use an Experimental/Prototype Bogdan Steelhead reel that I have from the early 1960's on this water but that reels is “dragless” with just a fixed click drag. The water was so high and fast that after using it for a half day I concluded I wasn’t being responsible and I switched back to the 00 with the double brake shoe drag so I could land and release the fish quickly before they were exhausted. There were countless Dollies caught in the 18 to 20 inch range with a handful going up to 23 inches and enough nice Rainbows scattered in to keep things interesting.

I really like vintage Hardy glass for salmon and big trout and though this vein, I like how they look with the Bogdan and Hermann reels I enjoy using.

Check out Mark's profile to view an amazing written history and photos of the Bodgan reels that he's collected over the years.   Truly impressive.