finding a summer job in AK

[live4chrome]

how hard is it to find a summer job on the river/ocean for a mid westerner like myself. I have experience trolling and stream fishing salmon/steelhead.

for those on here who have done it, how?

[jentz]

Just like anything else its who you know.I workrd on the pipeline years ago made some friends and after I left.I inquired about some or anykind of job for the summer,I was offered Gold mine work in Chicken Alaska,Boat out of Homer,Bar tending,Just from getting to know people.

So if you have no work there to support yourself while you get to know someone your just plain outta luck.If you can get there and hang around looking for work.There is a possibility, slim but possible.

[jwmiller33]

You will almost certainly be able to find work if you just troll around the docks and get the word out, asking anybody you see around the docks and someone will point you in the right direction. People running boats up in Alaska get calls from folks down in the lower 48 looking for fishing jobs ALL the time (a lot of Deadliest Catch fans looking to fulfill the dream). Most of them will be hard pressed to give you a job over the phone. They will tell you to show up at the docks ready to work and you will get the job then.

[Alagnak]

If you want to guide using a power boat you'll need to get at least an OUPV '6-pac' CG license. You can get a limited 6 pack for inland waters or a full one for salt use too. I don't think you need anything to be a deck hand though don't quote me as I only guide rivers up there and not salt. Also- you can guide raft trips without a CG license as well which is an awesome way to see the sites but is hard work no doubt.

I think one of the best ways to get your foot in the door is to just get up there and find a dock/deck hand position, camp hand, or whatever. Our darn camp hand gets more time to fish than the guides! Plus, you're not sick of being on the water all day when you do get the chance to get out there. This way you can get a feel for the whole operation and see what you think. If you're totally set on guiding then you have the off season to take care of all the paper work garbage and most likely your employer (if he liked what he sees in you and wants you to move up a level) will help you with the documentation and boating hours to get your 6- pac.

Your friend right now is the internet. Fine tune your resume with all outdoor related work/travel and anything else with a couple solid references so people know you're serious and passionate about the outdoors, people skills, diverse work environments, etc. It's free to email literally hundreds of places online that get your attention. If you do get a call/email from some that are interested you will have plenty of time to do the research on them. There are plenty of junk-hole lodges and operations too (unfortunately you don't get their resume) so do your home work on THEM. Get reference's from THEM! If they won't give you past and present employees names and phone numbers then DON'T keep talking with them- it's not worth it (I know from experience). I worked for 4 junk holes in 4 years until I found the lodge I really enjoy in an area I love and i've now been there 10 years. I started as the 18 year old 'young buck' and now I'm the old grey beard with two kids that goes to bed early and is up drinking coffee way before I need too. lol All of the internet work is free. Driving around beating the docks eating $15 cheese burgers and sleeping in a rental car is not. Start now, good luck. Let me know if you need any help. I've been working summers up there since 97 and I'd never trade a minute of it for the world. I would love to help anyone get to experience even a week of what I have been able to see and do up in the REAL god's country.

FYI- when I was hired for my first job I had never even been to Alaska. Luckily I had worked at a sport shop, done some guiding including the governor's opener in WI and some musky tournaments that gave me some credibility, worked at a private trout hatchery and so on but most importantly had been lucky enough to fish and travel around quite a bit in my teens. Any body can be taught to fish in any area of the world. We hire for people skills first and foremost as that can't as easily be taught.

Good luck

[live4chrome]

I will certainly look into camp hand jobs. I do have a degree in outdoor recreation so that should help me out a bit.

[Alagnak]

Yeah I don't know what the heck that degree is but it certainly sounds like it should help out! :-)

I will certainly look into camp hand jobs. I do have a degree in outdoor recreation so that should help me out a bit.

[jwmiller33]

Great info Alagnak. Thanks for sharing. Where do you do your guiding? (ie what rivers/species?) We are looking to try some new rivers on our trip to Alaska this June. We really want to do a float trip this year; do you have any suggestions on outfitters/guides for float trips? [sorry for hi-jacking the post]. Alagnak; PM me if you are interested in sharing some info.

[Alagnak]

Ironically enough, I work on the Alagnak River. ;-) It's in Bristol Bay, SW Alaska and is a historic float river that doesn't see much pressure. The upper portion runs out of Katmai National Park and is a designated 'wild and scenic' river. There are dozens of great remote rivers (well hundreds actually) in BB that offer great floats that you can be dropped off for the week. Try to pick one with very few lodges so you don't see boats running up and down your fishing water all day (this can be a big turn off in a remote setting), research data for great numbers of salmon year in and out of course, and water you can handle with your experience level (anything less than 4 most people can raft in their sleep). Branch River Air Taxi out of King Salmon, AK is a great resource for the BB area and rents gear too . They've been doing it a LONG time and have thousands of trips logged over the years to help people decide on what river fits them best during what part of the year, based on your fishing goals and ability levels, and duration of float. A float is a great way to see some great rivers and also a great economical choice for many do-it-yourself types. If and when I hang up guiding up there, a float trip each summer would be how i would try to keep going to Alaska for a trip without breaking the bank. It's like a 1000 BWCA rolled into one on steroids. If anyone tells you different, well, they're either full of manure or haven't been to AK. Probably why I haven't been back to BWCA since 96 LOL.

IMHO there are two things you need for a good river fishing trip to Alaska. One of them is NOT a fancy lodge. Now as an employee, there are reasons to work at one :-). One thing that is worth doing is making sure you are as far away from roads as you can be. This will put you some place special. There's nothing worse than going on a 'trip of a lifetime' and fishing a hole with a hundred other people or power boats blasting up and down beating the snot out of the water. If you can drive to it, so can the rest of the country. I'm not saying you can't have a good time, but it's really not the 'real' alaska in my opinion. It's like saying a fishing trip of a life time to Canada is to downtown Winnepeg. Yes, you might catch the biggest channel cat of your life, but it's not much of a wilderness trip. To many, Alaska has much more to offer than fishing and I could honestly go up without making a cast and be very happy. The bears and rest of the wildlife and scenery is over the top. Being 'remote' could mean the middle of northern alaska- but then you're missing the second most important thing to river fishing salmon and trout- close proximity to the salt water for the freshest runs of salmon along with the biggest most abundant resident fish that lurk there for that same reason. Like thigh size native rainbows and huge char, grayling, and lakers. In terms of numbers, Bristol bay happens to have the most to pick from and some of the largest runs in the world in several rivers that have many tribs to pick from that are more manageable to raft, AND easier to fish because you don't feel like a little 'fish in the sea' in your raft. You want to work out a pick up point in the river that doesn't stick you in the slow, wide areas of the coast paddling against the wind for the last two days of your trip.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. Don't talk about it. Just do it, you'll never regret. Just like a customer told me years ago- he was very old and had a hard time getting around. He had plenty of money to travel but this was his first trip to AK. He said "if I would have known I could have come to Alaska and experienced all of the national parks natural wonders and best rivers of the lower 48 states all in one trip I would have come here 50 years ago and saved myself a lot of time and money". :-)

As mentioned, don't be afraid to do some research and homework do your own float. If you don't think you're up for it, let me know and I'll row if you guys go before my season starts. I miss my rafting years.

[fivebucks]

Good info. Alagnak helped me out on my trip to B.B. last year. We stayed at the lodge he worked at but didn't get to fish with him. He took the plane out that we took in. This was my first time in the bush after working and living up there (Seward) in the early 80's and again in the early 90's. My first time up there we went up with no contacts up there in a car with 150,000+ miles on it. We had to sell the car for food money before the work started in but we made it thru. Good thing the Russian River Red run was going so we had fish to eat. We worked a land based salmon cannery and the work wasn't the greatest but we were in Alaska when we weren't working

I now am trenched in here again in MN but I wouldn't trade my AK days for anything. I went to AK just after my sophmore year at college and did the most growing up and life learning that summer than any other point in my life. Just go up - you won't regret it.

[Surface Tension]

Great info Alagnak and I can tell how passionate your are about AK.

I worked there in the late 80's as a white water oarsmen on the Nenana and as a wrangler for an outfit that did pack trips and horse back rides.

With the internet there isn't a reason to go to AK without having a job first.

There are tons of summer jobs having to do with the tourists and right now is when they hire.

[live4chrome]

Alagnak- any way you could tell me which Co. you work for, and what the lodges that you worked at that were junk holes. Anything to make my hunt easier would be better. If you are willing to converse Via email that would be awesome!

my email is chad0050 at d.umn.edu

thanks!

It seems that to run a power boat with a six pack you need 360 days of sea service. what exactly does this entail?

[live4chrome]

Alagnak- any way you could tell me which Co. you work for, and what the lodges that you worked at that were junk holes. Anything to make my hunt easier would be better. If you are willing to converse Via email that would be awesome!

my email is chad0050 at d.umn.edu

thanks!

It seems that to run a power boat with a six pack you need 360 days of sea service. what exactly does this entail?

[fishkid]

i dont think this should be a problem since this site is strictly alaska but this is the site i am on all the time up here and there is a ton of info about alaska and there is a job forum that different camps and lodges will put up job offerings. this like is straight to the job part. outdoorsdirectory,Help-Wanted also check alaskaslist HSOforum and even kraigslist (starts with a c) this time of the year is when lodges will start throwin up job offerings.

[Alagnak]

That's 360 days you have to document running a power boat you own, or a letter from owner of boat you have been using, averaged 8 hours a day- just a little tiny bit of the long list of [PoorWordUsage] paper work for a license.

I work for Alagnak Lodge. It's the lowest (furthest down river, a few miles from saltwater) lodge on the river. There are only a handful of lodges on the 100 mile or so river. With all of the back channels and 'braids' in the river, many of which are navigable by boat, there are said to be over 1,000 miles of river and a big reason we have such great runs of salmon. Many of the slower/shallower gravel side channels are perfect for spawning salmon.

In regards to the places I worked and didn't like. I don't think it's too relevant 10 years later as one place has closed and another under new management. Two other places were actually great places to work for but so far from saltwater you're fishing beat up-colored up salmon that have swam a hundred miles or more. They just don't have the fight or the meat quality that near-salt/in-salt water fish have IMHO. It was just tough to guide on waters like this and explain to your clients why the fish aren't 'chrome' when the a-hole owners who sold them the trip (probably at a sport show down south) promised them the world and chromer fish every cast I'm sure.

Alagnak- any way you could tell me which Co. you work for, and what the lodges that you worked at that were junk holes. Anything to make my hunt easier would be better. If you are willing to converse Via email that would be awesome!

my email is chad0050 at d.umn.edu

thanks!

It seems that to run a power boat with a six pack you need 360 days of sea service. what exactly does this entail?

[live4chrome]

Thanks!

Only thing that I am thinking will be an issue is that I can't start until the first week of June, due to lease issues. this will probably get in my way a little. thanks for all the help and insight guys. I set up an account on the alaska sight and put up a "resume". hopefully it leads to something

[wahoo]

At some of the places where I have stayed and they process (clean, vacuum pack, freeze) thye hire people to do only that. give them a place to stay and meals plus a wage--and tips. An awful lot of these people are college students from MN and ND. And, as said, they are in Alaska! They also, when I chat with them, seem to know a lot of what is going on in terms of bite, etc.

[rexlan]

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