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A summer trip to Alaska is a dream vacation for travel fans in the lower 48 states. It's another day at the office for Ken Bethe of Bella Vista.
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Fly-In Fishing
Lake Iliamna: This is Alaska’s largest lake at 77 miles long and up to 20 miles wide. It’s at the north end of the Alaska Peninsula, about 100 miles west of Seldovia, Alaska. The lake is home to three species of salmon, rainbow trout, lake trout and Dolly Varden.
Kvichak River: The river flows out of Lake Iliamna for about 50 miles before emptying into Bristol Bay. The river offers anglers world-class fishing for rainbow trout.
— Staff Report
Bethe's office is the cockpit of a de Havilland Beaver single-engine floatplane that he pilots in Alaska each summer, flying anglers to some of the best trout and salmon fishing waters in the world. Sightseers, too, climb into the airplane with hopes of seeing bears feeding on fish that leap from waterfalls.
Alaska is Bethe's home during the warm months. He returns to cozy winter quarters in Bella Vista. when the weather gets cold in the 49th state.
The pilot had his own flying service in Alaska for 30 years, but most recently has flown for King Salmon Lodge in southwest Alaska. Air travel is the only way to reach back-country rivers and lakes where heavy fish can wear a strong angler out by afternoon.
"Flying really opens Alaska up to you," Bethe said. "There are 3 million lakes there that are over 40 acres."
Not to mention fish-filled rivers that meander across the nation's largest state. Bethe lands his floatplane on both.
Anglers and pilot rise early. Takeoff is from 5:30 to 6:30 a.m., weather permitting. The average flight to a fishing or sightseeing destination is about 30 minutes.
"We take off again about 4 p.m. We like to give the fishermen eight hours a day on the water," Bethe said.
Sometimes landings and takeoffs are easy, with plenty of wide, deep lake water. The floatplane can handle waves of 2 to 3 feet. Larger swells are risky.
When Bethe's runway is a narrow river, tree branches can be close enough to almost tickle the wingtips. Bethe navigates the aircraft like a boat on some trips, floating the river to a prime spot for the fishermen. He floats to a stretch suitable for takeoff at day's end.
Bethe and fellow bush pilots deal with strong wind, rain and fog. Weather can postpone flights or cause a pilot to fly back to the lodge midtrip.
"The most important maneuver a pilot can make is a 180-degree turn," Bethe said. "Weather is the most important factor in planning your day. Most flying accidents are because of weather."
There's no instrument flying in Bethe's world. It's all visual. Years of flying mean Bethe can wing toward a destination like a motorist going to the grocery store.
First Flight
Bethe landed in Alaska while in the Air Force. He loves to fish and learned to fly so he could reach Alaska's back country and world-class angling.
"I learned on a typical wheeled airplane, just like a person would do down at the local airport," Bethe (pronounced Bee-thee) said.
He earned a commercial pilot's license and learned to fly floatplanes. He flew hunters, fishermen and sightseers. Bethe did some flying work for the U.S. Forest Service and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
A lodge owner talked Bethe into coming to work for him. Some pilots work as fishing guides once the aircraft is on the water. Bethe's job offer didn't involve guiding.
"My mission was just take care of the airplane and make sure the guests have a ride home," he said.
A typical flight carries four guests and two fishing guides. Once the guests are fishing and the airplane is tended, Bethe could grab a rod and fish until it's time to fly home.
He always keeps a close watch on the weather. Occasionally, flying conditions worsen during the day. Then Bethe has to hustle the guests into the plane and take off while there's still time. Two or three times, he and the guests have spent a night in the airplane.
Bethe and his wife, Sandy, both enjoy Alaska.
Bears On The Prowl
One of the big reasons people visit Alaska is to see bears, Bethe said. A 1,400-pound Alaska brown bear is a mighty creature, standing 10 to 11 feet tall on its hind legs.
Think of Alaska and the mind may conjure a vision of bears catching salmon or trout from a wild river. It's a sight Bethe sees often.
"When a bear catches a fish, it'll walk to shore and eat the fish on the bank," he said.
Bethe has had a couple of too-close encounters with bears. On one trip he was walking through brush toward some fishermen. They started waving like mad at Bethe. A greeting wasn't the reason. He was walking straight toward a bear. That moment, a huge brown bear reared in front of Bethe. He backed off, and the bear went about its business.
Bugs and bears are facts of Alaskan life for anglers and sightseers. Bethe recommends visitors carry bear spray and bug spray on any trip.
Bear watching is superb in Alaska. So is the fishing.
"There are some places where you can catch all the rainbow trout you want that are 21- to 23-inches long," Bethe said. Sometimes those big fish will attack top-water lures in an explosive surface ambush. It's the fodder of fishing dreams.
Lake Iliamna in southwest Alaska is a frequent destination for Bethe. It's the largest lake in Alaska at 77 miles long and up to 20 miles wide.
The Kvichak River flows out of Lake Iliamna and flows for 60 miles to Bristol Bay. King Salmon Lodge is on the Kvichak, which is known for world-class rainbow trout fishing.
The pilot decided last summer would be his last season flying for the lodge. Once word got around that the experienced pilot was leaving, job offers to fly began coming in. Bethe said last week he's entertaining some of those offers and reckons he will be in the air over the Alaska wilderness again this summer.
Just another season in his floatplane office.
Outdoors on 10/30/2014