Last Updated:
03/07/05
  |
John Botko Trips to Alaska, Russia and Argentina
The meeting was called to order on
February 9, 2001, at 7:00 p.m. at the Buckhead Brewery. Captain John Botko,
owner of the Salty Feather fly shop in Jacksonville, was the guest
speaker.
John's slide presentation was on trips that he has made to Alaska, Russia
and Argentina. When he began seeking these types of trips to offer
fishermen as a service of his shop, he sought factors that would make his
trips unique, because many fly shops and travel agencies provide services
for scheduling such trips. He found that trips are scheduled at the
various sites around the world for a fixed number of days during the
fishing season for a fixed number of people based on the available
accommodations. The outfitters try to fill all of the available slots for
each group. John identified the absolute best fishing times from reliable
sources for each spot, so he can schedule trips that offer the best
possibility for success.
John found that one of his old friends that he grew up with in Minnesota
is a guide in Alaska, so he made contact and now offers an annual trip
with the best available King Salmon fishing in western Alaska on the
Nushegak River. Many other species are targeted on these trips including
Dolly Varden and rainbow trout, chum, Chinook, and silver salmon and
grayling.
The Kola Peninsula of Russia is the only spot on earth that has natural
stocks of brown trout. They are golden brown without the red spots that
characterize all other browns. John has determined the best week of the
year for this type of fishing and schedules his annual trip far enough in
advance to ensure that he gets the absolute best period for catching these
huge browns. They also have some of the world's best Atlantic salmon
fishing in that area.
John schedules the Argentina trip through a friend who built a lodge that
offers comfort and three gourmet meals a day, and it's well equipped with
fishing gear and boats. The target fish at this lodge is the Dorado, which
is a very aggressive fish that attacks flies and fights like a
supercharged largemouth bass, and they get very big.
If you are interested in scheduling one of John's trips, he can be reached
at "The Salty Feather" fly shop at (904) 645-8998. John also has
a very good variety of fly fishing tackle and a particularly broad choice
of saltwater fly tying supplies available by mail order. His E-mail
address is Feather2@ix.netcom.com