Alaska trip a memorable experience

When Rod Buswell mentioned taking his sons Rod Jr., 22, and Randy, 17, on a fishing trip to Alaska, the Eddington sportsman’s wife Deborah replied, “If you don’t do it now you may not get a chance later. Besides, it will be a trip you’ll never forget.” Call it intuition or a touch of clairvoyance, either way the woman’s words turned out to be prophetic.

A few weeks ago, the Buswell expedition dropped its duffel in a fishing camp on Lake Creek, which as the crow or the float plane flies, was about a 40- minute flight from Anchorage. For five days, father and sons – Rod Jr. is committed to tying the matrimonial knot in the near future, Randy will graduate John Bapst High School next spring – tested their tackle and fishing skills on Alaskan salmon and rainbow trout.

“We had fantastic fishing,” said the expedition’s “head guide,” who described the rainbow trout and king and chum salmon as “more than cooperative.” The biggest fish caught was a 42-pound king salmon. Like most anglers making their first trip to Alaska’s wilderness fishing grounds, Buswell and sons expected to have the pools pretty much to themselves. That, of course, wasn’t the case. “We weren’t exactly alone,” said the elder of the three. “Float planes were flying steadily, bringing parties in and out.”

It’s no secret that time passes quickly when you’re having fun, or fast fishing. So it was that when the Buswell expedition climbed aboard the float plane for the first leg of the long trip home, they took with them a lifetime limit of angling memories that were landed in only a few days. Little did they know, however, that the most exceptional and, without question, the memorable experience of their trip was only minutes away.

Here’s how Rod Buswell recounted it: “We no sooner took off and cleared the trees when the plane’s engine quit. The pilot tried to restart it but it was `no go.’ We scaled down and one float hit the water and we skimmed along until we struck some brush and blowdowns that tipped us upside down. When we crawled out I couldn’t believe that other than a few bumps and bruises everyone was all right.”

Buswell said the last he heard was the crash resulted from fuel pump failure. The pilot had logged more than 9,000 hours of accident-free flying. “It was just one of those things,” Buswell allowed, “and we were just plain lucky.” He said another float plane flew over them within a few minutes and reported the crash to the camp by radio. Shortly thereafter, they were picked up by boat. Directly, they returned to camp, boarded another plane and again took off for Anchorage. Things move fast in that country.

Deborah Buswell will never come closer to being a prophet. Her husband’s and sons’ trip to Alaska was, indeed, one they would never forget.

If you’ve fished Quebec’s Matapedia River for Atlantic salmon, surely you’ve heard of, or perhaps fished with, the legendary guide Richard Adams. If you’ve spent time in the Hotel-Motel Restigouche in Matapedia, you’ve seen the wood sculpture of Richard standing in the lobby. Recently, the colorful character who has guided presidents and royalty received more notoriety with the release of the Richard Nelson Adams Commemoration Collection.

The feature item, a handmade Haywood Classic Mark III reel advertised as “A First Class Fly Reel For The Classiest Fish That Swims, is painstakingly crafted from cold-pressed aluminum, silver, brass and stainless steel parts. It features special nickel anodizing for scratch and corrosion resistance, push-button access to the reel’s interior, a direct drive ratio of 2.5:1, quick change from right to left-hand retrieve.

The patented 11-position floating drag system is silky-smooth and strong enough to turn a team of horses. It has three shoes with teflon pads, each of which has three springs, and is contained by a sterling silver cover. The clicker can be used right or left-handed or not at all.

Finished in silver or gold, the reel is embellished with the names of Canada’s most famous salmon rivers. Truly it is a collector’s item, a reel to be admired and treasured if not used for fishing.

Included in the Richard Adams Commemoration Collection are separate silver plaques of Adams and a leaping salmon. Each is contained in finished, 21×21-inch hardwood frames. Also provided is a certificate of authenticity in a protective tube, a spare spool of sterling silver or 24K gold, two handmade leather cases for the reel and spare spool and two exotic wood racks for displaying the reel and certificate. For more information contact Peter Dube, Hotel-Motel Restigouche, Matapedia, Quebec, GOJ IVO, Canada. Phone: 418-865-2307. Fax: 418-865-2848.