This adventure fishing trip was in the planning phase for quite some time.

It is part of my bucket list, maybe yours too.

My fishing goal was to catch a large halibut that locals call a “barn door”. Being a senior, I had to work out at the gym to prepare for catching big fish.

I arrived in Anchorage, Alaska from Boston. In the picture, Delta was on final approach to the runway.

Many of us stayed overnight at the Puffin Inn, seen below.  They sent an airport shuttle to pick me up. Nice!

First night hotel

Below, this terrific Alaska Bus Company and driver Ian drove us to the lodge … perhaps near 150 miles.

Great views out of the large bus windows.

Alaska Bus Company drove us to lodge in Sterling, Ak – Nice Bus and Driver Ian

Adam and Ed give thumbs up for the drive to lodge

Below, our bus stopped at Three Bears Convenience stores for snacks and potty breaks …great roadside stores.

I bought a souvenir Alaska vehicle license plate for my man-cave.

We stopped for snacks and potty breaks a these great roadside convenience stores. Here we stopped at the town of Coopers Landing,

We arrive at the Great Alaska Adventure Lodge below. The lodge is very impressive as were the terrific lodge staff.

They aim to please and did so every day. 

Entrance to the Great Alaska Adventure Lodge. First Class!

Below is my lodge-room, no tv, was on purpose. This is a get-a-way. Complete with a full bathroom for each guest. And room service for making your bed and room care. 

My Bedroom for the week. Wow! Can you say comfortable!

The lodge is situated on the shore of the famous Kenai River, where we can fish for salmon and enjoy peace and quiet along the river. Can you say spectacular!

Behind the lodge is the picturesque Kenai River – Salmon fishing on the shore.

Below, we had our own great adventure bus and driver to drive us to each adventure fishing trip. Charlie our driver was terrific. 

our lodge adventure transportation. Nice!

Moose on the loose. We saw several.

Moose Crossing-we saw several moose and calf’s along the roadside

Sights like this mountain below were amazingly common as we were shuttled to adventures. I believe this is one of the three volcanoes in Alaska. All of them are officially considered active. 

On the road – a volcano looms large. Minor quakes are normal.

We fished in Homer Alaska too, but the best ocean adventure for me was in Seward, Alaska. You will see why shortly… Below, we boarded the Tia Rose for our 2 1/2 hour ride to our fishing area.

Boat “Tia Rose” at the Seward Dock

Seward has more wildlife and closer to mountain shorelines than Homer. See the sea otter I photo’d below.  No Orca’s seen. 

Both videos below are from John catching then landing the largest barn door halibut of the trip. We did not weigh our fish.

Look at that rod bend!

I caught the second largest barn door too but was so busy catching it that it was not on video.

The good thing here was that the ocean bottom here was only 70 feet. Often it is like 200 or 300 feet. 

Below video, Nat’s daughter Alyra reels in a nice halibut.

Chris reels in a nice one.

Below, Jamie showing her big halibut.

Nice Fish Jamie!

This halibut close-up on the deck, is keeping an eye, …or two, on us. What big eyes they have. 

Experts say halibut start their life vertically with an eye on each side. As they grow, their eyes migrate to the darker side and then swim flat on the ocean bottom. Most all large halibut are females called “barn doors” and smaller ones are males called “chickens”.

Halibut are prized as a food fish costing 30 dollars per pound or more. 

Below, Adam wearing his GoPro hooked a ling cod, not in season, and threw him back.

All the rods are put away below, the Kenai mountains off in the distance.

We each caught two rock fish, great fight for a smaller fish. 

Jamie and husband Scott with all our catch. 

Scott and Jamie with our Catch

Nat and Alyra with all our catch.

Nat and daughter Alyra with our Seward Catch

Lady friends with all our catch. Great fishing ladies!

Lady friends with our Seward Cat

John, John and Ed showing off all our catch. I gave a thumbs up!

Ed with his “barn door” halibut. This barn door is what I hoped to catch on this Alaska adventure. Success never felt so good. I was in the gym for three months to prepare for the fish fight of my life. Good thing I did! Not bad for my senior body!

Ed and John show off their big ones.

Below is our Kasilof Drift Boat Launch. 

Nat caught one sockeye, nice fish, and lost a king salmon.

Male and female loons below

Loons on the Kasilof River

Bald Eagle I photo’d on shores of Kasilof River. Such a majestic symbol of the USA. 

One of my best adventures is the Fly-in to Big River Lake where ocean salmon just arrived to spawn.  Below is our float plane, a De Haviland Otter Turbo. It seats six. 

Fly-in to Big River Lake with De Haviland Otter- Seats 6

Loading packs and lunch in the float plane.

Just Landed at Big River Lake

Breath taking Mountain view at Big River Lake at the base of Mount Redoubt an active volcano 

Dock At Big River Lake Lodge

We all caught three salmon here but saw no brown bears.

We take off the De Haviland and tour the local Big River Glacier on the way back.

This was my last  Alaska adventure trip of 2026. Now I prepare to fly home with our frozen fish. I ended the trip with 41 pounds of delicious frozen vacuum sealed halibut, 4 rockfish, and some codfish.

Below is our bus, complete with baggage and many boxes of frozen fish as we depart the lodge.

I enjoyed this Alaska adventure fishing trip and am planning a return trip with my wife with the same adventure lodge. I enjoyed meeting other folks in this article. I bought this T-shirt at the airport. Eat Organic with Moose meat cuts shown. Photo on my porch and back yard in New Hampshire. 

Maybe catch you next year in July.

Good Adventure Fishing!

Soon…Fish On! I will write as soon as I can!! I packed some of you in my luggage to come with me. Should be a wild trip!! Lets Go…

Thank goodness for youtube video testing of bullets like 300g vs 350g vs 400g and penetration. I am new to the 45-70, so seeing the penetration and mushrooms for hard-cast vs jacketed and hollow point vs flat point is very telling.

Hard cast lead bullets are made from a mixture of lead, antimony, and tin, resulting in a harder bullet that offers deeper penetration and less deformation upon impact.

I typically like bullets to mushroom for thin skinned game like deer but in the case of bears, I like penetration and less mushrooming. Why is that?

Primarily I want penetration on bears for an exit wound/blood trail shooting them end to end.  

I like Hornady 250, 300 for deer size game and 350g and 400g flat points for bears. You never know when a 300 pound black bear or even larger shows up at a bait. I believe the 45-70 is great wild hog medicine up close as well. Having the ability to lever fast shots is essential around ornery game is a real plus.

For longer range elk and moose, I will stick to bolt rifles like my 7mm Rem Mag or my .375 Ruger. I did take a small bear with the 7mm at 30 yards but felt it better utilized at longer range.

Good Hunting!

What does Strong Action mean when it comes to Lever Rifles such as the new Ruger made Marlin 1895?

Strong action means 40,000 c.u.p.  (copper unit of pressure). Some reloading manuals such as Barnes® et al, use 43,000 psi as a marker for pressure. To check your rifle cartridge for either psi or cup pressure see below. 

CUP ↔ PSI Calculator

How big are big bullets and why use them?

In 1873 the standard 45-70 Government cartridge used a 45 caliber 405g bullet with 70 grains of black powder…hence the name 45-70. I consider the 400g bullet as big, however these vintage rifle barrels and actions like the trap door or Sharps were no where near capable of todays modern 45-70 pressures.

Many of todays 45-70 lever rifles can handle bullets over 500 grains as long as they don’t exceed COL cartridge overall length and have a cannelure for a roll crimp to fit the 45-70 lever rifles. As an example, see

https://garrettcartridges.com/45-70-540gr-P-Hammerhead-20-CTGS_p_29.html#mz-expanded-view-1476217159669

And because of strong actions, these big bullets can achieve velocities approaching and in some cases exceed 2000 fps. Like getting hit by a fast train. 

These heavy bullets provide a key ingredient. Penetration! Alaskan guides sometimes use the 45-70 lever actions as back-up for close dangerous game encounters such as brown and grizzly bears. 

It is momentum, a product of mass (bullet weight) and velocity which creates unparalleled penetration.  And it is the damage done by the bullet as it passes through tissue.  Bullet speed aids greatly in radial damage as well.

Some use the Marlin on African safari with great success.

I prefer a controlled feed bolt action with my M77 .375 Ruger like I did with my recent American buffalo hunt, or larger like the 416 Rigby or 416 Ruger for really big dangerous game such as cape buffalo.

I use a recoil taming shoulder harness when practicing on the bench.

Standing free hand, these big rifles rock your whole body thus absorbing the more tolerable heavy recoil.

It is a wild ride that keeps me coming back for more adventure.

Good Hunting!

Since purchasing my new Marlin 1895 45-70 SBL lever rifle a month or so ago, I searched on line for cost effective 300g bullets to practice with.  Below are images of these ACME Hi-Tek coated bullets I tested at moderate velocities using Viht. N- 130 powder at 50  yards.  

What surprised me was my Garmin chrono data from my first 6 shots I took with 40 grains of Vihtavuori N-130 powder. Shot Avg  1577.9 fps but the Standard Deviation was an unbelievable 4.0 fps. Wow! 

Cost is $26 for a box of 100.  Very inexpensive. Shipping will vary. For me shipping was 12 dollars. Cost works out to 38 cents a shot. And they load well and my brass crimp holds them secure. Very nice indeed.

I called ACME to shared my exciting experience above. Further, that I was unsure how fast/slow to shoot them. They are designed to be a hard cast and will not mushroom and are used in cowboy shoots and target at moderate speeds. They don’t have a gas check, thus speeds need to be moderate.

I asked ACME to send me some heavier bullets to test. We shall see. 

See www.acmebullet.com for more details or place an order…

Shoot Often and Have Fun.