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 We celebrated our 15th year in business in 2004. Our first guests that visited in June of 1990 returned this summer for another fishing trip, and they have been able to see the hard work and improvements we have made to our facility and service over the years.
Operating Zachar Bay Lodge has given us the opportunity to meet people from all around the world. We still enjoy sharing the beauty of Zachar Bay and Kodiak Island with our guests and look forward to several more summer seasons!
Family & Crew News
We welcomed back the entire crew for the fourth season in a row! Joining our crew was two new additions – Treena Breyfogle and Thia Falcone. Treena worked as a lodge assistant this summer and was a wonderful addition to the staff. She was always providing a friendly helping hand. Thia helped out in ZBL’s Kodiak Office this summer, answering the telephones and keeping track of Glen and Kyle’s whereabouts while they were out flying.
As for the returning crew, Jim & Dawn Hahn, John King and Ian Jansma all spent another summer season in Zachar Bay. Jim & Dawn have almost completed their new home in western Washington State, and are planning on spending the winter months there.
John spent the winter months working for the Coos Bay watershed on the Oregon Coast. He was supervisor of several people that were planting trees. John also helped work ZBL’s booth at the Sacramento Sport Show in January.
Ian (aka the drifter) spent the winter months traveling abroad before returning to Zachar Bay in June. Some of his travels took him all the way to New Zealand, Fiji and even central California!
The Eaton’s welcome Lorena Acuna into the family last November.  |
 Glen and Lorena were married November 2, 2003 in Kodiak. Lorena is a medical doctor, originally from Bogotá Colombia. She is currently studying for her US medical certification.
Andy & Lin spent the winter in Kodiak with their daughter, Tayla. Tayla turned one year old in July and she started to walk only a few short months after that.
Kyle spent the winter working with the FAA towards getting an air taxi business. He also helped to market ZBL and Kingfisher to potential customers.
Marty & Linda have completed their house in ZB almost 99% and are completely moved in. They were able to take a 3-week holiday this March and visited family and friends along the west coast.
Improvements
Several major improvements took place this year that will help raise the level of service that we can provide at Zachar Bay Lodge. Last November, Glen and Marty purchased an airplane hangar/office in Kodiak that is located on the floatplane lake. This new hangar/office serves as a base for the aircraft in Kodiak and also gives the Lodge better visibility to visitors in Kodiak.
In May we purchased a second new Bush Hawk from the factory – N818ES. The new aircraft has high visibility bubble doors and individual rear seating. With the two aircraft we can comfortably move 6-7 people. Now we operate the two newest floatplanes on Kodiak Island!
A major remodeling project that took place this May and June was turning the Dining Hall rooms’ bathroom into handicapped accessible to accommodate a guest this season.
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Improvements…continued
The bathroom was completely redesigned to allow wheelchair access.
Improvements that will make winter living at ZBL better was a new banya and water cistern. The banya was constructed along the beach by Marty. This banya features a large picture window overlooking the beach and bay, wood stove, changing room and front porch. Andy dug a cistern and put in a waterline to provide water to the bathhouse during the cold winter months.
Fishing News
 Catch of the Summer
Several large halibut were caught this summer, but most were released back to the sea, providing a true “fish” story for those guests who caught them. The largest halibut of the season, brought back to the lodge for photographic proof, a 185-pound halibut landed by Bill Miles.
Topping the scales for the largest King Salmon was a 28-pounder caught by Howard Sayre trolling on July 26.
Halibut landed over 60 pounds at Zachar Bay...
185# Bill Miles 115# Dennis Small
102# BJ Britton 100# Otto Heiderich
95# Todd Stubbler 94# Denise Parsons
86# Martin Johnson 80# Sherri Majestic
80# Joe Paradise 80# Dick Logchies
80# Peter Reulen 72# Ross Miller
70# Jody Hice 67# Tom&Jane Buch
65# Julius Bunkowski 65# Todd Stubbler
60# Paulette Brooks 60# Bill Pittock
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Visitors
Returning Visitors:
Welcome Back! We were glad to see you return again: Martin Johnson, Amanda Edwards, John Tucker, Rocky & Denise Parsons, Reed & Paulette Brooks, Per Lund-Johansen, Geoff & Yvonne Evans, Helmut Meilner, Albert & Trudy Hornbach, Mike Ford, Dan Hockersmith, Jim Felling, Jack Thomas, Frank Selbe, Charlie Farley, Willard Wendell, Gary Kay, Charlie Gibson, Dick, Tone, Paul, & Hans Logchies, Bill Pittock, Skip & Janet Werner, Harald Osvold, Mark & Matthew Eaton, Tom & Jane Buch, Don Hunter, Fred Klumpp, Joe & Henry Schmid, Otto & Cecile Heiderich, Joe Ventline, Joe Granados, Dave Niedzialek, Brian Sweeney.
June Guests
Our first guests were scheduled to arrive the evening of June 11, but rain, fog and wind pushed back their arrival date to June 12. Martin Johnson and his granddaughter Amanda Edwards spent the week halibut fishing and flying out to O’Malley for sockeye salmon fishing. Martin landed a 64-pound halibut on this trip. At O’Malley Lake a curious bear watched them fish, and came within 10 feet of them.
Bob & Matt DeMarcos visited from California for the salmon and halibut fishing. During their stay, they landed an 18 pound troll caught king salmon and several nice halibut ranging from 18-35 pounds. While on their fly-out to Frazer, Bob and Matt fished reds and saw six bears.
John Tucker visited from Switzerland, and celebrated his 84th birthday the day after he left Zachar Bay. He spent several days fishing with Martin & Amanda. While at O’Malley he watched a bear come within 5-6 yards of getting the fish on the stringer. When they got on the plane to leave, the bear got upset because there was no fish left on the stringer for him and stomped his pads, knocking the stringer stick down.
Rocky & Denise Parsons and Reed & Paulette Brooks visited from Texas. While out on the saltwater, Denise landed a 94-pound halibut, Paulette a 59-pound halibut, Rocky caught several 40-pound halibut and Reed got the award for catching the most variety— halibut, cod and sculpin! Reed & Paulette scouted out the Ayakulik River for King Salmon and were successful while Denise & Rocky fished Frazer for reds.
Per Lund-Johansen (Per I), Per Gerhard Lund-Larsen (Per II), & Harald, John, Lars Kjekshus visited from Norway. They spent two days at ZBL - the first day halibut fishing and the second day at Frazer fishing red salmon. There was a detour to Connecticut Creek on the flight to Frazer because of morning fog – and Per said the day was
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fantastic! The group departed ZBL, flying in a helicopter to another lodge.
Anne and John Bilos visited from Illinois and saw a bear on the first day while touring Zachar Bay with Andy. At Frazer Lake they observed a blonde bear with two little black cubs of the year with natal rings around their necks. While boating in Spiridon Bay they saw puffins, sea lions, harbor seals, sea otters, porpoise, deer, goats, several species of birds and five Finback whales spouting at once.
George & Todd Stubbler from visited from California and David Aaronson, Jeff & Bob Silva visited from Texas. The group had success at both halibut and red salmon fishing on the Frazer. They also landed the first chum salmon of the season! Todd caught a 95-pound and 65-pound halibut, while Bob caught a 42-pounder and George a 32-pound halibut.
Bruce and Sherri Majestic visited from California and had such a wonderful time that they extended their stay at ZB. On their trip to Frazer Lake they saw bears and caught 6 reds while spin fishing. While fishing on the boat Bruce & Sherry caught several king salmon, a 60-pound and an 85-pound halibut.
Tad Farmer & Debbie Lanfear visited from Michigan. They had great luck while trolling for king salmon on the boat – they caught several kings on different days. While fishing at Frazer for reds, Debbie saw a sow with 2 cubs and another with 3 cubs catching red salmon. The cubs were so cute as they would stand up and look around. Tad said he was so busy fishing that he hardly had time to take photos!
July Guests
Geoff and Yvonne Evans returned to Zachar Bay Lodge this year from England. Geoff caught his first fish (which was the first pink salmon of the year) on the Zachar River – and then got bit by the fishing bug! While up the river Yvonne saw fox, deer, otter, bear and birds and had a fantastic day! They even saw a mountain goat up on Zachar Mountain.
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Andrew Airways brought Anette Kuballa and Michael Schulinle from Germany. Yvonne and Anette kayaked to Carlson Point with Ian and explored the beaches. Michael and Geoff hiked up the Zachar River for more fishing and caught dollies and pinks, and continued to catch pinks on the beach when they returned to the lodge. On their visit to Frazer Lake, Anette said that Frazer is incredible—no place like it. Brooks Falls has lots of people. While at Frazer, Michael caught 5 reds and a king.
Chris Luzar & Richard Bullock, visited from California after having a long fog delay (waiting in Anchorage). They caught several halibut, one king and one chum salmon trolling with Jim. On their return flight to Kodiak, Kyle circled in Zachar Bay several times, climbing above the clouds to 6500 feet for the flight back to Kodiak.
Joe Paradise & Jody Hice visited from Georgia and caught two halibut that were over 60-pounds! While fishing the Zachar River, they caught and released over 25 chums. Joe ended up catching an 80-pound halibut before his trip was over!
Pam and Mark DePaza visited from New Jersey. On their trip to Frazer to watch the bears, Mark said that it was the most wonderful day he has ever had. There were bears everywhere, eating fish & sleeping! Ian counted over 25 different bears. On their boating trip to Spiridon Bay they saw several sea otters with babies.
Mark & Carolyn Fowler visited from California. While hiking on the Zachar River, they saw an unusual sight - a Gyre Falcon. While visiting Frazer they saw lots of bears including 2 mothers with twin cubs. Mark & Carolyn spent several days at Frazer photographing the bears.
A group of 10 fishermen from Nevada visited Zachar Bay and Bill Miles organized the group. Members of the group included Bill & George Miles, Julius Bunkowoski, Joe & Phil Cowee, Robert Fitz, Robb Hemsath, Ross Miller, Dennis Small & Ralph Vance. Bill Miles landed a 185-pound halibut on the first full day of fishing. During their trip the group landed several large halibut including a 65-pound, 72-pound, and 115-pound. On their fly-outs to Frazer Lake, the fishermen saw bears and caught several red salmon!
Richie Buggy & Ed Janos visited from New York. They brought several new fishing secrets to Zachar Bay with them, inlcluding flounder catching methods and fishing for red salmon with shrimp! On an unguided adventure to Ayakulik River for king salmon, they had an experience with one of the local bears playing with their soda and water bottles that were left in the river to keep cool. They later found a water bottle with puncture holes in it from the bear.
Klaus and Claude Frey visited from France to experience the wildlife. While on a boating trip to Uyak Bay, they said that the mountains there look like the Alps.
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On the trip they saw lots of seals, fished and caught and released halibut.
Helmut Meilner visited from Germany. On his trip this year he caught several king salmon while trolling in the boat and made it to Frazer once for red salmon.
The next large group – Phillips Party - booked the entire lodge for several days to watch the Kodiak bears. Their route to Kodiak was a little different due to weather. They were scheduled to arrive Kodiak on a private jet, but the fog rerouted their plane to Anchorage. The Phillips party then chartered a super DC-3 from Anchorage to Larsen Bay and came to Zachar Bay via our boats.
The Phillips party included Barbara Judd & Dennis Bickford, Andre Desmavais, Ali Galely, John George (Juneau), Al & Wanda Lague, Tom & Merry Lague, Tam Hudson & eric Pare, Charles W. Phillips, Candy Puglise & Lowell Spink. The entire Phillip’s party visited Frazer to see the bears on the same day. They all returned to the lodge ecstatic! Barbara said it was the best day of her life. Tamara said she saw 15 bears at one time. Eric said they watched one sow nurse her cubs and saw 2 bears fighting. They observed a fox catch a fish and an eagle fighting with the fox for the fish. A bear even killed one sea gull! They all took lots of photos and they all had a great day.
The following day the group split up for different activities. Andre and Ian probably had the most exciting day on their hike up the Zachar River to fish. On the trail they got to see a sow and cubs up close! Part of the Phillips party made it back to Anton Larsen Bay with Harvey Flying Service that evening before the fog closed in on Kodiak. The rest of the group chartered a Beech 99 from Larsen Bay to Anchorage the following day.
David Chinn visited from Washington State and brought Stef Streamer from Utah. While fishing on the boat, Treena caught a 48-pound halibut and a king salmon, while David and Steph caught 2 halibut. The following day they flew to Frazer to fish for reds and watch the bears.
Ed & Ruth Cogen visited from Washington D.C. and brought their granddaughter Alyssa. On their trip they fished for halibut and flew to Frazer to see the bears. While hiking on the nature trail near lodge, Ian, Ruth and |
Alyssa heard a bear in the bushes growling. A yellow-throated warbler (bird) hit the window and was stunned. Ed took a photo of it and watched it until it recovered and flew away.
John Boswell visited from Florida. He flew his single engine Piper Arrow aircraft from Florida to Kodiak. While staying at Zachar Bay he caught the Alaska Grand Slam – all five species of salmon! John King, Kyle and John Boswell also got to experience an unplanned camping trip at the Karluk Lake cabin when the fog set in during the evening flight back to ZBL.
Trudy and Albert Hornbach visited from Germany to watch the bears at Frazer Lake for the 5th season in a row.
Howard Sayre visited from Colorado. During his stay he caught a big 28-pound king salmon while trolling with John King in the bay. While visiting Frazer he photographed over 12 different bears along the river and falls.
Mike Ford visited from California. On his visit he caught red salmon at Frazer, halibut and silvers on the boat and pinks at the Zachar River. While fishing the Zachar River with Ian, Mike got some great video of a bear trying to take their fish. They figure it was probably a 4-year-old bear that got within 5 feet of them! He said the bear stood up when they first saw him.
The Domdey family visited from Germany to see the wildlife. Ralf, Ilona, Alina & Marvin Domdey watched sea lions and puffins at Spiridon Bay with Jim and then flew to Frazer Lake to watch the bears on a sunny day.
August Guests
Sheila planned the Liebetrau’s trip for a Christmas present for her husband and two sons. Jim (MT), Greg (ID) and Steve (WA) spent the week fishing halibut and salmon and enjoyed almost “perfect” weather during their stay. The silvers arrived in good numbers in the ocean and the guys caught silvers on several days.
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The next group to arrive booked the entire lodge. The “Hockersmith” Party consisted of Dan Hockersmith, Todd Bosen, Bob Britton, Sal & Ralph Casillas, Art Conterras, Lanny Dickenson, Jim Felling, Don Johnson CO, Mike Krause, Randel Penrod, John Placencio, Louis, Ryan & Nick Rawlings, Jack Thomas and Frank Selbe.
During their four-day stay, we had a number of activities, including a fly-out to Uganik Lake, halibut fishing & salmon trolling and fishing the Zachar River that the group could participate in and they were all very successful at catching halibut, salmon (pinks and silvers), and huge dolly varden trout.
Charlie Farley, Wendell Willard and Chris Price visited from Georgia and on the first day brought back six silvers and four halibut. They had sunny and beautiful weather and the fellows saw 4 bears on the beach—a sow and 2 cubs and a lone bear.
Gary Kay visited from Michigan and Charlie Gibson visited from Texas. They spent several days fishing halibut and silvers in the boat, often catching their limit of both. Charlie floated the Spiridon River with Ian. Although the river was flooded and fishing was difficult, they had a wonderful time enjoying the beauty of their surroundings. Charlie saw 8 bears the first day!
The Logchies brothers -- Dick, Paul, Tone & Hans visited Zachar Bay from The Netherlands. They caught lots of silvers and halibut – bringing back over fifty pounds of silvers in one day! On their fly-out to Uganik, they caught several dollies and also some pinks.
Bill & Judy Pittock visited from Pennsylvania and Judy caught a 54-pound halibut while Bill caught several silvers and a 60-pound halibut.  They spent almost every day in the boats trolling and halibut fishing.
Skip and Janet Werner visited from Pennsylvania and brought fresh vegetables – tomatoes, bell peppers and fresh corn on the cob. While fishing on the boat, Janet and Skip caught orange rockfish, which is fairly unusual. Some of the rockfish were huge! They also were very successful with catching silvers and halibut and released one halibut that John estimated” to be 180+ pounds.
Mark and Matthew Eaton visited from
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Washington for another season of catching silver salmon! Matt out-fished his father, Mark, on most of their days. They spent several days fishing with Harald Osvold & Parley Augustsson (from Norway) and they said there were “So many silvers they were almost jumping in the boat.” On the day that Harald and Parley flew-out to Uganik, Harald said he caught over 100 dollies.
Tom and Jane Buch visited from Ohio while there was smoke and haze from fires on the Kenai Peninsula covering the island. Although it was very smoking, it did not affect their success at catching silver salmon on the Zachar River.
Kurt Schoeppler visited from Ohio and brought with him Alexi Ovchinnikov & Alexander Volkov from Georgia. They caught silvers and halibut on the boat and also hiked the Zachar River for stream fishing silvers.
September Guests
Fred Klumpp brought his son Bernd from Germany with Joe & Henry Schmid, Germany, Otto and Cecile Heiderich from Switzerland and Peter Reulen, Germany.
Otto caught a 90-pound halibut and the rest of the group caught several silvers. Another day Marty took the group sightseeing and wildlife viewing where they saw finback whales and sea lions, and they visited a neighbor that has a commercial salmon fishing camp.
Joe Ventline visited from Ohio for two weeks of fishing silvers and halibut. He caught and released a halibut that Jim estimated the weight was over 200-pounds! Don Hunter returned from Pennsylvania and joined Joe and Jim on the Spiridon River raft trip. On their trip they counted over 19 bears and caught many more silvers.
Brian and Liz Goodchild visited from England to view the wildlife of Zachar Bay. On the way to the Spiridon River in the boat they saw 7 bears—a sow and 3 cubs, sea lions & sea otters, whales and porpoise.
Joe Granados & Dave Niedzialek visited from California. Ian guided them down the Spiridon River where they caught countless amounts of silvers salmon. 
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Our last guests of the season were Brian Sweeney & Frank Suboski from Anchorage. They spent most of their time fly-fishing Zachar River although they halibut fished one day and were quite successful. Their last day they were delayed because of the Kodiak fog, but Glen is able to pick them up in the afternoon for an interesting flight back to Kodiak City.
Our 2004 season was very successful. The weather was the worst that we can remember having, yet we had some of the warmest weather. Our guests saw many bears, wonderful scenery and wildlife and took home with them boxes of fish that they caught. Our staff worked hard and long hours with great pride doing their best to please our guests. Thanks to all of you that visited this past summer! We hope to welcome you back to Zachar Bay Lodge in the future.
907-486-4120
Zachar Bay Lodge, Inc.
Marty & Linda Eaton & Sons
PO Box 2609
Kodiak, AK 99615
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SPORTSHOWS 2005
Zachar Bay Lodge is attending the following sport shows in 2005. If you are in the area, please visit our booth.
International Sportsman’s Expo
Sacramento, California
January 20-23
California Exposition and State Fair
Houston Sportsman’s Show
Houston, Texas
January 27-30
George R. Brown Convention Center
International Sportsman’s Expo
San Mateo, California
February 3-6
San Mateo County Expo Center
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