Staff Winner: Sunset at Waterfall. Photo by Whit Micek, Processing Supervisor.

Winner: Nature & Wildlife Category. Grabbing lunch. Photo by Charles Leiter.

Winner: Resort Category. Misty Driftwood. Photo by Akira Watanabe.

Congratulations to the 2009 Guest and Staff Photo contest winners. We look forward each season to the submissions by guests and staff and enjoy seeing Waterfall through their eyes. It’s always exciting to receive a new interpretation or angle of a favorite subject. Be sure to enter your photos next year. You might win the $150 Gift Certificate to our On-line General Store!

Winner: Fish Category. Two-for-one Lingcod. Photo by Lyle Moody.

By Scott McKelvey, Operations Manager

2010 is gearing up to be a terrific season for sport fishing in Alaska. From excellent forecasted returns on Salmon, to the building “El Nino” conditions that are happening right now, anglers should expect to find some of the best fishing that we’ve seen in years! The Waterfall winter-watch staff already has seen areas of bait moving into the waters off the west coast of Prince of Wales Island where they should continue to stay and grow in size and population.

For the past few seasons, the biologists at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game have forecasted that 2010 will have a strong return on King Salmon. Combined with the successful annual POWHA (Prince of Wales Hatchery Association) King Salmon Hatchery  Program, and the continued increase of new fish from the hatchery into the waters around Waterfall and to fishing hotspots such as Pineapple, Granite Point and Rockpile, the 2010 season should make for some really memorable stories and fishing adventures. Whether this will be your first King, or your hundredth … if you’re looking for that “King of a lifetime” … these opportunities are waiting for you this season at Waterfall Resort.

Last season, we experienced an outstanding year on Coho (Silver) Salmon. Ocean conditions, bait fish and the amount of baitfish point to another exceptional run this season. For those who like a lot of constant action, Coho Salmon will be right up your alley! From the thrill of their acrobatic fight, to looking down and watching multiple high-energy Salmon chasing your bait up will send a chill down your spine.
For the past few years, POWHA has produced and released more Coho than any other hatchery in the state of Alaska. Yearly, they have been taking 5,000,000 eggs to be incubated and raised in their ponds. Approximately, 18 months later, close to 4,250,000 Smolt (baby Salmon) are released into the wild to continue their lifecycle. By releasing this many Smolt, the numbers of returning, mature, hatchery Coho to our local waters are in the neighborhood of 350,000! There is no scientific information on what the return levels for King Salmon will be for this upcoming year. However, based on Coho return ratios, everyone is hoping for an extra 9,500 Chinook Salmon to be swimming near Waterfall in June.

As I mentioned earlier, and I’m sure many of you are aware, the entire west coast of the United States is starting to experience an “El Nino” condition. Traditionally, what this brings is warmer weather to our area. We are presently experiencing a very mild winter at the Resort and believe this should continue throughout the year. If this remains true, this will make fishing conditions extremely pleasant. Imagine days on a flat ocean targeting large Halibut, Lingcod, and Red Snapper. It can all be a reality this season!

If you have ever dreamed of coming to Alaska to go fishing, or just want an opportunity to have a “trip of a lifetime,” this is your year to come fish Waterfall Resort. Where this season, dreams can become a reality!

Scott McKelvey, Operations Manager

Colleen Cockrell, Hospitality Supervisor

Recently, I was looking at some of our historical Waterfall photos and came across this one of the General Store during the Waterfall Cannery Days. Looking at those items in the photo made me realize how different our store is today. During the Cannery days, our store was primarily the place where the workers bought necessary and very utilitarian supplies. Food, basic clothing, medicine and whatever was needed for the working summer at the Cannery were available. There were no designer labels or logos on the shelves. How different our current store is! Today, our store is stocked with necessities, logos and fun items for guests, their family and friends. A few weeks ago, I was reminded that our guests enjoy the Resort merchandise so much, they often call us to reorder a favorite item.
I received a call from Rodney, a former guest, now living in Florida. He wanted to replace his worn out, red hooded Waterfall rain jacket so he would have something warm to wear on his return trip to Waterfall in 2010. Rodney said, “You know, that red one with the hood you sell?” I told him we didn’t have one with that description in our inventory, then asked him how long it had been since he had visited Waterfall. Rodney said, “I was there in 2001. I guess that was a long time ago! I can’t wait to come back, bring my son and maybe even a small group with me!” To help Rodney with his request, we emailed him some pictures of our two best selling jackets and some tee shirts. Rodney responded by purchasing not one, but two jackets and a tee shirt!

We often get requests from individuals like Rodney who have special memories of their trip to Waterfall from previous years. Ordering a piece of clothing or bit of Waterfall memorabilia seems to add to the excitement of another upcoming fishing adventure. Group leaders and corporate officials also call in with requests to purchase gifts for friends and co-workers. Often times, it’s as simple as asking us to put a nice bottle of wine in a guest’s room with a welcoming message or purchasing a Gift Certificate to be used in the General Store during their stay. Other requests are for merchandise sent from the Store to a guest prior to their arrival, a prepaid massage or a “special order” in the form of a jacket or hat for an entire group to be distributed to the guest’s room upon arrival.

Other requests we receive are for specific types of liquor that might not be in stock in the Lagoon Saloon, or for specialty food items available for purchase during the guest’s stay. Whatever the occasion, the Store hosts can easily fulfill a request with some advance notice.

We want to hear from you. So, if you decide to surprise a guest, need ideas for your group, want to purchase a gift certificate or order an item for yourself, just send an email to colleen@waterfallresort.com or contact me directly at 360-450-8560.

Also, for your convenience, you may order on-line for logo merchandise, or favorite photos by our staff photographer. Go to: http://www.waterfallresort.com/store to see what’s new for 2010 at Waterfall’s on-line store!

General Store During the Cannery Days

A Beautiful Sight. Guest Dining Room.

Power House Behind Warehouse #2

Our Winter's Waterfall.

Winter Wonderland

 Guests often inquire about Waterfall in the winter.  Well, we don’t shut down, we just slow down.  We have a regular crew headed by Maintenance Supervisor Glen “Babe” Wilks.  Contractors for larger projects come in as needed.  The general store and main lodge are transformed into crew quarters and a kitchen.  As evidenced by these photos, Waterfall is truly a Winter Wonderland.

Frozen Waterfall Photo: By Jimmy Hunt.  Remaining  3 Photos:  By Glen “Babe” Wilks.  All 4 photos were taken during Christmas week 2008.

Waterfall Cannery

Waterfall Resort Announces YouTube Fishing Video Contest Winner

Waterfall Resort announced the winner of its first YouTube Fishing Video Contest. Rich Lighten of Riverton, UT received 1,937 views on the Waterfall YouTube Channel and won a $3,600
3 night / 4 day all-inclusive fishing package to the Resort located on Prince of Wales Island. Guests experience spectacular Alaska scenery at its finest on the 45-minute floatplane flight from Ketchikan to Waterfall Resort.

“We created a viral marketing campaign for social media sites that included YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook, then accepted fishing videos from June until the end of October,” explained Chuck Baird, Marketing Director for the Resort. “We decided early on not to limit the contest to videos shot at Waterfall. We wanted to open up the contest to any fishing related video from anywhere in the world. Anticipation was high to see the variety of videos we would receive. And we were not disappointed. We received over 100 entries from all over the United States.”

Joel Rayden, Waterfall’s Marketing Manager, described the process of selecting the four finalists as exceedingly difficult. Rayden said that the Resort had received so many creative videos that choosing the top four was quite complex in that it was enjoyable to preview the videos but not so easy when it came time to make the cut to the final four.

Once selected, candidates instructed family and friends to view their videos, and the video with the most viewers would win the Waterfall Sportfishing Package. Lighten, who has fished Waterfall for several seasons, heard about the fishing video contest before his 2009 trip to the Resort and brought his camcorder as well as his son, Geoffrey, with him. Lighten knew from all of his past Waterfall “trips of a lifetime” that he could and would capture an extraordinary moment out on the water. Once his video was up on YouTube, Lighten got busy and put his heart into virally promoting it. Lighten admitted that he is absolutely thrilled that he won the trip and is looking forward to fishing Waterfall in 2010.

Always at the forefront of technology with GPS Systems, Furuno fish finders, radar and long-range communications for its fishing fleet (the largest private fishing fleet in Alaska), Waterfall welcomes the opportunity to embrace the social media. Baird said, “The fishing video contest is only one of the many interactive tools we employ to connect with the world outside of Prince of Wales Island!” When asked if there would be a second fishing video contest, Baird replied, “Absolutely! It will be right up there with our annual $100,000 King of Kings Salmon Tournament and King Salmon Jackpot Challenge. You can count on it!”

Waterfall Resort already has preparations under way for dual 2012 celebrations. Waterfall Cannery, once the largest salmon cannery on the west coast of Prince of Wales Island, began its canning operation in 1912. Then in 1982, Waterfall Cannery was converted into Waterfall Resort, a sophisticated sport fishing resort. Waterfall looks forward to the 2012 season to celebrate both the 100th anniversary of the Waterfall Cannery and the 30th anniversary of Waterfall Resort and expects that many guests will return to participate in the special events.

Waterfall Resort, Prince of Wales Island, Alaska

Group Reservations:
Small to Large Groups Receive Personal Service!

Each season, many special-occasion groups come to Waterfall for the Legendary Sportfishing. Business groups reward their employees with Corporate trips, and personal groups come to Waterfall to celebrate Father’s Day, Graduations, Family Reunions, Anniversaries, etc. Many of these business and personal groups return annually. Corporate groups return knowing that Waterfall oversees the details. Family Reunions look forward to celebrating in our large Lagoon Saloon. Waterfall also hosts Fishing Tournaments designed as fundraisers for charities. For group reservations, call Mike Dooley at 800-544-5125.

Colleen Cockrell, Hospitality Supervisor

Sportfishing par excellence is all about location, location, location! Strong tides prime the deep waters surrounding Waterfall Resort with millions of baitfish that attract annual returns of trophy-sized salmon, halibut, red snapper and ling cod. The historic cannery turned Legendary Sportfishing resort is located on the west coast of Prince of Wales Island, 63 air miles west of Ketchikan. All fishing gear, rain gear, and fish processing are included in your Waterfall package.

Brian Mayberry, Sahuarita, AZ, with his 60.5 lb. King caught 7/24/09!

This past summer, Waterfall’s Marketing Manager, Joel Rayden, supported a fundraiser at Lake Cachuma –20 miles east of Santa Barbara — for a local PBS radio affiliate. While enjoying the festivities, Joel grilled up some of the salmon and halibut that he had caught at Waterfall shortly before the event. The savory aromas drew in several Santa Barbara County Sheriffs! Joel very kindly shared his fish taco feast with the Sheriffs who enjoyed every delicious bite.

Sgt. Walton, Joel Rayden, Sheriff D. Allen

Feeling akin with nature
Southeast Alaska remains a timeless and unchanged wilderness

By Pete Ottesen
June 24, 2009 12:01 AM
Recordnet.com

KETCHIKAN - In a brief, 75-minute flight from Seattle, outdoors adventurers are transported to an isolated wilderness surrounded by water. Here in southeast Alaska the landscape is punctuated by misty fjords that spike the clear sky and abundant wildlife - soaring bald eagles, breaching humpback whales and feeding Chinook, the king of salmon.
The center of this great wild place is Prince of Wales Island, where bears, whales, sea lions, black-tailed deer and eagles overwhelmingly outnumber humans, and things don’t seem to change. Poke around the rocky cliffs and promontories, and mountain-covered forests of Sitka spruce, hemlock, cedar and pine, and you feel akin with nature in a timeless place, where wild creatures still are in charge.
Exciting, unexpected encounters with wildlife actually are common. Just when and where, well, you just never know.
A four-day stay at Waterfall Resort, a self-contained wilderness lodge on the west side of Prince of Wales Island, afforded a glimpse of the severity of nature and the symbiotic relationship between 50-foot, 40-ton humpback whales, bald eagles and a small marine bird, the rhinoceros auklet. We had just boated a 26- and 32-pound Chinook salmon when auklets suddenly began to fly past, dive and herd tiny candlefish into a massive, chaotic heap. We stopped fishing, the activity was so intense.
The birds forced the tiny fish - key parts to the food chain - into a dense ball of silvery, undulating bait that actually rose above the ocean’s surface with fish that thrashed on top of each other and out of the water. Bald eagles took advantage, 16 in all, swooping down and grasping fish in their talons, eating them in flight and returning time after time. A trio of whales appeared, too, as if a dinner bell had been called and seined the water with their massive snouts held perfectly vertical about 8 feet out of the water, as they pushed through the candlefish.
Creatures, large and small, worked in unison. The carnage lasted just minutes. Then, the rodeo ended and calm returned. Whales dived out of sight, eagles rested atop nearby spruce trees and satiated auklets preened in the sun, having done their jobs.
“That’s how nature works,” said Colin McCrossin, who has guided these waters for 12 years. “Here, nature rules, and we’re just observers.”
Many visitors are attracted here to catch for four species - salmon, halibut, lingcod and yellow-eyed cod that abound in the nutrient rich waters. But strict conservation regulations mean people come here to do more than simply fish. There are countless islands, coves and inlets to discover and hiking trails into the rain forest. Tall cedar totems are eminent witnesses to the first peoples of the island and striking saw-tooth mountains, pushed up by glaciers eons ago, outline the incredible vistas.
Years ago, Waterfall was a cannery, the largest salmon packing outfit in the southeast. The clapboard warehouses and cabins have been retrofitted into a resort where eagles and black bears still abound in the remote setting, reached only by a 45-minute float plane ride from Ketchikan.
Prince of Wales is the third-largest island in the U.S. with more than 990 miles of shoreline, where there are remnants of deserted canneries and rural villages worth exploring such as Claig, Klawock, Coffman Cove, Hollis and Hydaburg that exist on tourism, fishing and timbering.
Contact outdoors columnist Peter Ottesen at (209) 546-8269 or pottesen@recordnet.com.