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Nick Varney

Sports

Reeling ‘Em In: Kings acting ‘a bit schizoid’

It’s hard to tell what’s worse: thieving seals or *%$@#0# snaggers

Nick Varney

Sports

Reeling ‘Em In: River closures means best fishing is by the sea

What a morning. The changing zephyrs have finally dispersed the coverlet of smoke masking the inlet and exposing…

Nick Varney

Sports

Reeling ‘Em In: ‘Skunked’ continues to be the operative word

Kings starting to dribble in at the fishin’ hole.

Nick Varney

Sports

Reeling ‘Em In: Memorial Day weekend brought sunny weather, but not a lot of bites

Look to Ninilchik River for best hatchery chinooks.

Fishermen young and old try their luck at the Nick Dudiak Fishing Lagoon on June 4, 2020, on the Homer Spit in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

Sports

Reeling ‘Em In: Fishing season begins in earnest

Weather forecast is sunny side up with good tides.

The bridge at Tonsina Point. (Ashlyn O'Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Sports

Out of the Office: Tackling Tonsina

I’m reluctant to hike alone in Alaska. As much as I like being by myself and wandering in…

Some heart shaped rocks appear as bands of quartz. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

Sports

Out of the Office: Finding heart rocks

Like love, heart rocks appear when you’re not looking for them.

Michael Armstrong, seated, in sled, gives his mother, Sylvia Jander, the unique Alaska experience of driving a sled-dog team in February 1989 in Anchorage, Alaska. (Photo by Jenny Stroyeck)

Sports

Fill out the squares of the Alaska Adventure Bingo Card

Moose, bears, sled dogs wolves, whales oh my: Alaska offers many adventures to check off.

Michael Armstrong and his dog Leia harvest a Christmas tree in December 2013 on his land on Diamond Ridge near Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Jenny Stroyeck)

Sports

If you don’t have your own tree lot, harvest trees on public lands — and stay off private property.

As I postholed through 3-foot deep snow in my Diamond Ridge driveway this Sunday, I thought back to…

Courtesy photo/Cheryl Fellman
Cheryl Fellman enters the chilly waters of Auke Bay. Freeman is on the verge of becoming one of only 43 Americans — and 422 people worldwide — to swim an official Ice Mile.

Sports

Juneau woman to attempt rare ice swimming feat

Brrrrrr!

The afternoon sun makes birch leaves glow yellow on Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021, at the Hidden Lake Campground in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge near Sterling, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

Sports

Fall in Alaska is subtle but fabulous

On my mother’s side I come from a long line of New Englanders, the kind of people for…

Elizabeth Graham, entomologist for the U.S. Forest Service, talks about the black-headed budworm outbreak in front of a spot on Mount McGinnis that shows the effects of defoliation. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

News

Find out more about the very hungry caterpillars munching on Southeast Alaska’s hemlock trees

No need to bug out. They’re a natural part of the forest.

Nick Varney

Sports

Reeling ‘Em In: So long and thanks for all the fish tips: Nick closes out the season

I had heard rumors that there were still some jumpers accompanying the incoming tides at the Nick Dudiak…