During the Alaskan summer of 2009 - Alaska's 50th year as a recognised state of the United States - Julian Wicksteed embarked on a sport-fishing 'walkabout' to explore America's frontier state. With his mode of transport nothing more than his feet, a friendly nature and his thumb to hitch a few rides, his walkabout saw him dodging the likes of bears, moose, wolves and wolverines, from Kodiak Island to the Arctic Sea. In pursuit of trout and salmon on fly rods, the fish he encountered in the wilds of Alaska were nothing short of exceptional. By journey's end though, after experiencing the amazing hospitality of the friendly Alaskan people, the fish he caught were just a bonus - most of which were left to swim another day. During his walkabout: The author catches all five different salmon species of the North Pacific. Catches a number of personal best coho, or 'silver salmon'. Meets a Kodiak Island grizzly bear in his sleep. Catches lake trout to 10lb, well north of the Arctic Circle. With a gold pan never far away, the fish weren't the only ones getting hooked."