Alaska in early July

[merkin_muffley]

Hey folks,


I have a friend who's trying to persuade me to go with him on a trip to Alaska next summer. Beyond that, there's really no plans as of now.

I think most of it would be a sightseeing thing, but I could probably spend a day or two fishing, and don't mind hiring a guide. Does anyone have any suggestions, fishing or otherwise, of what I should do or see while I'm there? Fishing-wise, what's the likelihood runoff will be an issue?

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[mcnerney]

There are so many possiblities it is hard to answer your question. You will be there during the heart of the fishing season so if you want to use a guide, book early. Take a look at this site and you will see the late run sockeye peaks in July. Fish Counts - Sport Fish - ADF&G
One low cost option would be to fly fish for sockeye salmon on the Kenai, if your interested in that then send me a PM and I will give you details. Another idea would be to contact one of the air taxi services that operate out of Lake Hook (next to the airport) and inquire about a fly out to a remote salmon stream.
Lake Hood Seaplane Base, Anchorage Alaska Air Taxi Services
If your not particularly interested in fly fishing, but just want to go fishing, then check out the guides near Deep Creek or the Kenai River, most use bait or plugs so if you want to fly fish you will have to do some research. Some of the guides do float trips down the Kenai for Rainbows, but make sure they fly fish and not back troll plugs.

Larry

 

[nerka]

Hey folks,


I have a friend who's trying to persuade me to go with him on a trip to Alaska next summer. Beyond that, there's really no plans as of now.

I think most of it would be a sightseeing thing, but I could probably spend a day or two fishing, and don't mind hiring a guide. Does anyone have any suggestions, fishing or otherwise, of what I should do or see while I'm there? Fishing-wise, what's the likelihood runoff will be an issue?

Thanks for your thoughts.

This place is huge, so if you might be willing to narrow things down a bit I wouldnt mind helping. There are thousands of streams filling with 10s of millions of all five species of salmon in eary July statewide.

As for runoff being as issue, I would say there are plenty of other things than runoff being as issue like being "runoff" by bears and mosquitos.

 

[vanceinak]

I would suggest you contact the following guide.
Drury Fishing Kenai Peninsula Salmon and Trout Charters
He is in the Kenai/Soldotna area, & the Kings should be in around then. He's a great guy & has a great reputation with the locals (that's not easy around here!).
He will be up front with you about your expectations & whether or not he can meet them. If he can't he will hook you up with someone that can. One of the nicest guys you will ever meet.

 

[Ard]

I posted this to another Alaska thread and then thought it may be useful here to;

[copy]

I hear you Vance,

-13 here, I went back and dated the thread when I saw the post. Your advice to the member recommending your area guide was right on. I am telling people to wait to the last possible moment before purchasing air fare because of volatile weather conditions like are mentioned on this thread.

Using real time Intel on weather and river conditions prior to spending a ton of money on your dream trip will be a better route to take than shipping along a gun for each hand so you can shoot all those bears who will be after you

I had people from the lower 48 here this past August who had booked air fare in March so there was no turning back. I had hoped that things would dry out by the 10th of August but it only got worse. We had charters out of both Homer & Seward canceled due to high wind & seas and the rivers were up to the flood point. The good news was that I did not have to worry about the depth of the rivers while hauling two fishermen. The bad news was that since they were fly and spin fishing and the fish were on the bottom under 6' of muddy water no one caught any salmon.

When you are planning to come to AK. to fish there are three things that really are going to matter; Weather, Weather, and Weather. Mosquitoes, buy some bug spray, bears, unless you go looking for them you probably won't see one, but weather......................... You can count on that.

Ard

 

[Frank Whiton]

Hi Merkin,

Visiting Alaska can be a challenge with where to go and what to do. There are so many really neat places to visit. What you do depends on how long you will be there, if you have transportation and can you afford to fly to destinations. Gives us a little more information on what you are planning and there are a ton of things to do.

Frank

 

[AKGuide]

I posted this to another Alaska thread and then thought it may be useful here to;

[copy]

I hear you Vance,

-13 here, I went back and dated the thread when I saw the post. Your advice to the member recommending your area guide was right on. I am telling people to wait to the last possible moment before purchasing air fare because of volatile weather conditions like are mentioned on this thread.

Using real time Intel on weather and river conditions prior to spending a ton of money on your dream trip will be a better route to take than shipping along a gun for each hand so you can shoot all those bears who will be after you

I had people from the lower 48 here this past August who had booked air fare in March so there was no turning back. I had hoped that things would dry out by the 10th of August but it only got worse. We had charters out of both Homer & Seward canceled due to high wind & seas and the rivers were up to the flood point. The good news was that I did not have to worry about the depth of the rivers while hauling two fishermen. The bad news was that since they were fly and spin fishing and the fish were on the bottom under 6' of muddy water no one caught any salmon.

When you are planning to come to AK. to fish there are three things that really are going to matter; Weather, Weather, and Weather. Mosquitoes, buy some bug spray, bears, unless you go looking for them you probably won't see one, but weather......................... You can count on that.

Ard

If the original poster still has questions about where to go in July .. drop me a line for some suggestions.

As for the Weather?... 2010 Was one of the weirdest weather years I have seen in my 30+ years here in Alaska. Reportedly the wettest, coldest with the least sunshine on recored for much of the south central and south west portions of the state. Some weeks the weather was nice the rivers in great condition and on others over the banks with rain nonstop and heavy winds. (It is great to have the right equipment for these conditions if you are going to be out in it) ... I had some folks on Moraine creek in early August and we had blue skies the whole time they were there and great fishing. The next week... water temps went down, rain and wind kicked into high gear and the catching slowed to a crawl, of course if you could get a line out in 45 mph plus winds or wanted to more power to you.. we needless to say spent allot of time in the big dining tent. Eventually the weather started to co operate and some excellent fishing was to be had. We had trips where we were on the Togiak and the river fished great, when we returned a few weeks later between those times the river had been out of it's banks... we somehow managed to miss it, but it did rain, lots. So while one can plan, one has to be willing to also accept that during the time you are here the weather will be what it will be, and that you can not blame anyone for that which can not be controlled.

As for weather predictions in this part of the world.... I have yet to see anyone get it right consistently, you get up look outside the door or flap of your tent and witness the weather..and there you go.

 

[imxer]

There are so many possiblities it is hard to answer your question. You will be there during the heart of the fishing season so if you want to use a guide, book early. Take a look at this site and you will see the late run sockeye peaks in July. Fish Counts - Sport Fish - ADF&G
One low cost option would be to fly fish for sockeye salmon on the Kenai, if your interested in that then send me a PM and I will give you details. Another idea would be to contact one of the air taxi services that operate out of Lake Hook (next to the airport) and inquire about a fly out to a remote salmon stream.
Lake Hood Seaplane Base, Anchorage Alaska Air Taxi Services
If your not particularly interested in fly fishing, but just want to go fishing, then check out the guides near Deep Creek or the Kenai River, most use bait or plugs so if you want to fly fish you will have to do some research. Some of the guides do float trips down the Kenai for Rainbows, but make sure they fly fish and not back troll plugs.

Larry

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Hi Larry
While based in AK did you ever fish the SITUK ?
Watched a TV show about the river and area, was wondering if it is as good as it sounds, Situk Steel.
Paul

 

[mcnerney]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Larry
While based in AK did you ever fish the SITUK ?
Watched a TV show about the river and area, was wondering if it is as good as it sounds, Situk Steel.
Paul

Paul: I mainly fished the streams along the Parks Hwy, the Kenai and down by Deep Creek and then some remote streams north of the Brooks Range while on hunting trips. I'm kicking myself now for not taking a few fly out trips while I lived there, but I loved to hunt as much as I love fly fishing. I can tell you from what I have heard, that yes it is as good as it sounds. One of the college students we had working for us did a trip to the Situk in the spring one year with a group of five of his friends. They were on a budget, being college kids, and camped in tents/tarps along the river for a week and had a blast. The largest steelie they landed was 42 inches. He showed me a photo of that fish and several others, they were awesome. They all landed fish, but probably lost many more than they landed due to the overhanging brush. The wx sucked big time, as I remember it rained most of the days that they were there so it was a challenge to stay warm and dry, so if you go keep that in mind. I can put you in touch with him if you want more specifics on his trip.

Larry

 

[Ard]

Hi,

The Situk is out of the Yakutat and that requires fly in to the area. Most people I know who have went down there leave from Cordova. You can get to Cordova by aircraft or a ferry out of Portage AK. I have not been there but hear many good reports of the fishing there.

As everyone has said before me, knowing where you may be at here and what the budget for fishing will be is the only way I could give you any pointers.

Ard

 

[imxer]

Larry,
It would be on my "bucket list" if I were younger, sounds like the ultimate Steelhead stream.
Thanks for the feedback, the TV show was in the series "Seasons On The Fly", several filmed in AK. If you haven't seen them, imagine
you, and Frank would enjoy the series. Paul

 

[mcnerney]

Larry,
It would be on my "bucket list" if I were younger, sounds like the ultimate Steelhead stream.
Thanks for the feedback, the TV show was in the series "Seasons On The Fly", several filmed in AK. If you haven't seen them, imagine
you, and Frank would enjoy the series. Paul

Paul: I recall seeing that episode now that you mention it, and yes I really enjoy watching the episodes on Seasons on the Fly. It sure looked like a great little stream and the steelies are huge! I think there was a cabin in one of those scenes, looked more like my style of fishing that river. The college student did that trip on the cheap, all it really cost was the airfare, he had a friend with a contact down there that was willing to pick their group up at the airport and drive them out to the river and a week later come pick them up, can't get much cheaper than that. The contact didn't even know these guys, but was willing to help them out! Pretty cool!

A friend of mine had an ATCO trailer setup on an abandoned gravel runway north of the Brooks Range that we used a couple of times while hunting/fishing. He was using a 100 lb propane bottle for the indoor grill and lighting so it was easy to warm the inside after being in the cold all day. Getting out of the wet and cold after hunting/fishing all day in the rain is always nice.

Larry

 

[AKGuide]

Hi,

The Situk is out of the Yakutat and that requires fly in to the area. Most people I know who have went down there leave from Cordova. You can get to Cordova by aircraft or a ferry out of Portage AK. I have not been there but hear many good reports of the fishing there.

As everyone has said before me, knowing where you may be at here and what the budget for fishing will be is the only way I could give you any pointers.

Ard

Getting there is actually exceptionally easy as you can fly direct to Yakutat on Alaska Airlines from Anchorage or Seattle direct, the local fly shop, oddly enough called the Situk River Fly Shop is in a hangar around to the right of the tarmac on the N/E side from the Alaska Airlines terminal and the road to the river not far from that. Easy trip, just kind of popular these days if you know what I mean.

Paul

 

[imxer]

Getting there is actually exceptionally easy as you can fly direct to Yakutat on Alaska Airlines from Anchorage or Seattle direct, the local fly shop, oddly enough called the Situk River Fly Shop is in a hangar around to the right of the tarmac on the N/E side from the Alaska Airlines terminal and the road to the river not far from that. Easy trip, just kind of popular these days if you know what I mean.

Paul

Paul -- Thanks for the interesting update on the Situk. Not surprising to hear that it is "popular" these days with that kind of access.. The video gave me the impression it is quite remote. Beautiful water, no matter what.
paul

 

[AKGuide]

Paul -- Thanks for the interesting update on the Situk. Not surprising to hear that it is "popular" these days with that kind of access.. The video gave me the impression it is quite remote. Beautiful water, no matter what.
paul

No problem, Now if you or anyone else want to "get away" and do some Extreme Steelhead fishing, I am looking to put together a trip down on the Alaska Peninsula late this fall. But this is not a trip for the feint of heart ... aka no winers, the weather can suck, or be great but it is usually windy .. Excellent Fishing .. and no I'm not saying where, here...


Paul

 

[adidas4275]

I have been up to Alaska twice and both times I have gone with Rainbow King Lodge.
Rainbow King Lodge - Alaska's Finest Luxury Fly-out Fishing Lodge

It seems that there are many lodges and so many places to fish that perhaps you cannot go wrong with any of them...

but i know what was nice with Rainbow King is that you fly out to new places every day (6 days I was there) and there is no additional cost for flying out to fish on their float planes.

I was talking to some other guys I met in Anchorage and they had told me that the lodge they stayed at (not sure where) charged extra to fly out and encouraged you to fish on the waterways near the lodge.

I also appreciated the normal 2:1 angler to guide ratio they had.

Anyways since it is august hopefully you had a great trip!

I just got home from my trip