Alaska Trip !?!?

[Matthew Longley]

Hi all!  My gf is a med student, and has two weeks free following her board exam (in June), which is about the only two week block she'll have free in years, so we have been plotting to take a big trip somewhere.  We are focusing right now on Alaska, which neither of us have visited before, to do some hiking and driving around.

Does anyone have any trip suggestions?  She will fish with me from time to time, but I'll probably only be able to get a couple of days on the water, so any trip needs to be focused on more than just fishing (though fishing is obviously the top of my list).  We're starting from scratch here, and so far have been looking at Denali Park or driving the Dalton Highway to the Arctic Ocean, stopping at interesting spots along the way, but are far from committed to anything.

[Morgan Franklin]

My wife's family is from Alaska, they were homesteaders in the 50's. Currently her uncle and brother work "on the slope" for some of the warehouse facilities that supply the oil wells. When we took a trip up there a few summers ago it topped my list of favorite places and I cannot wait to go back!

 

Her uncle lives in Soldotna which is kind of halfway down the Kenai Peninsula bordering the Kenai River. The fishing was amazing!!! You will be quite a bit north of there so I can't give any advise. I promise you though, you will never forget it!!

On Fri, Jan 25, 2013 at 11:31 AM, Matthew Longley <matthew...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi all!  My gf is a med student, and has two weeks free following her board exam (in June), which is about the only two week block she'll have free in years, so we have been plotting to take a big trip somewhere.  We are focusing right now on Alaska, which neither of us have visited before, to do some hiking and driving around.

Does anyone have any trip suggestions?  She will fish with me from time to time, but I'll probably only be able to get a couple of days on the water, so any trip needs to be focused on more than just fishing (though fishing is obviously the top of my list).  We're starting from scratch here, and so far have been looking at Denali Park or driving the Dalton Highway to the Arctic Ocean, stopping at interesting spots along the way, but are far from committed to anything.

--
http://www.tpfr.org
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders" group.
To post to this group, send email to tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to tidal-potomac-fly-...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/tidal-potomac-fly-rodders/-/6b4LtKgKFXkJ.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
 
 

--
Morgan Franklin

[Charlie Church]

Hmm, my time up there was a lot more remote than that but June is a good time to be up there!

The kings should be moving around. We used to fish a lot of pink articulated bunny leeches, and such. A couple guys were big on fishing pink intruders as well. 300g - 450g sinking lines.

I have 0 experience in both of those locations so this info could be wrong but I would guess that Denali would be a better shot for that time. Kings were just moving into the river system mid june for me (Goodnews, above Aleutians). I think any farther north and you would probably spend most of your time with Grayling and Rainbows, not that thats a problem at all.


Sounds like a blast. Keep posting more details as they come

[Matthew Longley]

Charlie/Morgan, thanks for the comments!

I should clarify that we haven't narrowed down the trip to anything, those two options are only interesting trip ideas we have come across.  By all means if you have suggestions on the other side of the state I'd still love to hear them!

[Jereme Thaxton]

Hey Matthew,  

Morgan's advise is spot on, you can't go wrong fishing near Soldotna on the Kenai.  There are a lot of guides in the area and a lot of the trips are by boat.  I have fished it with success in July when the big 50+ pound kings move in but I am not sure they are there in June. 

If you wanted to do some wadeable DIY fishing for kings in June with a fly rod, I would head south of Soldotna and fish the Kasilof, the Ninilchik and the Anchor Rivers and preferably during the middle of the week if you can swing it.  In June the Kings are starting to enter these streams and will hit an occasional egg sac but generally hit out of anger so don't be surprised if the local fly shop tells you to tie a glorified piece of yarn on your hook and swing often.  Getting it on the bottom is key as well.  

Go a little further south to Homer and you can probably get into some Halibut out of a boat in about 300 feet of water.  It's like reeling a car door off the bottom!  

-Jereme

Sent from my iPhone

On Jan 25, 2013, at 11:31 AM, Matthew Longley <matthew...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi all!  My gf is a med student, and has two weeks free following her board exam (in June), which is about the only two week block she'll have free in years, so we have been plotting to take a big trip somewhere.  We are focusing right now on Alaska, which neither of us have visited before, to do some hiking and driving around.

Does anyone have any trip suggestions?  She will fish with me from time to time, but I'll probably only be able to get a couple of days on the water, so any trip needs to be focused on more than just fishing (though fishing is obviously the top of my list).  We're starting from scratch here, and so far have been looking at Denali Park or driving the Dalton Highway to the Arctic Ocean, stopping at interesting spots along the way, but are far from committed to anything.

--

[Morgan Franklin]

Well then to add detail....

 

We flew into Anchorage then drove down the Kenai peninsula staying in Soldotna with her uncle. For 3 days straight we woke up at 3 AM (with the sunrise) and drove 5 minutes to the Kenai river and fished for a good 3-4 hours, or until everyone caught their 3 fish allowed then went home slept for a couple hours then fit in our hike/ trip of the day. We went on a couple day trips to Exit Glacier and Homer. I also enjoyed a hike we did at Russian River Falls where you usually see a bunch of brown bears catching fish in the waterfalls, unfortunately we only saw a black bear in the woods (see picture) but it is beautiful w/ or without the bears.

 

Morgan

--

http://www.tpfr.org
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders" group.
To post to this group, send email to tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to tidal-potomac-fly-...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/tidal-potomac-fly-rodders/-/qYAATURaFBEJ.

For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
 
 

--
Morgan Franklin