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We plan to leave Seattle on the first flight
out - 7AM, and then take the first flight out of Anchorage - 10:30 AM in to King Salmon, arriving at 11:30AM. We will fly four float planes out of King Salmon into Nonvianak Lake, headwaters of the Nonvianak River (an 11-mile tributary of the Alagnak), landing at the outlet of the lake. We should all be on the ground at the lake by 4:00 PM, and will then set up the boats (4) and get them all rigged, as well as the campsite. We will spend the rest of the day fishing the mouth and the lake, but if we find it is not good, we will head on down stream for 8-10 miles the next morning. However, it should be good fishing with small fry - streamer
imitations, with the rainbows waiting at the mouth of the lake
for the salmon fry to start to go down stream.
We may stay there for two days if the fishing
is exceptional, then we will float the next day down to the confluence
of the Alagnak and Nonvianuk Rivers, where we will set up a camp
site and fish the confluence of the two rivers - also
supposed to be very good rainbow fishing. We will then head on
down into the braids, find a GOOD campsite, and spend two to
three days fishing the braids for BIG rainbows. We should also
find the
Silver holes and fish those as well. This is great silver salmon
and big Rainbow water.
After 1-2 days, we will go further into
the braids, and camp for two more days. Our last days will be
spent rowing to our pullout site, and fishing for the kings and
rainbows.
We will plan on being picked up on our last morning, flown
back to King Salmon, then Anchorage, then Seattle and home.
Day to Day Details
| DAY
1-2 |
| We
want everyone to arrive into SeaTac Airport by 6AM. We must
get our overall weight
down to 3800 pounds,
or we will need to take five float planes into the lake,
at an additional cost. We want everyone to go over their bags
before they leave home, to cull out items to help bring weight
down. That means eliminating duplicate and triplicate items - like
shovels, etc. We need everyone to do a really good job at
cutting down on weight.
At the airport, we may try to consolidate our bags; and
then check in for our 7AM flight to Anchorage. We will re-allocate
the bags so that every one has their two bags, maxed out
to
just under 70 pounds. You can have two bags and a carry-on.
We'll keep our carry on bags off to the side and check in the
heavy stuff. Our plane should take off around 7:00AM or possibly
later. Be sure to keep your wallets in a very safe place. We
will arrive in Anchorage around 10 AM, and we'll grab a quick
bit to eat and a Starbucks coffee. We should not have to claim
our baggage and re-check-in, as we have done on over-night
flights. We will depart for King Salmon at 10:30AM. Once we
get to King Salmon - about 11:30 AM, we will move to our floatplane
service, and start getting things weighed. Dick and a couple
of people will go to the local grocery store - not as good
as the one in Dillingham, and pick up fresh items - like bread,
fuel, and fresh fruit and veggies. We expect to depart for
the lake around 2 PM, and fly to Nonvianuk Lake - headwaters
of the Nonvianuk River/Alagnak River, where we will land
near the lake outlet, and assemble out Avons and rowing platforms. The fishing is supposed to be very good at the start of
the river, so we will spend one full day at the lake, and
depart
on the morning of the third day for the confluence of the
Alagnak
and Nonvianuk Rivers. This river is known - at both the
upper and the lower river (the braids) - for its world class
fly
fishing for rainbows, Silvers and char. While the upper
river downstream from the lake outlet does have good rainbow,
char
and grayling; we will concentrate on fishing the river
at the lake outlet, and finding out what works. If the fishing
is
not fantastic, we will start our float early on the afternoon
of the 2nd day, and go down river about eleven miles to
the
confluence of the two rivers, where we will set up camp
for two days. |
| DAY 3-4 |
We will get up relatively
early, have a great breakfast, fish
a little, and start down the river, and will float 8 to 11
miles this day, alternating and giving everyone a chance
to row and letting everyone fish for half the day, and row
for half the day.
We have found that fishing from the
boat can be very productive for char, grayling and rainbows.
We will not stop except for very brief breaks, so that we
can make our way down to the braids. The water should still
be gin clear, and it should be fantastic rainbow fishing.
If we reach the braids before 6 PM, we will find a good fishing
location, and we will stay two nights, at that camp site.
If not, we'll get an early start the next morning and move
on into the braids.
The upper braid section of the river
has many silvers, rainbows and grayling, so plan on bringing
along a lot of dry flies - your favorites, and a few humpies,
royal wulfs, elk hair caddis, and poly parachutes and mouse
patterns. (Bring six to twelve of size 12, 14, 16 and 18).
Streamer patterns, especially ones that look like fingerlings,
red and green head egg sucking leaches, and egg patterns
should be high on your list as well (egg sucking leaches
are a must). Also, the rainbows have been keying off on the
small par and fingerlings, early in the year, so small streamer
patters are a must. If the fishing is really fantastic, we
will spend three nights here, if not, we'll move on. |
| DAY 5-6 |
| We will
encounter slower water in this stretch, and lots of silvers
and rainbows. We will try to find a great
Silver fishing hole and good campground - co-located. We will
spend one day here, since this area is also known for exceptional
rainbow and char fishing. We should also find northern pike
in the slower water and slews, as well as good char, and possibly
a few left over chum and sockeye fishing. Char should be found
throughout this whole river, and we should be constantly on
the watch and fishing for them as well. |
| DAY 7-8 |
| We will stay at the bottom of the braids through
the seventh day, unless the fishing is slow. If it is slow,
we will move on and slowly float down the river, again stopping
and fishing for the Silvers, rainbows, char and grayling. We
might encounter a few Chum and Sockeye as well, but they will
be old. We will stop at any good fishing spots and fish them,
until we come down to a fantastic fishing spot that can also
serve as a camp site. We'll spend the night here. If we find
the fishing to be excellent, we will spend two nights here,
if not, we will continue down the next day through the braids
until we hit a good rainbow or Silver Salmon Hole, fish it hard, and move on down to our pull out site. |
| DAY 9 |
| Today we leave;
we will have breakfast, break camp, and fish until our planes
come in. Hopefully we can catch a king or two to bring back
home. We expect the planes to arrive around 10AM, and be back
in Anchorage by 3PM, with enough time to catch the 5PM flight
out, landing
back in Seattle at 8PM. |
Itinerary Summary
Date |
Activities |
| Day 1-2 |
Meet in Seattle, Fly to Anchorage to
King Salmon and the Lake - Camp Site 1 |
| Day 3-4 |
Float down to confluence of Alagnak and Nonvianuk - Camp
Site 2 |
| Day 5-6 |
Float down to Brais - Camp Site 3 |
| Day 7-8 |
Float lower Braids - Camp Site 4 |
| Day 9 |
At the Pullout site - Fly Back to King Salmon, Anchorage,
Seattle |
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