Yantarni Bay
Entry posted by Phil Lilley
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Not sure what all to share at this point in time. It is Friday evening. Bill and I are sitting in Anchorage waiting on our first of 3 flights tonight- it's going to be a long night. But at this point, we don't know what the sale of Yantarni is. The owner is entertaining another party- today as a matter of fact- which was a surprise to us. We thought we were the only ones in the hunt.
Regardless, we are thinking and planning on moving on this in August and will be recruiting serious anglers to come to this magical place.
Here's a few things we have learned about Yantarni Bay.
It's been around for quite a while. It was developed as an oil exploration camp, not sure how far back but at least in the 70's. After the oil company left, the permit was sold to the present owner and he developed it as a fishing camp.
It has a gravel runway that has been cut in two by the river- 1200 feet on one side and 1400 feet on the other- plenty of room of a 206 or even a Beaver. The camp itself is about a half mile from the beach, which is riddled with driftwood and other treasures, we're told. Beachcombing is a popular activity where things like Japanese glass fishing net balls are found each year. The camp area is protected by the bay with sharp rocky cliffs and islands are visible from the beach on both sides. Pink, Chum and Silver Salmon run these rivers and stack up in the mouth of the river making surf fishing excellent. You were also told hallibut cruise into these shallow waters, espeically on into the spawn when dead salmon carcases start flowing out of the river into the bay to be eaten. So- hallibut on the fly!? We looked at a couple of inflateable boats today to keep at camp with 15 hp motors just to get out and fish the bay for halibut and other fish like rock fish- maybe?!
There at the camp, the main river is Yantarni Creek but within a short distance there are 2 other creeks flowing into this creek which offers salmon fishing too. If one creek gets blown out by rains, we just move to another creek where all the salmon crowd into until the muddy water runs out.
We talked to one person today that knew alot about the camp and the fishing. He said, simply- our problem will be it's just too easy! There's no challenge which may be a problem with some anglers. 6 days of catching silvers ONE EVERY CAST may get boring to some and that may be true. He said we'll have to figure out ways to make it TOUGHER for clients to find and hook fish. Strangely enough, I understand this. It gets like that on Taneycomo but it's hard to compare our rainbows to 10-15-20-25 pound silver salmon 5 minutes out of the ocean.
Other problems are lost flies, lost line and broken gear. Oh yea- sore arms.
There are other creeks and rivers that flow into the bay all around us. Some are within the range of our 4-wheelers and others only can be reached by helocopter. Helo-fishing will be included during some peak weeks and offered as an option during other weeks- that's our idea so far.
The creeks have sea-run dolly varden also. They reportedly get to be around 20-24 inches, not the 30+ inches we're used to on the Naknek. No rainbows. The dollies should be easy to catch using our bead method. They do color us pretty in September.
The camp was blown all over the place when we flew over. They said the camp sees winds over 100-120 mph in the winter. All the inportant parts are stored in the building and it was in good shape.
The weather ports each have 3 twin beds, supplied with sheets and pillows, a table and chairs and a small wood burning stove. The shower tent has a nice shower with unlimited hot water and a lav. The camp has one out house.
The dining tent has an incredible kitchen setup- all stainless steel tables, sinks and stove/oven, refrig and freezers. Table is set with table cloth and cloth napkins- fancy even for us!
The camp has 4, 4-wheelers with personell carts for transportation up and down the creek as well to the beach. That's how everyone gets around.
We could be booking 3 weeks this fall for operation - Aug 23-30, Aug 30-Sept 6 and Sept 13-20. We may add Aug 16-23 for primarily pinks and chums but we're not sure.
The rate has been $4795 per client from King Salmon in the past but we're not thinking quite that high to start this year. We'll wait and see how we stand before we set the rate.
It takes a week to set camp up and a week to tear is down.
Can't think of anything else. It's hard to imagine Bill and I have been given the chance to at least look at this place and dream. If we don't get it, it's been a great opportunity and we've made some new friends to boot. We're leaving it in God's hands. We prayed that He would shut the door if it wasn't for us. So far it's been wide open.
We both want to honor God is this venture.... in all we do. It's only by His grace and blessings we have gotten to do the things we have- we give Him glory for that.
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