pmriverguide

The best colors are the mottled shades of orange. I like tangerine, orange clear and one of the roe's. Size is critical as well. You need to "match the hatch". Sockeye eggs are small (5mm or 6mm) as are most silver eggs. The king eggs are larger, with 8mm, 10mm and even an occasional 12mm being the ticket. The best beads are hand painted, but that is time consuming work. The mottled beads that troutbeads sell makes a great second choice. Jim Johnson

I have a couple of used driftboats that we have taken in on trade at StealthCraft Boats here in Michigan. It's a little cold up here right now for selling boats, but I thought maybe someone in your area might be looking. I have a 2004 16' StealthCraft and a 2006 14'6" aluminum Hyde. Both in great shape - ready for water with a trailer and oars. Take your pick for $3995. I will deliver it to Lilley's or ??? These are both $8,000 boats new. I also have a slightly smaller 14' ClackaCraft drifter on a trailer for $2995. These are winter prices only so if you are interested, let me know before March 15th, 2008. Jim Johnson Naknek River Camp naknekrivercamp@hotmail.com 231-745-2894

I have had that same feeling often enough. You guys are right - it is easy to SAY don't run, but Ican speak from experience that it isn't always easy advice to take. I had a bear show up about 2 feet behind me while I was sitting on a log tying on a fly, and even I took a couple of very fast steps before I could stop myself. As for whether the pic is possible? Absolutely. I'm not saying it is real, but it certainly could be for 2 reasons. 1)I have had almost the exact same thing happen to me in Estes Park, Colorado, except that it was a chip shot and a bull elk in the rut. I decided to let him keep the ball and take a drop (ok, I took a drop in the fairway) and 2) Male bears can have a very large territory. Our bears don't usually move too far in the summer, since we have salmon everywhere, but other parts of Alaska have less food and the bears range much farther. It would be very feasable for a bear to wander into a golf course that hadn't been in that area very often or even at all. I do agree that the bear looks a little large in relation to the people and the distance, but then, I have seen some very large bears! Jim Johnson

This is Jim Johnson, owner of the camp where Phil is going this summer. We ask for a $500 deposit to book the trip, a second $500 is due on May 1st, 2007 and the balance is due at the end of the trip. The deposits are fully refundable, as long as we are able to re-book the dates. You can also roll them over to another year, if something comes up. Jim

This is Jim Johnson from Naknek River Camp (www.naknekrivercamap.net) again. I posted a nice report yesterday to your fly questions, but apparently my computer ate it, so I'll try again. Last summer, our best flies were egg flies in #8 and #10's in natural shades of light pink, cream, cheese,washed out orange, etc. We also did very well on beads fished by themselves as an egg in the same colors in sizes 6mm - 10mm, depending on whether we were trying to duplicate a sokeye egg (6 mil) or a king egg (8-10 mil). One of our best combo's was to fish the plastic bead in front of a cream or white streamer or larger size nymph (size 6 or 8 hex, pm wiggler, sparrow, etc.) This combo also works well with a small flesh fly as the trailer. Occasionally, a brighter marabou streamer or leech pattern worked well in a larger size like a 2 or 4, fished on a fast sink tip line. As for campground cost, we stayed at one right on the Kenai, where you could literally fish in front of the tent if desired, for less than $10. The Russian river campground is a few miles away and a little fancier, but still primitive for a few more dollars, but still quite reasonable. We hiked all the way to the falls and fished the Russian and didn't see many people at all. It is a 2 mile hike, with a few bears around for atmosphere. Speaking for myself, I saw more 5 - 8 pound rainbows than people, by a long shot. There were also lots of salmon - sockeye earlier in August and silvers after the middle of the month. These rainbows are smarter than the average Alaskan bow, but we managed to put several big fish on the beach each day. Jim I suppose I should add that pictures of the nymphs mentioned can be seen on www.hillsdiscountflies.com under the steelhead flies section. Look at the pm blond, dirty blond, and the multiple versions of the Hex nymph shown. Also check out the strip leeches, string leeches and popsicles. I assume that you know what a sparrow is. If you prefer a different sculpin pattern, tie them in both small sizes like 6's and 8's and larger sizes like 2's and 4's. Woolhead's work great, but are too much work for me to tie. Jim

This is Jim Johnson. I own a fishing camp in Alaska. Phil asked me to send a reply to your question, since I spend a lot of time up there. Where are you staying exactly? There is some pretty good fishing in Anchorage itself, and there is good bus service around town. There are also some rivers not too far south along Cook inlet that are pretty good. The problem you will run into is that a lot of the best fishing is 2-4 hours away, either north or south. There is a train that runs north to Talkeetna from Anchorage and south to the Kenai penninsula, but I didn't notice the price to be all that cheap. Check out their prices online from Anchorage. Airport car rental isn't at the airport, but it is the cheapest I have seen. We got cars last year for $300-400 per week. I would think about fishing around Anchorage using the bus service most of the time, make one train ride to a decent fishing area like Talkeetna, then rent a car for a few days to a week and make a run down to the Kenai area. Talkeetna has Mahay's Jet Boat service offers a drop off service back at Clear Creek for a day or as long as you want to camp there. There is a great gravel bar at the mouth to camp on and a decent amount of river to hike up and fish. The trip costs about $60-70 bucks round trip. If the salmon are running, you will have company, but the trip was still worth it. Jim Johnson naknekrivercamp@hotmail.com www.naknekrivercamp.net

Thanks for the nice write up Phil. I am posting a picture of the cabins on the Naknek River. If anyone wants a brochure or more information, they can send me an email with their address at naknekrivercamp@hotmail.com Jim Johnson