Alaska, Is It In Your Budget

[whiteriverinnmoose]

Hey guys ,

Interesting subject . Great river for big bows ! I fished my butt off last year and caught 3 over 30 inches.33 inches was my largest and it weighed around 12 lbs . Certainly not a 10 pounder behind every rock but they are there .I stopped counting fish between 24 inches and 29 inches at 20 , but I suppose I caught around 30 or 35 conservatively . I looked at doing my own thing next year and these are the prices I came up with .They are all on the high side except the hotel but I'm sure you can rent a house for less per person .Just my opinion .The flyouts are not to brooks or Margot which would be considerably cheaper than some other destinations. I would certainly go to one or the other , maybe both . Especially if pricing was important .

motel per person 112.00x 7 nights 784.00

meals 50.00 a day x 6 300.00

flyouts 4 @ 450.00 a day 1800.00

naknek 2 days with guide 300.00 a day 600.00

Total 3484.00

You could do this easily on your own .If you fished the Naknek with boat rentals instead of fully guided and went to brooks one day you would shave 500.00 to 700.00 off your total price . I dont see how someone could do this deal for less than 2800.00, but you could certainly do it for that .Hot showers ,good meals {Eddies is Good},great fishing ,Beds made every day ,flush toilets ,and fishing in the exact same places the 7000.00 a week people are fishing .Now thats what I,m talkin about .Maybe I'll see yall up there .

Moose

[Bill Babler]

Moose, that works ok, for a group of 4 or 5, like you usually have. Would not work for a single or two or three as the flyouts would double in price. Lowest price, to any of the rivers, is between $1,600 and $1,800 for the flight. If you are a single or a double, it gets pricy in a hurry. You just have to fly those planes full or you get bit really quick.

That is where Jim has it going, with the boats, to Brooks, Idavain, and Margot.

Jim just got pounded last year, trying to assist his clients. I would not have taken the beating he took. If you fly, you pay for it. I think he pretty much assumecd he would get a lodge rate or somewhat the same price as 07, and it was a disaster for him. Crystal Creek did a good job for him, but the flights out of King Salmon, took no prisnors.

So unless you are taking a group of 4 or 5, your bush flights would be double, or maybe even more.

As far, as a rental house, I believe Mike from Backcountry had it pretty close at $1,500 a week if you can find a place. Don't forget your King Salmon Car rental at a $100.00 bucks a day for a ford pinto, plus gas.

Taxi, if you go on one of these trips, you go to really enjoy yourself. How many times are you going to get up there. Let someone else do the heavy lifting. Go catch quality fish and lots of them and leave the work and river running to those that do it for a living. You want to run a boat, clean fish, and work, come on over to the house and I'll let you run mine while I fish.

Believe me, the do it yourself stuff creeps up on your and there is no end to the nickle and dime, only in Alaska, it is 50's and 100's, as you well know.

[whiteriverinnmoose]

Bill ,

It does help when you have a larger group . Round trip to Brooks on Katmai Air is under 200 .00 .And if you have 3 people you can fly a smaller plane like the one James and I flew out in on our moose hunt . Depending on the size of the people you could maybe get 4 people , but 3 for sure . Many of the flyouts are under an hour . The smaller plane,A cessna 206 is 400.00 an hour , way less than a beaver . The weight limit is 850 lbs .3 hours at 400.00 is 1200.00 . Thats 400.00 a head for 3 people at 45 minute flights . With a charter ,Brooks ,Margot, Idavain , and one of the good rivers we flew over on the way to the Ugashik are all under 30 minutes . I didn't want to split hairs .There is a B@ B there that would save on rooms for two or 3 also .

These are all just my opinion ,after researching it while I was there . Jims operation is still a very good deal in my opinion ,and with the ability to add flyouts ,its a great deal . You get what you pay for ,the more frills the more dollar bills !

Moose