Excellent Opportunity for Alaska Trip

[Phil Lilley]

Well, I finally made a committment to host 3 weeks on the Naknek River in King Salmon, Alaska next summer.

I am taking reservations now for the dates of June 9-16, 16-23, 23-30.

The camp can hold up to 8 clients for these 3 weeks.

Rainbow and dolly fishing is at it's best during June. Rainbows up to 20 pounds and Dollys up to 10 pounds are commonly hooked... but hard to land. Fly or spin fishing- wade or boat- your choice. Also, boated trips over to remote creeks feeding Naknek Lake are on the agenda.

See our website at http://naknekrivercamp.net for details. Costs are $1695 per week per person which includes lodging, meals, all transportation from King Salmon, use of a boat when not fishing with the guides (me and Jim).

Questions?

[tippet7]

When and how much deposits due?

Cancellation policy?

My brother and I were in the talking stages of an Alaska trip for next yr.

[pmriverguide]

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

[Phil Lilley]

Here's the openings we have presently -

Whole camp June 9-16, 16-23, 23-30.

2 spots June 30-July 7, July 21-28 and July 28-August 4.

Whole camp open for July 14-21.

The best rainbow fishing would be in June (especially early June before the salmon come in) and September, but the fishing stays good all summer. The Kings start around the middle of June and run through July, The sockeye (which are delicious and hard fighters) start into the river during the last week of June and run all of July and most of August. Silvers come in mid August and run thru mid September.

[Terry Beeson]

I wanna go! But no vacation and no money right now...

Where would you fly in commercially?

[wily]

I can't go either but maybe in the coming years. I checked travelocity to see how much it would cost, and out of KCI to King Salmon...airfare would be approx. $1250

[Phil Lilley]

We have a special rates as a lodge in King Salmon- we book that flight for you. A flight the first week of June from MCI to Anchorage is $533 which is about the same as last summer. Our rate from Anchorage to King Salmon was $389 last season and shouldn't change much.

[Kansas Fly Fisher]

So what do you need from us to start the ball rolling?

[Phil Lilley]

An email to me I guess. We can go over details, dates and such.

phil at lilleyslanding.com

I just found out that if you put your email anyplace on a website, spiders will find it and put you on mass email lists. I always wondered why some people write their email like I wrote it above.

[Phil Lilley]

Seasons-

Season opening on the Naknek River is June 10. At that time, rainbows can be fished for in the river. The lake had lake trout and northern pike but we haven't fished for them... yet. The rainbows are just too big and wild in the river so it's hard to leave them for something else.

The salmon fry stay in the lake after spawning all winter and migrate out into the ocean after the ice-out. They fill the river in June and July and the rainbows take advantage of their size and numbers. It's like a white bass feeding frenzy- first the gulls find the smelt, then the rainbows, and they attack the smelt like there's no tomorrow. Everything is on the surface in full view and of course that makes it more exciting. June is the best time for the migration but they are still in the river in August. When we were there last summer, Aug 4-16, we saw and caught rainbows surfacing on smelt.

Naknek is known for it's huge rainbows, growing up to 24 pounds. Landing a rainbow in the 15 pound range is common. Hooking one bigger is also common but landing it is another thing entirely. We use 7-8 wt fly rods, floating line and streamers and cast to feeding schools of rainbows, either while wading or from a boat. One can also use spinning gear. I took some swimming minnows up with me and did well. Wooly buggers, clousers and other streamers work. Small to medium crank baits would work well too.

And fight! I caught several 15-18 inches rainbows that tore me up. The largest rainbow of my trip was 27 inches and weight about 8 pounds. It took me 15 minutes to land him. He made over 10 runs and I had him on a spinning rig and 6 pound line. I can't imagine whata 15 pound rainbow will feel like.

Later in the season, rainbows pick up the pace when the eggs and flesh really get going. We caught rainbows drifting egg patterns in the big river as well as drifting eggs in the smaller rivers like Brooks and Margot (early to mid August). We also caught a good number of Dolly Varden. In late August into September, rainbows and dollies really kick it up a gear, gordging themselves on flesh and eggs from the millions of salmon now dropping eggs. This is again when we see 10-20 pound rainbows and 8-12 pound dollies.

King salmon start coming up the river mid June. They'll get up to 80 pounds. Use to top 120 pounds but commercial fishermen all but eliminated that larger king gene pool years ago. Jim will have to elaborate on the kings because I didn't experience that part of last season. I did see remenants of the run- big red fish laying on the flats in fast water... and I mean big. Every fish I say was well over 36 inches in length. One client foul hooked a king while wading and held it for over 20 minutes. But he had no chance with it and finally broke off.

Sockeye start just alittle after the kings. Sockeye are the most numerous salmon in the system. They crowd everthing, literally taking over the river and the feeder streams soon after. Just like the kings and silvers, they are silver when they enter the river, wild and strong... and excellent tasting. Soon after, they turn red before spawning in late July through the month of August. We found a huge number still in the rivers in mid August. They average 10-12 pounds each and can grow to over 16 pounds. They are mean and aggressive and won't come to the net willingly.

Silvers are the last salmon to enter the race to the beds. I was impressed with their fight... most of which is out of the water- tail-walking, dancing, racing- whatever you want to call it. A hundred yard run is not uncommon. If you're wading, gotta break it off or you loose your entire fly line and backing. Another great tasting fish early before turning red and but still good after it turns. You'll find silver spawning well into September.

Jim will have to cover Chum Salmon- I'm not educated on Chums.

Pink Salmon, or Humpies, make their run every 2 years. We won't see any pinks in 2007.

Bears? Did I mention bears? If you don't like them, early to mid June is the time to go. They aren't down from their sleeping quarters yet, but in late June and then throughout the summer, bears abound. We see them around camp in late June, then they migrate to the rivers to start their annual feast. My experience with the brown population is that they don't care too much about people, ignoring them for the most part. They don't like it when you catch a fish or mess with their cubs so we keep our distance and make noises and don't fish around them. We aren't allow to carry firearms (National Park) but do carry a BIG can of bear maze. It's effective inside 9 feet. Shall I say more?!

I'll leave you with a few images. I hope you can swing a trip with us. What I like about this Alaska offer is that we are able to offer it 'on the cheap', giving people a chance that could otherwise not afford the more expensive packages.

Smelt salmon

Silver Salmon

25 inch dolly varden