Question:
My adult son and I will be in Alaska August 7 to the 18th. We plan to do a 10-day float trip. We want remote (i.e., more bears than people). I want salmon and big trout. My son wants pike and sheefish. We are thinking of the Holitna River, Hoholintna River, Aniak River, or the Kipchuk River. Which one is the best compromise (some of each fishing type), or would you recommend a different river? We need to keep our total budget below $6000. Stokes Baker
Answer:
Hi Stokes,
Thank you for the inquiry. I am assuming that you are looking at doing a DIY trip. The rivers that you mention are probably the best to find the species that you seek. The Holitna Hoholitna are best know for pike, sheefish, grayling and salmon fishing. Rainbows are rare or incedental.As you move down the Kuskokwim each drainage gets better and better trout fishing and pike/sheefish slow down. When you get into rivers like the Salmon, Aniak and Kipchuk, you will only find pike/sheefish towards the end of the floats. The Aniak probably has the best “big” trout fishing of these rivers, but like the Kipchuk is a very dangerous rivers. No real rapids, but very nasty sweapers. If you are a novice or intermediate on the oars, I would suggest looking into the Salmon.
If you would like to talk about this in further detail, please give me a shout at 907-586-1550. Once you narrow down the river that you would like to float, I will create a recommendations list of flies and tackle for you.
Best regards,
Mike Cole – Website Manager