Fly Fishing

KodiakCommando · Location: Kodiak, Alaska

I thought jeremy had a good idea with regards to trip and gear reviews and i should know because i am constanly scouring the net for good trips and good gear. Anyway i have been on many alaskan fishin trips and know that there are lots of people looking to make trips up here so i thought i would put a review or more like a guide of the naknek river which is a trip i highly reccomend to anyone who likes rainbows. Hopefully someone may stumble upon this review and book a trip of a lifetime

First of all i usually go to the naknek with Rainbow Bend lodges which is a kind of do it yourself lodge. I would reccomend experienced fisherman to go here or another do it youself lodge because it is cheaper and you can fish more hours because you don't have to be guided and experience fly fisherman shouldn't need a guide. The naknek river is a very larger river, about 100 yards wide on average and is located near the town of king salmon in bristol bay. You can get there from anchorage. Now to the review part of my trip.

The fishing here is excellent and i couldn't be happier every time i go there and there are two advantatges over salmon fishing that lower 48 fly fisherman should consider. One is that the fishing peaks early september every year consistantly. This is important for someone who puts down lots of money as salmon runs can be unpredictable and one may put down thousands only to find that they came to early or late. Second is there are far less fisherman that target rainbows so you will have a more solitary experience which is very important to many fly fishers. As for the fishing it's simply awesome. I have fished all over utah, alaska. wyoming, idaho, coloarado and montana for rainbow trout and the naknek river is far and away the best shot to catch a 30 inch rainbow plus catch lots of 20 plus inchers. The days very but i would say an experienced fly fisherman should expect to catch around 25 bows a day but 50 plus fish is always a possiblity. The average fish in my experience is about 18 inches and 3 pounds. I have made 4 trips to the naknek and the last one i mad a tale out of was the only one i didn't catch a 30 incher. I have pulled 9 fish out of that river over 30 inches including an estimated 18 pounder. The fishing is done either from shore or a boat, i prefer shore myself but many people will drift a hole and then motor back up and drift it again. If you plan to go in the fall tie lots of glo bugs and fleshe flies as these will work very well. Also buy lots of beads to peg as these work much better than glo bugs sometimes. The weathe can be nasty so bring plenty of rain gear also. I hope this review can help someone looking to make a trip up here.

jeremy · Location: Portland, Maine

thanks kodiak - that is especially helpful - especially since the information is coming from a local and not a lodge who has monetary incentives for telling me how great his place is. i am considering another trip to alaska next summer and i will certainly take your information into consideration - especially since you might be kind enough to give me some spots to try Very Happy

------ thanks.