Upper Kanektok Fishing- Trout and Salmon

Upper Kanektok Fishing- Trout and Salmon

It is no surprise to many that the journey of fly fishing can bring an individual to incredible places. I was recently able to make a journey to the depths of Alaska for a chance to photograph an outfitter program and fish for trout and salmon. The outfitter is Dave Duncan and Sons. They operate on the Kanektok River with two base camps, a full river float trip option, and a steelhead camp on Kodiak Island. I was heading to the Upper Base Camp with Scott Cook, the owner of Fly and Field Outfitters in Bend, Oregon. We were headed to the Upper Camp during their final week of operating for the season. This meant the opportunity to throw mouse patterns for leopard bows, colored up arctic char, and strip dry flies for coho salmon. Follow along the photos to see the journey we experienced:

We left Central Oregon bright and early, just after 5 am. We had a total of four flights, leading us to the small village of Quinhagak. The whole group took three small planes from Bethel to the village! Once we arrived in the village, a fleet of jet boats was patiently waiting to take us 40 miles up-stream to the Upper Base Camp.​

 

 Mousing for trout may be one of the best activities one could participate in! We spent 6 days sight fishing and blind casting to leopard rainbow trout. A properly presented mouse could lead to increased heart rate and anxiety. Here are some of the fish and fun we had with mousing:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Arctic Char were some of the most fun! Whether we were skating dries or swinging dolly llamas, the char were beautiful, colored up and put up a decent fight!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Much like the colored up dollies, skating dries, stripping poppers, or leeches, the silver salmon fishing was an exceptional time!  We were able to harvest a few fish and enjoy them for appetizers and meals over the next few days. Watching a silver chase and eat your fly is a great time!