Alaska Salmon Fishing

Experience the sheer numbers and size of Salmon like you have never encountered before.

Alaska must be one if not the best location within the world to catch Salmon. The sheer numbers and size of the Salmon shocks even the hardest of anglers. The Ayakulik River is located within the Kodiak National Wildlife Park, 125 miles southwest of the town of Kodiak on Kodiak island. Kodiak is located in the gulf of Alaska, and has two major airlines servicing the town of Kodiak, Era and Alaska Airlines. Access from the town of Kodiak to Ayakulik is by specially equipped, light aircraft charter or helicopter.

The Ayakulik River is a perfect river for fly fishing. The width, depth and speed of the crystal clear water and the lack of vegetation on the banks makes it one of the best rivers we have ever seen for fly fishing, for King Salmon, Sockeye and Steelhead in June and Coho's, Pinks, Char and Steelhead in August. The river averages between 3 to 4 feet and about 30 yards wide with deep pools every 200 yards. Fishing here requires a moderate amount of walking. The terrain is fairly easy to walk. We usually walk 2 to 4 miles pr day fishing along the way. There are some skiffs available, but the fishing is all done from the shore. Comfortable hip boots or breathable waders work well.

Catch statistics for the lodge are simply amazing with weekly catches in excess of 300 King Salmon being the norm and this by 8 anglers only, during one of our previous escorted trips the anglers caught 615 King Salmon with an average weight of approximately 22lbs with the largest fish topping 40lbs, the three Brit's on the trip caught an incredible 328 Salmon i.e. over 100 salmon each at average of 20 a day each!!!!, all caught on a beautiful river set in magnificent scenery with total peace and quite only disturbed by the abundant wildlife which included daily sightings of Bears and Eagles.

What our customers have to say: "Great trip well organised from start to finish. A very big thank you to you all and see you next year. " Chris Abbott "The fishing was just as you described, perfect fishing and dream holiday> I would recommend it to anyone." Lee Cromwell "It is along way away but the whole experience just blew all the travel out of the water. Just got to get back " George Henderson

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Ayakulik River Alaska

F/B

At this remote location on the mouth of the Ayakulik River, on the Southwest coast of Kodiak Island, there are two lodges. Each lodge handles six guests. Both lodges have showers and electricity. Meals include halibut, beef steak, turkey, ribs, cops, and fresh-caught salmon. We are incredibly blessed with an almost total lack of mosquitoes and other bugs on the lower Ayakulik River. I don't know why this is the case, but every time I go somewhere else, I am thankful for it. In some areas of Alaska the mosquitoes are horrendous. This area has an abundant variety of wildlife including Kodiak bears, fox, river otter, sea otter, eagles, dozens of species of shore birds, seals, sea lions, Sitka black tail deer, and others.

 

 

 

Suggested Itinerary

10 - Days / 5.5 - Days Fishing

Day 1	Depart LHR with British Airways PM Arrive Seattle PM Depart Seattle with Alaska Airways PM Arrive Anchorage PM  Depart Anchorage with Alaska Airways PM Arrive Kodiak PM   When you arrive at Kodiak you walk out of the terminal building to the Kodiak Comfort Inn . (Approx 800 metres) Overnight accommodation: Hotel Kodiak Comfort Inn B/B
Day 2	In the morning you will be picked up from the hotel reception and taken to the airport for you connection flight to the fishing camp. Flight is by helicopter or floatplane. The flight leaves at 07:00 from Kodiak and takes about one hour. If flying by helicopter it is direct to the lodge if flying by floatplane it is to Larsen Bay then a short 15 minute helicopter ride to the lodge. After checking in and lunch you can spend the afternoon doing battle with your first Salmon Overnight accommodation: Yakulik River Camp F/B
Day 3 to 7	Full days guided fishing Overnight accommodation: Yakulik River Camp F/B
Day 8	In the morning you will catch a return helicopter flight or sea plane back to Kodiak. Its then only a walk across the road to your over night accommodation the Kodiak Comfort Inn B/B
Day 9	Make your way back to the airport for your return journey home. Depart Kodiak with Alaska Airways AM Arrive Anchorage AM Depart Anchorage with Alaska Airways AM Arrive Seattle PM  Depart Seattle with British Airways PM
Day 10	Arrive back in the UK at LHR AM

Departure Dates & Prices

10 - Days / 5.5 - Days Fishing

Below is all we have left available for 2008 and 2009 all other weeks are now completely full.

Dates 2008	Yakulik River Camp	Type of Fishing
16th June to 24th June	£4299 pp	Prime King Salmon Week Sold Out
28th June to 6th July	£4299 pp	Prime King Salmon Week Sold Out
4th July to 12th July	£4299 pp	King Salmon catches still very good.  Some are blushed and red, but still a very good week Limited Availability
16th July to 24th July	£3599 pp	Primarily Pink Salmon fishing, possible end of King salmon Limited Availability
22nd Aug to 30th Aug	£4139 pp	Front edge of Coho or silver salmon run.  Can be very good Limited Availability
15st Sept to 23rd Sept	£4299 pp	Can not miss Silver salmon date Limited Availability

Dates 2009	Yakulik River Camp	Type of Fishing
28th June to 7th July	£4,477 pp	Front end King Salmon, very chrome fish. Best cross over date for all 3 species of Salmon.
4th July to 13th July	£4,477 pp	Prime King Salmon Week
10th July to 19th July	£4,477 pp	King Salmon catches still very good.  Some are blushed and red, but still a very good week
16th July to 25th July	£3,803 pp	King fishing still good but fish all blushed, Great Sockeye fishing and front endge of Pink Salmon
16th Aug to 25th Aug	£3,803 pp	Very peak of Pink Salmon and still plenty of chrome Sockeye.
22nd Aug to 31st Aug	£4,253 pp	Front edge of chrome Silver Salmon Still lots of Pinks around.
28th Aug to 6th Sept	£4,477 pp	Peak Silver Salmon Weeks
15th Sept to 24th Sept	£4,477 pp	Peak Silver Salmon Weeks
21st Sept to 30th Sept	£3,803 pp	SIlver Salmon starting to turn red Great Steelhead week.

Note: The above prices are per person and are based on two people sharing, accommodation, transfers and fishing. Please be advised these prices may fluctuate due to changes in flights and exchange rates.

What's Included & Excluded

Options Business Class Flight Upgrades. First Class Flight Upgrades.

What's Included Return Air fares to Kodiak, All transfers Helicopter/Seaplane transfer 5.5 Days Fishing Full board accommodation. B/B Overnight Hotel accommodation at Kodiak Fishing license for “King Salmon “

What's Excluded Personal insurance which should be taken out at the time of booking Meals at the Kodiak Hotels or Bar expenses Guide tipping usually 50 US dollars per day which covers all guides and camp staff.

Note: The above prices are per person and are based on two people sharing, accommodation, transfers and fishing. Please be advised these prices may fluctuate due to changes in flights and exchange rates.

Enquiries & Bookings

Once you have an idea of what destinations and duration of the holiday you would like, contact one of our consultants on 01603 407596 who will be pleased to assist you with any questions and additional literature you may require to help you finalise your holidays itinerary, availability and prices.

When you are ready to book your holiday, our consultants will take down all particulars and take a deposit payment, please make sure that before making any booking that you have read our terms and conditions. At the time of the booking we will ask you to correctly spell the first and last name of each traveling member, as some flights will need to be ticketed at the time of booking and due to airline regulations no name changes can be made, once a ticket has been issued. On receipt of the deposit we will send the lead booker a “Booking Form” and a deposit receipt invoice which becomes the legal contract between Angling Direct Holidays and your party.

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Fly rod sizes: King Salmon: The best specific rod for king salmon is a 10 wt. fast tip. An 8 wt. is the minimum, and an 11 wt. is maximum. The reason that a fast-tip rod works better for king salmon is twofold. First, you need backbone in the butt section of the rod to fight the fish, and you also need backbone to cast large flys.Sock eye Salmon: The ideal size rod for sockeye salmon is about an 8 wt. with a minimum of a 6 wt. and a maximum of 10 wt. Probably a good all-around rod for king salmon, coho and sockeye salmon is a 9 wt.

Steelhead: Steelhead in this river run from 28 to 38 inches, and a 6 wt. to 9 wt. rod is ideal, but again if you are bringing one rod, a 9 wt. would cover everything.

Pink Salmon: I prefer to fish a pink salmon on a 4-wt. rod, and we have several 4-wt. camp rods available for loan so a person does not need to bring an extra rod if you want to fish pink salmon and Arctic char/Dolly Varden at the same time. The ideal weight rod would be about a 4-6 wt. rod for pink salmon and Arctic char/Dolly Varden.

Fly Fishing Reels: Reels should match the rod size and it is very important for king, sockeye, and coho salmon to have 100 yards of backing. With the new Kevlar line it is possible to use a smaller reel and still have plenty of backing with the fine diameter Kevlar backing line. Because of the tremendously powerful and long runs of king and coho salmon, I personally very much like anti-reverse reels to prevent your knuckles from getting banged up. I suggest either the Orvis or Billy Pate anti-reverse reels.

Fly-fishing line: The best lines for fishing the Ayakulik are floating lines with a short, sinking tip. They have just become available from Orvis. For several years we have been making these lines by taking a floating line and adding a section of sinking tip onto it that is substantially shorter than the standard 15’ sink-tip line.

Fly's: King Salmon: Several of the fly patterns that are used for king salmon we developed on our own or were developed independently by different guides around Alaska. Particularly, the “king killer” or “fat freddie” were adapted from a small egg fly tied on #6 hooks. We kept making them bigger and bigger until we found that a laser-sharp 4/0 hook and a quarter-sized egg pattern was the most attractive to king salmon. We also use various “bunny leach” patterns for kings.Coho Salmon: We have found the best fly's for coho salmon include the “popsicle” and various colored “bunny leach” patterns .Steelhead, Char, and Pink Salmon: We have found that a “bead fly” is most effective, although, shunned by some purists.

Casting and Spinning Gear: King Salmon: We have found that a rod and reel combination to go with 17 lb. test line is about ideal for king salmon. If you go much lighter you spend a lot of time connected to a fish in a tug-of-war. Coho Salmon: A person can drop down to 12-15 lb rod and reel. test for coho salmon. If you go much lighter, again, you will experience a lot of break-offs .Steelhead: About a 12 lb. line rod and reel works well for steelhead. For Pink salmon and Arctic char/Dolly Varden you can get by with 8 lb. test line, although, neither species seem to be very line shy, and it is probably easier to stick with 12 lb. test.

Suggested Clothing: Waterproof Jacket, Fleece type shirt/jacket/sweat shirt, Light thermals (top and Bottom), Chest or thigh waders, (Neoprene type are very good combined with walking boots), 1 pair walking boots or trainers for use around camp, Comfortable clothes for traveling and camp wear, (i.e. Jeans/trousers sweatshirts etc, Polaroid Glasses,Towel, wash bag, shaver etc, Sock, Pants, Cap

 

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