Been There, Done That, only we were after sockeye. 4th of July has been our date for the start of the sockeye run, fantastic fishery. Check out Branch River Air, Van Hartley for recommendations on best time for Rainbows. I know people that have targetted rainbows and done great but not sure of the dates they prefer. We spent 12 days on the river and caught a few 'bows and grayling but the sockeye were non-stop action.
Alagnak river float
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Hope you don't mind 26 foot wooly jet sleds passing you all day... I'd seriously consider a different river if you are into rainbows or solitude. That being said...
I get paid to be there...
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shoot me a PM with questions I know the river decently
I get paid to be there...
shoot me a PM with questions I know the river decently
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If you go with Branch River Air you might want to consider avoiding flying with Dan if he still flies for them. This was the result of my last flight with Dan:
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We were in King Salmon, AK for the week with Patty from Blue Fly (http://www.fishbluefly.com/).
On Tuesday August 19th my uncle, his friend, our guide Will and myself were picked up by a Cessna 2006 Float Plane at the Blue Fly dock on the Naknek river. We were flown out to a small lake near the Little Kukaklek River to do some hiking, fishing and bear watching. Had a fantastic day catching nice trout and we saw 14 bears. At the end of the day we hiked out to the little lake to catch our ride home.
We boarded another Cessna 206 for the flight home. The pilot went as far down the lake as he could to get a good take off run. I was watching the airspeed and was getting a bit worried as we neared the end of the lake. The pilot was able to yank the aircraft off the water just in time to keep us from slamming directly into the bank on then end of the lake but we managed to smack the bottom of one of the floats on a rock. As far as I remember we pitched nose up and started to turn to the right and then all of a sudden the pilot placed the plane down on the tundra. We slid about 200 yds before coming to a stop with the prop kicking up moss and grass.
At this point we started asking if everyone was okay. Miraculously there were no injures, not even bumps or bruises.
We did however find out real quick that the float struts had buckled upwards and were blocking us from exiting the aircraft. The pilot had to use his multi-tool to open the window and crawl out that way. He then was able to bend some of the struts out of the way so we could get the rear door open enough to pop it off its hinges.
To add to the accident the plane we were in had a bad radio and the pilot had only a crappy hand held radio that he couldn't raise anyone on. He ended up turning on the emergency locater beacon on to get help. After about 30 minutes a Helio Courier flew over and landed to help. He had a full load but a Beaver was on the way to help shuttle us out to nearby Kukaklek Lake where another Beaver picked us up and flew us back to King Salmon.
A few days later the aircraft was brought back to town by helicopter, cost 10k from what I heard, and as of Sunday 24 Aug when I left King Salmon was still sitting there.
Thankfully no one was hurt physically.
Also I have been long interested in getting my pilots license and this day was my first experience with smaller aircraft. The experience did nothing to persuade me from my interest in flying and in fact we flew again a few days later, albeit, in a Beaver to a much bigger lake
FAA Probable Cause Report:
http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20080924X01524&key=1
Me on the far left pilot on the far right surveying the damage
View attachment 35083
Bears on Little Ku
Finally some fish porn:
From the Kulek River:
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