Alaska on a Budget

[CrookedRiverMike]

My partners and I just got back from 10 days on the SF Snake and are planning a trip to Alaska for trout, salmon (fly fishing)and possibly halibut in 2008. We would like to do it as reasonable priced as possible.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Mike

[Eric-WD]

I saw a great magazine article (I think it was outdoor life) re: renting cabins from Alaska Parks, how there reasonable and on some great fishing. I will find it and post a link.

Eric

[PaGuy]

where are you guys/girls looking to fish southcentral (the road system) or are you all looking to go out western Ak? (no roads, no nothing but fish bears rain) the cheap way would be the roadsystem rent a car/rv go driving.

how much are you willing to spend? there is alot of good places to go around here but it all cost money. Halibuit charters cost 250+, parking cost 5+, campsite cost 15+, food=$$$, gas 3.50 gallon , and most of all replacement equipment. Its expensive to fish up here.

there is alot of good stuff to do/fish up here you need to be more exact on species/time

[J Castwell]

"Fishing Alaska on Dollars aDay",, Christopher Batin,,, pub. Alaska Angler, Fairbanks, AK

[harleybob87]

I don't know how much you have to spend but there are a couple of places on sika island that offer for a reasonable rate the full package. halibut, king salmon, bottom fish fly fishing for sea run trout and salmon. My wife and I are planning a trip up there and will be taking the ferry from bremerton washington at less then $300 a head. the one company up there is big blue charters. Just put 3 w's behind and a dot com in front and you can vbiew there site. be forwarned no matter how you do it it will cost you a few thousand dollars It is a once in a lifetime event as far as I am concerned but worth what ever it costs.

[Jonezee]

I am reccomending the following purely because you use the word 'budget" so I would call the Clover Pass Resort in Ketchikan, Alaska first. I am also offering my advice from experience. You could drive your car or van to Seattle and reach Ketchikan by Ferry. A nice trip in itself. Also, Cloverr Pass is one of the few places were you can fish for Halibut and Slamon with out going too far from the lodge. When you talk with them, ask about renting a skiff and going across the narrows to the Kassan River on Prince of Wales island. A find stream for trout and steelhead. Also ask them about any small streams near by to fly fish. Again, big bang for the buck and if this is your first trip to Alaska, it will only get better from there on. There are direct jet flights from Seattle to Ketchikan everyday. And great night life in Ketchikan too. Regarding the US Forest Service cabins, there is one at the head of the Kassan River. The river is feed by a moderate lake and the cabin even comes with an aluminum row boat. It is interesting to know, when you leave the cabin it is customary to leave any food you brought along that is surplus. Most cabins are pretty well stocked. This is of course in case some poor soul is stranded on a fly in or stumbles on the cabin while getting lost in the Wilderness. Good luck. Jonezee

almost forgot Clover Pass Lodge 800-410-2234

[Rawthumb]

"Crooked River Mike," not to be confused with "Crooked River Bob" I presume.

We had some good Alaska thread on here within the last month or two. You may want to run a search.

The Alaska Marine Hwy is a nice ride, but is by no means cheap for porting an auto.

The Kenai Peninsula is probably the ticket. The Kenai itself is best tackled with a boat, but there are certainly places for fishing that are accessible for bankwalkers. The Russian River is good wade fishing, and Quartz Creek is good for dollies. One can fish the Ancho on down near Ninilchik.

Tha last time I inquired, charter operators in Ninilchik had the most attractive service for halibut, and were running out into Cook's Inlet. I say it was most attractive because it was true charter and not the partyboat. Virtually everything else up there is partyboat, and I just don't care for fishing with a bunch of strangers, many of whom have never been and are going to puke, etc. There are many operators out of Seward and Homer.

There is a number of guide services that run out of Cooper's Landing. Billy Couilette at Alaska Troutfitters is a good guide if you could get him, but I don't know the others. One of our members recently posted a picture of a great fish that he caught with Fred Telleen of Mystic Waters . He and his partner are good guides.

There is a significant number of guides who live in OR and WA during the offseason and guide in AK during summer. You may want to ask around at The Fly Box in Bend; Kauffmann's would likely try to steer you to Bristol Bay because they book for some lodges there, and that of course costs big bucks.

The best fishing for a given species is not necessarily concurrent with another because the salmon runs are staged sequentially (but have some overlap). The runs are similar to those in OR and WA in that rainfall and water levels affect their timing. I'd plan to go in a period of mid August to mid September if you want big rainbows foremost, and want silvers as a sideshow. The chinook season will be closed then, and they will be close to finished dumping eggs and dying. The reds (sockeye) peak die-off begins at about the very end of August, first week of September (depending on when they entered the river). If you want the peak of chnook, you'd probably be better off in June, but the rainbows are not fattened up and prime yet.

[Trout-Dawg]

Shoot me an email and I will give you some additional ideas. 1st off we're going back a few days after Labor Day and the prices for everything drops off a bunch!

Got a new Cherokee for $25 carrentals.airporthotelguide.com a day to rent, $80 Lodging for 3 people on the Kenai with free breakfast and access to the river anglerslodge.com. Guides have gone down in price as well and there's still lots of fish to go after! Got a flight for $350 from Denver "direct" so if you look for stuff you can do it right.


TroutDawg
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cotrout/

[Flyboy@ak]

If you really want a true best fishing for low dollars, look into a fly-in drop off un-guided float trip. I am not sure if you have boating and wilderness camping abilities, but there is alot of floats that you can get done for very inexpensive if you do the rowing, navigating, camp setting and cooking. Best thing is you are on the water 24 hours, so can fish as much as you want. It takes a bit of research to decide what species you want to target, then finding a float river that meets your schedule ability and your skill level. It certainly is possible to spend less than $1500 including your airfare to Alaska for a float trip. I have heard some say less than $1000, but with airfares on airlines up now for tickets to get here, I doubt that number. Another thing is that the price does not go up for the number of days much. Ie: costs for doing six days or 14 days not much different. You will likely have really good fishing, under low pressure situations. Some rivers you may never see another group, popular ones a few maybe a day.

If you are not capable or interested in a fly-in drop-off float trip, the Kenai River is as good as it gets for a road system access road. But those are our most pressured fish, and home of the term "combat fishing" at some of the popular salmon fishing areas. Again the best experience for getting fish and getting away from the crowds is in a drift boat on the upper river where motors are banned.

A site I help moderate www.alaskaflyfish.net has lots of threads about visitors asking the same questions.

[CrookedRiverMike]

I would like to thank everyone who responded to my request. Some very imformative information, just as I expected. You are all great sources and I appreciate your input.
Thank you,
Mike