It's a long, long way from Centre, Alabama to any point in Alaska, and although it is heaven for bass and crappie fishing, it's a long way from trout water. Even flying, it's faster to go from Atlanta to Europe than to Anchorage.
Several years ago I drove from Portland, OR to Alaska several years ago before gas got so crazy expensive, and I am glad I did it. I drove a 1,000 miles a day and did it in 3 days each way. Parts of it were great, but it gets old sitting for the flagman during all of the seemingly endless construction. I'd rather fly to Washington and take the ferry Alaska Marine Highway. As a humorous aside, I drove to Deadhorse to see the Brooks Range and the north slope, and met up with a guy from Florida, and GA-FL being a lot like Alabama-UT, the trash talking about SEC football got started--a mere 6,000 miles from home.
Rob (Idahofisher)is on the money about timing for species. Also, are you looking to fish the Kenai peninsula or a fly out lodge? The Kenai is definitely cheaper. Well-known lodges like Bristol Bay, Kulik, Katmai, etc. are about $1,000 per person per day, and that is for local fishing. If the bite is off or the water is up or your curiosity is wandering, fly outs are more expensive, and the DeHaviland Beavers, with more capcaity, are about 50% more per hour than a Cessna 185 or 206. You are prolly looking at $400-450 an hour in the cessna and $500-600 in the Beaver.
There are air services in Anchorage, Homer, Kenai, and Talkeetna that can fly you across the inlet and do daytrips somewhere to the west.
I've been thinking about returning myself, and believe that I could book this year. I am interested in the rainbows, and a few silvers for meat. I am not all that big on Chinook, they're just big and don't have the same fight to me as bows and steelhead. Nonetheless, I'd still go to the Kenai. You have just as good a chance of landing a trophy bow there as in the west, and the race from the lodge to the stream in the west can be headspinning andget crowded.
Car rentals are very expensive in Alaska because they have a very short season. Lodging is generally more expensive in AK too, especially in Anchorage. So what I would consider is flying to Anchorage and then to Kenai and taking a cab. I would probably stay in a cabin on the river or a B&B on the river in the vicinity of Sterling. The fishing there is running upstream to Skilak and from a motorboat, and although fishing plastic beads from a morotboat is not traditional in any sense, the chance at a monster-over 8 or 10 pounds is very high.
Hunting season opens in august and Septemer on upland game and waterfowl. I may go back after Labor day on my next trip and catch big fish and then chase ptarmigan and grouse over a bird dog.
The tourism falls drastically after Labor Day week. You can definitely book a trip then, you can even find a guide then if you just showup.
There is one additional thing that I can add about the Kenai, and that is the services out of Coopers Landing. There are a bunch of them, and a number of good guides. But I don't like the system--the river is extremely regulated by the state and the feds, and the guides have a permit for X "starts" per week, which in theory shoudl limit their trips. It's not well-enforced, but it's not extremely abused either, so it does provide some limitation on trips and earnings. Thus, the 20 foot Willie partyboat system has emerged, and they are frequently fishing 4 rods. That means you'll likely end up with strangers, perhaps first timers or people that will drive you nuts. Those trips generally run from Kenai Lake to jim's landing, and yo have the chance to catch nice fish in the upper section. If the guide has an outboard on the boat, one can arrange to fish "the canyon" down to Skilak and then motor for a while to the ramp on the lake. Really ambitious people with a motor can float from Kenai lake through the canyon to skilak, motor through, and then fish the middle section down to the landing at Sterling. The canyon has fewer boats going through it, is a little quieter, the fish may be less educated, and requires a longer shuttle of the truck and trailer and is more expensive.
By mid-September, the rain starts falling, but the fish are just getting bigger, and the river less crowded. Trucks are easier to rent, guides easier to book, and deals on lodging are easier to find. The biggest trout caught up there are prolly September to early October, and although the guides's last trip is usually the first week of October, they are happy to have the time to just fish.
One can drive up the Parks Highway from Anchorage and fish several streams-there are three streams in particular that will give up nice bows--Sheep, Willow and oops- I forget the third. I've seen photos of some big fish come out of those small streams in early October.
Cross country airfare in general has gone up. I saw some airfare from ATL to Anchorage last week for $535, which is a better deal than say, to Seattle, which is maybe $25-40 cheaper.
You can send me a private message if you want names, numbers, links, etc.
Personally, I'd go no earlier than August 15 so that the chinook have had time to dump out their eggs and the fish are feeding hard on them and then the sockeye start dumping heavily. The laying varies with water level and temperature down at the mouth, because they affect fish entry (for one or all species, it depends on weather and rain). Delayed fish entry by the early species will affect the laying, feeding frenzy, and weight gain by the bows, and delay of the silvers can affect the quality of the meat fish that you catch if you are there in late August. The sockeye will be laying and dying hard by late August and early Sept, so there is a lot of carrion in the streams in addition to eggs in early September, which means you can have fun with "flesh flies." The silvers are the last to lay eggs and die, and when they go, the streams are just chock full of eggs and flesh, and the bows and dolly varden are so gorged they will just spew eggs out when you catch them and hold them.
[This message has been edited by Rawthumb (edited 31 May 2006).]
[This message has been edited by Rawthumb (edited 31 May 2006).]
[This message has been edited by Rawthumb (edited 31 May 2006).]
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