Wild River Guides, Alaska

In 2003, Brent Whitney accompanied me on our first descent of a diminutive Nushugak river tributary in Bristol Bay, Alaska that we named the Little King Salmon River. Bruce Rueben & Jim Hanko accompanied me on the second descent and Jim Cannon and Rod Salyers on the third descent in 2005. One other couple has fished it bringing the total number of parties to 4 who have ever cast to the Rainbows of the Little King Salmon. Initially we floated & fished the creek from individual Outcast inflatable rafts. Later as I became more familiar with the creek we used Aire Super Puma and Super Duper Puma rafts with me as oarsman and two guests in a Puma raft.

On the Little King Salmon River in 2005 the number of Rainbows attending the July spawning Chum Salmon exceeded any Alaskan creek or river I’ve fished since 1972. While I had previously reconnoitered the little King Salmon from the air and spotted tens of thousands of spawning Chum & King Salmon, until Brent Whitney and I explored the fishery first hand, we didn’t know whether it held Trout, Grayling, Char, or just Salmon.

On this creek Bruce Rueben caught more large Rainbows in one evening on the Alaska Mouse dry fly than I’ve ever seen anyone do before and Jim Hanko perfected his char sight fishing on the creek in a slough he called the aquarium.

For those not up for such adventure, we of course offer the same wilderness experience without the effort on some of the following rivers and streams.

The King Salmon is the perfect river. It’s headwaters are way above timberline in the rolling tundra just east of the Wood Tikchik Lake system. I fish a 70 mile stretch of this amazing wilderness river. For the first three days we are above the tree line where Caribou are known to walk through our camps. This is Ptarmigan country as well as nesting Arctic Terns and Jaegers. The upper river can produce spectacular Caddis hatches.

Each mile that one descends the river becomes richer. The accumulated biomass of thousands of salmon who have returned to spawn and then die fertilize the waters. As the river picks up tributaries, each hosting a salmon run, the ecosystem becomes more fertile. The upper river through mid section fishes well with dry Caddis as well as wooly buggers, leaches, and egg patterns.
From the mid through the lower reach where it joins the mighty Nushugak the fishing alternates between targeting Salmon and the Trout, Char, and Grayling attending the Salmon to drifting large leeches around tangles of woody debris. There is a tremendous amount of variety from shallow spawning flats to long wadeable runs to swing the wet fly.

The upper Nushagak is referred to as the “Nush” by those of us who love it. There is a lot to love! The stretch that I fish is 41 miles of extraordinary Rainbow Trout, Grayling, Dolly Varden Char, King Salmon, Sockeye, Chum, and Coho Salmon water. It is a “Boreal Forest or Taiga” river meaning that there is a margin of Spruce forest along its banks as opposed to a “Tundra” river. The Nush flows through rolling country of tundra uplands and mountains. There are no roads, or dams, or villages, or mines nor anything else to disrupt this magnificent ecosystem in the upper Nush.

It is one of the finest rivers in Alaska. Its waters are not cloudy with glacial run-off and supports staggering returns of salmon numbering in the millions. It has a tremendous fishery for “resident” species such as Leopard Rainbow Trout and Grayling as well as the migrant salmon & Dolly Varden Char.

Camps are very protected from wind and rain by virtue of the margin of spruce trees and there is nearly unlimited firewood for camp fires. The riverbank wildlife seen is Caribou, Moose, Brown/Grizzly bears, Mink, Otters, nesting Osprey and Bald Eagles.

This is a great river for a first Alaska Trip or for a mixed group of beginning, intermediate, and expert fishermen and women. It fishes well for the expert as well as the neophyte. It is also a river which we can fish and enjoy for a shorter trip if the calendar requires. It can be a great 5 day option or a 7 day trip.

Across the board, we have chosen to work with Mark Rutherford and his company because after time spent talking about life, fly fishing, our industry and what we feel like we want to provide our clients, we are as close to eye to eye as two people in this sport could possibly get.

We without hesitation say this is as good as it gets in the wilderness float department, anywhere in the world. Come create the memories lodges have a difficult time delivering on.

Clothing and equipment checklist -- Summer

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