Fishing The Kisaralik River Family Style
Guest blogger Ken Tanner and Family. This is Kens write up of their adventure back in 2008. Enjoy!
Well, we survived another trek across the wilderness of Alaska. This year our group included, Todd Smith, Steve Smith, Megan Tanner, Benson Tanner, Bradley Montierth, and me. We floated the same river we traveled the past two years. As usual there was significant preparation necessary before departure. We were all surprised that by 9:30pm the evening before, all the bags were packed and weighed (we usually are at work with that until 3-4am morning of the departure). We arrived in Bethel (after three commercial flights to Seattle, Anchorage then Bethel) Friday evening. We spoke with those in the lodge, some of whom had just completed a run of the very river we were planning to raft. The news wasn't good. Their weather had been miserable raining 10 of the 12 days they spent on the river, the river was incredibly high, so high in fact that they portaged their entire boats and content around the falls. The falls were simply too treacherous to run or line the boats through. Worst of all, the fishing report was miserable, very few fish caught and very few seen?!?!? The principal partner of our outfitter outfitting company was on a river next to the one we were planning to float, and his junior partner (brother) confirmed they were having a similar experience... very high water, late king salmon run and terrible weather. While we didn't panic, we were very concerned.
Undaunted we purchased our local groceries (Milk, Bread, Frozen Veggies and Cereal) for the trip and finalized our preparations for the adventure, re-packing all our gear into the weatherproof/waterproof bags that we would strap to our rafts.
Saturday 7/19
Early Saturday we woke at the lodge loaded our gear into a 1950’s era de Havilland Beaver and flew from Bethel to a lake at the head of the river we planned to float. Benson and Bradley took the first flight and the boats with them so they could inflate the rafts while the plane returned to get Steve, Todd, Megan and me.
The weather was indeed cool, mid 50’s which in partial rain with a 10-20mph breeze can bring a chill very quickly. We were prepared with multiple layers of fleece under our waders and waterproof coats. We left the lake around noon and covered nearly 26 miles on the river the first day and even traversed the falls. The water at the falls were significantly higher than in years past but we used the same technique to portage our loose gear around both falls and then lined the boats with the remaining gear through the drops in the river. We almost capsizing our first boat in the upper falls. That would have emptied one of our coolers with a good portion of our food. Fortunately, the boat righted just before flipping over. The rest of the crossing was uneventful. Late Saturday as we setup camp the bugs swarmed more thickly than we’ve ever experienced. They flew into our eyes and mouths and tried to bite any exposed area of skin. We dove into our bags to find our head nets, and pulled them over our tormented faces and hair. With a re-applied layer of deet and head nets we finished camp including a screen tent which provided some protection for us while we ate dinner and the sun approached the horizon. With only an hour or so left of Saturday we broke out the fishing rods and caught a handful of salmon, a good number of Dolly Varden (Arctic Char) and Grayling. We kept a couple Dollys for breakfast Sunday morning.
Sunday 7/20
Sunday at the falls we enjoyed a great Sabbath morning meeting with all participating. Todd shared an especially insightful and inspiring message on the gifts of the Spirit. After completing the service, we packed up and headed down river, with fishing poles retired for the Sabbath. We covered another long length of river during the windy, cold and overcast day. Fortunately the winds shifted and were now blowing downstream, giving us a significant boost of speed. The wind helped us make record time covering 24+ more miles of river. We made our camp where we have in years past on a long stretch of gravel beach just below a small stream where we frequently find a handful of salmon and a great opportunity to catch Graylings, Dolly Varden and Trout. After a great dinner and an evening spent chatting around the fire, we had an hour or so after midnight before it would be too dark to fish. At that time of year the sun sets around 11:50pm and rises again around 5:30. Because of the angle of the sun the is enough twilight to fish until around 1:30am.
Just after midnight Todd, Megan, Brad and I grabbed our fishing rods and headed toward the small creek confluence. We’d seen some kings as we floated past the inlet earlier that eve. The teens were doing their best to entice them with lures. Todd and I, carrying fly rods rigged with either a mouse pattern fly or beads and flesh fly, found the grayling and dollys so voracious that we were getting multiple (as many as 7) hits on each cast. After catching a handful, I let Megan take over my rig for a while. It only took her a couple casts before she hooked up a good sized grayling on a flesh fly. The only thing more fun that seeing her face as she landed her first fish caught on a fly was the squeal that she let fly in surprise as the grayling crested the surface of the barely visible stream to take the fly she had skipping across the surface. Her smile spoke volumes as I snapped a quick picture in the near complete darkness.
Monday 7/21
We made our way back to camp to crash around 2:00am. It was a cold night but we had to rise in time to make it down to our next planned campsite nearly 16 more miles downriver. We didn’t rise as early as we’d liked but still made it up to eat a great breakfast of dollys, bacon, eggs and hot chocolate. We pushed off closer to 1:00pm than noon. Fortunately we didn’t have nearly as many miles to make on Monday so we were happy. We also anticipated getting into the salmon because we were down river far enough for the river to start to braid into splits where the Salmon spawn. Unfortunately, our fears of late arriving salmon held true. The holes where we found dozens of kings years earlier were either empty or only held one or two kings. Never the less, Benson and others did hook into multiple salmon as we made our way down river.
We had covered nearly the entire planned stretch of river stopping a mere handful of times testing the different holes for the kings we had expected to find. we found some success but remained disappointed with the fishing as we closed in on our anticipated destination. I was personally glad to approach our destination and I was feeling pretty tired from the late previous night and long day of rowing. All of the sudden a noise from the trees mere yards away racked me from the doldrums so fast that I was too startled to move. A large brown boar came bursting through the trees in what appeared as a bluster to frighten off whatever he had heard. I surmised this later because the wind had shifted up stream and had the bear smelled us he should have headed away from us instead of toward us. Even with his poor eyesight, and moderate hearing he finally recognized us and bolted away. I suspect the sight of the large raft moving and the three of us hollering convinced him that he’d rather avoid us than confront us. I was none too relieved.
Megan and Steve were on my boat and while we were not likely in significant danger with the deep portion of the river between us and the bear it was still a HUGE wakeup call as to how close those tremendous animals were on a regular basis. In fact our planned campsite was a mere hundred yards from where we saw the bear. A couple of the kids asked if we really wanted to camp where we had just seen a bear, and we told them that it was likely that bear were regularly just as close as that bear had been we just didn’t see most of them. As we pulled off to and setup camp we had pretty raw nerves and shotguns at the ready. We made a quick fire to ensure any wildlife would recognize us from a distance and hopefully avoid us.
This campsite was where we had hoped to find the best trout fishing stretch of the entire trip. In years past this braid the stream that held so many trout, dollies and grayling that we could catch 10-20 fish on a fly rod every 30-40 feet of water. It wasn’t too late after dinner to test but with the bear scare we weren’t inclined to cover the close quarters at dusk. The stretch would have to wait till next morning.
Tuesday 7/22
Steve, Todd and I all awoke near the same time. The kids slept in because they were unaware of the potential blue ribbon fishing. I rousted Megan so I would have someone with me to carry the shotgun and watch for bears as I fished. I was more than anxious to test the water. As I neared the channel, things didn’t look good. Last year, 2007, the river was VERY high with running water reaching edge to edge of the small river channel that in years before were ten to fifteen feet of dry river bed. This year was staggering. The river not only reached both banks it looked as though it ran 1-2 feet up the bank. Sure enough as I entered the stream the water was fast and deep. There were a few Dog (Chum) salmon here and there but the trout and dollys were few and far between. I did catch one trout over a 100yard stretch, but compared with the 40-50 we caught in the same stretch years before we were terribly disappointed.
Todd and Steve made a run up a nearby channel and reported similar results. We headed back to camp terribly disappointed. With the incredible mileage accumulated from the previous three days, we were a little slow to wrap everything up at camp. In fact just as we finished breakfast the rain started and got so bad that we all piled back into the tents. We played cards and napped until late in the afternoon.
It was just before 5:00pm that we pushed off to find better fishing downstream. Fortunately, we didn’t have to go too far. We covered just under 4 miles before stopping at a well used campsite. We stop the boats and with three casts of 3 different fly rods we had 3 large fish. Steve and Megan continued toward the confluence near the end of the strip of land and with salmon rigs hooked up on two very large female kings. Needless to say we decided to camp. That evening we fished hard, even rowed the boats across the stream to fish up a braid that headed up stream. The trout, dolly and grayling fishing was better than average but the King fishing pretty much shut down after the two that were caught by Steve and Megan. Brad was none too pleased as he spent more than an hour trying to entice the HUGE kings that would porpoise every five minutes or so just to taunt him.
We did get a couple trip firsts in this campsite. Todd landed the first Pink Salmon of the trip (Humpy). Pink (Humpy) salmon, rather small, usually only return every other year to spawn. Megan landed a fish that we have yet to definitively identify. In my 6 years of fishing the area I’ve never seen one caught in the Kuskokwim drainage area though I’m almost 100% certain it is the same species we in Idaho know as the “Pikeminnow“ or “Squawfish”.
Given the problem that the Pikeminnow has caused here in Idaho I called Tammy Davis the Invasive Species Project Leader for the State of Alaska and forwarded the picture I of it along with the coordinates of the catch. She confirmed that the species is a troublesome species in some areas of the sate and given its relative rarity she was glad we didn’t release it.
Wed 7/23
This time early Wed morn we woke to beautiful weather. It was the first time we actually got a clear sky and sunshine. We were very pleased. Todd and Steve used the raft to cross the main channel and spent a couple more hours fishing up a braid across the river from where we were camped. Steve actually landed a COUPLE good sized king on his 7 weight fly rod and both scored a bunch of Beautiful rainbows. We at the camp took turns landing bows along the shore while Brad kept after those large kings in the deep hole. We had a late breakfast and then prepared to pack up only to be threatened by an ominous cloud that threatened to ruin our beautiful weather. We had just buttoned up the camp and loaded most of it into the boats when the downburst came. It was HEAVY rain accompanied by hail. The good news was that it cleared almost as quickly as it arrived leaving us with a beautiful clear afternoon sky as we pushed the 3⁄4 of a mile down to Crazy Todd.
That entire morning I was anxious to make it down to another small stream we’ve lovingly dubbed “Crazy Todd”. It was only about 1 mile downstream from where we were camped. It was there a couple years ago, in 2006, when Todd and I waded across the main portion of the stream to find a very small channel of water that looked very promising for fly fishing (Flesh Flies and Beads). Todd and I tested the water near where the channel broke from the main fork of the river, and sure enough we hooked up several times. When the others in the group determined it was time to push on, Todd was more interested in exploring a little more of this channel. He said, “Why don’t you guys just row down the main channel and I’ll fish this braid, until it re-joins the main channel where you can pick me up.” While that may sound perfectly logical to someone in a familiar local, in the remote wilderness of Alaska this was truly “Crazy”. Even Matt Christensen, someone who is almost as “crazy” for fishing, questioned, “Is he SERIOUS?!?” Needless to say we insisted that Todd re-join us on the rafts. And I marked the location on the gps with the label “CRAZYTOD” (the gps lables only allow 8 chars).
In 2007 I stopped at the same location with Matt and he and I were the first of our group to actually fish down the channel. We covered about 1⁄4 of a mile where the fishing got better and better until, at the requests of the rest of the group over the radios, we hiked back to the raft and rowed down to meet them. We camped that year within walking distance of the stream but none were able to get through the heavy cover to fish the braid where Matt and I had found such amazing success.
On this year’s trip (2008) at the “Crazy Todd” split from the main stream there was dead fall wood which blocked most of the water from entering the channel. Without the beaver dam affect of the deadfall the channel would have been as swollen as the other channels that disappointed us up stream. My hopes were building. Todd and Steve took the initial channel. I knew from earlier years that the upper splits would not have as many fish as the combined channel about 150 yards below. So, Benson and quickly I leap fogged down the channel until we got to what should have been the best fishing. We were NOT disappointed. Perhaps the fish were concentrated because all the other channels were swollen or maybe it was the weather, either way it was even better than I had experienced in the years preceding. We caught dozens of fish in a matter of 50-60 yards of stream. From viewing satellite imagery while prepping for the trip, I knew we had as much as 1⁄2 mile of similar stream below us. Because it was getting late, we made our way back to the rafts. Steve and Todd were not convinced we should stay because they barely touched the portion of stream where the fishing was best. Fortunately, after a bit of convincing they agreed to spend the night at a campsite just below Crazy Todd.
We made camp and had steaks for dinner. It was great. Steve elected not to head back out to the river so Todd took Brad and I took Megan and Benson back to the stream. We barely covered another 100 yards of stream than we’d fished early, and everyone caught their fill. We fished until we could barely see, and then started back to camp.
Thursday 7/24
The next morning Steve and Todd took off before breakfast to try their luck, after covering only a short distance more than we had the night before they were so inundated by fish that they had to stop and lie down because their muscles were so spent from landing fish. I think it was Steve who said, “You’re only limited by how many you want to catch!” The fishing was that good. The trout, dollies and grayling were all biting voraciously. They took beads, flesh flies, and mouse flies (my personal favorite). Meanwhile back at camp Benson, Megan, Brad and I made and ate breakfast and headed out to catch our fill. Todd and Steve radioed for provisions (water and snacks) I suppose to build energy so they might be able to keep fishing. But, by the time we got to them they were both completely spent. They had caught their fill and headed back to camp. Benson, Megan and I Fished the remaining 1⁄4 mile down to where we presumed the channel would re-join the main and indeed it did at “Colin’s Corner”. I had fished up the channel from Colin’s Corner the year previous (but stopped after barely covering 50-60 yards). We too were eventually overcome physically and had to make our way back to camp. We regaled and enjoyed the beautiful weather deciding to stay another night at the same site.
After dinner Todd, Steve, Brad and Benson gave Crazy Todd one more run. We’re not sure why but the fishing just stopped. Perhaps it was the break in the weather that gave the fish the light they needed to overfeed on the chum salmon now spawning in full force. Perhaps it was our previous fishing that had turned them off. Whatever the reason the fishing that evening was poor so the boys headed back not followed by Steve and Todd. They joined just before dark and we finished up the day with a couple hands of Hearts.
Friday 7/25
We woke up early because we knew we had some SERIOUS miles to cover in order to make the campsite where we were supposed to be picked up Saturday Morning. We presumed we’d find more Kings but definitely weren’t sure. We packed up and pushed off around noon. Our first major stop was at “Colin’s corner” where I crossed the stream to see if the HUGE bows below the dogs would hit the mouse one last time. To my delight they were more than eager to gobble mice. I would have liked to go further up the stream but knew we had to push on. Todd and I were both atop the coolers trying to entice the large bows while we floated. We both were thrilled that they too were more than eager to take the mouse.
We stopped at several holes along the way where more and more kings started to show. In fact we even found a hole where Megan was able to land a significant Sockeye Salmon (Red Body, Green Head) and Bradley was able to land a Silver salmon (Coho).
As we continued down we separated somewhat from Brad, Steve and Todd who dropped back a few miles behind us. They even found one hole where they sat and caught Kings for about an hour as fish seemed to roll continually into the hole. It looked like we’d finally found the bulk of the King run. We were a little disappointed it was so low in the river, but we were glad to take advantage and fished the bulk of the day for Kings. It was a great way to finish the trip. We stopped briefly at the Kiskofish Fish camp to chat with Bev. It’s always tempting on the last day of the trip to give up the “roughing it” trip for one with a LOT more comfort. But it only takes a day or two to forget the hardships, leaving only the wonderful memories of hard work, good food, great fishing and even better camaraderie. As always I first have to say thanks to Steve who made the trip possible. Each year I stand in sheer awe to see him make at times the grueling trip and remain more upbeat than everyone else in the group. Every time I feel too tired to get out of my sleeping bag I am shamed by the knowledge that Steve is already up and at em. He’s the first one to step up for work and the last one to take credit for anything. He’s such an amazing example I am honored to make the trip with him each year.
I am also thankful for Todd who is the only person I know crazier for fishing than I am. He is one of the most positive men I know and an amazing cook. The real reason why I appreciate Todd on the trip is his lightheartedness. He’s always upbeat, and quick with a joke or a laugh. He lightens any burden and is a joy to be around. This year we were pleased to bring along Bradley Montierth who didn’t have much prior fishing experience. It’s always so fun to watch the thrill in a “newbie’s” expression as they hook into a massive salmon. Bradley certainly fit the bill there. After catching a few at the falls he was rip raring to throw his salmon rig in to any location that might hold a king. He was a pleasure to have along.
I felt especially fortunate this year to bring along my two oldest, Megan and Benson. It was Megan’s first time and was the first time for us to bring a girl. While I had high expectations for Megan, I was blown away by her almost giddy attitude the duration of the trip. Benson, an old hand seemed to gravitate the direction that Todd and I taken away from the Salmon rig to the Fly Fishing pole. I have to say his father was quite proud of that. He was such an amazing help along with Megan and Brad. There was so much back breaking work. we really appreciated their strong arms. I wonder if/when the kids will realize what a confidence and strength a trip like this builds in the character of youth. I know it will serve Benson well as he prepares to head off to BYU this fall, and then on a mission early next year. For me it was a sheer joy to spend the time with them both.
All in all we had a fantastic trip. The weather was very cold and there was a bit of rain but we seemed to prepare better each year with the right gear to meet virtually every need. With the Salmon down low, we were fortunate to be able to know where the great trout fishing was and actually find a couple areas to get our “fill” and then push on at the bottom to eventually find a good population of Kings. We were so blessed to not encounter any major pitfalls and with the exception of one laceration we escaped any major injuries. I guess the only problem with having a great trip even when the weather was cold and the King run was late is that we don’t have any reason to not want to go again next year.... darn!
The Tanner Family.