Quick Link: do it myself cut the bullshit
The Page for Alaskan Do It Your Self Float
Fishing Trips
Dedicated to Howie Nan Ness, owner of the Alaska Fly shop, and author
David James Duncan who abhors the prospect of paying money to a guide.
"My reservations about the average fly fishing guide are a lot
like my reservations about the average spiritual guru."…"
David James Duncan*
From my experience all guides are Do It Your-Selfers at heart; We do
what we do because it’s the "Doing" we love. And when
you hire one of us in a sense our "doing" (the myriad logistic
actions) deprives you of what you could be experiencing.
Again from Duncan; "The average guide mediates so relentlessly
between you and your fishing that it feels as if you and the river are
divorcing and trying to split up the property."…
So lets give credit to all of you & us who do manage to put Alaskan
river trips together! We wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.
Let’s get down to the nuts & bolts of Your trip after one more
nasty swipe at guides from Duncan followed by the DIY’er comment
that, alone is worth the price of his book which is highlighted, (my
emphasis added)
"Before hiring your next indispensable guide, ask yourself this:
How many guides shell out for an "indispensable guide" when
they go fishing?…We are a nation plagued with self-appointed experts,
pundits, middle-persons. Away with them. Dare to be the bumbling hero
of your own story…Find the best possible river on the best possible
map; read about it; explore it; stick your body in it…If you
fall in get out…Make mistakes! It doesn’t matter! Make a half
drowned half thrashed rat of yourself. Forgive yourself. Regroup…And
at the end of the day, pay yourself. For the full text read chapter
16.
We could close out the whole DIY’er web page with just one more
bit of wisdom; this time from me to you. Find the best possible week,
the peak of the run, for the best possible river. Be there then.
Not withstanding Ram Daas advice to "be here now"!
I’ll help your / our DIY’er cause
with 4 specific suggestions.
1: Bypass the Kenai Peninsula and all of interior Alaska if you are
serious about great fishing on great wilderness rivers. If you need
more background email me I’ll explain.
2: Find the best damn pilot for the region you are interested in and
don’t fly with anybody else! Every flying service in Alaska is
after your business and you shouldn’t give it to about 2/3 of them.
You only can afford to trust your life to the best. If you need more
background email me I’ll explain.
3: If you feel constrained by budget, and who doesn’t, think carefully
about what you might want to trade off to save money. The quality of
the fishing, or the wilderness character of the river, or the gear you
are tempted to purchase that you might not need? You are coming a long
way for wilderness fishing. Get it right but don’t go overboard.
Consult with HowieVan Ness about flies to bring for your week on that
particular river. (907) 456-3010. He won’t steer you toward a sale
if you can tie it yourself.
#4 NO BS:
If you want to [do it my self cut the bullshit] and you
can’t bear any more discussion; Then here is the name and contact
of the best air service serving Bristol Bay North and west from Dillingham,
Alaska to the Rivers: Kanektok — Kisarolik- Togiak —Goodnews-
Tikchik Lakes- Nushugak etc. Rick Grant, owner of Tikchik AirVentures
is the most experienced and trusted pilot in the country. He has been
putting folks on good fishing for more than 30 years — safely —
in all the weather that Alaska can dish out! (907) 842-5841. I am not
affiliated with Rick I just know quality when I see it, having flown
with hundreds of bush pilots since 1972. I put my life on board his
aircraft many times each year. I pay the charter bill just as you would.
It’s the best money you’ll spend.
www.tikchikairventures.com
For Bristol Bay South my recommendation is Trail Ridge Air http://www.trailridgeair.com/
5: Plan to travel 5-8 miles per day. Fishing from an actively rowed
raft and getting out & wading the gravel bars averages 1 mile per
hour. I actually do look forward to seeing you out there! If you recognize
my rafts or me by all means say "Hi" and swap some fly patterns
with me. Please don’t kill any rainbows. The 22-inch fish are 15
years old!
6: Arguably the most important point. Please burn all your toilet paper.
The animals dig up the latrines. Everything except the toilet paper
degrades pretty fast. But the sight of toilet paper in the willow bushes
behind camps ruins the whole experience! Please leave no trace of your
passage in all respects.
7: A GPS is a terrific investment. I use a Garmin 76CSx. Color screens
are better. Your pilot can give you the coordinates of the "Pick
up Point" for the floatplane. You can download the maps of the river
you are floating and monitor your progress etc. You also want the proper
USGS 1:64,000 series 1:inch / mile maps for your trip. http://mapping.usgs.gov/
8: Keep group size small and travel really light. You will have more
fun! An overloaded raft is a dog to row, which means it’s tough to
position in the channel for fishing, and dangerous. Even the simple Class
I & II rivers with much of the Alaska’s best fishing kill a few
rafters each year. Don’t be one. Be maneuverable, anticipate, keep
away from the sweepers, and tie your boat up at night!
9: For planning purposes figure your useful load of a Cessna 185 floatplane
is 650 pounds (Your bodies & your gear). Perfect for 2 Guys traveling
light who can go places those larger groups can’t get. You can expect
to pay $550 / hour for the Cessna and $750 / hour for the beaver. So if
it’ll take the Cessna 1 hour to get you out then you pay for 2 hours
so the pilot can return home. An hour of flight time (at 100 knots) will
get you to some damn fine rivers in the Bristol Bay…Doing the math
for 2 guys dropped off and picked up and it’ll average $1,500-3,000.
for the round trip. This floatplane charter is where you want to allocate
your precious $$. Your pilot is going to put you into the river /
fishing that is worth traveling all this way for.
10: The Beaver floatplane: useful load is 1200 pounds (Your bodies
& your gear). 3 guys / gear with one raft is a normal load (or 4
skinny people who have carefully pre-weighed their load — at home).
A Beaver load of 4 is tough to get outfitted at less than 1200#. Let
me know your secrets if you can accomplish it and I’ll share mine.
Okay what about the Granddaddies of all float planes the Grumman Goose
and Dehaviland Otter. They are heavy lifters. My opinion — what
you are paying me for, (not); If you need this big plane you are
too big a group and hauling too much crap. The big Goose can sure
haul a load! But you won’t get off the beaten path with it because
it requires a deep landing lake, which limits the cool little ponds
you could be flying to. Remember what you are looking for is David James
Duncan’s to "Find the best possible river on the best possible
map." Hint I can only think of a handful of great / uncrowded
rivers that a Goose can take you to. Shop for a pilot who drives a Dehaviland
beaver and has survived in the business for a couple of decades.
11: Learn something about bears don’t simply fear them.
http://www.absc.usgs.gov/research/brownbears/pepperspray/pepperspray.htm
http://www.absc.usgs.gov/research/brownbears/attacks/bear-human_conflicts.htm
* From: "In praise of no guide",
Chapter 16, David James Duncan, My story as told by water. 2001
Sierra Club Books. San Francisco
Listen to Mark Rutherfod interview on "Dirtbag Diaries" with Fitz Cahall