Multi-experience fishing, rafting, & camping trips with family and friends are a great time to celebrate companionship and to learn wilderness travel skills while fishing for Sockeye, Chum, Grayling, Rainbow, Char, Coho, Pink, &King Salmon.

The family trip or multi-experience is an appropriately "scaled" wilderness trip. I collaborate with the parents or with your group’s travel organizer and we will tailor the experience to your groups abilities, interests & needs. We are very comfortable in our rafts, hiking, or camps and the less experienced will have great support learning the essential wilderness travel skills.

On family or multi-experience trips we raft through incredibly beautiful Bristol Bay Alaska landscapes and spend lots of time observing and photographing wildlife, landscapes, & wildflowers. We tailor our daily schedule by the various wants / needs of all the participants. Some want more hiking, swimming, berry picking, time to read and relax. Others want 14 hours / day non-stop fishing.

Trip Location
One river we enjoy with families is the Upper Nushugak, north of Dillingham, Alaska. The upper Nushugak – or “the Nush”, as it is nicknamed, is one of the world’s richest salmon rivers. The Nush is located 240 miles west of Anchorage and is the spawning river for millions of salmon each summer.

Another great river for Alaskan fly fishing is the King Salmon River, located 100 miles north of Dillingham. The King Salmon headwaters are in the incomparable Wood-Tikchik State Park. The King Salmon is an intimate river with plenty of caribou, moose and other wildlife, clear water, and great sand bars to camp on.

For the most adventuresome groups we offer trips on the South Fork of the Arolik River. The South Fork is 100 miles west of Dillingham and is fished less than 3 times per year! The headwaters of the Arolik river are in the Togiak National Wildlife Refuge.

Trip Timing
The last two weeks in June and the month of July is the best period to do a multi-generation or multi-interest trip for a couple of reasons. The sun is at the seasonal zenith on June 21 meaning 24 hour daylight and the whole of boreal nature is alive with vitality and purpose. The thrushes and warblers sing 24 hours a day, the salmon push up the creeks. Caribou calves are full of silly antics and the weather is warm. It is a time when the Alaskan nature experience has the broadest appeal to all people, younger or older. For fly fishing, any 7 days in this season will give us a great window of time to pursue Sockeye, Chum, Grayling, Rainbow, Char & King Salmon.

Travel to Alaska
The process of planning and accomplishing this Alaska fly fishing trip begins by choosing dates and letting me know how many are in your group. For a family or multi-experience trip, you would fly on regularly scheduled commercial airlines to Dillingham, AK and spend the night at a B&B and then I would handle everything logistically from there. Dillingham is located 340 miles SW of Anchorage in the heart of the world renowned Bristol Bay salmon fishery.

We fly out from Dillingham in a meticulously maintained Dehaviland Beaver floatplane and put our rafts on the best river for the time of season that you are in Alaska. We generally spend 7 days floating about 40 miles of river. You can generally expect to land Rainbows, Char, Salmon, and countless Grayling daily. A 7 day trip allows 1-2 "layover days" in camp to soak up the Alaskan environment / hike/ fish / relax.

Alaska’s Best Fly Fishing Experience
I'd love to work with you if you have an interest in this type of experience. That said I'll be forthright that my role is not to be a macho guy who is trying to be anyone’s fish/guide hero. I'm a 55 year old dad this year with kids. I do this because I enjoy sharing truly extraordinary fishing and wilderness rafting with people like you. For more information on fishing opportunities in Alaska see the Alaska Department of Fish and Game web site.

Can you think of a better way to learn how to fly fish? Mark and staff are patient outdoor sports instructors. Mark wrote his Masters in Education thesis on taking young people fishing in Alaska and the subject makes interesting reading. Meals are exceptional & fresh salmon dinners the norm. Corners are not cut and safety is paramount. We camp in superb gear (provided) and time will be allocated to tune-up camp skills or for some to develop new wilderness travel skills. All of the camp, boat, and fishing gear is the best (NorthFace, Patagonia, Aire, Simms, Sage etc. see gear list section).

These fly fishing trips are a great experience for the entire family. I’ll gladly provide references from other satisfied clients. Call me at (877) 628-6796 to discuss.