An Alaska Adventure--Thursday: Kvichak River (and bears)

The four of us flew in the Beaver along with guides Ryan and Jose to seek large rainbows on the Kvichak River, which flows out of Iliama Lake (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iliamna_Lake) the third largest lake entirely in the United States—77 miles long and 22 miles wide.  The Kvichak can be challenging fishing and it has been in the past for Rob and Rick, though Tom has enjoyed success here and loves the stream.

On the flight to Kvichak River

We found our first rainbow just as the sun was rising above the distant mountains and it was the best fish Rob has ever caught on the Kvichak, a 27” rocket.  The Kvichak fish are strong and run in unpredictable and crazy directions at times.  With guide Ryan’s careful boat handling, we were able to successfully put this one in the net, measure in the fish box, snap a quick photo, and release him to return to his river home. 

Rob's best rainbow ever on the Kvichak River

            

After searching in vain for another fish in various locations, we ran upstream to where the Kvichak begins, flowing out of Iliama Lake.  Ryan had changed Rick to a flesh fly and on our first pass Rick had a smashing strike on the fly that simply snapped the line—no chance to fight or see that beast—disappointment reigns in our boat now.

We did see a bear on the shore in the village at the lake outlet.  It seems that those bruins are everywhere!

          

In our last run of the day, we finally found another nice rainbow.  The indicator dove down and line peeled off the fly reel until it was well into the backing.  Once it was well upstream, the fish turned and ran right back at the boat—a Kvichak trip repeated by many of the larger rainbows here.  Ryan yelled, “Strip in the line!  Strip it in!”

Rob discovered that stripping in backing is much different than stripping in line.  You can’t grab it with the hand and pull it in, it requires pressing the backing with fingertips to feel it, get a grip and get it in.  Stripping in the backing and then the majority of the flyline left and jumbled mess at Rob’s feet.  Rick saw a quick and ugly end to this fish fight if that situation didn’t change and he disentangled and reeled the line into the reel as Rob maintained tension on the fish, hoping the fish didn’t make another screaming run before the line was in and it could be played on the reel. 

Just as the last of the line was almost into the reel, the fish made another run and out went the line rapidly, but the hookset held.  After another several shorter runs, the fish was finally netted by Ryan. It measured 24” in the box.  Another quick photo, words of thanks to the fish, and it was released.

           

Lots of casting for a handful of fish. But we did find a nice one and Rob, at least, headed home satisfied to a wonderful dinner.

An Alaska Adventure-Wednesday: Kulik Kraziness (and bears)

Rob, Rick, Tom, and Shan flew in a De Havilland DH-2 Beaver float plane https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Canada_DHC-2_Beaver  to the Kulik River—a delightful one-mile long stream between two lakes that is full of spawning sockeye salmon and an abundance of rainbow trout.  Our guides for the day were Alexia and Kvichak (got to love a guide whose parents named him after an incredible fishing river in the area) and while we had lots of company, we did have many willing fish available to us. 

Rambunctious rainbows for all the Merrill boys

           

We found ourselves sharing the river from time to time with the bears; starting to seem like the theme for our stay this year at Bear Trail Lodge.  But, as always, they were “good bears” and didn’t interfere with our fishing or do much more than make us a little more wary.

Beginning to think there's a reason it's named "Bear Trail Lodge"

           

After he got tired of catching rainbows with a bead, Shan changed to a mouse pattern and fished it dry.  The rainbows seemed much more excited to get a bigger mouthful than a simple egg and so were quite aggressive in attacking the mouse (fly).  Tom joined in the fun.  Rob and Rick just kept fishing with the bead (boring).

Shan with the skating mouse pattern

Tom--we're supposed to catch the ones with a little red on their sides, not the ones that are all red!

           After our plethora of piscine pleasure, it was time to meet the plane at the lower lake and head back to the lodge for another wonderful dinner.  Of course, there was fishing at the river below the lodge, and Shan once again proved he is at one with the fish and landed another coho.

An Alaska Adventure--Tuesday (Part II): The Bears of American Creek

Rick and Tom flew with Jose to American Creek for a chance at some big rainbows and arctic char and, of course, lots of grizzly bears.  American Creek had been an astounding fishery, but it hadn’t had nearly as many rainbows in recent years.  Our last visit we caught mostly char and no size at all (which in Alaska means a Washington trophy). However, this year had reportedly seen an increase in rainbows and in size, so it was with eagerness that they returned.

As the float plane approached and landed on the small river, it was hard to tell if the river was muddy in the orange light filtering through the early morning clouds. The edges looked clear, while the middle looked off color. We found both to be true. In the slower water near the lake where the plane landed, the water at the edge was clear for a few feet but became off color in the middle where the current was flowing. The plane had left, so we were stuck here for the day to make the best of it.

We ran upriver about as far as you could go with the small outboard, noting with concern the limited visibility of about 12 to 18 inches and the significantly higher water level from Jose’s last visit. We passed a half dozen brown bears on the way up, a regular occurrence on this river, but were all by ourselves where we stopped. There were dead sockeye everywhere, layered a foot deep in the back waters and hundreds of eggs swirling on the bottom in the eddies. 

It's this food source that helps these fish get so big. Although the visibility wasn’t great, we were hopeful, as the stream wasn’t completely blown. That hope was quickly rewarded when Tom, after missing one in the hole upstream, hooked into a good fish just above the root ball of a fallen tree and a mess of woody debris. With Tom’s mad skills and the assistance of Jose, this 28-inch rainbow was netted, a great start to the day!

Keeping it out of the root wad!

Rainbow reward

 However, the great start didn’t continue as much as we would have liked. We hiked and fished about a mile upriver, and ran into a few fish (Rick had a 26-incher to the net and a smaller one in the net), a moose, and a bear (safely downriver). It wasn’t until we turned around a came back to where we started that things got interesting.

Rick's rainbow

Meandering moose

Biting bear

Tom quickly caught another nice rainbow,   then hooked and landed a char that had seriously been pigging out!   Rick finally got the right drift where Tom and picked up his last rainbow and got this nice ‘bow and three others in quick succession.

Things slowed down in the honey hole, so Rick moved downstream to a nice run we hadn’t yet fished. He returned to the boat after breaking off to get a new bead from Jose, then headed back down. While looking for rainbows behind the sockeye still spawning, he heard a big splash and looked to the right to see the hind end of a huge bear that had just climbed up on the grassy bank about 30 to 40 ft away. Rick retreated upriver (not running, and surprisingly without his heart racing at all) as the bear carefully watched him from the bank. Rick stopped a “safe” distance away on the other side of the river and got out his camera while the bear climbed back in and continued fishing, still turning occasionally to keep his eye on Rick. What an amazing sight!

Zoom in to see where the eyes are looking.

Based on the size of the fish, American Creek is back. It was a good day, and if the water had been clear, was almost certain to have been epic.

After we all returned home, we once again were casting for coho in the river below the lodge. Shan was the only one to connect and he was much more careful in where he put the salmon after he bonked them.  “The river giveth and the river taketh away.”  We then headed to the lodge for a wonderful dinner.