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- Mike Sanders, Alaska West.
United States, Alaska - Condition of Equipment:
Excellent - Quality of Accommodation:
Excellent - Quality of Food:
Excellent - General Fishing Knowledge:
Excellent - Quality of Service:
Excellent - Highlights of the Trip:
Our two teenage sons and I had the privilege of fishing at Alaska West two years ago, for our first experience with salmon. That year my wife was unable to come due to hip surgery. This year she insisted on coming after hearing all the stories and seeing the pictures from the two years before. Our sons could hardly wait to watch her catch a silver salmon. She and they weren't disappointed. My wife is an experienced and more than competent trout fisherman, but a 15 pound silver jumping in front of her was a totally new and more than fun experience. She had a blast each and every day. She fished dawn to dusk each day, slept and arose the next day excited to see where we were headed that day. Alaska fishing is wonderful, but if you want to make it more than memorable,take someone special with you. With two kids in college and a third soon to be there, it may be a number of years before we get back there, but I will never forget this trip with my wife and two sons. A day doesn't go by without my thinking of something which occured and smiling. The Kanektok is an extraordinary river. It is literally full of fish. The entire river is composed of nothing but gravel; no boulders no large rocks. This not only makes it easier to wade, it also makes the entire river one big spawning bed. There is gravel in riffles, in shallow water, in deep water, in big current, in small current, next to the bank, on the opposite gravel bar, it is everywhere. Consequently, there are salmon spawning every conceivable place. This has to be one of the factors behind the river's annual large population of salmon. One doesn't have to look for fish in the Kanektok. Just head up the river, find a spot which looks pretty or even just different from your last spot and the fish will be there. They are everywhere. We saw bears fishing in the river on two different occasions. They are bear track and wolf track on every gravel bar. They usually hear the boat and are back in the bushes by the time you go around the corner. Stay in one spot for a while, however, and they will have forgotten and you may have one come out beside you. The upper river with all its channels is a highlight as well. The channels are so numerous that one may have to bushwhack through the underbrush as one follows the channel, but sometimes sooner sometimes later it will break out into gravel bars and open area and lo and behold you have salmon and rainbows which may not have been fished for all year. The camp is not a fancy lodge building, but rather a tent lodge situation. It is however, far from camping. Each tent is large enough for two beds, large enough to stand up, has a place to hang clothes, a propane heater, a small bedstand for personal gear and a carpet on the floor between the beds. It was more than comfortable. They have a great new shower building with plenty of hot water and a dining tent to facilitate not only the great food from the chef, Robert, but socializing with your fellow anglers. Our oldest son, is allergic to beef, eggs and dairy products, but Robert had no diffulty improviding my son with not only great food he could eat but plenty of it. One evening in particular the dessert of the evening was a super tasty and moist cake, which obviously contained ingredients which would not work for my son. They brought him out a huge bowl of peach and pear halves covered in non dairy chocolate syrup. Everyone at our table looked at that, raised their hands and said "I'm allergic, I need some of that." Alaska West is truly a fishing focused location. Not only were we fishing from 8 am to 6 pm each day, but one could catch silvers, grayling, rainbows and dollies right in front of camp. One could fish until 1130 pm if one chose. Interestingly, the first evening at least half the camp was fishing after dinner. The 2nd night a handful. By the third night only our two boys were out and by the fourth night they too said "Dad, we're not fishing tonight we're heading for the tent." The g - Would you recommend this trip to a friend?:
Yes