MRO Chronicle #6: The Chosen River
This chronicle is a diary entry from our good friend Hal Goodrich who joined us on the 2005 float trip with Dave Duncan and Sons. Thanks to Hal for allowing us to post it here!
Alaska – July 1-10, 2005- “The Chosen River”
What a great trip! Yes, it started out pretty bad, but sure did end up great!
Mike Ross & I left from Columbus on Friday morning at 9 am…America West screwed up on the connections and we didn’t get to Anchorage until 1 am without bags! Went back to the airport at 8 am Sat & still no bags! Flew to Dillingham at 10 am and arrived at Freshwater Adventures, our bush pilots about noon. Waited there until 9 PM and still no bags! Went into town and bought cloths, sleeping bags, and other necessities. Really bummed!!! Flew out on a 1941 Grumman Goose & arrived at 10 pm to meet all the guys. The flight though the mountains on the Goose was definitely the most thrilling and memorable I’ve ever experienced. Landed on the lake in the wilderness and met the rest of the crew in the already set up camp. Had a great prime rib dinner and got lots of sympathy from all. Borrowed waders and rain gear from the guides.
The bags arrived on Monday night, 2 days later. We were overjoyed to finally get all the flies that we’d tied for the trip….an estimated 100 hours labor of love! Boy were we happy campers! The Duncan’s went out of their way to have the bags flown in and transited upriver by boat.
The rest of the trip I’ll summarize by categories:
CAMP
Each day the staff took down & then set camp, taking about 45 minutes each time. We had 2 man sleeping tents, kitchen & dining tent, privy tent, and shower tent. Also had screened gazebo for relaxation.
STAFF
The staff included four guys, all in early to mid 20’s. Eric Duncan, head guide & chef exrtaordinare, grandson of the founder, Dave Duncan. Nate..(“eight weight”)…from Utah. He was hilarious and always a laugh a minute. Stupid jokes were his specialty. Nate (“four weight”)…from central Washington and a real athlete and good angler. Very quiet and soft-spoken. Landon…all American looking guy and also from Utah. A very dry sense of humor. Very knowledgeable and enthusiastic angler.
FISHING
The first 2 days were primarily dry fly fishing for grayling and rainbows. Grayling were a ton of fun and rose eagerly. The “mousing” for the rainbows was slow, but the bows took anything pink and subsurface. Caught a fat 23” bow on the third day that was picture quality. By the third day we were picking and choosing between bows or salmon. We switched to7 or 8 wt rods & went subsurface with anything pink. At lunch on day three I caught or hooked 7 chum salmon…almost every cast resulted in a hook up. They were very strong and a ball to fight. Learned a lot from Nate on how to fight them….not like a trout!! The salmon runs were unbelievable… millions marching up river, everywhere you looked. Our catches were primarily sockeye & chum salmon. The kings were not eating anything so no success on them. We averaged 9 or 10 salmon a day and a few rainbow. It is hard to over exaggerate the tough fight the chum give you, and the first long run the sockeye give you. Can’t imagine what the average 35 lb king would be like.
Overall, fishing was excellent and as good as I had hoped.
WEATHER
We had a delightful week with temp average in the high range from 65 to 75 degrees. It rained first three days from 5 pm to 6 pm. Last three days no rain. Night temps were from 45 to 50 degrees. Some nights it was too warm for my sleeping bag. Sun was still bright when we bedded at 10:30 or 11. Never got dark but had no problem sleeping. We were out like a light within minutes!
FELLOW FISHERMEN
We had a great bunch of guys. My buddy Mike accompanied me and was my tent mate. Two new friends from Columbus were great guys….Todd & A J. A J was primarily a spin fisherman, but after two days he became an accomplished fly rodder and had a ball. One father-son combo from Chicago, Mike and Cody were great to get to know. Their old buddy Jeff from Anchorage brought his son Oliver too. The boys were each 14 years old and fun to observe as they developed their fly-fishing skills.
SUMMARY
The Duncan family & their staff are extremely “service oriented”. The four staff guides work their butts off and do anything to go out of their way to satisfy your every need. I’d describe the experience as primitive-luxury camping. I ‘do this in a heartbeat again and hope the opportunity arises again. I cannot thank my wife Beth, my bride of 32 years, enough for this unforgettable Christmas gift!
FLIES THAT WERE SUCESSFUL
Humpies, wulffs & caddis – grayling
purple egg sucking leaches – rainbows & chum salmon
starlight leeches – salmon
mouse - limited success on rainbows
flesh flies – rainbows (tan, pink, white)
purple bunny leach – salmon
Teeny nymphs – pink!!! and green and white - salmon
TACKLE
Floating Line – 8 lb test for grayling and bows
Full sinking teeny 300- 25 lb test, 3 ft leader, no split shot - for salmon
Mini sink tip (10 ft) – 3 ft, 25 lb test leader – salmon
Floating – 3 ft, 25 lb test leader – add 2- # 7 split shot weights – salmon in shallow water
The one mistake we made in tackle was in not taking enough big split shot! Take lots and lots of #7 shot.
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Mad River Outfitters- Your Online Resource for Fly Fishing in Alaska!
Booking agent and Outfitter for Dave Duncan and Sons and others
614-451-0363 888-451-0363 toll-free
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