TOGIAK RIVER, Southwest Alaska
Taking a break to eat a shore lunch and refuel after a morning of fishing.
river July and August, they seem to prefer
calmer water and stack up in huge numbers.
One day we came into a bay and several
hundred pinks blasted away from our boat
and created a giant ripple effect in the water.
It was a primitive, rich, wildlife moment
that is only experienced in the wild. When
chrome and bright, pinks are great fun and
our boys crushed them. Add in some sneaky,
huge trophy rainbows, hoards of sea-r un
Dolly Varden, plus an outside chance of
Arctic grayling and Northern pike and it’s a
full-house of fishing opportunities that make
a week in Alaska seem like it’s just not long
enough to cover all your options.
As the days rolled by the fish count
soared and every boat returned with the
father and son teams giving ratings from
“awesome” to “epic”. In the evening before
dinner Brad would stand at a board and
discuss which guide was going with which
guests and where each group was going to
fish. We had a lot of fishing choices and the
anticipation was palpable. One day, Ken’s
son Max landed a bright 21-inch Dolly on
a Tenkara rod, a delicate Japanese style fly
rod about 13-feet long that doesn’t have a
reel. It’s definitely a different way to fish.
You end up dancing with your prey rather
than trying to overpower it. The next day
was Max’s 13th birthday; he landed a king
salmon on the fly with his spey rod. He was
one happy teenager! And yet another day
my son Tate managed to hook and land a
45-plus-pound king fishing conventional.
Ten-year-old Brody caught seven of the nine
species by himself, including a few Arctic
grayling in the upper tributaries. We were
all living the dream. We had numbers, we
had size and best of all the fish variety was
beyond comprehension. But still, we were
missing the elusive sockeye and silver hook
up. Knowing that Bristol Bay is home to the
world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery, we
were pretty certain someone would eventu-
ally catch one.
On day three, we all stopped for a “shore
lunch” which turned out to be more of a
feast with Brad manning huge woks filled
with fried salmon, Asian fried rice and other
delectable goodies. Guides and guests gath-
ered on a smooth gravel area on the river
lined with bright red common fireweed
and cottonwood trees. After the feast it was
one of those moments where you stop and
look around at your friends and family. The
boys looked older, more mature somehow.
Perhaps in just three days they were starting
to come of age? Nah!
The beauty of the Togiak River Fish-
ing Adventure’s camp is if you haven’t had
enough fishing during the day you can take
a short hike on either side of the island and
likely catch numerous fish. So that became
a nightly ritual, even though we had already
fished a full nine hours. One night I took
a walk in my sneakers and managed, with
patience and 12-pound leader, to land a
14-pound chum on a 3 weight.
Another night, just before dinner, Ken
went out to the main stem side of the island
and hooked a massive trout that kicked his
butt and broke him off while he was in his
backing. The fishing opportunities were nu-
merous and productive. If you’re a hard-core
fisherperson, this is heaven on earth.
The TRFA lodge not only had some of
the best food I’ve ever consumed at the fish
camp (sumptuous smoked turkey, smoked
flank steak and tasty grilled halibut) but also
featured a cozy lounge with a good TV and
a great selection of movies. We played card
games most nights, and one night the kids
tied gaudy bright pink flies. Nothing like ty-
ing a fly and then catching fish on your own
traveling angler
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