Probably the best rainbow trout fishing in the world is found around Bristol Bay, Alaska near the head of the Alaska Peninsula. The rainbows exist because of the salmon that return to spawn in the rivers that feed into Bristol; they return by the millions. The rainbows thrive on the eggs, flesh and frey of the salmon. The Kvichak is one of best salmon and rainbow rivers in the region; it flows from Lake Iliamna to Bristol bay, a distance of about 60 miles. The best rainbow fishing is in the "braids" near the head of the river just downstream from the village of Igiugig.
Several members of AlaskaFlyFish.Net traveled to the Kvichak the last week of September 2007 in the pursuit of rainbow trout; I was one of the group. Planning for the trip started in the fall of 2006. The plan called for 4-8 days of fishing, essentially two 4-day windows; I was in the first nine-man group. We stayed at Blueberry lodge, which is situated on an island about 2 miles downstream from Igiugig. The braids are about 2 miles below the lodge.
Our group (nine) flew from Anchorage to Igiugig, a 1.5 hour trip. We departed Merrill Field at daybreak in a Navajo Chieftain, flew south and west across Cook Inlet,and then up through Lake Clark Pass. The Pass is the preferred route to Lake Clark when weather permits. The flight through the pass is up narrow canyons well below the surrounding peaks. Rivers flow through the canyons and we saw several brown bears on the gravel bars and in the water in their search for salmon. There was a lot of turbulence in the the canyons. The weather was overcast and flew through several rain squalls. We flew along the north shore of Lake Clark, over the village of Nondalton and then along the north shore of Lake Iliamna. As we approached the community of Iliamna the plane turned out across the lake toward Igiugig. As we approached Igiugig the plane made a wide, slow turn, I could see the Kvichak, braids to the south and the village on the south side of the river. The plane touched down and we taxied to the terminal where we were greeted by the owner of Blueberry Lodge and another member of our group that had flown in the day before in his private plane. It was raining when we climbed out of the plane.
Our gear was unloaded from the plane and placed in a waiting pickup truck. The group walked from the airstrip to the river where the gear was loaded in waiting boats for the 20-minute trip downstream to Blueberry Lodge. We unloaded the boats, picked our rooms and started getting ready for the afternoons fishing; the rain continued. The lodge owner lodge gave us a brief orientation, showed us the braids on an aerial photo and discussed what flies were working for the rainbows; beads had been working earlier but flesh flies were starting to be more productive. After a hurried lunch we were anxious to get on the river.
We used three boats with three to boat; this allowed two of us to fish while one rowed when we drifted. The boats raced downstream one behind the other; I fished with John and Mike. The water is crystal clear with a bottom predominantly of gravel, cobbles and some sand. As we approached the braids the boats split up in different channels of the river. It was over cast and raining when we started our first drift. We all started by dead drifting beads, a 6-8mm bead held in place about 2 inches above an egg hook, then a couple of split shoot about 18 inches above that and finally a strike indicator near the top of the leader. These rainbows are not leader shy and so 8-13 pound tippets are commonly used. We made a couple of drifts around the top of an island to a spot where there was a steep drop off. We picked up a couple of greyling but no rainbows.
From there we moved to a narrow channel between the island and the main bank of the river and waded several pools as we worked our way downstream. Toward the bottom of the channel where it re-entered one of the main channels we connected with several nice rainbows. These fish hit hard and fought hard. One of the their tactics was to race downstream and then do a 180 and come back at you jumping. During the next few days several nice rainbows gained their freedom that way!
After the hole quieted down we moved back toward the top of the braids and the main channel of the river and started a drift. The sky remained dark and threatening The river was 6-8 feet deep with a fairly strong current. We hadn't gone far when John hooked into a good fish and Mike eased the boat toward the bank so that John could get out to fight it. The rainbow took John almost into his backing, using the current to it's advantage. Slowly John worked the fish into shallower water and Mike was able to get the net under it. John definitely had the hot hand on day one!
We climbed back into the boat and continued our drift downstream. This was a day of exploration and learning the river. In the remaining hours several more rainbows were landed and we felt pretty positive about our prospects for the next few days. We only saw a couple of other boats that afternoon; this late in the season, the few lodges in the area are in the process of closing and so we had the river pretty much to ourselves. That evening at Blueberry Lodge we learned that that two 29-inch rainbow had been landed by an individual in one of the other boats.
Over the course of the next several days the weather was cold, clear, windy, rainy, sometimes all in one day. Rainbows were taken on beads, flesh flies, leaches, sculpins and streamers. The biggest rainbows included a 31, 2-29s and 28 inch fish. Numerous fish were landed between 25 and 27 inches. Pound for pound these are the hardest fighting freshwater fish I have ever caught. The following is a photo montage from the trip, it enjoy it:
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