http://www.katmai.com/

Angling Publications - Index

Angling Publications - april2008 - Index

CRISPIN BATTLES PHOTOS
Fishing out of Katmai Lodge necessarily involves
a boat ride—a boat ride unlike anything you’ve
experienced before. The run upriver on the Alagnak
can be as short as ten minutes or as long as an
hour, but you’ll enjoy every minute of it.
Your guides will help you with flies, but the bottom line
is this: bunny leeches, hair mice, and caddis for rainbows in
June; big, heavily weighted krystal buggers with full marabou
tails in purple, pink and orange for any salmon any time; attractor
dries for grayling; and egg patterns all summer (add
flesh flies in September) for rainbows and char.
Speaking of guides, the Katmai Lodge guide staff is as
good or better than you’ll find anywhere. If our experience
last June was any indication, new Katmai guides get more
training than brain surgeons. For four anglers we had two “senior”
guides—all of 25 years old, but with five or six years of
Alagnak experience—plus at least one (and sometimes two)
guides in training. Not surprisingly, the new guys got all the
crappy jobs (like diving for the anchor when it snagged between
rocks) and did most of the heavy lifting, but they were
fast learners. By the end of the week one of them had graduated
to “assistant” guide, and was assigned full time to one
of our guests, Mike Fifer, the CEO of Sturm, Ruger & Co.
Fly-out possibilities at Katmai Lodge are limited only by
your ability to write the check. Prices vary by destination, but
with two or three anglers sharing the tab, the cost is pretty
reasonable and the experience is priceless.
Katmai Lodge is running a “June Rainbow Special” this year,
priced at $4,800 per angler, including round-trip air transportation
to and from King Salmon. For other dates, rates and
packages, contact Katmai Lodge directly at P. O. Box 13120,
Everett, WA 98206; Tel: (800) 330-0326; Fax: (425) 257-9238;
E-mail: katmai@katmai.com; Web: www.katmai.com
Bill Battles is FFA’s Executive Publisher, and tries to wet a
line in Alaska every year. With a state this size, you could spend
your whole life fishing here, and barely scratch the surface.
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