Trip #OI-RAA2
Alaska Wilderness Float Fishing Adventure
If you want to have the real Alaska wilderness fishing experience, you’ll have a blast on our Alaska float fishing trips. You’ll leave your adventure trying to decide when to come back!
Alaska backcountry river excursions are among the most sought after fishing trips available anywhere in the world. These are six to eight day, Alaska float fishing trips where you’ll fly in and out in float planes, and float down miles and miles of untouched wild and scenic fish filled river.
We highly recommend this trip, and would love to help you book it.
- These Alaska float fishing trips are fully customizable. Choose to go fully-guided or to do it yourself.
- Start your adventure with a ride in a float plane to a remote mountain lake.
- Float for six days, fishing your way through miles of untouched wilderness, enjoying the amazing scenery that Alaska offers..
- You could catch King salmon, sockeye salmon, silvers, rainbow trout, and grayling with the possibility for chum salmon, pink salmon, and Northern pike.
- The best time to experience our Alaska float fishing trips is June through September.
- Camp along the way as you sight fish your way down the river.
- On the average trip, our clients enjoy huge daily net numbers, whether they’re fly fishing, fishing with conventional gear, or both.
- If it strikes your fancy, you can choose a cast-and-blast trip. Bear/moose/fishing combos are available on a limited basis.
- Bears are present, but have never been a problem. We suggest you take a firearm for protection. If you go guided, the guides have guns with them.
More Resources for this Trip:
- Camps and Meals
- Gear List
- Travel Information
- Fully Guided Float Trips
- Self Guided Float Trips
- The Rivers
- Read Trip Reports and Outfitter Reviews
- Photo Gallery
- Booking Your Trip
Camps and Meals
Camp along the river as you fish your way through the Alaska wilderness.
You will be camping in nice four-season dome tents, and sleeping on great, portable low profile cots. Tents are 8×8 or 10×10 for cook tent and sleeping tents. You’ll sleep two per tent on our Alaska float fishing trips. There will be bug tents to eat in and socialize when it’s raining or bugs are out. *Hint: stick a pillow in your water resistant backpack. Pack what you would for an all-weather trip. Alaska can and probably will throw any and all types of weather at you, so be prepared.
Note – All trips are “stick to the river” meaning camping on gravel bars and staying within the high water mark of the river. The land around some of these rivers is Native Land. In order to avoid the daily Native Land Use Fee you must abide by this rule.
You won’t be eating freeze dried meals on our remote Alaska float fishing trips.
If you go with the guided option, your guide will prepare home cooked meat and potato style meals that are sure to fill you up after a day of fishing. Some fresh caught salmon can also be prepared if you like fish. No one has ever complained about the amount of food on these trips.
Travel Information
Fly into a backcountry lake and get dropped off with your guides (if you choose to go guided) and your gear.
Typical day is coffee, breakfast at 7 am. Clients pack personal gear up (sleeping bag, clothes, etc. Load up in fishing boats and start fishing the river floating. Riverside lunch on the bank. Gear and camp boats stay behind and break down tents, food area etc. and pass us during the day on the river. We fish until we arrive at camp at 6 or 7 pm. Set up sleeping gear, eat dinner and if you desire fish until midnight, no darkness until late!
This trip is six days of really good floating and fishing with two days in and out with a bit of fishing on those days too. Mostly float planes are used for transportation onto the lake but it is dependent upon water levels and the year. Our Alaska float fishing trips are fully customizable. You can choose to go fully-guided or to do it yourself.
- For Alaska float fishing trips, you’ll arrive in Bethel on the night before your trip or the earliest flight the morning of your trip.
- You will be ushered by float plane into your first camp.
- On your day of departure you will be picked up at a predetermined location on a sandbar somewhere on the river banks and be flown back to Bethel.
- Please take the latest flight possible out of Bethel, Alaska on the last day of your trip, or an overnight stay in Bethel the next day makes for more stress-free travel.
- When you leave Bethel all bush plane flights and/or boat pickups are included.
**It is Alaska so weather delays before or after your trip are always a consideration. Be sure to purchase Trip Insurance.
Fully Guided Alaska Float Fishing Trips
The two rivers we are using for our fully-guided Alaska float fishing trips both offer truly awesome fishing and amazing all around experiences.
The guides are very professional outdoorsman and excellent anglers with first hand Alaska knowledge. They will provide advice and gear if you like, or leave to you to bring your own. You’ll camp and eat with your guides along the river, and their tales of the Alaskan adventure are always entertaining.
When you see your guides chest deep in the water clearing deadfall for you, it is abundantly clear the type of gratuity they deserved. These guys work hard, and I always try to give a good tip and bring a gift of some sort, maybe some nice fishing gear they don’t have yet. Any angler who wants the real Alaskan experience is going to have a blast and leave trying to decide when you can come back.
- On our guided trips we can typically accommodate 4 to 12 people per group. Larger groups are possible upon request.
- Guiding is 2:1 or 3:1 depending on group size and number of helpers.
Unguided Alaska Float Fishing Trips
Our unguided float trips are 7-14 days depending on river and your preferences.
- Arolik and Aniak Rivers – These are both excellent rivers to float and choosing which one to fish is dependent on rowing skills and the amount of time you have for a trip.
- Kanektok River – You may also choose to float the Kanektok River which offers stunning views and excellent fishing. There are, however two lodges/tent camps that work on the Kanektok. Because of this you could see some extra traffic and motor boats as you get to the later part of your trip and lower in the river. The fishing here is great and the Kanektok has many side channels to explore.
- Goodnews River – The Goodnews River is another option, and is the most remote of the rivers. The fishing here is excellent, especially in the far up reaches where you won’t see anyone else. There is a small tent camp midway through the float trip and also a lodge at the very end of the river. This river has record sized grayling, excellent trout, dolly varden is off the hook starting in mid July to August. Sockeye, Chum, Pinks, Kings, and Silvers are all available during the right month.
- Kisaralik River
- Eek River
Arolik River
The Arolik is a small river with crystal clear water for 90% of the float with amazing fishing in the main river as well as back sloughs.
This is an easy, 45 mile float and everyone who we have taken on this trip raves about it.
- Species available on this river: Lake trout (at the lake starting point only), all five species of pacific salmon, leopard rainbow, big dolly varden and grayling.
- Less bear activity than some of the other rivers.
- Sight fishing and mousing for rainbow trout can be a blast on this river any time of the year.
- Salmon start showing up on the Arolik River in mid-June, and because it is a shorter river and the fish don’t have as far to go they are fresh and bright from the ocean!
- If you start by flying into a lake at the headwaters, you may need to get out and walk some, at least for the first seven miles. If the water is too low, we will start on a little gravel bar about 10 miles below the lake.
- Sometimes on Alaska float fishing trips, you’ll stay at the same campsite for two nights in some places depending on fish concentrations.
- Always runs clear.
Aniak River
Lights out fishing, adventure, and sore arms are the norm on the Aniak.
The starting point on this river depends on water levels, logjams and the level of adventure you’re looking for in your Alaskan experience. Water flow is fairly low in all three tributaries at the starting points, but gains volume quickly once the three forks come together. Fishing in the main channel is very productive, but when the back sloughs are full of spawning chum and silvers the fishing is outrageous, when you hit the conditions right. This is a braided river after the confluence and the fishing is frequently sight fishing!
- Aniak Lake is typically the start for these 1oo mile Alaska float fishing trips.
- The species available will be: lake trout (Aniak Lake starting point only), all five species of pacific salmon, rainbows, dolly varden, grayling and Northern pike (lower river only).
- If you like rainbows on a mouse fly this is the place!
- Fish show in good numbers by July 1 on the Aniak River.
- Kings run in July and August.
- The silvers run is in August and September.
- Overlap is best round last week of July to first two weeks of August.
Other rivers you may float are the Kanektok, Goodnews, Kisaralik and Eek. Be sure to talk to us about the pros and cons of each river.
Suggested Gear List for Alaska Float Fishing Trips:
- Tackle: The target salmon species in the river when you come will determine the correct size gear.
- When the Kings are in the river, you should plan to bring a 5wt, 7wt and 9 wt or 10 wt rod.
- Silvers run in August, and a 5wt, 6wt and 8wt are recommended.
This is somewhat personal preference. I use a 5 wt most of the time, but I also don’t get stressed about losing fish. Most anglers use a 6wt, 7wt and 8wt for everything but Kings. You’ll ideally need a 10 wt. rod for Kings. We will provide a list of recommended flies and lures.
- Bugs can sometimes be an issue: Mosquitoes and blackflies. Deet 100% suggested and bring a head net and lightweight pair of fishing cloves. Rain gear. No felt boots in AK so just rubber lug soles.
- Take a Garmin inReach.
Booking Information
Interested in booking this trip?
If you have not yet received pricing please request it here, and be sure to reference the trip number at the top of this page. Please note that reservations are not considered finalized until agreed upon deposit is received. This ensures agreed upon dates and current pricing. Quality outfitters are in high demand so let us know right away, as some trips do book years in advance.
- Bethel Airport pickup and drop off services.
- Flights into and out of the rivers and back to Bethel, Alaska.
- If you choose the fully guided option, your trip will include camp, food, rafts and guides.
Not Included:
- Travel expenses before and after the trip.
- We are not responsible for any lodging expenses in Bethel or Anchorage incurred due to weather.
- Bed and Breakfast is $150 per person per night in Bethel.
- Alcoholic beverages.
- Personal gear: Sleeping bags, waders, clothes, etc. See the suggested gear list for this trip below.
- Fishing tackle, lures and/or flies.
- Fishing Licenses should be Purchased Online From ADFG and Downloaded prior to your arrival in Bethel, Alaska. You’ll need a one week, two week or seven day non-resident fishing license, depending on your plans. Also purchase a King Salmon Stamp (7 or 14 days).
- Gratuities for Staff.
- We highly suggest Travel Insurance any time you book a trip.
When you’re ready to book, if you haven’t already ask your Outdoors International Consultant for updated pricing.
If it looks good, your consultant will write up a booking agreement for you. Remember, our service is free to you. There are no added costs.