NorthWest Kayak Anglers
Regional Discussions => Alaska Kayak Fishing => Topic started by: Matt_K on May 09, 2009, 09:34:49 AM
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For 25,000 miles on delta/northwest/alaskan etc you can fly from Seattle into some tiny little Alaskan towns...
Like Yakutat, Wrangell, Petersberg, etc. (http://www.alaskaair.com/as/alaska/images/asqxroutemap.pdf)
I'm thinking of doing a really cheap self guided four or five day trip. Probably no kayaks though...
The plan would be to fly in to one of these towns during a run in June or July, and then hitchike or rent a car and hike to one of many riverside forest service cabins... maybe bring some fish back on the last day but mostly catch and release or eat.
Anyone have any interest/experience/suggestions?
I was wondering if I should post this on the Alaska forum but since the trip will leave from WA I guess I'll post here.
- Matt
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With a little leg work ahead of time, you might be able to find rental yaks up there. I think Howard McKim has some in Ketchikan.
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I'm cashing in some miles to go visit Howard in late June!!! ;D I have enough miles to get up to Alaska ... oh, about every weekend through the summer season. Let me know what you come up with, and I just might join (schedule permitting ... my work schedule sucks this summer).
-Allen
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Just came across this post. It looks like something I'd be interested in. Did you go?
I always wanted to go to Alaska and I want to do it next year for sure.
Frank
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Look at the Foggy Bay Sticky post at the top of this section...
Trust me... One week, around 2K for everything... DEAL...
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Best I know there are no USFS cabins that you can get to from Wrangell/Petersburg without a boat or float plane. But you can't get to those places anyway without stopping in Ketchikan. There's two cabins outside Yakutat that can be hiked to, but it'd be a shame to come up here and not be on salt water.
I can set you up with kayak and such, and you could leave right from here without any transport and have an awesome time. Kayak, camp, and fish where the big fish play. That would be the cheapest, funnest thing for you I think.
Or of course join us in Foggy Bay where its all taken care of..
Howard
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Howard,
Seriously trying to get deposit and airfare for Foggy Bay trip... Will likely arrive a week early and take first week of trip. Thinking of doing the camping/kayak fishing in Ketchikan, thing we talked about a couple of years ago, when I decided to go back to Valdez with everyone instead.
One of the guys from Valdez last year wants to make this trip too.
Look forward to meeting and fishing with ya bro, regardless... I am going to Alaska this year...
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I am also working on a trip for late August. Not sure if it will be Foggy Bay, but I'm planning on launching out of Ketchikan and taking a min of two weeks to yakcampfish.
My plan right now is to walk on the Alaska ferry in Anacortes with yak and gear and camp on the deck. Round trip, this is the cheapest and easiest way to get there with yaks.
If I don't graduate at the end of summer, I'm going to yakfishcamp the fjords S of Ketchican, riding the ferry up and back.
If I do graduate, I'm going to ride the ferry up and yakfishcamp all the way back to Bellingham.
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Bro,
How much is the ferry from anacortes and back?
Enquiring minds want to know, as flight to Seattle are generally pretty cheap. Also, leaves me the possibility of a HOP to the AF Base up there.
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Bro,
How much is the ferry from anacortes and back?
Enquiring minds want to know, as flight to Seattle are generally pretty cheap. Also, leaves me the possibility of a HOP to the AF Base up there.
I believe the ferry from Bellingham is $515 each way. Not cheap.
-Allen
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I looked a few weeks ago and thought I saw $450 RT with the option of jumpin on off anywhere...looking now
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J
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I got $297 each way Bellingham to Ketchican & back. <$600 is about the same as a flight I guess, but I also don't have to pay for boat rental, and bag check, transport etc. for 200lbs of crap.
really cheap if I'm just riding up. $239 for single passenger, $57 for my kayak....camp in my tent on deck.
I thought allot about this when I was up there. It's the best way I can figure to get boat and gear up there on the cheap.
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It's only a 37hr boat ride and a pretty cool way to travel I think...not that bad considering I can haul all my own gear.
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Bro,
How much is the ferry from anacortes and back?
Enquiring minds want to know, as flight to Seattle are generally pretty cheap. Also, leaves me the possibility of a HOP to the AF Base up there.
I meant bellingham, sorry.
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Ah ... you don't have a car, that's why it's cheaper.
I once took the Ferry from Haines down to Prince Rupert. Slept on the deck. Hopped off every now and then if the stop looked interesting. It IS a fun way to travel with a lot of interesting characters on deck.
-Allen
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Hmm,
$600.00 round trip, and 4 days of my time, versus one day flight (2 half days), and four nights camping.
If someone in the Wash area has a Kayak I could borrow (Hint...Hint) and take along, saves another couple hundred for a rental for the two weeks...
Would still be worth the scenery, though getting 100 lbs of fish back would require a little more logistics. Not insurmountable, but more logistics...
Would be a lot of fun with a couple of buddies to talk s^%$ with on the way up and back...
I wonder how the fishing off the fantail is? ;D
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Nanook, how about a 1 way from Prince Rupert to Ketchikan. You'll go right by Foggy Bay where I'll have a hot meal waiting for you.
BTW ... Seattle to Prince Rupert is an 18 hour drive.
-Allen
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18hrs in your car. 2 weeks and $2k when my 20yo POS craps out at the border :embarassed: I had a friend volunteer to drop me off at the N tip of Vancouver Isl., but I kind of want to ride the ferry.
Mostly I want to take my own boat and gear and not have the car and all that hassle. Always wanted to ride the ferry to AK.
I'll definitely try and hook up with you guys if we're there at the same time.
I'm going to go ahead and book this. I'll have to wait until the end of Feb to book the forest service cabin. If by chance I do graduate this summer, I'll stay at the cabin for a week and then paddle pack and take my sweet ass time resisting responsibility.
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Hmm,
$600.00 round trip, and 4 days of my time, versus one day flight (2 half days), and four nights camping.
If someone in the Wash area has a Kayak I could borrow (Hint...Hint) and take along, saves another couple hundred for a rental for the two weeks...
Would still be worth the scenery, though getting 100 lbs of fish back would require a little more logistics. Not insurmountable, but more logistics...
Would be a lot of fun with a couple of buddies to talk s^%$ with on the way up and back...
I wonder how the fishing off the fantail is? ;D
You could just ship it from ketchican or where ever. I C&R&eat until the last day, makes it easier. You'll have more room in the yak at the end of the trip, then box it and ship to yourself from port before you get back on the ferry.
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You obviously have never shipped fish back from Alaska...
The cost will kill you!
I generally fly as light as possible to Alaska, bringing only clothes, fishing equipment and sleeping bag. Then when I return home, I have a carryon with the fishing equipment, ship the clothing and sleeping bag back via post office flat rate, and take two boxes of frozen fish as my checked luggage... 100 lbs.
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Actually I just did in October. I brought back 100lbs of salmon checked on the airplane. You can also do this same thing if you arent flying on that plane, as that's how the mail gets there too.
cost $100.
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Actually I just did in October. I brought back 100lbs of salmon checked on the airplane. You can also do this same thing if you arent flying on that plane, as that's how the mail gets there too.
cost $100.
My methods, using USPS to ship gear, costs me ZERO for 100 pounds of fish. Technically I could pay $25.00 for an extra bag and get 150 lbs back for $25.00.
I have a freezer that is large enough, and more than a few friends who would help me eat it all... ;D
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What airline are you using? I don't know of any that don't charge for checked bags these days.
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That USPS package will be sitting in the front of the same plane you are on. Except because it's USPS they'll take it off that jet, ship it to a distribution center, then drive it to your house the next day.
Why not just grab it when it comes off the jet?
In Yakutat there's a burger joint next to the airport where you buy fish boxes $15 each that go in the freezer on the plane with the rest of the sea food. I think it was $40 a box or somesuch. Then you just grab it with the rest of your luggage and go home.
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Nanook, how about a 1 way from Prince Rupert to Ketchikan. You'll go right by Foggy Bay where I'll have a hot meal waiting for you.
BTW ... Seattle to Prince Rupert is an 18 hour drive.
-Allen
Where exactly is Foggy Bay anyway?...been looking but not seeing it.
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Actually I just did in October. I brought back 100lbs of salmon checked on the airplane. You can also do this same thing if you arent flying on that plane, as that's how the mail gets there too.
cost $100.
My methods, using USPS to ship gear, costs me ZERO for 100 pounds of fish. Technically I could pay $25.00 for an extra bag and get 150 lbs back for $25.00.
I have a freezer that is large enough, and more than a few friends who would help me eat it all... ;D
If you can do it for $25 than do it!
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Nanook, how about a 1 way from Prince Rupert to Ketchikan. You'll go right by Foggy Bay where I'll have a hot meal waiting for you.
BTW ... Seattle to Prince Rupert is an 18 hour drive.
-Allen
Where exactly is Foggy Bay anyway?...been looking but not seeing it.
Look at the inset on the right of this chart ... http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/17434.shtml
-Allen
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Is that chart # 17434?
It's hard for me to get a sense of place if I zoom in close enough to read on this crappy monitor. If I zoom out enough to see where I'm looking I can't read it!
I'll have to llok at the real chart...It's by Prince Rupert you said?
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Here's a link from google maps if it helps:
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=54.945682,-130.978317&spn=0.094256,0.388298&t=h&z=12
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Is that chart # 17434?
It's hard for me to get a sense of place if I zoom in close enough to read on this crappy monitor. If I zoom out enough to see where I'm looking I can't read it!
I'll have to llok at the real chart...It's by Prince Rupert you said?
Yes, that's the chart. It's roughly 1/2 way between PR and Ketchikan.
-Allen
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cool thank you. that clarifies.
looks to be about a 30 mile paddle from ketchican.....hmmmm it's about the same to the cabin 25 miles west of Wrangell I was looking at.
Looks like you might get swell from the Pacific....any idea of surf in the area? That would probably make the decision where to go for me if I could surf and fish.
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I think it's closer to 40. And you can get some swell coming up, but I don't think there is any real surf breaks. That being said, up Very Inlet are a couple of narrow channels marked "rapids" on the chart. We went up there and it does flow, but we completely missed the peak of the outgo and didn't get a shot at any rapids.
-Allen
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I think it's closer to 40. And you can get some swell coming up, but I don't think there is any real surf breaks. That being said, up Very Inlet are a couple of narrow channels marked "rapids" on the chart. We went up there and it does flow, but we completely missed the peak of the outgo and didn't get a shot at any rapids.
-Allen
A couple of my buddies were there to surf the tide race at the peak floods of the year this summer. there is a write up in the current issue of Canoe & Kayak Magazine. Good read, they had some minor disasters (they woke in the middle of the night to 2ft of water in the tent, the island submerged by tide), and the report was the wave wasn't that great like skookumchuk or okisolo.
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I think it's closer to 40. And you can get some swell coming up, but I don't think there is any real surf breaks. That being said, up Very Inlet are a couple of narrow channels marked "rapids" on the chart. We went up there and it does flow, but we completely missed the peak of the outgo and didn't get a shot at any rapids.
-Allen
A couple of my buddies were there to surf the tide race at the peak floods of the year this summer. there is a write up in the current issue of Canoe & Kayak Magazine. Good read, they had some minor disasters (they woke in the middle of the night to 2ft of water in the tent, the island submerged by tide), and the report was the wave wasn't that great like skookumchuk or okisolo.
I'll have to get a copy of the Mag. I don't think it can compare to those other races as it just doesn't have the volume of water.
-Allen
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Do you think having that direct shot to the Pacific makes fishing better than somewhere more "inside"
I kinda feel after my trip to AK that you could show up anywhere with a hook and some string and have the best fishing of your life.
At this point I'm leaning more towards an expedition than a vacation/base camp thing. I actually heard my subconcious say that "If it's kind of scary, it's probably the right thing to do."
I'm focusing on a Juneau to Ketchican trip. I'm thinking I can get internship/special project credit for school and grant $$ to cover the trip by making it more of a cultural research trip ;) Not sure how I'm going to pitch it to them yet, but I'm pretty sure it will work.
That way, I don't have to worry about wether I graduate to do the trip, because technically, I'll be in school.
Ferry to Glacier Bay(stopping in PR for a free meal from PP)yakfishcamp GB to Ketchican, ferry to Bellingham. Should be able to do all that in 2-3 weeks.
It seems like I could camp where ever on forest service land. Am I crazy to think I can just pick a beach and make camp for a night or two along the way?
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I think it's closer to 40. And you can get some swell coming up, but I don't think there is any real surf breaks. That being said, up Very Inlet are a couple of narrow channels marked "rapids" on the chart. We went up there and it does flow, but we completely missed the peak of the outgo and didn't get a shot at any rapids.
-Allen
A couple of my buddies were there to surf the tide race at the peak floods of the year this summer. there is a write up in the current issue of Canoe & Kayak Magazine. Good read, they had some minor disasters (they woke in the middle of the night to 2ft of water in the tent, the island submerged by tide), and the report was the wave wasn't that great like skookumchuk or okisolo.
I'll have to get a copy of the Mag. I don't think it can compare to those other races as it just doesn't have the volume of water.
-Allen
this was all I could find online:
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I think it's closer to 40. And you can get some swell coming up, but I don't think there is any real surf breaks. That being said, up Very Inlet are a couple of narrow channels marked "rapids" on the chart. We went up there and it does flow, but we completely missed the peak of the outgo and didn't get a shot at any rapids.
-Allen
A couple of my buddies were there to surf the tide race at the peak floods of the year this summer. there is a write up in the current issue of Canoe & Kayak Magazine. Good read, they had some minor disasters (they woke in the middle of the night to 2ft of water in the tent, the island submerged by tide), and the report was the wave wasn't that great like skookumchuk or okisolo.
I'll have to get a copy of the Mag. I don't think it can compare to those other races as it just doesn't have the volume of water.
-Allen
this was all I could find online:
Where'd you find that?
-Allen
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kokatat blog.
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DAMN, DAMN, DAMN...
The Foggy Bay trip is not possible with a RT Ferry from Bellingham.... (Alaska Marine Highway)
Only Ferry arriving from Bellingham, leaves the 13th of August at 6 P.M... Not bad, except the only return is the 25th at 5 P.M. ARGH! :'(
They only have one each way in August... ARGH.. Looked promising... too...
I could get R/T airfare from here to Seatac for $358.00! ;D
Then pay for a R/T ferry with kayak at $535.00.. More expensive than a straight R/T from Sav to Ketchikan at $799.61, but if I could have gotten a kayak to take along, would have been worth the trip for two weeks...
Oh well, guess I fly in and out of Ketchikan... Especially since Alaska Airlines charges ($15.00, $25.00 and $50.00) respectively for each bag checked... That equals almost 150 lbs of frozen salmon and hali... ;D
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Well... Upon further research...
Seems I can get one out of Bellingham on the 20th at 6 P.M., and return from Ketchikan the 1st of Sep at 5 P.M.
All for $592.00 R/T with carry on (wheeled Kayak)...
Perfect for the 26 to 31 Foggy Bay Trip.... And my 2 week vacation window. ;D
Now gets the interesting part... Looked into cabins for curiosity sake.. A two bed cabin bumps it up to $555.00 each way..... Or a R/T of $1100.00 solo for a R/T. A total of $1702.00! :o
However, if I split the cabin costs with someone, the individual trip costs drops $555.00 per person from that, to $1147.00 per person... :( Steep, but the comfort of a warm bed is a bonus.
Now, if you book a 4 bed cabin, that is only $100.00 more each way than a 2 bed cabin. So, the cost per person, with a party of 4 is only $919.50 per person.... Still steep, but again the comfort of a warm bed.
Then, we could always do the Hot Cot of the Navy (Especially since everyone should be bringing sleeping bags anyways....... Get a two bed cabin, and sleep in shifts... Could get a full 6 pack for only $185.00 a person over the cost of the ferry and kayak itself, in a two bed cabin.. Or $777.00 per person, R/T.
I could do this, by flying into SEATAC, and linking up with one of you locals and getting a ride to the Ferry... (Allen Hint...Hint.. You will be home visiting family then, right? ;D)
Worst case, I sleep on the deck.... And only spend an additional $592.00 for the view on the way up to Ketchikan. Still $150.49 more than a R/T trip flight, and a logistical nightmare... But the scenery... Would be worth the trip.
Hmmmmm...
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Dude. I'm looking to book first class tix to Ketchikan!!! I have so many friggin frequent flyer miles (I've paid my dues flying) that I could go to Alaska like 8 times next year.
-Allen
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Dude. I'm looking to book first class tix to Ketchikan!!! I have so many friggin frequent flyer miles (I've paid my dues flying) that I could go to Alaska like 8 times next year.
-Allen
You could always SHARE bro, and not bogart all of them! ;D
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If any of ya'll need a ride from Seatac to Bellingham ferry terminal, just give me some notice. I live in B'ham and don't mind hauling kayaks. Just lemme know! Heck, if money starts falling out of the sky, I'll consider joining you!