I'm looking way ahead on this one. I have been reading and studying the possibility of organizing a trip to AK in 2014 or '15 to paddle and fish a stretch of the fabled Yukon River, with fishing as a primary goal. The fishing there is a whole different experience, than Minnesota or Ontario.

The primary species are sheefish (known as Eskimo Tarpon) which can get to 20 lbs or more, grayling (Alaska bass), and monster northern pike of 20-30 lbs. Also possible are giant king and chum salmon.

Logistics would be the biggest issue for this trip, but it looks workable. For those who prefer flying over driving, Fairbanks would be the rendevous location.

There are no permits needed for this trip, and if you fly, no passports needed. What I am looking for, at this point, is to gauge interest level. If you think you might be interested, PM me or post here. I would like to keep the maximum size to 8-10 persons. Smaller is better. The trip would be a week to 10 days, plus travel days. The optimum time frame is early-July to mid-August.

I will bring some info to Copia to share with anyone interested. I have not done a cost estimate yet, but it will be expensive. The primary expense will be the costs of traveling to/from Alaska. This is a 'bucket list'/ trip of a lifetime! This is wild bush Alaska, tho we may see a few folks motoring up & down the Yukon, as it is a 'highway' for the locals. Our fishing will be in tributary streams dumping into the Yuikon, primarily. The Yukon is a glacial river, full of glacial silt, which makes it difficult to travel/fish. The tributaries are much cleaner and easier to fish. Trolling the Yukon is one of the few effective ways to fish it.

This is far north canoeing, as the stretch I am considering lies just south of the Arctic Circle. At that time of year, we will experience approx 18 hours of daylight, and rain.

Consider also, the possibilities of extending your AK experience by coming early and/or staying later to see and fish more of AK. Denali would be a perfect 'trip extender'. If you need ideas/leads, let me know, as I have some good leads for you.

For those who may be interested, I will coordinate the logistics and planning since I have some contacts I can utilize to keep costs as low as possible. It can be done with your canoe, or canoes can be rented. If you have a preference as to which year we should go, let me know, and I'll see what I can do. Please note some additional info I included in previous post.

OS,  we did a 9 day float on the Copper River last August w/ out Scout Troop.  What a great experience.  We saved some coin by flying into Anchorage vs. Fairbanks, our rendezvous spot, and took the savings and an extra day to ride the Alaska Railroad up.  It was a nice, scenic 12 hour ride.  The Copper is also very silty - 1:6 silt to water ratio, I was told.  The reds and silvers were running, but it's nigh impossible to fish that river with a pole!  The locals use dipnets and fish wheels, but it's locals only. That river has almost no fishable side streams and the route is very steep sided hills - almost canyon like.  We floated from Chitina to Cordova and took the ferry back to Valdez.  You just can't beat the views!  The BSA folks up there did an incredible job putting all the logistics together for us.  Good luck putting this one together.

Thanks for sharing. Sounds like you had a great trip! Your idea of taking the Alaska Railroad from Anchorage to Fairbanks is a good one. Good chance of seeing Denali if clouds permit. Of course, for my trip, you would need to book it RT, unless you fly one-way.

Got a pm from MP, so we're cookin' on this.

"This is far north canoeing, as the stretch I am considering lies just south of the Arctic Circle. At that time of year, we will experience approx 18 hours of daylight, and rain."

you forgot to add 18.3688421 bajillion mosquitos per person per day!

Mad_Mat wrote on Jan 27^th, 2012 at 1:31pm:

"This is far north canoeing, as the stretch I am considering lies just south of the Arctic Circle. At that time of year, we will experience approx 18 hours of daylight, and rain." you forgot to add 18.3688421 bajillion mosquitos per person per day!

While you may have underestimated the skeets, I am trusting that any who go, will be prepared to bathe in DEET.  ;)

Old Salt wrote on Jan 25^th, 2012 at 3:32pm:

The trip would be a week to 10 days, plus travel days. The optimum time frame is early-July to mid-August. This is far north canoeing, as the stretch I am considering lies just south of the Arctic Circle. At that time of year, we will experience approx 18 hours of daylight, and rain. Consider also, the possibilities of extending your AK experience by coming early and/or staying later to see and fish more of AK. Denali would be a perfect 'trip extender'. If you need ideas/leads, let me know, as I have some good leads for you.

I suspect you might be a bit shy on the amount of daylight that time of year.  I took a photograph in Fairbanks at 11:00pm in mid-July a couple of year ago.  The trees were still casting a shadow!

While I did encounter a few skeets on a Denali hike, I don't think that anyone with experience with Quetico skeets should have any concern ... although the Alaskan skeets were on steroids.

You might want to try out the Alaskan Summer Ale ... perfect combo with fish & chips in Talkeetna (fish was a sizable plank of salmon, of course!).

As mentioned, the train trip from Anchorage to Fairbanks takes a while ... needless to say, its NOT a bullet train; its runs more like 45 mph.  Get a seat near the front of the train if you can.  By the time the rear cars get to a spot, the wildlife has pretty much dispersed into the woods.  Don't count on the windows being clean (for your photos).  Food aboard is pricey, but generally very good.

dd

dd, you're right on about daylight. I was using sunrise/sunset tables. In AK, however, they don't mean as much due to low angle of sun. They have long periods of twilight, so only short times of dark.

Most who camp in AK, use a blindfold at night.

Looks like this trip ain't happening. Sorry! :(