Welcome back to the final installment of our ongoing discussion on spey rod applications for our SAFARI camp. In part 2 we fleshed out some of the major disadvantages for using a conventional two-handed rod set up for the waters …

It is hard to express how much physical effort is expended fighting king salmon until you’ve experienced it for yourself. They are stubborn customers, making you fight a give and take game of inches when doing battle with them.

King salmon are incredibly powerful fish. Once you’ve hooked one, you’re in for it. Be ready to invest some time, blood and sweat when you cast a line to a pod of holding kings. They will take it all from you and more.

Before we dive into a conversation discussing the variables in different Dolly Varden populations, let’s resolve to answer an earlier posed question: are Dolly Varden and Arctic Char the same thing? The answer is no, they’re not.

Suddenly it burst into a fit of short erratic runs before abruptly stopping again to resume its arrhythmic convulsions. Finally I saw it writhing below us, a brilliant streak of silver flashing in the black tea stained water. It was a Dolly Varden! And it was big.

This is the epitome of fly fishing distilled down to its finest form. To use light tackle, to fish a dry on the water’s surface, sighting fish, making a precise cast to the one you want and watching as it comes willingly to your fly.

I have a hundred memories of rainbow trout that were fooled by the mouse, so many now that it is hard to select one that stands out in my mind. I’ve seen days when the trout fishing was so good we all lost count before breaking for lunch.

Chum salmon are truly bare-knuckle brawlers when hooked, testing the limits of any rod in the 6 – 8wt range. I’ve seen more rods snap when the unwitting angler underestimated just how powerful these fish are, the second largest of all Pacific Salmon.

The 2019 OUTPOST camp photos are ready to view. And my bad, they’ve actually been ready for a couple weeks but I just forgot to announce it. As usual, thanks to everyone who sent in their photos. Stef (& co.) …

Fishing Despite some very hot weather, 2019 was a solid season of Bristol Bay fly fishing at our Alaska Wilderness OUTPOST camp. The highlight: the rainbow trout fishing. Historically, the trout fishing tapers across July as massive numbers of Dolly …