After two years of planning we were finally on our way to the goal of our dreams, Alaska. After travelling across the Atlantic sea and across the United States we reached the little village Iliamna, a small village often used for the start of hunting and fishing trips. From here we flow with a Beaverplane to a small lake called Hudson lake. Itīs located beside Tazimina river and we had heard that the rainbow and graylingfishing should be great. From the 20 meter high banks by the river we could see the large rainbows and graylings.We now knew there were lots of fish so we just had to prove that we could catch them. This showed up to be some of the best graylingfishing we had ever experienced. The graylings were quite big and they often took our flies. After a couple of hours it was time for lunch and we could now party on the newly caught graylings and it was delicious. When the evening came it was time to go for the large rainbows we had seen. This was much harder than we could imagine and we only succeeded to catch the small ones but that didnīt bother us. After a nice day we walked towards our camp. When we came close to the camp we smelled a strong smell of animal. We all got very nervous and we imagined we would meet a large bear. But no, not this time, it was just a fox looking for food. The next couple of days looked like the first and we also had the pleasure of seeing beavers and some of the bolded white eagle.
After four days the Beaver-plane came to pick us up. We now went to the upper part of Koktuli river. From here we would drift for ten days. On many places trees had been falling over the river so we had to carry the raft and the packing around these trees. We saw many fresh marks from bear and wolf but we didnīt see the animals. On this part of our journey we saw many of the bolded white eagle. They were often very close to us and it was hard to realize that they are a threatened animal species. After three days we arrived where Koktuli river meets Swan river. We knew this would be a good spot for fishing so we decided to stay for a couple of days. Here we could catch sockeye, rainbow, chum and kingsalmon. The second day at this camp all three of us stood by the river fishing when we heard a terrible scream. We realized it was a bear and we all run to a place were we at least could se anything. After a while we could se a female bear with a little baby-bear. It showed out it wasnīt because of us she had been screaming. The little baby-bear was playing and she was screaming at him. After a while the bears disappeared but none of us had any interest of fishing. Instead we sat around the fire and listened until we had to go to bed. That night none of us slept quietly. I have never had such big ears. During the next two days we succeeded in catching some kingsalmons in weights around 8 kg and after that it was time to get in the raft.
The river had now become much bigger so the drifting was very easy and comfortable beside the rain. We drifted for a whole day and when the evening came we arrived were the Mulchatna river meets Steuahok river.This is a popular spot because the airplanes can easily land on the river and itīs also a very good place for kingsalmon-fishing. Unfortunately this means also that you never can be alone here. Here we met some other people from Sweden and one of them caught a magnificent kingsalmon at the weight of 15,5 kg. This he caught on a flyrod. Upstream the Steuahok we found some nice spots for chumfishing. There were also lots of char and rainbow and we had a magnificent flyfishing. When it finally got dark and I was walking towards the camp I heard a sound from the wood. when I looked up I could se a large grizzlybear just 20 meter away. I got all stiff and wondered what to do. The bear hadnīt seen me yet. Should I try to sneak away, or?? No, I choose to yell to my friends and when the grizzly heard me he turned around and run into the woods. It was luck that I didnīt have to run because my legs didnīt work at the time. Once again we had been reminded that it was in BEAR-COUNTRY we were fishing.Fortunately the bears act like any wild animal and they run away if they donīt feel threatened.
After one more day our pilot came to pick us up. We now flow to a tundralake called Charlake.He did also bring a box of fresh food so we didnīt have to eat fish every day. As the name tells there are lots of char in this water. Itīs also a very good lake for rainbow and grayling. Up to this lake lots of sockeys wander. On our first evening in this camp we could see an enormous heard of Caribou. In this area itīs only allowed to fish with flyrod and in the lake we had a good time trying to catch the sockeyes. In the small streams near to the lake we caught lots of grayling. Sometimes you could se fishshoal of sockeye and behind them the chars and graylings swam waiting for fisheggs. In this area we also found some small lakes and it showed out to give us a great evening with dryflies and we could catch several rainbows. That evening we ate butterfried rainbow and drunk a beer.
The next day we went for a walk to watch bears. About 10 km from our camp by Iliamna lake the bears assembles to eat lots of fish before the winter. After a few hours of walking we could see at least seven bears. They were still in quite a long distance and crazy as we were we kept on walking to get closer. We laid down on a "safe" spot and looked at the bears. After about one hour we got rewarded when a grizzlybear came close to us. Often the whole bear was under the water trying to catch some fish. After a while he came even closer , about 50 meter, and we could now watch him catch and eat five sockeyes. All the time the bear came closer to us and finally he was just 10 meters away. The only sound that came from us was from the cameras. After a while he went back towards the lake and we could start breathing again. Was it worth the risk? Yes!! We got some nice pictures and a memory for a lifetime.
With our memory filled with grizzlybears we now flow to our last camp by the lake of Kijik.
The fishing in Kijik is separated in two parts. Either you fish for the sockeye coming up to the lake for the spawning or you walk 1,5 km downstream and fish grayling. According to many experts this is one of the best spots in the world. Kijik is probably one of the most beautiful places in the world and we enjoyed the scenery very much.
After three weeks in the wilderness our dream was coming to itīs end and the pilot picked us up and took us back to Iliamna. From there we just had to cross the world to get home.
We have had the pleasure of making a dream come through and made us a visit to the BEAR-COUNTRY.
Words: Thomas Järnkrok Photos: Kent Silfver and Tommy Hägglund
