Included / Not Included: –
Included: Accommodations and meals at the lodge, beer and wine, soft drinks, round-trip airfare between Anchorage and the lodge, personal guides, daily jet boat access to four area rivers, instruction, fishing licenses, flies, leaders.
Not Included: Airfare to/from Anchorage, accommodations and meals in Anchorage, hard alcohol (please feel free to bring your own bottle), fishing equipment, staff gratuities, optional pay-as-you-go fly-outs to other rivers ($425 per person per day with a minimum of 2 passengers).
Travel Logistics:
Arrival Information: To get to Big Ku Lodge you need to make flight arrangements to Anchorage, Alaska. All guests need to arrive in Anchorage on Thursday and overnight. (Hotel not included in package.)
Getting to the Lodge: On Friday morning you will take a charter flight from Anchorage to Igiugig (charter flight included in your package). In Igiugig you will take the lodge float plane to Big Ku Lodge.
Departure Information: On your departure day (Friday) you will take the float plane to Igiugig and continue on to Anchorage on a late afternoon charter flight (charter flight included in your package). You may continue home or overnight in Anchorage.
Travel Cash:
As a guideline we recommend that each guest travel with approximately $600-$700 for staff & guide gratuities, alcohol, taxi fare, etc. The lodge does NOT accept credit cards.
Gratuities:
We recommend staff gratuities of approximately 10% of your package price. This can be given to the on-site managers at the end of your stay in cash or check.
Fishing Licenses:
Fishing licenses are included in the package price and will be issued on-site.
Climate:
The weather in southwest Alaska is highly variable. Anglers should always come prepared for cold rainy conditions, especially early and late in the season. Typical daytime temperatures range from 40-70 degrees f.
Medical Facilities:
The closest medical facility is in Naknek, approximately a ½ hour flight from the lodge. The closest hospital is in Anchorage. The lodge stocks a fairly large amount of medical supplies that can handle numerous medical situations. In emergency situations, a charter flight may be required to reach a medical facility and guests may want to consider medical evacuation coverage. We recommend Global Rescue coverage. Guests have the responsibility to disclose any special medical, physical, or dietary needs to the lodge ahead of time.
Power and Communications:
The generator is on from 7:30 -11:30AM and again from 5:30-10:00PM. Cell phones do not work at the lodge, however, portable satellite phones may be brought, if needed. Satellite internet is available if you want to bring a wireless laptop.
Water:
All water at Big Ku Lodge is pumped and filtered and very good for drinking.
Clothing:
As the climate is extremely changeable and a wide range of temperatures and conditions can be expected, we recommend layering clothes. Typical fishing clothing consists of synthetic long underwear, fleece jacket and pants, hooded sweatshirt, and a good fishing rain jacket. Fingerless gloves are nice for cold mornings, and bring along a warm hat for early and late season fishing. For anglers made particularly uncomfortable by biting insects, pack along a mosquito head net if visiting during the first half of the season. Dress at the lodge is casual.
Laundry:
Laundry service is not available. Please bring enough clothing to last your amount of stay. They can handle emergency situations to provide dry clothing if needed.
Beverages/Alcohol:
The lodge provides soft drinks and mixers. Guests may bring in their own hard alcohol.
If you would like beer or wine during your stay, please contact your booking agent for details.
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"Everything about my recent trip to Alaska and Big Ku exceeded my expectations. The Fly Water staff, the Big Ku hosts and staff, and of course, the fishing, were all exceptional." J.S., KS
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Tackle/Equipment List:
Rods: Trout - 9-10 ft. 6-8 wt. Rods. Note that 6-8 weight spey rods with sinking tips are useful at Big Ku. Our top pick for a single hand rod would be a 9 ft. 7 wt. and we like 7 wt spey and switch rods for the Big Ku.
Reels: Any well-made reel with at least 100 yards of backing.
Lines: Trout - Weight forward floating lines are the norm but sinking tip lines such as the Mastery wet tip type 6, Teeny 200, or the Rio Versi-Tip in the appropriate weights are useful year-round at Big Ku.
Leaders/Tippet: Trout - 9-10 ft tapered leaders in 0X- 3X (four or five of each) and tippet to match. Many guides in the region still like maxima tippet. Bring it along in 6-12 pound.
Flies: The lodge has an excellent program in which they are happy to provide all flies as part of the package price. With that said, we recommend that you come with some of your favorite patterns as well. While it is hard to compete with the lodge’s selection of beads during August and September, we like to make sure that we travel to the region with plenty of Morrish Mice, large sculpin and leech patterns, flesh flies, Morrish Medusas in flesh color, assorted smolt patterns and a small assortment of attractor dries and trout nymphs for June and July.
Waders & Boots: Chest high breathable and or neoprene waders with felt soled wading boots. No studs or cleats please, as they damage the aircrafts and boats.
Miscellaneous: Polaroid fishing glasses, needle nose pliers or hemostats for releasing fish, nippers, camera and lots of film, insect repellent and a head net if you are sensitive to bugs, sunscreen, a waterproof bag for your day gear, hat, bandana, split shot, and tape measure.
