Dave Duncan and Sons
Kanektok River Float

90-Mile Fly Fishing Float Trip

The Kanektok, also known as the “Chosen,” is an Alaskan river located 400 miles southwest of Anchorage, flowing through the majestic and massive Togiak National Wildlife Refuge, the fourth-largest National Wildlife Refuge in the US. During the 90-mile float trip, you'll see many of Alaska’s big game and common bird species in the Refuge.
You'll take a floatplane flight to Kagati Lake, an isolated wilderness lake. Here, you'll meet up with the Duncans' guide team and begin the 90-mile float trip downriver to the village of Quinhagak, where the river meets the ocean.

Dave Duncan and Sons

Dave Duncan and Sons have guided in remote Alaska for over forty years. The Kanektok River continually grows in size and changes in character as it flows from the mountains through the foothills and finally merges with the sea. The Duncans' 90-mile Kanektok River Float Trips are limited to four weeks each season and eight guests per week. Two anglers per guide and a top-quality raft.
The Kanektok River is world-class because of its fish-ability, with incredible fly fishing for large leopard rainbows, salmon, dolly varden, and grayling. It feels like a much smaller river with its many braids and side channels and is ideally suited for fly fishing. Strict catch-and-release fishing, except a fish or two, is occasionally kept for dinner. The upper Kanektok River has a hook size regulation of nothing larger than #1 or 1/0. Single barbless hooks are to be used at all times.

Kanektok Fishing Facts:

2023 Season: Six floats trips are available from mid-July to late August.
Group Size: Maximum of eight anglers per week.
Species: See Species Chart above. Late June and July, you'll target sockeye, chums, pinks, king salmon, leopard rainbows, dolly varden, and grayling. In August, silvers and pink salmon (in even-numbered years) are in the river.
Guides: On average, their guides have been with them for six years, and some as long as twenty years. Two anglers per guide and raft.
Rafts: The Duncans' boat system includes high-end 16-foot Avon Pro inflatable rafts with rowing racks and floorboards to stand on while fishing. You'll have the option of walk-and-wade type fishing or float fishing from the boats.
Fishing Equipment: No fishing equipment or tackle is provided. We’ll send a detailed list of recommended flies and gear in our confirmation packet. All camps have fly-tying benches with all the materials provided.
Licenses: are not include. A non-resident fishing license is $45.00. A king salmon tag is $45.00. (If booking July 2-24, you will need a 7-day king salmon tag. The king season closes July 25).

Kanektok River Float Camps

You’ll stay in very comfortable camps with warm, dry, high-quality tents (two per tent), hot riverside showers, and great fishing—right out your front door. You will need to bring your own sleeping bag.

Meals and Beverages:

Meals: The Duncans' camp system includes a spacious kitchen, dining facilities, a large social tent, and great meals. The Duncans have always practiced trace-free camping. Absolutely nothing can be left behind.
Alcohol: Alcohol is not provided. You can purchase beer, wine, and up to three bottles of hard alcohol in the town of Bethel.

Getting to the Put-In:

The night before the start of your trip, you'll fly from Anchorage to Bethel Airport and overnight at Papa Bear Adventures. (Airfare is not included.) Guests stay at Papa Bear Adventures, a lakeside lodge, for about $150.00 per night and a special rate for Duncans’ guests. The following morning, Papa Bear Adventures will pilot the floatplane to Kagati Lake/Kanektok River. This flight is approximately $450.00 p.p. and is not included in the package. The return charter flight from Quinhagak to Bethel, $260.00 p.p., is not included in the package.

Sample Fishing Day:

The cook and guides get up at 5:00 a.m. each morning and have coffee ready by 6:00 a.m. Breakfast is served at 7:00 a.m. You're on the river by 8:30 a.m. You'll have a deli-style lunch on the river at noon. You'll usually return to camp about 5:30 p.m. The guides will prepare dinner. After dinner, you can get in a little more fishing as this is the Land of the Midnight Sun.

2023 Rate:

90-mile Kanektok Float Trip:
Six trips run from July 10 to August 25, 2023
7-nights and 6-days guided fishing
$5,900.00 per person

The Packages Include:

• 6-days guided fishing
• 7-nights tent camping
• Meals at the camp
• Non-alcoholic beverages
• Use of deluxe tent camp equipment,
dry bags, self-inflating Therm-A-Rest®
air mattress, and boating equipment.

The Packages Do Not Include:

• Airfare to Anchorage, and return
• Airfare Anchorage to Bethel, and return
• Floatplane flight from Bethel to
  Kagati Lake, approx. $450.00 p.p.
• Airfare from Quinhagak to Bethel
  approx. $260.00
• Overnight in Bethel at Papa Bear
  Adventures ($150.00, 2023)
• Dinner in Bethel
• Sleeping bag
• Alcohol
• Gratuities for guides
• Fishing license
• King salmon stamp
  (Required if booking July 2-24.)
• Fishing equipment
• Global Rescue
• Travel insurance
• Anything not mentioned under
  inclusions.