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The trip of a lifetime has come and gone. There was a group of us (9) that left DIA on the 19th, headed for Bethel Alaska. We were greeted by Papa Bear Adventures. Everything was going well and right on track until we realized that my luggage never made the trip. That was a HUGE concern. The next day we were headed out to our final destination by float plane, Pagati Lake. I had really 3 choices. Piece together extra gear from my buddies that they didn't really need, and some gear from the outfitter. Wait till the afternoon and see if my stuff was on the next flight. Or lastly head back home and bag the trip. It doesn't seem like a huge deal until you realize that we were headed out for an 11 day float trip, minimum 100 miles from anywhere. It was a huge concern that I wouldn't have the proper gear, as it gets cold and very wet out there. My carry on gear that I had with me were waders, wadding boots, socks, underwear, rods and reels. That was it. Long story short, I felt ok with the extra and leftover gear I had in front of me, and decided there was no other choice but to go. The weather was getting worse by the hour, and our window was closing. And as it turned out my **** didn't come for 2 more days. We split up into 3 groups and made the trip to Pagati lake. With all the gear and us on the Beaver, we had an hour flight. Two planes the 1st trip and one the second. Once on the lake, our trip really had started. There were more Sockeye salmon then I could imagine. And the catching began. Salmon after salmon, with some Dolly Varden and Grayling mixed in. We woke up the next morning and headed down the river. It was an 11 day float with only one layover. As a group I would guess close to 5000 fish caught. Sockeye, Humpy, Chum and 2 Choho along with thousands of big Dollies, Grayling, and Rainbows. Sprinkled in with some mountain whities, smolt, and Jack kings. We saw 11 Brown bear and 6 moose. It was truly an experience of a life time. The weather turned out to be great. Only a couple of real rainy days. Lots of blue skies. And the bugs were not even an issue. In fact I only sprayed up once. Incredible. I don't thionk I have ever eaten sooooo much salmon. Every day some sort of fish dish. It was awesome. Attached are a bunch of pics.
I will post up ore pics later as there are way more cool fish pics.
I will post up ore pics later as there are way more cool fish pics.
