Alaska's Innoko River - Summer 2018
by Ohiopikeman
Trip Type:
Paddling Canoe
Entry Date:
06/22/2018
Entry Point:
Other
Exit Point:
Other
Number of Days:
28
Group Size:
4
Discuss Trip:
View Discussion Thread (17 messages)
Day 9 of 28
Saturday, June 30, 2018 - 1st night on the Innoko River
We arrived at Sportsman’s Air Service and were super excited to find out we scaled-in at 1189 lbs….. we could add an extra 11 lbs of gear! My brother somehow convinced the group that an emergency run to the local liquor store was critical; we added in two plastic bottles of “the good stuff” for my brother, then continued to add granola bars until the scale read exactly 1200 lbs.
After a 225 mile flight (maybe 2.5 hrs) we landed on a small slough off of the Innoko and started setting up our gear and camp. Jacob, our pilot, was enjoying flying in the Ohio guys and showed us numerous crashed planes and told us numerous stories about the life and times of being a bush pilot. Unlike a BWCA trip, there was no need to go anywhere when we landed….. we just camped right where the plane dropped us.
The Ally Pack Canoes are a real pain to put together, but once assembled they are rock-solid. While setting up camp, we saw a moose 50 yards down shore from us which was both exciting and a bit unsettling at the same time.
The fishing started slow until we found a good spot at the very end of the slough were a small feeder creek entered. We caught a handful of pike with the best one right around 10 lbs boated by my brother.
Joey and Chris managed to flip the Ally canoe on day #1. Fortunately where they flipped it was only 3 feet deep and not in flowing water which made retrieval of the fishing gear and the shotgun (and the boys) nice and easy. This was a good lesson that the unloaded Ally canoes are not nearly as stable as the Souris River Quetico 17 and 18.5 that we normally paddle in the BWCA.
We arrived at Sportsman’s Air Service and were super excited to find out we scaled-in at 1189 lbs….. we could add an extra 11 lbs of gear! My brother somehow convinced the group that an emergency run to the local liquor store was critical; we added in two plastic bottles of “the good stuff” for my brother, then continued to add granola bars until the scale read exactly 1200 lbs.
After a 225 mile flight (maybe 2.5 hrs) we landed on a small slough off of the Innoko and started setting up our gear and camp. Jacob, our pilot, was enjoying flying in the Ohio guys and showed us numerous crashed planes and told us numerous stories about the life and times of being a bush pilot. Unlike a BWCA trip, there was no need to go anywhere when we landed….. we just camped right where the plane dropped us.
The Ally Pack Canoes are a real pain to put together, but once assembled they are rock-solid. While setting up camp, we saw a moose 50 yards down shore from us which was both exciting and a bit unsettling at the same time.
The fishing started slow until we found a good spot at the very end of the slough were a small feeder creek entered. We caught a handful of pike with the best one right around 10 lbs boated by my brother.
Joey and Chris managed to flip the Ally canoe on day #1. Fortunately where they flipped it was only 3 feet deep and not in flowing water which made retrieval of the fishing gear and the shotgun (and the boys) nice and easy. This was a good lesson that the unloaded Ally canoes are not nearly as stable as the Souris River Quetico 17 and 18.5 that we normally paddle in the BWCA.
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