The atmosphere at the lodge is casual. Comfortable medium weight clothes are the norm. We recommend dressing in layers to regulate your body temperature. Expect temperatures in midsummer to range from 45 - 75 F. It can be much cooler in earl June or in September. Extra layers are recommended.
You Should Bring: High quality rain gear, warm sweater or jacket, long-sleeved shirts, warm socks, fleece pants, and polypropylene underwear (for use under your waders). Cool morning boat rides and cool, wet fishing days require warm hats and fingerless gloves. One item that I find indispensable is a waterproof ‘dry bag’. It stores extra layers, camera equipment, and other items that you don’t want getting wet while in the boats and on the river.
You’ll also need some comfortable walking shoes or boots for wearing around the camp, a waterproof pair is ideal. Bring your own toiletries and personal items. Towels are supplied at the lodge for guest use.
Fishing Gear: You’ll need line clippers, needle-nosed pliers, insect repellant, sunscreen, and polarized sunglasses. You can bring your own or these items are available for purchase in the small fly shop at the lodge.
Fly Fishing: We recommend a 6-weight fly rod to get the most sport from the Rainbows, Arctic Char and Lakers. Salmon and Pike require a heavier rod, a 7 or 8-weight. Your reel does not need to be the most expensive, just as long as it has an exposed rim for palming. Bring both a floating and a fast sink-tip line and enough backing to fill the spool. We generally use 8 lb. test for tippet material unless we’re dry fly fishing, in which case we’ll be using a 7 1/2 to 9 ft. 3 or 4x tapered leader. A selection of 6 through 12lb test should cover every situation. We have Sage 7 weight rods and Ross Reels at the lodge.
Fly Selection by the Month: In June and early July the fish feast on baby salmon fry and salmon smolts as well as leeches, sculpins, mice and the occasional insect hatch. Fly patterns for this time of year should include the following: Lefty Deceiver #4-2/0, White Zonker #4-2/0, Silver Fry-fly #8-12, Woolhead Sculpin and Marabou Muddler #8-4 (in black, olive and brown), Egg-sucking leeches and Wooly Buggers #8-4 in black, olive and purple. You can bring your own flies or I will have plenty at the lodge. We also have a fly-tying table for those who wish to tie their own.
Dry fly opportunities may develop towards late June and early July. For these times big, bushy attractor patterns work fine; #6-12. Good patterns include: Humpy, Adams, Sofa Pillow and Elk Hair Caddis.
The Sockeyes arrive about the second week in July. While fishing for these salmon we use Sockeye Johns, Comets in orange and green, and my favorite is the Green Marvel. Leeches and wooly buggers continue to work for the rainbows and we now start to use a few egg and flesh imitations such as Polar Shrimp and Cotton Candy for all the fish (#8-#4).
July is a good time to go after pike in the weedy shallows. Weedless streamers and bass flies are good bets. We use short wire tippet on the leader when fishing for pike.
In August, the ‘hatch’ is salmon eggs, with the fish feeding on them almost exclusively. It’s exciting fishing: nymph- style dead-drifting and sight-fishing much of the time. You’ll want a floating line, plenty of strike indicators if you use them, and various sizes of split-shot to keep your offering down on the gravel in fast water. We recommend using the lodge’s egg patterns rather than the yarn-style egg such as the Iliamna pinky, which the fish tend to swallow deeper rather than getting hooked just to the outside of the mouth. All our beads will be either free-sliding or pegged no higher than the two-inches above the hook required by law in all of Alaska.
Through September, egg patterns continue to catch fish, but Flesh-flies will be the hot pattern at times. These should be white or ginger in sizes #8-#4. We also get a Silver Salmon run in September. Again, large bright flies are the ticket. Alaskabou and Popsicle in the pink and purple combinations tend to work best.
Spin Fishing: Spin fisherman should pack their favorite light or medium action rods and a good quality reel with at least 8lb test line. Expect to lose tackle to snags! Bring plenty of large spoons and spinners as well as swivels. Almost any color combo will work, but usually silver and orange work best. Remember that all treble hooks need to be replaced with singles or trimmed down to one hook. Also keep in mind that American Creek, one of our main fishing destinations is flyfishing only by Katmai National Park regulations.
Waders: You can save some weight and bulk when packing by using our waders. Some folks prefer their own, the choice is yours (wading boots with cleats are not allowed at the lodge). One compromise is to use your own wading boots and our waders. Remember to pick up waders at Kulik Lodge before your flight over to Grosvenor.
Do not bring: Sleeping bags, towels, nylon landing nets, gaffs, creels, or any type of firearm. If you do bring bear mace, be sure to inform you pilot as it can’t be packed inside the planes. We do not recommend bringing bear mace.
Available at the Lodge store: All the right flies and lures, some leaders and tippet material, insect repellant, sunscreen, various souvenir shirts, t-shirts and hats.