Kudos Mike for a great post. Been there done that and everything you said
was right on! Just a few add-ons thoughts:

To and from Alaska fly fishing while driving through British Columbia and
Yukon Territory is great also and the Kassiar Highway is a great way to get
up there and return. The Skeena and Babine are truly hallowed waters to
cross but there are many others in Caribou and the Lakes regions. Driving up
we saw 9 bears one day.

Although Alaska is not nearly highway-accessible everywhere, there are
enough black-topped roads to allow an RV to get plenty of fishing access
with minimal gravel road access. Except for gravel roads between villages, a
four wheel drive is highly recommended for non paved road travel. It's a
sinking, anxious feeling to be 28 miles from pavement, by your self and be
stuck.

We had a 5th wheel which IMHO is not the best rig for Alaska Highway
fishing. A toad following a class A or class C or a travel trailer with the
tow vehicle set up right all would have been better. The 4 wheel drive toad
or tow vehicle should have a camper shell. Under the boat rack fits a ATV,
25 hp motor, chain saw, gas, water, shovel, tackle, etc. Locals often pull
their boat through the tundra to lakes for fishing that maybe sees no more
than 2-3 fishermen on it per summer.

In Alaska like most places the further from the pavement the better the
fishing. I cannot believe how many people we met and heard about who would
drive so far and only bring an ultralite spinning outfit. These guys would
pull off the pavement, get out their rod, make 3-4 casts using roostertails,
catch nothing, get back in their vehicle and say they had gone fishing in
Alaska! In May southwest of Tok, I pulled off at the Tok river which flowed
in a big culvert under the highway, watched a guy cast and counted 3
spinning baits hung up in the overhead electrical lines. Returning in
September, I stopped and counted 38 baits and lures hung up in the lines!

Alaska does a shoddy, inconsistent job of stocking highway water bodies. The
Nancy Lakes, Tanglewood Lakes and Fort Wainwright-Eilson AFB plus the
Copper, Chilikoot, Salmon (near Hyder) and Tanana river all had good
drive-in and walk-in spots but there are more. I'd avoid the combat fishing
on the Russian/Kenai. It's not worth the hassle. Fly outs under 30 minutes
are not necessary and vary in quality but can be obtained without
reservations in many places and cost locals $65-75 while lower 48 folks pay
$125-175.

Alaska is a poor but very beautiful state. Cruise passengers and fly-in
lodge patrons my not see the seedy side of Alaska you will highway fly
fishing. The melted snow often revealing Tyvec house siding, blue tarp
roofs and assorted outside debris will make the trip realistic as well as
answers to the question "When did you last see a BLANK in Alaska?" where
BLANK = a cop, a Game Warden, a highway sign, a highway sign that had not
been shot, and so on. My advice is to take enough time to enjoy the
experience. Be prepared with due diligence. The locals make their
livelihood selling goods and services to the lower 48 passing through. You
will have lots of memories - make most of them good ones!

Good luck!
John

PS: Drive alertly - avoid the frost heaves!

"Mike Makela" ten.tsacmoc@alekamm wrote in message
...
This started as reply to Jeff's post from yesterday, moved it to a new
post as it got lengthy
snipped for brevity