Big River, Ak

[BUZZ]

Anybody, been out to Big River (AK) yet, this year?

[UP-M5]

where is that?

[BUZZ]

West side of cook inlet, just south of the Kustatan pennisula.

[AK Mauler]

I flew over the Big River yesterday on my way back from Naknek. Still a lot of snow in Lake Clark Pass, and lots of water on Western Cook Inlet drainages. No landings so far on Western Cook inlet for me this year.

[BUZZ]

AK mauler,
How was the weather? Do you know if there is a strip up on Big river Lake? I heard the reds were in and I'm thinking about planning a trip when I get home. The last weather cam image from the east side of the pass showed promise. Pilot reports sure are nice to hear though.

[AK Mauler]

It sure would be nice if the FAA got the Lake Clark Pass web cams operational. They have been down for over 6 months. This is in my opinion one of the most useful tools out there. I flew the pass yesterday with 1000' ceiling right around summit lake. Flight service said open at the South West looking from Port Alsworth and "marginal" at Big river Lakes with 1,500' ceiling and rain. I had an in flight pilot report from Glen Alsworth that said the pass was flyable with good visibility and gave me a heads up on the low ceiling areas. I was planning on leaving Naknek on Sunday, which by the way had fantastic weather, and flight service was calling the pass closed from both ends with no pireps so I waited till Monday morning. I do not know about any strips on the lake, hard to imagine given the terrain. I did see lots of boats in the water, must have been chasing reds. I floated the Naknek river from the lake all the way to King Salmon, without even a bite! High murky water and the reds just started hitting the set nets on Sunday, so it's still a few weeks out. When the fish are in real good on the New Halen, that is always a sure bet. I guess that is about 2-3 weeks away.

Mauler