Dave Duncan & Sons
Kanektok River tent camps and float trips in Western Alaska — leopard rainbows, Pacific salmon, and wilderness base-camp weeks.
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Dave Duncan & Sons is one of Alaska’s most experienced tent-camp and float-trip outfitters on the Kanektok River, about 400 miles southwest of Anchorage near Quinhagak in the Togiak National Wildlife Refuge. The family operation — Dave and his sons — has built its reputation on this single exceptional river: wadable light-tackle water with huge numbers of fish, five Pacific salmon, leopard rainbows, char, Dolly Varden, grayling, and pike.
Lower reaches meet the Bering Sea on the tide with ocean-bright salmon; upper reaches branch into intimate trout water where mouse flies and dry presentations shine. Angler Adventures has booked Duncan trips for decades — when you want the Kanektok without a full fly-out lodge price, this is the program we recommend.
Ask about Dave Duncan & Sons on the Kanektok — we book free of charge.
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Fishing the Kanektok at Dave Duncan & Sons
What makes the Kanektok so desirable is density of fish, species variety, a relatively small wadable scale perfect for light tackle and flies, and diverse character from tidewater to headwaters. Millions of salmon smolts leave each year; returning adults fuel rainbows, char, and Dolly Varden that gorge on eggs, fry, and flesh — one of Alaska’s great self-sustaining sport fisheries.
Lower Base Camp suits anglers focused on dime-bright salmon fresh from the salt — kings often need wet-fly and sinking-line work, while silvers and others can come to surface patterns like the Pink Pollywog. Upper Base Camp favors trophy rainbow water and exciting mouse-fly fishing. Both camps run Willie boats or jet sleds with two guests per guide, Saturday to Saturday (8 days / 7 nights). Guests fly Anchorage → Bethel → Quinhagak (Grant Aviation), then transfer by boat to camp.
Upper & Lower Base Camps
Central to both camps are spacious kitchen and dining WeatherPort tents with propane kitchens, dining tables, and a fly-tying bench. Sleeping tents are sturdy double-occupancy 10×12 WeatherPorts with cots and carpeting. Meals are lodge-caliber — homemade bread, fresh salads, quality meats — with hot showers and heated drying tents for waders.
Lower Camp uses 17-ft Willie boats (wide beam for casting, row like drift boats for bank rainbows). Upper Camp uses 18-ft jet sleds for skinnier water. Capacity is 12 guests per camp.
Kanektok Float Trips
Float trips are full wilderness — no facilities along the route. Duncan uses 16-ft Avon Pro inflatables with rowing frames, floorboards, and anchors so you can fish any drift. Stand-up sleeping tents, a central kitchen/dining tent, riverside hot showers, and a menu that rivals most lodges keep the week comfortable. You cover roughly 90 miles from a headwater lake to Quinhagak, meeting successive salmon runs as the river grows. Float trips are limited to eight guests (two per boat/guide) and ask a bit more group participation in camp life in exchange for water you cannot reach any other way.
Choosing a Duncan base camp or float means committing to one river rather than multi-river fly-outs. In return you pay significantly less than a fly-out lodge, and the Kanektok is as productive as Western Alaska gets.
Best Timing on the Kanektok
For the greatest variety — sockeyes, chums, pinks, and kings plus resident trout and char — look at late June and July. August favors silvers and pinks with the freshwater species. Early June, mid-July to mid-August, and the first two weeks of September are strong for rainbows and char (they fish well all season).
Dave Duncan & Sons 2026 Rates
| Program | Duration | Capacity | Rate (USD pp) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Base Camp | 8 days / 7 nights | 12 · two per boat | $7,100 | Call for exclusive pricing |
| Upper Base Camp | 8 days / 7 nights | 12 · two per boat | $7,400 | Call for exclusive pricing |
| Kanektok Float Trip | 7-day float | 8 · two per boat | — | Call for 2026 pricing |
| Invitation Creek Steelhead | 7-day walk & wade | 4 | — | Call for 2026 pricing |
Rates are per person in USD, airfare not included, and subject to change. Our booking services are free.
Included / Not Included
Included: boat transfer to/from Quinhagak, lodging, meals, boat and guide for each two anglers.
Not included: airfare to Quinhagak, fishing license (approx. $70 pp/week, subject to change), personal gear, fishing equipment (flies and lures sold at camp), sleeping bag, and gratuities (suggested guideline $400–$500 per person per week).
Angler Adventures arranges Alaska air and hotel segments and can advise on tackle after you book. Call with questions — we look forward to hearing from you.
Ready to plan a week on the Kanektok? Message us or call.
Plan your Dave Duncan & Sons week on the Kanektok
Our Alaska specialists book this program at no charge to you.
Dave Duncan & Sons operates two base camps on the Kanektok; Upper Base Camp and Lower Base Camp. Central to both camps are the spacious kitchen and dining facilities housed in large, free-standing community area tents, which every evening become the center of activity. These contain a complete propane kitchen, dining tables, and a fly-tying bench. Sleeping facilities at both Upper and Lower Base Camps are sturdy, double occupancy 10 X 12 Weather Port System tents with cots and carpeting. The meals served are excellent and come with homemade bread, fresh salads, and large cuts of quality meats. The base camps even have a hot shower facility as well as heated drying tents for waders and wet clothing.
While both camps offer opportunities for all above species, anglers preferring to concentrate on salmon fishing usually choose Lower Base Camp to catch dime-bright salmon fresh from the salt. Fresh run fish are in prime condition and readily take the fly. While kings usually require wet fly, sinking line presentations, other salmon species (silvers in particular) can be teased into surface strikes with patterns like the now famous ‘Wog (Pink Pollywog).
These Alaska adventures are complete wilderness experiences, with no facilities of any kind found along the route. Dave Duncan & Sons has spent years researching and developing specialized camps and boats for comfort and convenience. Only the best inflatable rafts, 16′ Avon Pro’s are used. Each raft features rowing racks, floorboards to stand on, and anchoring capabilities that allow guests to fish any drift in the river. Most of Alaska’s big game and bird species are common in these areas and during the trip it will be possible to see many in their natural habitat.
When it’s time to load the plane and return, the person going home is a different person than the one that came. He has a deeper appreciation and respect for the fishing experience and Alaska’s vast wilderness. Float trips are limited to eight guests, with one guide and two guests per boat.
Timing
Across the border from Esquel in Argentina, and deep into the Coyhue forests of the tenth region of Chile flow the azure depths of the Futaleufu river.
A world away from the hustle and bustle that even sleepy Esquel represent, the “Big River”; (for this is how Futaleufu translates from the Tehuelche tongue) rolls along, amid some of the most unspoiled mountain scenery on the planet.
South of the Chilean lake district, Futaleufu is a stand alone fishery. The freestone giant grows healthy stocks of rainbow and brown trout that are fed by abundant hatches of mayfly, caddis and stone flies. A heavy resident stock
of fish and great hatches combined with classic fly water make the Futaleufu a trout fisherman’s paradise. Average rainbows and browns are in the 14″-16″ class but much larger fish are caught regularly.
There is even the occasional sea-run fish, guaranteed to put a bend in your rod! In truth though, whilst the chance of a big fish is a daily occurrence, it’s hard to be totally focused on the fishing in a place this special.
There’s a magic in the valley that transcends mere fishing. Futaleufu is a place to re-charge your batteries, to feel your spirits soar.
The lodges inaccessibility through the Valle de las Escalas make this part of the river unique, lazy horseback trails wind down to the rivers edge, a riot of Lupins and other wild flowers, no engines pollute the river here chemically or audibly and time appears to have stood still. Futa Lodge stands sentinel on the river bank wishing you well on your daily fishing foray, its lights twinkling a greeting in the evening as you return from the river.
Since the mid -eighties Futa Lodge has welcomed the greatest names in fishing, from Lefty Kreh and Mel Kreiger to Lee and Joan Wulff. The reason they came is the same now as it always has been, Futa represents the best of Chilean fishing, hospitality, accommodations, guiding and service.
Futa Lodge fishes primarily for Brown and Rainbow trout, with dry and wet flies in the Futaleufu river itself. The lodge also fishes neighboring tributaries and lakes which are mostly populated by Browns and Rainbows.
Other species occasionally encountered in the Futaleufu and Espolon rivers include Chinook, Silver & Atlantic Salmon, Sea-run Brown Trout and Steelhead. During a full week stay, anglers can visit different waters each day.
Easy access to some of the prime water on the Futaleufu river from right in front of the lodge. Great wade and drift boat fishing. Superb Dry fly and Streamer fishing. Varied fishing program taking in local tributaries and Lakes.
Fly Gear: Nine foot 4-7 weight rods for dry flies, 5-8 weight rods for wet-flies and streamers. Floating lines and sink tip and fast sinking lines. 8 foot to 12 foot leaders tapered down to two pound tippet for dry-flies and tapered down to 6 lbs for streamers.
Flies in Dry fly would be all mayfly patterns from size 12-20, spent patterns in similar sizes. Nymphs and Scuds in sizes 10-18 weighted and un-weighted. Streamers, Sculpins and Wooly Buggers in sizes 6-12.
Fishing Schedule is flexible but will normally start after breakfast at 8:00 AM – 8:30 AM. Shore lunches are the norm followed by fishing in the afternoon until into the evening. Seasonal changes will take into account the changing light but early season fishing may be as late as 10 PM, late season as early as 7 PM.
Futaleufu Lodge is strictly a catch and release fishery.
Location: Futa Lodge is situated in the Valle de las Escalas on the Futaleufu River, about half way between Puerto Montt and Coyhaique, 40 minutes drive from the village of Fuateufu.
How to get there: From Argentina, there are weekly flights to Esquel. You will be met by a lodge representative, cross the border to Chile and driven to the lodge (approx 1 1/2 hours)
By air from Santiago and Puerto Montt to Chaiten. You will be met in Chaiten and transfers to the lodge by 4WD vehicle (approx 4 hours).
From Puerto Montt you can also charter direct to the Futaleufu airport, where you will be met by a lodge representative and driven to the lodge (approx 40 minutes).
Aurelia Lodge, Estancia Rosita and Estancia Aurelia are situated on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, and occupy the large triangular tract of land between the Rio Grande and its tributary, the Rio Menendez. For years, the owner, Ricardo Hermoso, was occupied with other businesses, not the least of which was running these two working ranches, and found it more expedient to lease most of the Rio Grande water to another outfitter, and operate the fishing on a part time basis, primarily on his 15 miles of the Rio Menendez.
However, when the lease ran up in 2006, Senor Hermoso decided to hire a fishing manager, refurbish the lodge, and run a full time fishing program for the duration of the sea-run trout season.
Senor Hermoso recruited a Rio Grande native, Peter Pereira Mullins to run the operation. Peter, who has fly fished the Rio Grande all his life, holds a degree in Tourism and Hotel Management, had also guided at Despedida Lodge for 7 seasons. Peter recruited a staff of experienced and enthusiastic guides and has personally trained them all.
The Rio Menendez is a smaller river, with more intimate water and is a bit more technical. Wading the Rio Menendez requires a stealthier approach and frequently smaller flies, and presents a challenge that appeals to many experienced anglers.
While “bigger water” than Menendez, the Rio Grande is really a medium size river, with gentle gradients and easily waded, gravel-bottom pools. While the pools can be covered adequately with a single-handed rod, double-handers have become popular and deal with the famous Tierra del Fuego winds more efficiently. Aurelia Lodge’s pools are varied and interesting with island pools, traditional runs, undercut banks and meanders. All the pools are ideal fly water.
All told, Aurelia Lodge offers 8 miles of double bank fishing on the Rio Grande and 15 miles of double bank fishing on the Rio Menendez.
The lodge is approximately 83 kilometers from the airport at Rio Grande City. The main lodge is set back several miles from the Rio Grande. Aurelia Lodge blends the traditional estancia styles with more modern. For example, dinner may be served in a modern and elegant formal dining room one evening, and the following, a traditional gaucho “asado” Served in the “Quincho” dining room.
The fishing day is divided into two 4-hour fishing sessions to take advantage of the most productive, low-light periods of the day. Anglers depart Aurelia each morning at 8:00 am for the river and their assigned beat. Each two anglers will have their own guide and 4 WD vehicle equipped with exterior rod holders. You can drive right up to most of the pools so very little walking is required.
Those fishing the Rio Grande will meet at the comfortable fishing hut over looking the river, for a sumptuous midday meal followed by the traditional siesta. Anglers on the Menendez return to the main lodge for lunch and siesta. You head back out in late afternoon and fish until dark. Then all will return to Aurelia’s main lodge for a gourmet dinner featuring a selection of exquisite Argentinean wines.
The 2018 rate at Aurelia Lodge is: February / March = $6,290 US per person per week and April = $5,032 US per person per week. Cost for a non-angler guest is 50% of the angler rate.
Included: Roundtrip transfers from Rio Grande airport to the Lodge; 7 nights double occupancy accommodations; 6 full days guided fishing, 2 anglers per guide; all meals with fine seletion of wines and beers; hard liquors and cocktails before meals at the lodge; internet access; fishing license.
Not Included: International airfare to Buenos Aires; hotels or transfers in Buenos Aires; airfare from Buenos Aires to Rio Grande; ground transfers from Rio Grande; fishing license; personal equipment, laundry service; staff and guide gratuities.
When everything is fishing well, there are literally too many fishing options. Imagine trying to decide whether to fish for 25 pound pike on the surface, fresh sea lice covered salmon near the coast, hiking small creeks for Arctic Char in the mountain streams, Rainbows and Dollies on the Nushagak, Agulapak, Kvichak, etc, or a mixed bag of Grayling, Lake Trout, and Rainbows on Royal Coachman’s home water. That’s the dilemma guests face each day.
The main lodge houses the kitchen, dining room and lounge, library corner, one guest room with a private bath, and massage room. Comfortable and cozy, this is where you will plan each following days excursions. You and your guides will sit around the fire, and decide what type of fishing you would like to do, and plan the details of tomorrows outing. There is no pre-scheduled fishing program.
Like many Alaska fly-out fishing lodges, Enchanted Lake Lodge lays in dramatic contrast to the rugged landscape in which it was built. Enchanted Lake Lodge provides the luxury and service one would expect from any world-class resort.
An experienced, professional staff is always on call to cater to each guests expectations and preferences. Enchanted Lake Lodge makes guest’s comfort, fishing and safety their highest priorities.
There is also a wader-drying room, full bar, game room, chef’s kitchen and dining room overlooking the Naknek River. There are also two disconnected double-occupancy cabins with private baths. While the lodge can comfortably accommodate 18 guests, they normally take a maximum of 14 guests at a time (private groups of up to 16 can book the entire lodge by special request).
