​The greatest salmon run in the world is currently in progress in southwest Alaska.  The Alaska Department of Fish & Game has estimated that about 51 million Sockeye (Red) Salmon will leave the Bering and Pacific Oceans during the summer of 2018 to ascend the rivers of the mainland to spawn and die.  Sockeye Salmon are considered the primo salmon for eating, be it canned, cooked or smoked.  The indigenous peoples of coastal Alaska have for thousands of years taken and preserved vast numbers of Sockeyes during their annual summer spawning runs to feed their families and dog teams. The commercial fishermen will harvest over 20 million of the Sockeyes each year for the canneries and commercial market thereby leaving millions of to enter the lakes and streams for the bears, eagles, indigenous peoples and sport fishermen.  The sport fisherman’s limit of Sockeyes is usually 5 per day, which means a couple of days of fishing can provide our clients with 30 or 40 lbs of one of the best eating filets you can find.

​Around the first week of July each yeaar, 4 – 6 million Sockeyes enter southwest Alaska’s vast Lake Iliamna from the Bering Sea making their way to the northeast end of the lake where Angry Eagle Lodge is located providing virtually an unlimited number of hookups for our clients through early September.  If you have never experienced the awesome Sockeye runs of the Lake Iliamna area, you need to come visit us for one of the greatest spectacles of your life!  We are now booking for the summer of 2019 and availability is limited during this popular time of the year, so it is advantageous to book your trip a year in advance to ensure you can have the dates you desire. 

​I have fished the Lake Iliamna and Lake Clark National Parks area of southwest Alaska since 1989 and managed Angry Eagle Lodge, formally Rainbow Bay Resort, for 6 years.  This area of Alaska is known for its huge runs of the 5 species of Pacific Salmon and its big Rainbows, but the Arctic Char have held a special interest for me.  You could call the Arctic Char a sub-species of Dolly Varden, as an Arctic Char is simply a land locked Dolly that does not have the ability to migrate back to the ocean.  It takes a trained biologist examining a small bone in the cheek of the fish to determine if it is indeed an Arctic Char or a Dolly Varden. At the lodge we would catch true sea run Dolly Varden while fishing for Chum, Pink and Silver Salmon in the tributaries of Cook Inlet.  Some of these Dollies would often be 30+ inches long weighing 10+ pounds, although most would be 15-20” long and weigh several pounds.  These fish were normally caught on beads simulating salmon eggs, fished below the salmon which were near the surface ascending the streams to spawn.  Occasionally you could catch them by skittering a Humpy or an Adams dry fly on the surface if there were not a lot of Salmon present.  These Dolly Varden were dark gray on their backs, smoke gray on their sides and silver gray on their stomach with sometimes hard to see spots on their sides

​     We would catch true Arctic Char in several Lakes in Lake Clark National Park where the Char were land locked.  We were normally targeting these Char as well as the Lake Trout at the mouth of tributaries that flowed into the lake using streamers, spoons and spinners.  These Char averaged 12 – 20” and usually weighed a couple of pounds as they were restricted mostly  to a diet of their fry and Lake Trout fry in these diamond blue lakes created by melting snow from the surrounding mountains.  These lakes were very deep, and structure was nothing but rocks and boulders providing a very stark landscape for the virtually nonexistent terrestrial insects.  These fish could be spectacularly colored, sporting a light gray blue back, blue-silver sides with very distinct spots and a white belly.  When they began to spawn their sides and belly would sometimes turn gold!

​The Char I enjoyed fishing for the most lived in tributaries to Lake Iliamna and in particular, the Iliamna river at the north end of the lake.  Due to a huge die off of Char in the Iliamna river in the 1980’s, the river was designated a “Trophy Char River” in the early 1990’s meaning you could fish for the char, but you had to release all Char caught.  Over the 30 years I fished as a client and guide for what is now Angry Eagle Lodge, formally Rainbow Bay Resort located at Pedro Bay on the north end of Lake Iliamna, I had the opportunity to watch the Char population blossom from the 12 – 14-inch Char we caught on the Iliamna River in the late 80’s to the huge 30-inch Char we are catching today.  We learned a lot about how to catch these Char over the years.  In the late 80’s we mainly used black 1/8th to 3/16th oz “Crappie jigs” very effectively for the smaller Char available at the time.  After guiding for years and spending 3 – 4 days a week guiding on the Iliamna River we continued to use small black and light brown jigs and Clouser type flies to simulate the Sockeye smolt the Char were feeding on as the freshly hatched smolt would migrate in huge swarms from the Sockeye spawning grounds upriver down to Lake Iliamna where they would spend their first year.  The Char would congregate in the deep holes of the river and feast on the smolt as the descended the river.  Fishing with 6 – 8 lb line on ultra-light spinning tackle or 5 & 6 wt fly rods, it was not unusual to catch 30 – 40 Char in a day’s fishing in June.  The Sockeye Salmon historically showed up at the north end of Lake Iliamna the end of the first week of June and began ascending the tributaries to the Illie as we referred to it, the end of the 2nd week of June.  By that time most of the smolt had made their run down the Illie to the lake and the Char changed their eating habits from feasting on Sockeye smolt to feasting on the fresh Sockeye eggs and we accordingly changed our terminal tackle from small dark jigs and flies to bead patterns that simulated salmon eggs as using real salmon eggs was illegal.  Fishing beads was a game of constant modification, as in mid to late June we used bright orange eggs, usually 6 or 8 millimeters in diameter to simulate freshly laid eggs from the spawning Sockeyes.  By the 2nd week of July there were literally millions of Sockeye eggs in the river and it became a game of painting beads with light pink finger nail polish, modifying their appearance to look like eggs with the embryos beginning to mature or using light purple colored beads to simulate “dead” eggs.  It was amazing as one day the Char and Rainbows would be taking bright orange eggs and the next day, or maybe just a run upstream the Char and Bows would be taking orange eggs with streaks of pink finger nail polish on them.  It was an interesting game to find a bead coloring that would get the fish to hit your imitation instead of the millions of real eggs floating past them.  When the fish really got stuffed in mid-August and I mean stuffed as when you would grab them around the mid-section to dislodge the hook they would regurgitate dozens of freshly consumed eggs, we would go to one say red 8 mm bead about 2 inches above the hook and a 6 mm painted orange bead a 1 ½ about the hook.  The idea here was the red egg would attract the Char’s attention and he would hit the painted egg below the red egg.  The idea may sound “fishy” but it often worked when nothing else would!  Then by late August when the rivers were full of dead spawned out Sockeyes we would begin using pinkish tan or beige “flesh flies” that would simulate small chunks of decomposing Sockeye flesh.  When nothing else would get the Char to hit we would bring out the 3 – 4” black or deep purple articulated leeches that simulated lamprey ells ascending the river to spawn.  

​The Char I enjoyed fishing for the most lived in tributaries to Lake Iliamna and in particular, the Iliamna river at the north end of the lake.  Due to a huge die off of Char in the Iliamna river in the 1980’s, the river was designated a “Trophy Char River” in the early 1990’s meaning you could fish for the char, but you had to release all Char caught.  Over the 30 years I fished as a client and guide for what is now Angry Eagle Lodge, formally Rainbow Bay Resort located at Pedro Bay on the north end of Lake Iliamna, I had the opportunity to watch the Char population blossom from the 12 – 14-inch Char we caught on the Iliamna River in the late 80’s to the huge 30-inch Char we are catching today.  We learned a lot about how to catch these Char over the years.  In the late 80’s we mainly used black 1/8th to 3/16th oz “Crappie jigs” very effectively for the smaller Char available at the time.  After guiding for years and spending 3 – 4 days a week guiding on the Iliamna River we continued to use small black and light brown jigs and Clouser type flies to simulate the Sockeye smolt the Char were feeding on as the freshly hatched smolt would migrate in huge swarms from the Sockeye spawning grounds upriver down to Lake Iliamna where they would spend their first year.  The Char would congregate in the deep holes of the river and feast on the smolt as the descended the river.  Fishing with 6 – 8 lb line on ultra-light spinning tackle or 5 & 6 wt fly rods, it was not unusual to catch 30 – 40 Char in a day’s fishing in June.  The Sockeye Salmon historically showed up at the north end of Lake Iliamna the end of the first week of June and began ascending the tributaries to the Illie as we referred to it, the end of the 2nd week of June.  By that time most of the smolt had made their run down the Illie to the lake and the Char changed their eating habits from feasting on Sockeye smolt to feasting on the fresh Sockeye eggs and we accordingly changed our terminal tackle from small dark jigs and flies to bead patterns that simulated salmon eggs as using real salmon eggs was illegal.  Fishing beads was a game of constant modification, as in mid to late June we used bright orange eggs, usually 6 or 8 millimeters in diameter to simulate freshly laid eggs from the spawning Sockeyes.  By the 2nd week of July there were literally millions of Sockeye eggs in the river and it became a game of painting beads with light pink finger nail polish, modifying their appearance to look like eggs with the embryos beginning to mature or using light purple colored beads to simulate “dead” eggs.  It was amazing as one day the Char and Rainbows would be taking bright orange eggs and the next day, or maybe just a run upstream the Char and Bows would be taking orange eggs with streaks of pink finger nail polish on them.  It was an interesting game to find a bead coloring that would get the fish to hit your imitation instead of the millions of real eggs floating past them.  When the fish really got stuffed in mid-August and I mean stuffed as when you would grab them around the mid-section to dislodge the hook they would regurgitate dozens of freshly consumed eggs, we would go to one say red 8 mm bead about 2 inches above the hook and a 6 mm painted orange bead a 1 ½ about the hook.  The idea here was the red egg would attract the Char’s attention and he would hit the painted egg below the red egg.  The idea may sound “fishy” but it often worked when nothing else would!  Then by late August when the rivers were full of dead spawned out Sockeyes we would begin using pinkish tan or beige “flesh flies” that would simulate small chunks of decomposing Sockeye flesh.  When nothing else would get the Char to hit we would bring out the 3 – 4” black or deep purple articulated leeches that simulated lamprey ells ascending the river to spawn.  

​During the last 7 days, nearly 200,000 Salmon have ascended the Nushagak River in southwest Alaska fulfilling the our fishermen’s wildest dreams!  These numbers include 32,000 King Salmon, 40,000 Sockeye Salmon and 124,000 Chum Salmon.  Alaska Dept. of Fish & Game (ADF&G) officials expect the daily runs to subside somewhat during the next week as they open the season for commercial fishermen tomorrow off the mouth of the Nushagak in Bristol Bay.  When escapement numbers are achieved in a given time frame, ADF&G gives the commercial industry window of time to net the incoming salmon until their wuoto numbers are met.  This does not mean a total stop in the salmon entering the river, it simply cuts the numbers that enter the river daily.

​    Any way you look at it, the last week has given the indication of a great salmon run for 2018!  Angry Eagle Lodge flies it’s salmon fishermen early in the mornings from the lodge at Lake Iliamna to the Nushagak for a full day of fishing and then back to the comforts of our upscale lodge late in the afternoon.  This allows our anglers to enjoy the great Salmon fishing on the Nushagak and not having to stay in a primitive tent camp on the River itself.  After catching your yearly quota of 4 King Salmon, our ideal location on Lake Iliamna allows us to have our anglers experience the awesome Rainbow Trout, Arctic Char, Grayling and Pike fishing southwest Alaska offers as well as the great salmon fishing of the Nushagak River!  Come visit us for the fishing experience of a lifetime as we are now booking for the 2019 fishing season.

Luis Brown, founder of River Plate Anglers, has recently signed an exclusive fishing agreement on one of Brazil’s most famous and productive Peacock Bass fishing rivers in the upper Rio Negro watershed.  Located near Santa Isabel, the Jurubaxis has produced 2 IGFA World Record Peacock Bass and offers over 100 miles of fishable water on this famous black water tributary to the Rio Negro.  River Plate’s famous floating, mobile Safari Camps will be accessed by a 2 ½ hour Cessna Caravan float &/or wheel flight capable of handling up to 8 anglers.  Having been one of the favorite rivers to fish by the myriad of mother boats fishing the Santa Isabel area over the years, the Rio Jurubaxis will now be fished exclusively by River Plate Anglers floating Safari Camps.  This agreement was signed by representatives of the Indigenous communities of Sao Francisco & Acariquara on the Rio Jurubaxis, the President of FOIRN (Federation of Rio Negro Indigenous Organizations) comprising 35,000 indigenous people in 750 communities, belonging to 23 ethnic groups making up 10% of the Indigenous population of Brazil and Luis Brown, the founder of River Plate.  Witness to the signing included the Environment Secretariat of Santa Isabele do Rio Negro & the local Technical Coordinator.  This agreement will allow River Plate to manage the fishing pressure on one of Brazil’s most famous trophy Peacock Bass tributaries to the Rio Negro and benefit the indigeneous peoples of the area in a number of ways including monetary rewards.  River Plate continues to be a leading force in the Amazon’s Sport Fishing community in working with the Indigeous Indian Communities to benefit their people and manage their Peacock Bass fishing resources for future sustainability.  Contact Emu Outfitting for an opportunity to enjoy the exclusive Peacock Bass fishing on the Rio Jurubaxis.

July 21 – 26, 2017
$3,750.00/person
(Normal retail Price is $4,885.00)
 
High Volume Dove, Duck & Decoying Pigeon
Common Perdiz, Montaraz & Giant Quail behind Dogs
 
River Plate Outfitters offers the only mixed bird hunt of it’s kind in South America allowing hunters to hunt High volume Duck, Dove and decoying Pigeon as well as three distinct species of Perdiz, including Spotted Tinamou, Forest Tinamou & Elegant Crested Tinamou behind dogs, all in a 6 day hunt.  Hunters will fly to Buenos Aires on 21 July 2017 and be flown to Estancia La Escondida in Argentina’s Buenos Aires Province and hunt high volume ducks in from blinds the afternoon of the 21st, the morning and afternoon of the 22nd and the morning of the 23rd.  They will return to the Estancia for lunch and then be transported about 90 minutes west to the Los Pampas Province where they will enjoy a high-volume Dove hunt and be transported to Estancia La Pompa for dinner and the night.  Hunters hunt either high volume Dove, decoying Pigeons or one of three species of Perdiz behind dogs, rotating in half day hunts the 24th & 25th.  The morning of the 26th, they will hunt high volume Dove returning the the Estancia for lunch and be transported back to Buenos Aires in the afternoon for their flight back to the US.  The Estancias are first class, the food is prepared by our in house chef and the hunting, guides & pointing dogs are all first class.  Many of you have hunted Doves, Ducks and possibly Perdiz in South America, but have never had a chance to enjoy the diversity of upland birds and waterfowl this 6 day hunts offers.
 
Information, Itinerary & Pricing for 7 days (6 full days of shooting) in the La Pampa and Buenos Aires Provinces of Argentina, located approximately 400 kilometers west of Buenos Aires, July 21 – 27, 2017 is below.  This group can consist of from a minimum of 4 hunters to a maximum of 7 hunters.  2 days of duck hunting will be conducted out of La Escondida Lodge and the Dove or other upland birds if desired out of La Pampa Lodge.  Ground transportation will be furnished between Buenos Aires and the Lodges by ground transportation, with charter aircraft available if the clients wish to pay for a charter.
 
The Hunting
Duck Hunting
Duck hunting is pothole shooting from either elevated or ground blinds for 8 – 10 species of ducks.  Hunters will be allocated 8 boxes of shells per day.  There is no limit on ducks, lead shot is used, plugs in guns are not mandated and baiting is legal.  Hunters will enjoy four - ½ day hunts over a 3 day period, hunting the afternoon upon their arrival, the morning and afternoon of the 2nd day and the morning of the 3rd day.
 
Dove, Pigeon, Common Perdiz, Forest Perdiz & Giant Quail
This discounted hunt price is structured around high volume Dove hunting.  Clients will hunt dove over harvested grain fields or on flyways between harvested grain fields and roosts during morning and afternoon hunts.  If you wish to substitute a ½ day hunt for Pigeon, Common Perdiz, Forest Perdiz or Giant Quail there is a $180.00/half day hunt charge.  The Common and Forest Perdiz are hunted behind pointing dogs, the Giant Quail are hunted in a driven manner with flushing dogs.  Pigeon hunting is done from ground blinds with decoys. 
 
Game Bird Limits:
Dove                                        No limits, # of birds are unreal!
Pigeon                                     8 boxes of shells/half day shoot
Common Perdiz                      10 birds/half day shoot
Forest Perdiz                           6 birds/half day shoot
Giant Quail                              6 bird/half day shoot
Duck                                        5 boxes of shells/day
 
Trip Prices
Special Trip Price                $3,750.00/person
Normal retail price on this hunt is $4,885.00/person with a minimum of 4 hunters and a max of 7 hunters.
 
 Trip Price Includes:
·         2 full days of Duck hunting and 3 full days of Dove hunting.
·         Ground and domestic commercial air transportation.
·         All meals in hunting areas including liquor, wine and beer.
·         Double occupancy rooms.
·         Hunting license/permits in Argentina.
·         Daily laundry & maid service.
·         Guides and dogs
·         Double Occupancy blinds for Pigeon & Duck (Single occupancy blinds $125.00/half day extra.)
 
Not Included in the trip price:
·         If you wish to add or substitute a daily dove shoot for any other species, there is an additional $180.00/half day.
·         Air charter flight (instead of normal scheduled commercial flight) from Santa Rosa to Buenos Aires at the end of the trip.
·         Gun Permits and entry into Argentina (Approx. $110.00/gun)
·         Shot Shells ($14.00/box for 20 & 12 ga,)
·         Gun Rental ($60.00/day/gun)
·         Gratuities (Suggested $80.00/day total for guide and staff)
·         Phone calls and items of a personal nature
·         Transportation costs between Buenos Aires and Estancias for clients leaving or arriving outside the normal trip schedule
 
Additional Day: If clients wish to stay an additional day, rates are (providing space is available):
 
·         La Escondido         Duck Shoot in the morning and afternoon                 $1,180.00/day
·         Los Pampas           High volume Doves AM & other species PM              $595.00/day
o                       High volume Dove AM & PM                                      $400.00/day
o    
Trip Itinerary
 
Day 1               Arrive in Buenos Aires (BA) in the morning, (There are direct flights from a number of cities in the US leaving in the early evening, arriving in BA around 8:00 am).  Upon your arrival, you will be greeted by one of our English-speaking guides at the Buenos Aires International Airport.  From there, you’ll have a 4-hour drive to the Estancia La Escondida for lunch followed by an afternoon duck hunt.  In the evening, you will return to the lodge for cocktails, dinner and the evening.
 
Day 2               You will enjoy a morning and afternoon duck hunt no more than a 45-minute drive from the Estancia.  Between hunts you will have time for lunch and a siesta at the Estancia.
 
Day 3               Duck hunt in the morning, then following the morning hunt, you’ll drive approx. an hour for lunch and an additional 45 minutes to the dove fields.  The numbers of dove in the areas we hunt rival the numbers of dove in the Cordoba area, even though this area of Argentina is not as well known.  Once the afternoon dove hunt is done, you will be driven approx. 45 min to Estancia Los Pampas for cocktails, dinner and the evening.
 
Day 4 & 5        Dove hunts are scheduled for the morning and afternoon close to the lodge with lunch in between the hunts.  For an additional $180.00/half day, clients may change a half day dove hunt to one for decoying Pigeons or one of 3 species behind pointing dogs.  After the afternoon hunt clients will return to the Estancia for cocktails, dinner and the evening.
 
Day 6               You’ll enjoy a dove shoot in the morning.  Following the hunt, you’ll have lunch at the Estancia and then transfer to the local airport for your flight back to Buenos Aires and your overnight flight home.
 
For additional information contact:
 
Jim Kern
[email protected]
​877.622.6296