Bristol Bay

ENTRY NO. 2

Covering 40,000 square miles in Southwest Alaska, this vast wilderness inspired an appreciation for the transformative power of nature.

For anglers around the world, the name “Bristol Bay” evokes visions of remote, boundless wilderness and legendary rivers full of salmon and trout. The world’s largest runs of wild sockeye salmon support a fragile, diverse ecosystem that includes brown bears, bald eagles, and massive herds of caribou, as well as an indigenous culture that has inhabited the region for thousands of years.

Isolated fishing lodges sprinkled across the landscape make it possible for fly fishers to travel by floatplane or boat to explore wide, braided rivers and small tributaries in search of huge rainbow trout, arctic char, and five species of salmon amid spectacular scenery.

A red and white float plane being loaded with fly fishing gear.

Two men in fishing gear holding a large fish toward the camera.

A map of the tip of Florida with a compass rose on the Everglades and a small picture of a brown bear..

A side-view of Triston Chaney's face. — Triston Chaney

Bristol Bay’s Native Son

Still in his early 20s, Triston Chaney has been guiding fly fishers for four summers, and he takes immense pleasure in sharing his home with clients from around the world. Although he’s always felt lucky to be from Southwest Alaska, seeing Bristol Bay through the eyes of visitors deepens his love for the area and its resources.

“There’s nothing better than when you guide somebody who can really appreciate the area, especially clients who haven’t experienced Alaska before. It’s great to see a person transformed by spending a day on the water in such an amazing place, surrounded by bears and catching trout bigger than they’ve ever seen.”

One special place that Triston loves to share with clients is the Brooks River, famous for the remarkable concentration of brown bears that gather there each summer to gorge on salmon around a gorgeous waterfall.

Traveling with those salmon are some very large, lake-run rainbow trout, which means that anglers willing to navigate around the imposing bears may get a shot at dime-bright fish over 30 inches.

On one memorable trip with a mother and daughter, they arrived at water’s edge only to find 11 different bears in sight. They fished whatever water was available, staying out of the bears’ way, and had a banner day.

“It was really special,” Triston remembers. “The mom was a go-getter, catching fish and really loving it, while her daughter spent most of the time on bear-spotting duty.”

Many of his clients come from cities, suburbs, and other places where they don’t have access to true wilderness, and watching these people shake off their day-to-day concerns to engage fully with the natural world is rewarding for Triston: “Where they live, they just can’t get away from people and simply let themselves breathe.”

An image of the Orvis Guide Hip Pack fully loaded. — The Right Gear For A Great Day

“***My favorite product****, aside from fly rods and reels, is the* ***Orvis Guide Hip Pack****. It's the perfect size: big enough for a day of guiding and easy to keep out of the way. When I fly out to Brooks River, I know I have everything I need in that little hip pack.*”

***—Triston Chaney***

Born and raised in Dillingham, near the mouth of the Wood River, Triston’s deep connection to Bristol Bay and its salmon is in his blood. Of Yu’pik and Athabaskan descent, he grew up in a family of commercial fishermen who also loved spending time exploring the wilderness with a fishing rod or rifle in hand.

When the proposed Pebble Mine threatened their way of life, they fought back.

Following his grandfather’s lead, Triston became a powerful voice in the movement to stop the mine, and, at the age of eleven, he made his first of three trips to Washington, D.C. to testify before Congress about the dangers of the Pebble project.

Although he guides mostly for trout and salmon, Triston’s first love is casting dry flies for grayling, which allows him to get out on the water with just a 4-weight and a single box of flies. While guiding involves a lot of problem-solving and concentrating on the client’s technique, grayling fishing for Triston is just about the simple joy of having a fly rod in hand and some fish in sight.

Plus, the fish aren’t picky, they fight hard, and they’re beautiful. “My favorite color in the world is that purple you see on a grayling’s gill plate,” he says.

Triston’s 11-year-old brother, Calvin, recently became curious about fly fishing, so Triston is eager to get Calvin into some fish this summer. He relishes the opportunity to share his passion for the outdoors and show his young brother the incredible ecosystem that their family has fought so hard to protect.

An image of an Elk Wing Hair Caddis fly on a white background. — Triston’s Top 3 Flies

For Bristol Bay

**Dolly Llama** — gets down quickly and offers a lot of action in the water
**Flesh Fly** — imitates the flesh of decomposing salmon
**Elk-Hair Caddis** **Dry Fly** — “I don't know what it is,” he says, “but it just gets the job done.”

The pure joy for the sport shines brightly in Triston, and it offers him a way to engage intimately with the land and rivers at his doorstep.

Although he’s taken on many important roles for such a young man—commercial fisherman, fly-fishing guide, and active advocate for the environmental, cultural, and economic threats facing his community—the part of his story he is most eager to share is his love for being on the water.

His enthusiasm is contagious, a much-needed reminder about how time in nature enriches us.

“Every time I go outside just look at nature, every time I experience something wild, every time I visit a new part of Bristol Bay, I discover a new part of myself.”