Thanks for the reply, glad you had a great trip. Looking back is there anything you would do differently, or wish you would have know before going?
The hunt part of the trip went so smooth I wouldn't change anything.
Logistics, there's some info I wish I had going in.
1) Alaskan airlines has a companion ticket if you get their card. This saves about $500 each if you travel in pairs
2) NAC will ship anything to/from kotz or Anchorage for like $0.50 per pound. They will also freeze it for you and the cost for them to hold shipments waiting for you to pick it up is minimal (I wasn't charged at all)
3) Although there's lots of fishing outfitters, it can be hard to get a booking lined up last minute. If you want to do what I did (assuming you tag out early), do some research beforehand and have a list of folks to call about availability. This probably holds true for anything you think you might want to do.
4) I wish I had brought more than 1 set of travel clothes. Whether you tag out early and go on a different adventure or just get stuck in Kotz waiting on weather, it's nice to have a clean set of street clothes.
5) Pay for the extra minutes/custom texts on your inreach/sat phone. Being in frequent contact with my wife won me a ton of brownie points, and even when you're in civilization you may find that your cell phone won't work. Sat phone always worked
6) Fish boxes from any of the outfitters seemed to run $20-30 each. Fish boxes from Walmart in Anchorage were $7. Decide how much hassle you want to go through to save $100
7) It seems like no matter what town you're in, there is a hotel that has a freezer. It may be important to call around before you need a hotel to find the ones with freezers on site.
8) Arrive at the airport in Kotz on your departure day early. Everyone on that plane is checking tons of luggage and the airport is not staffed to handle the surge. Give yourself plenty of time.