The Alagnak — the 'Branch' to the people who fish it — pours off the Katmai plateau out of Kukaklek and Nonvianuk lakes and braids its way down toward Bristol Bay, a Wild and Scenic river that's about as good a wilderness rainbow-and-salmon float as exists. Where all five Pacific salmon run, the big wild rainbows and the abundant Dolly Varden follow, gorging on smolt in early summer and on eggs and flesh through the autumn. It's lodge-and-float country: lake-buffered flows that stay relatively stable, braided gravel that rewards a careful read, and serious brown-bear density around the salmon. Fish the smolt window early and the egg-and-flesh window late for the rainbows; treat the sockeye and kings honestly as the runs that power the system rather than as classic fly targets; and never assume the river's open — the emergency orders move with the runs.

• Mixed