Pungokepuk

Pungokepuk Lake to Togiak River

The Pungokepuk River is a small, scenic river flowing from Pungokepuk Lake to the Togiak River. This is a short river and is good for a float trip of 3 or 4 days. This river is ideal for the fisherman looking for a short trip with good Rainbow and Coho fishing. This river is very low use because of its short length, as well as the Togiak Wildlife Refuge regulation that only one guided, fly-out fishing lodge airplane is permitted on Pungokepuk Lake at a time. The Rainbow fishing on this river is good.

The mid section of the river is the best with peak fishing in July. Char and Grayling fishing are also good on this river. The Pungokepuk is a tributary of the Togiak River and has the same timing for its Salmon run. Chums are first to arrive in the river with peak spawning on the 25th of July. The Pungokepuk has a Chum run that averages 3,200 fish. The Reds move through the river to the lake in mid to late July with peak spawning in mid August. This river’s Red run is 4,300 fish.

The Pungokepuk has a King run of 650 fish that come into the river late July and have peak spawning about August 20th. Cohos enter the lower Pungokepuk River about August 15 and arrive in the lake about September 1. The best fishing for Coho is in the lower third of the river. The peak Coho fishing is August 15 to September 5. Coho fishing is also very good in the lower Togiak River. If you are using a boat with an outboard motor you can access many large schools of fish in the lower part of the river.

Cost

Cost to float Pungokepuk River is:

USGS maps: 1:250,000, Goodnews Bay