Ongivinuk Float
The Ongivinuk is a small tributary of the Togiak River That starts in the surrounding mountains and joins the Togiak River. It joins the Togiak at about half of the distance from the Tokiak Lake and the Togiak Bay. I was told by a Togiak elder that Ongivinuk means "Largest Village". There used to be a large village at the mouth of the river but it is now gone because of an outbreak of disease.
Our trip started at the mouth of the Ongivinuk Lake and terminated at the Togiak River Lodge. The entire float encompassed over 72 river miles. The total mileage from the lodge to the mouth of Ongivinuk Lake was about 40 miles "as the crow flies." We floated from August 5th through August 14th, 2009. Our trip had warm and hot days with no precipitation. The prior weeks had lots of rain and the river height was presumed to be higher than normal. Chum salmon were the majority of the spawning fish that we saw, but King Salmon (Chinook) were also spotted and so were Sockeye Salmon. The lake had an abundance of the Sockeyes but they had not moved into the river yet to begin their spawning ritual. We floated in one man rafts and carried very little gear to remain as light as possible in case of any portages and to save money on our air taxi.
During the float, the river is continually changing. The first couple of miles start out as a very flat meandering stream with tundra features. The river evolves into a steeper gradient with bigger rocks on the bottom that become better habitat for spawning fish like Chums and Sockeye Salmon. The middle river is barren of any spawnig fish because the rocks are much bigger and is unattractive for spawning fish. Trees and large cliffs line this portion of the river and the water becomes much faster. The lower river once again slows down and is prime habitat for spawning fish. Throughout every stretch, the fishing was exceptional for large Grayling, Arctic Char andDolly Varden.
On our particular float, we saw only 15 bears and one moose. We saw no evidence of any humans on our float with the exception of some burned logs on a beach. It was prestine. There was no trash or footprints of any kind until we reached the lower river. Local fishing guides do ocassionaly guide on these waters and natives also go up the river.