Let's see.. yes yes yes and no.. Kodiak is nice but you might find yourself more restricted to a smaller area if you don't have a suitable boat. That can be a good deal if your restricted in a great location that offers every thing you are looking for. It's also pretty pricey for the short hop air fairs as well as any thing you may decide to purchase there. There?s not much for roads and along what road?s there are it's pretty developed (for a rural Alaskan community) I have spent 2 and 3 months at a time there mostly working but I have the chance to look around a good bit. If you had a deceit boat you would be in great order there for seeing a lot of country as well as getting to where the fish might be when you happen to go. Most people I have known to go on this kinda Kodiak tour pay for some float plane time to get to the locations that have some action there. That's real nice but on Kodiak they will hit you for any where from 600 to 1000 bucks an hour for a Beaver to get you and yours out there. But it's the way for a quality trip. Most the state or federal cabins one sees on the maps are fly in locations.( If you have wheels you can get to Kodiak via AK state ferry system walk on?s too)
http://www.akferry.com/pages/routemap.html The only gold I ever got there was at a jewelry store so I can't help you there. All the data for any of this is widely available online so you should have not trouble finding your way with a short Google search. The Kenai is ?ok? there you would be able to find fishing just due to mobility. You will also encounter some fantastic scenery. For me the Kenai was a one time thing. It's really nice you can do many things but there is also a lot of people there doing just that. Single lane road most the way with heavy RV traffic. It's a ?must see? if you are going to look around Alaska just depends on when you feel like you ?must see? it. Kenai river is where the next world record king salmon will be coming from. It is unique due to the age group of fish that return there, older and bigger. During the King run the fishermen are elbow to elbow on the Kenai, to many good remote Alaskan locations for me to fish there just for size. I do know of a few kinda off the wall locations that offer a true Alaskan experience if your interested in that. I don't know where your hunting and where that might take to so I am unsure at this point what you've seen. But a road trip to Fairbanks will take you through some great country with camping and fishing along the way. Just above Fairbanks a few miles is a small community called Fox. From Fox you can pick up the Steese Hyw. which dead ends at the Yukon river. Caribou Moose and Bear country so if you still have a caribou tag left you might get a chance along that route. As well as some stream fishing, you can camp in a few state offered camp grounds or just any where you find a nice spot along the way is ok there as well. The fishing does drop off that far north, mostly Grayling and Pike but they do have ?She? fish there which you can't catch just anywhere. About ? of the way up the Steese you will find a small and I mean really small community called Central. There is a couple of developed places there to camp as well as a ?Alaskan style? lodge it's not shiny or fancy it's not even pricey but it's nice. I found this link real quick, there's a couple of photos of the place as well as some info.
http://henkbinnendijk.tripod.com/fairbanks/id19.html this is a little more Alaskan than some are looking for but with your ?five day plan? it fits. This is also gold country, many active mine?s and places to pan on your own along the way. The area gets a little traffic due to the Air Force base in Fairbanks but it's thin. This would be my pick if I had five days to kill. In that area another ?must see? is a bar/ dinner stop in Fox called the Howling Dog Saloon. You can't miss it. It's right at the jct. of the Steese highway there.
http://www.howlingdogsaloon.com . It's fine for the whole family till later in the evening. Since your planning well in advance you may be able to time things to catch some really unique events in a few other remote Alaskan locations. The natives on the island of St. Paul in the Pribilof?s still do a fur seal harvest. ($ airfare$) Visitors are welcome and the whole native community is involved. The seals come ashore and they select the seals for the harvest by herding them so to speak, they are then clubbed, dressed and skinned on the spot. St. Paul island has an incredible shoreline that's mostly cliff?s, and you could expect to see some of the world?s rarest birds there as well. I know I am getting a long way away from a quick fishing trip but it still fit's in a five day run. Again an online search will get you the leads you need to make a trip such as this. Another event that has left me with more spectacular memories was a trip to Round Island off of Togiak Alaska. This one is closely guided by Fish and Game. Round Island host's one of the worlds largest walrus haul outs. And believe me it's a sight to see. Any of these trips along the remote Bering Sea coast have to be carefully planned with all resources confirmed. Most all the communities have little to no accommodations for drop in visitors. A drive down the Kenai or up the Steese Hyw. Would be the most economical, Kodiak as well as all other remote areas would have increased costs. With what ever you choose to do I hope you and your family have a great time and a successful hunt.
~Jeff~
WARNING:
Your quote ,
?Quick flight, forest service cabins cheap somewhere there.?
You will find the word ?Cheap? is not listed in Alaskan dictionaries.
