For their last day of the week-long academy, students guided clients for an afternoon of fly fishing out Mission Lodge in Aleknagik.
The Bristol Bay River Academy, now in its fifth year, graduated 12 students this week. The Academy, which is sponsored by Trout Unlimited, the Alaska Conservation Foundation, and the Bristol Bay Native Corporation, is a free program designed to train local kids to work in the sportfishing industry thriving in their own backyard.
Before graduating, the students had a final task of guiding their first clients for a day of fly fishing some of Bristol Bay's finest spots.
KDLG's Dave Bendinger reports:
Credit KDLG