Alaska Salmon Fishing on the Fly

​At Angler’s Alibi Alaska, we specialize in salmon fishing on the fly.  We utilize both single hand and spey rods daily in our quest to catch salmon on the fly. We do not exclude the use of conventional gear to catch salmon at all, and we feel that we specialize in this venue as well. We do focus a bit more on Alaska salmon fishing on the fly though. The king salmon are very difficult to target on the fly all day long, throwing heavy sink tip lines to get down to the depths that the kings prefer.

The king salmon like to run up the Alagnak River on the tides utilizing the deepest runs in the river for their travel corridor. They will also lie and rest in the deepest parts of the river taking a break in the deeper, slower, darker water. Their spawning habitat is about 40 river miles upstream from the tidewater that we target them in. The spawn of the Alagnak River King Salmon happens in the famous Alagnak River Braids, and beyond where there is good spawning gravel for the salmon to lay their eggs in.

The King salmon of the Alagnak River are known for their aggressive behavior as they enter the tidewater section of the Alagnak River. We will fish the kings on fly utilizing the traditional swing techniques, but we also fish the strip part of the cast after the dangle. This is not a common “catching” phase of the cast while fishing for king salmon on the fly, but it IS on the Alagnak River!

Alaska salmon fly fishing with Angler's Alibi The silver salmon, chum salmon, and pink salmon will all hit on the strip, especially silver salmon. One thing that is also unique to this group of salmon is that they all will hit top water dry flies! Alaska salmon are known for their unique desire to hit pink “wogs”. These patterns are top water mouse patterns that can be waked, skated, or even stripped with aggression to fool the mighty silver, chum, and pink salmon!

We feel that Angler’s Alibi is a perfect match for any Alaska salmon fishing lodge, especially due to our location and return rate of guests. Please check out our award winning video on our videos page if you have not already.

About the Author

​John Perry grew up in Michigan on an island called Grosse Ile, in the mouth of the Detroit River and Lake Erie. It was here, surrounded by great fishing and waterfowl hunting that John developed a passion for the outdoors. John moved to Colorado to chase trout in the summers and ski patrol in the winters. John had the privilege to start guiding for Angler’s Alibi with his fly fishing mentor TR Rafferty the second year it was in business. He left a head guide job in Colorado to pursue bigger and better fish.