Fly-fishing in Alaska is definitely a bucket list item for most the are both new and seasoned to the sport. From my early beginnings in the sport, it was always at the pinnacle of my fishing dream trips, and I think I am not alone.
Alaska fly fishing can range from “as good as it gets” in the sport to “almost as hard as it can be”. Targeting some species can be a huge test of patience and will. For example, there are times when the king salmon may not be in a river system in great numbers, but you are there at an off period and trying to catch that needle in a haystack. Kings tend to hold and run in the deepest portions of the river, and therefore demand a sink tip line to get a fly swung in front of their face. This short window of presentation coupled with low numbers to begin with has been the hardest species we target at times. BUT, this article is about the easiest and, lucky for you, there are plenty. The opening of Angler’s Alibi went pretty smooth this month. We arrived at camp to find that the only damages over the winter were done by a bear in the fall.
The bear tore off our plywood door cover in the back of our kitchen and went through the storm door, pushing in the glass and tearing through the screen. The bear went through the freezers and fridges, then decided it would be nice to take the BBQ grill out the other entrance that was shut tight with plywood. It looked as if the BBQ was jammed through the plywood like the old Cool Aid commercials where the Cool Aid man busts through the wall. Needless to say, a destroyed grill was not all that bad. We were able to repair the back storm door which was pretty amazing since a brown bear went through it! There are so many lodges and do it yourself areas in Alaska that boast about catching “Trophy Alaska Rainbows”. So…What constitutes a “Trophy Alaska Rainbow”Truth is, just like the lower 48, they are not a dime a dozen. The next question is, what is a true trophy for Alaska standards? Most guides, lodge owners, and die hard locals would agree that a 30″ or larger rainbow trout is the trophy size for Alaska and for that matter, the globe. Sure, there are a lot of places that hold these fish in the lower 48, but most are on private tracts of land or have just been released from a hatchery because they will no longer produce eggs. These large “brood stock” rainbows and browns can be caught in tail-waters where there is enough food to sustain such a large fish. A true 30″ fish in the lower 48 that is wild and not associated with a tailwater will live in a river or lake that has a ton of biomass to produce such a beast of a trout. There are not many places where this happens naturally. In Alaska, there are few river systems that can hold and routinely yield fish of this size. Yes, even in Alaska, the amount of true 30″ plus trout water is not a common place.
When you think about an Alaska fishing vacation, you think about catching your limits of salmon and trout, surrounded by dramatically beautiful scenery. Experience the serenity of nature with nothing around you except the people you came with, your fishing guide and all that peace and quiet that comes with being in the wild outdoors. Well, at least it’s quiet until an energetic salmon takes the line!
Bristol Bay, Alaska offers some of the best salmon fishing in the world. Depending on the time of year you visit, you can find all five species of salmon plus rainbow trout, Arctic char, Arctic grayling and Dolly Varden. Avid anglers travel here to visit remote fishing grounds and to catch their limits of these fish. We want to thank a relatively new website about Alaska fishing lodges, www.myalaskanfishingtrip.com, for their feature article on the Angler’s Alibi fishing experience. The article gives a nice summary of the typical day that a guest will have at our camp; literally covering everything from sunup to sundown. It touches on the great meals that Chef Ben offers up but also dives into the species of fish a guest can expect to catch, the potential sizes, the flies used to reel them in, and more.
As the article discusses, the value that Angler’s Alibi offers reaches beyond the great food and great fishing location – it comes from our great guides. They note the 2:1 guide to guest ratio but we are proud of them highlighting that our guides are “fishermen who know the river, know the fish, and know how to make your fishing adventure the best seven days of your life”. In addition to the article and our lodge overview page, we are also excited to see that we made two of the sites top ten lists. It should come as no surprise to any of our past guests that Angler’s Alibi made the list of Top 10 Alaska fly fishing lodges as well as the list for Top 10 Alaska fishing lodges under $6,000. Thanks to My Alaska Fishing Trip for highlighting the incredible experience and service we offer at Angler’s Alibi. Check out the article on Angler’s Alibi. The silver salmon run of 2014 on the Alagnak River in remote Bristol Bay Alaska was somehow even better than the previous season. The Alagnak River saw a little push of silvers during the fourth week of July, but the run exploded again starting August 1st and lasted well beyond our shut down week into the month of September!
The 2014 fishing season on the Alagnak River will go down as one of the top seasons on record. We experienced a great start to our king salmon and sockeye salmon runs in late June that carried on for the entire week. Daily limits of kings and sockeye were easy to come by, and releasing quality kings was an enjoyable task to preserve such a wonderful resource.
As the month of July started to move forward, so did the warmer temperatures. This seemed to make the king fishing a little slower, but average to say the least with daily catches per boat near or in the double digits. The sockeye run really started to slow down the second week of July, but with that slow down came our first run of chum or calico salmon. The fly fishing was superb as an alternative to fishing king salmon on the Alagnak River, and quite enjoyable to actually fish while wading to escape some of the afternoon heat! The calico salmon were hot fighters and were eager to take a swung or stripped fly, and were not at all content on staying underwater for their fights. The calico salmon were airborne almost as much as silver salmon, but willing to break a record 26 rods in 4 weeks time! Fishing for Alaska salmon on the fly is something that every serious fly angler should do. It really exemplifies the true essence of fly fishing with big water, big fish, and eager numbers of takes that you can achieve in a days worth of fishing, especially on the Alagnak River in Bristol Bay. As mentioned earlier in my last article, Angler’s Alibi on the Alagnak River is a premier Bristol Bay fly fishing lodge. Our location is suited to intercept fresh salmon every day on the tides within a 0 to 10 minute boat ride. That is right, a 0 minute boat ride because you can even catch fish off the dock if you wanted to! Picking up from the last article, I covered King, sockeye, and chum salmon. The next salmon to enter Bristol Bay are the silver salmon. Silver salmon come into the Alagnak River in late July, and really get stacked up the first week of August. Silver salmon are truly what put Alaska fly fishing on the map. These salmon have an innate ability to try and throw the hook once it is set by leaping out of the water, often multiple times. The silver salmon leap many times after being hooked, then take off on drag testing runs trying to get back to the ocean. It is this desire “not to be caught” that puts the silver salmon on top of many fly fishing enthusiasts bucket lists. The problem is, at least with our guests at our Bristol Bay fishing lodge, that the one trip usually turns into several trips back to the incredible state of Alaska. At Angler’s Alibi, we have a return rate of over 80% with close to a 90% return rate this coming season. Part of this is due to our level of customer service and fishing program, but we are not fooled that this return of silver salmon keeps our August weeks full!
Angler’s Alibi is most noted for catching Alaska salmon on the fly. This is due in large part to our superior location on the Alagnak River, and being centrally located in the tidewater section of the river. This part of the river where the lodge sits can actually see the river reverse flow on tides and raise about 4 feet above its normal height. In Alaska terms, this is not that big of a deal, but on the Alagnak River, where the salmon runs are huge and the crowds none, this is truly one of the best places in Alaska to catch salmon on the fly.
The Alagnak River is one of 4 major rivers that empties into the fabled Bristol Bay. It is here that almost half of all salmon in Alaska come from, and it is no doubt the best natural balance left in the world with commercial fishing and sport fishing coinciding together to not only harvest salmon, but also catch and release them for future generations to come. It is the management of the harvest in Bristol Bay that allows the mighty sockeye salmon numbers to be so large. Sometimes the total sockeye salmon harvest can be 30 million or more, while still providing a premium amount of spawning sockeye salmon to make it up to their spawning grounds. It is here on the spawning grounds that we target the fabled Bristol Bay rainbow trout. Spey fishing Alaska is beginning to be more the norm than the oddity. We have been honing our skills on this two handed technique for years and love the how we can move a whole lot of line with very little effort. This two handed cast is ideal for fishing the “swing” on the Alagnak River. King, silver, pink, and chum salmon all will hit this presentation, and in many cases, it is even more effective than the traditional single handed rod. The Alagnak River has shallow sand bars that are ideal to fish the spey rod. The key component to casting the spey rod is to have moving water while wading. This is easy to achieve on the Alagnak with the gentle current and firm bottom. It is difficult to do this from a boat, due to the height off the water you are in versus having the water at your thigh level.
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AuthorThe primary contributor, John Perry, is the owner and manager of the lodge. He'll offer fishing summaries and tips too...check back or sign up for the email news to get updates when posted. Archives
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