Alagnak river Fishing for Arctic Char & Dolly Varden

The entire season we catch Char & Dollies but by far the hottest action for these egg gobbling machines is  August as they follow the Salmon into the rivers to spawn. The Char mainly are caught with bright colored egg sucking leaches and glow bugs or 10mm beads. Our average Char is 16-22 inches with a few 4-6lb fish taken each summer from the Char hole. Anglers can expect incidental catches of Char and Dollies all season long but the best fishing is Mid August.

There are some external characteristics which can be used to differentiate between Alagnak river Arctic char and Dolly Varden. Arctic char generally have a shorter head and snout, a trait particularly evident in spawning males. The tail of an Arctic char has a slightly deeper fork than that of a Dolly Varden, and the base of the Arctic char's tail is narrower.

   Arctic char have light colored spots on a dark background. They are variable in color depending on environmental conditions within their lake of residence and time of year. The back is dark with a brownish or olive cast. The sides are lighter, fading to a pale belly. The overall color may be brown, yellow, gold, orange, or red. As the char approaches spawning, the spots, belly, and fins take on a bright orange, red, or gold cast, and the lower fins have brilliant white leading edges. The entire body may become golden or orange. Spawning colors are more exaggerated in males than in females.      Return to fishing page

fly fishing Alagnak River Arctic Grayling

 Arctic grayling (Thymallus arcticus ) The Alagnak river fishing offers our angler unlimited access to trophy Grayling while flyfishing, with its sail-like dorsal fin dotted with large iridescent red or purple spots, the grayling is one of the most unusual and beautiful fish of Alaska.  June is the month for the best dry fly fishing. This is because there are no eggs to distract the graylings top water feeding habits although  July through August they are taken regularly on egg patterns and dry flies.             

     Grayling are generally dark on the back and have iridescent gray sides. They have varying numbers of black spots scattered along  both sides. The l fins are dusky brown and the pelvic fins are often marked with pink to orange stripes.  About one month after spring breakup, adult grayling begin their post-spawning migration to summer feeding areas. Depending on where they have spawned, the distance traveled can be up to 100 miles. By the middle of summer, grayling will segregate within a stream according to age and maturity. The older adults will be found in the upper reaches of river and stream systems, the sub-adults in the middle, and the juveniles in the lower ends. Grayling fry hatch about three weeks after spawning, and they tend to occupy the quieter waters near where they were spawned.

 Alagnak river  Grayling are simple in their feeding habits,  drifting aquatic insects,  mayflies, stone flies, and caddis flies are their primary food items. At times grayling will gorge upon the eggs of spawning salmon. At times grayling will eat almost anything the fly fisherman's dream fish. Grayling are especially popular because of their willingness to rise to a dry fly. Flyfishing techniques for grayling are similar to those used for any trout species. Grayling are often easy to catch, dry flies used are "Adams" Stimulators" Humpies" and hare's ear nymphs". However, when feeding on a specific insect, grayling can be very finicky and the fisher challenged to "match the hatch".  Larger-size fish are generally caught in less heavily fished areas like the Alagnak River.  The state record grayling, 23 inches long and weighing 4 pounds 13 ounces, was caught in Bristol bay Alaska.

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The Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) is Alaska's state fish and is one of the most important sport fish native to the Alagnak River. It is the largest of all Pacific salmon, with weights of individual fish commonly exceeding 40 pounds. The largest sport-caught Chinook salmon from the Alagnak River was 72lbs in 1995.  Our Average fish is around 30lbs and many 45-50 lb fish are taken each July.

     In July 18-25 thousand Kings enter the Alagnak River, We start fishing the kings 4th of July in the lower river near tide water by Back Trolling Plugs, Spin fishing and flyfishing large brightly colored weighted streamers on 10 wt fly rods with Anti reverse reels, with lots of Backing. In the middle of July the Kings will swim upstream and we will start fishing near the camp in the large holding pools in the braids with fly rods and heavy spinning gear as many of the giants are spotted and sight fished to in the crystal clear water of the Alagnak River. Our Anglers can average 4-8 Kings landed per person.  If your ready for the true King Give us a call for some Red Hot King fishing.

  Alagnak River Kings are distinguished by the black irregular spotting on the back and dorsal fins, Chinook salmon also have a black mouth. The king salmon is a robust, deep-bodied fish with a bluish-green coloration on the back which fades to a silvery color. Colors of spawning Chinook salmon in the Alagnak they range from red to copper, depending on location and degree of maturity. The Males are more  aggressive to a fly and more deeply colored than the females, they are distinguished by their "ridgeback" condition and by their hooked nose or upper jaw. 

 Like all species of Pacific salmon, Our Chinook salmon are anadromous. They hatch in fresh water, spend part of their life in the ocean, and then spawn in fresh water. All Chinooks die after spawning. Chinook salmon may become sexually mature from their second through seventh year, and as a result, fish in any spawning run may vary greatly in size. Small Chinooks that mature after spending only one winter in the ocean are commonly referred to as "jacks" and are usually males.  

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The sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka), often referred to as Reds. were considered by native people to be there most important food source,  Alaska Trophy Adventures support the same idea and consider the Sockeye as the most under rated of all the Salmon fisheries in Alaska. Reds remain an important mainstay of our Alagnak River fly fishing program. During July We get an annual run of nearly 1 million fresh ocean run fish returning.  The reds start returning to the Alagnak river around june27th and fresh run fish enter until late July. Our Sockeye run has been one of the most stable in all of Bristol Bay Alaska. Due to the fact of our consistent runs we are one of the few rivers in all of Alaska that can still offers anglers a 5 fish per day limit.

   Alagnak river  anglers fishing with us average 20-50 fish hooked up per day and 15-20 landed & released each day. This makes for non stop action. Our anglers battle these fresh Chrome 7-9lb fish on 7-8wt rods and 12 lb tippets with small yarn flies all day long and if your tired of them we will go catch some Trout, Char or Kings to round out  your day I can't stress enough how much fun these fish really are.    P:S there is some bad information circulating between inexperienced fisherman that these fish do not Bite once in the rivers, We will teach anyone our 100% proven fly fishing technique for Sockeye salmon, and you will be amazed as 90% of it is  location!Location!Location! all rivers weren't created equal and we have one of the best. We do not Snag Sockeyes like many people. We teach you to catch them with traditional flyfishing gear. Read a recent article in Fish Alaska Magazine about our Alagnak Sockeyes

      Sockeye salmon can be distinguished from Chinook, Coho, and Pink salmon by the lack of large, black  spots they are metallic green blue on the back and top of the head, iridescent silver on the sides, and white or silvery on the belly. Some fine black speckling may occur on the back, but large spots are absent. Juveniles, while in fresh water, have the same general coloration as immature sockeye salmon in the ocean, but are less iridescent.  During August breeding males develop a humped back and elongated, hooked jaws filled with sharp Canine teeth. Both sexes turn brilliant to dark red on the back and sides, pale to olive-green on the head and upper jaw, and white on the lower jaw. Juvenile sockeye salmon may spend up to four years in fresh water before migrating to sea as silvery smolts weighing only a few ounces. They grow quickly in the sea, usually reaching a size of 4 to 8 pounds after one to four years. Mature sockeye salmon travel thousands of miles from ocean feeding areas to spawn in the same freshwater system where they were born. Little is known about the navigation on the high seas, although  they may be able to use cues from the earth's magnetic field. Once near their natal freshwater system, sockeye salmon use olfactory cues to guide them home. Like all Pacific salmon, sockeye salmon die within a few weeks after spawning.

       Spawning usually occurs in rivers, streams, and upwelling areas along Kukaklek and Nonvianuk lakes beaches and its tributaries to include Moraine Creek and Kulik River. The female selects the spawning site, digs a nest (red) with her tail, and deposits eggs in the downstream portion of the redd as one or more males swim beside her and fertilize the eggs as they are extruded.  .                                       Return to fishing page

Chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) have the 2nd largest run of Salmon in the Alagnak river with a peak run totaling 70-80 thousand fish. They start entering the river  mid July and fresh fish continue to mid August.  Chum salmon are the most abundant and the most aggressive to the fly out of all the Salmon species on the Alagnak river. Fresh Chums average 12-16 lbs and will destroy the average anglers gear, as fresh Chum  are allot of fun to fish for with a fly rod due to there ferocious strikes and aggressive nature. We fish with 8 or 9wt fly rods with 150-180 grain sink tips with bright pink and purple streamers "Popsicle fly" is one of the best in a #2 long shank 2x hook. Imagine casting into a pool of 500 Fresh Chums and getting a 14 to 15 lb fish on every 2nd or 3rd cast treat your self to some of the hottest fly fishing left on earth.

 Fresh ocean run Chum salmon are metallic greenish-blue on the dorsal surface  with fine black speckles. They are difficult to distinguish from sockeye and coho salmon without looking at closely by a trained guide. After entering fresh water, however, the chum salmon colors change-particularly fast with vertical bars of green and purple, which give them the common name, calico salmon. The males develop the typical hooked snout of Pacific salmon and very large teeth which partially account for their other name of dog salmon. The females have a dark horizontal band along the lateral line; their green and purple not so obvious.

Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch ) also called silver salmon, are found in the Alagnak River starting early August through September with the peak being mid August. Coho are caught easily on fly or spin tackle and take bright pink flies with lots of flash, also small pink jigs. On A good day anglers can expect to catch 5-10 Coho a day plus 20-30 numerous other salmon and trout. i The best Coho fishing is done in the lower reaches of the river and expect to run 30-45 minutes via jet boat to access these areas. Our guides are very knowledgeable on the river and will take you to the hot spots. 8 wt rods with a 150 grain sink tip and floating lines with weighted flies are your choice of weapons to  do battle with these bruisers. Coho's average  weigh is 8 to 12 pounds and are 24 to 30 inches long, but fish close to 20lbs have been landed.  

    Coho's fresh from the ocean are bright silver with small black spots on the back and on the upper lobe of the caudal fin. They can be distinguished from Chinook salmon by the lack of black spots on the lower lobe of the tail and gray gums.  Spawning Coho's of both sexes have dark backs and heads with maroon to reddish sides. The males develop a prominent hooked snout with large teeth called a kype. Coho's  hold in pools until they ripen, then move onto spawning grounds; spawning generally occurs at night. The female digs a nest, called a redd, and deposits 2,400 to 4,500 eggs. As the eggs are deposited, they are fertilized with sperm by the male. The coho salmon is a premier sport fish and is taken in fresh and salt water estuaries of the Alagnak river.  Coho are spectacular fighters and the most acrobatic of the all the Pacific salmon, and on light tackle fly gear provide a thrilling and memorable fishing experience.     Return to fishing page