Alagnak Season Fishing Report and Wrap-Up
A silly bear on the Alagnak RIver.
Dear Readers-
I’m back from the Alaska bush after being there for almost three months. This is the Alagnak Season Fishing Report and Wrap-Up. The observant among you noticed there hasn’t been a fishing report in close to two months. My computer died. I was hoping it was merely ill, but today the Apple store confirmed that it’s dead. I write this on my wife’s machine.
Tony Gulisano with a colored-up king salmon.
King salmon season was only OK. Anyone who knows about Pacific salmon knows kings are in trouble in most of their range. So it was on the Alagnak. There were plenty of jacks, but only a handful of large, adult fish. Six came into my boat. That’s merely a good day on some rivers.
Sockeye fishing was good for the bears, too.
The sockeye run was strong. We used both green beads and small simple sockeye flies to catch these delicious fish.
This chum salmon was fly-caught by John Turcot.
Chums and pinks were the stuff of which fishing fantasies are made. Fishing for these fish during an almost three week long span you could catch fish on almost every other cast, even with a fly rod. I ate several bright, male chums for shore lunch after grilling them and cannot understand why folks say they’re not good. They are as good eating as any other salmon- Dee-wish-us!
Big bear at the prime location at Brooks Falls.
Silver salmon season was good up until the day I left. Fresh fish were getting scarce but there was plenty of action from beautifully hued colored fish.
Tom Van Horn shows off a beautiful rainbow trout.
Rainbow trout and grayling were both strong through the season. Trout fishing remains the weak spot in my resume, but I still managed to catch some beautiful fish.
I got to pan for gold, and found some flakes. Won’t be retiring, or moving to the Yukon, any time soon though.
Roaming the tundra on a spectacular day.
I got to walk on the tundra and eat blueberries, things that everyone who visits Alaska should do.
A brown bear takes a break from fishing to check me out.
Plenty of brown bears roam the banks of the Alagnak. Once the salmon runs started, seeing bears was a daily occurrence. A fly-out to Brooks Falls was a bear-watching highlight.
The sun is close to setting- something you don’t see a lot of during Alaska summers.
The management and staff at Katmai Lodge were wonderful to work with, and the food was great. It was nice to have old friends there in the form of Tom Van Horn and John Turcot, and to make friends with the bunch of really fine fishing guides that were there. God willing I will repeat the performance next season.
The Alagnak River at a high bluff.
And that is the Alagnak Season Fishing Report and Wrap-Up! Thanks for reading!
Life is short- go fishing!
Life is great and I love my work!
John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
All writing and photography in this work copyright John Kumiski 2018. All rights reserved.
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