Angling Publications - Index

Angling Publications - april2008 - Index

BARRY & CATHY BECK PHOTO
My first experience fishing in Alaska was in
1994, and I’ve been back at least once every year since. In
those 14 years I’ve had the pleasure of fishing every significant
river draining the Alaska Peninsula from Lake Iliamna down
to Cold Bay, on both the Pacific and Bering Sea sides, plus
Unimak Island, the easternmost of the Aleutians. The reason
I keep going back to Alaska is no secret: It’s simply the best
cold water fishery on earth.
My first Alaska adventure was in company with Dick
Stewart—the founder of American Angler, and one of the cofounders
of Fly Fish America—who did his homework and
picked the Alagnak River. Dick had never fished Alaska either,
and not knowing if he’d ever get back, his goal was to catch
all five species of Pacific salmon on the same trip.
Flowing out of Kukaklek Lake just south of Lake Iliamna,
the Alagnak is a 79-mile-long, free-flowing, relatively steepgradient
river that drains an area of over 2,200 square miles,
and empties into the Kvichak River at the headwaters of Bristol
Bay. The upper 67 miles of the Alagnak are designated a Wild
& Scenic River, and lie largely within Katmai National Park
and Preserve. Its major tributary, the Nonvianuk, flows out of
Nonvianuk Lake and joins the Alagnak about 65 rivers miles
east of its mouth at the Kvichak. Called “The Junction,” this
is a spot you’ll definitely want to visit.
The action on the Alagnak this year will start on June 7 with the
rainbow trout opener. While the river supports a large, resident
population of rainbows, the spring spawning season (starting in
May) sees the monster ‘bows that winter over in Kukaklek and
Nonvianuk lakes drop down to spawn. Until about the first of July
when the first salmon arrive, the Alagnak is rainbow heaven.
The Alagnak’s first salmon run of the season—the kings
(chinook)—can start anytime from late June into early July.
The largest of the five species of Pacific salmon, typical Alagnak
kings run 30 to 50 pounds, with some 60- and 70-pound fish
caught every year. Next up are the reds (sockeyes), which arrive
in mid July—accompanied by every bear within a 50 mile
radius—followed by the dogs (chums) and humpies (pinks).
The last—and for my money, the best—salmon run on the
Alagnak begins in the middle of August: the silvers (cohos).
If you can put yourself on the Alagnak in the third week
of August, by all means do so. That was Dick Stewart’s pick
for our first Alaska trip, and we both caught all five species of
Pacific salmon, plus lots of rainbows, Dolly Varden (and/or
char, if you can tell them apart), grayling (a 20-incher is a
trophy) and sheefish (Alaska bonefish).
September is also a great time on the Alagnak. While the
first four runs of salmon are pretty much gone, the silvers and
rainbows are still abundant, with the latter again becoming
more interested in bunny leeches, hair mice and flesh flies after
a summer of gorging on salmon eggs. They’re also a lot fatter
in September than they are in June right after spawning. As
an added benefit, waterfowl season is open, and the opportunity
to whack a few ducks and geese can be an entertaining
diversion from fishing.
Regardless of when you go, the place to stay is Katmai
Lodge. Situated right on the lower Alagnak about 40 air
miles northeast of King Salmon, it offers absolutely everything
necessary to fully enjoy the Alaska experience. The
accommodations are “top shelf,” with private bedrooms and
baths, great porches overlooking the river, and the wonderful
ambiance of a bunch of like-minded anglers experiencing the
fishing trip of a lifetime. The food is outstanding—and there’s
plenty of it—with complimentary wine at dinner and a fully
stocked bar for evening entertainment. An on-premises, fullservice
fly shop has everything you’ll need for fishing, and a
fly-tying area is provided—complete with tying equipment,
hooks and materials—where guests can tie all the free flies
they can handle.
Getting there is pretty straightforward: Fly to Anchorage,
spend the night in a motel (the Super 8 is cheap, close to
restaurants, and offers airport shuttle service), then catch the
morning Pennair flight down to King Salmon. Katmai Lodge
staff will meet you in King Salmon and drive you around to
the general aviation side of the airport to board the lodge’s
turbo Otter. Thirty minutes later you’ll touch down on the
lodge’s private airstrip, where the entire lodge staff will be
assembled to greet you.
Fishing out of Katmai Lodge necessarily involves a boat
ride—a boat ride unlike anything you’ve experienced before.
The lodge maintains a fleet of shallow-draft, welded-aluminum
river boats, equipped with new, 90- to 150-HP Yamaha
outboards fitted with jet-drive lower units. Depending on
where your guide plans to fish, the run upriver can be as short
as ten minutes or as long as an hour, but you’ll enjoy every
minute of it. Wildlife on and around the river includes bears,
moose, bald eagles and caribou, and you’ll see more fish than
you ever thought existed.
Three rod weights are really necessary to fish for all the
species available in the Alagnak. I use a 5-weight for dry-fly
fishing to grayling, an 8-weight for the big rainbows and
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