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The Last 2019 Alagnak River Fishing Report

September 1, 2019 by · 1 Comment

The Last 2019 Alagnak River Fishing Report

Fellow guide Karl Baird with a nice king salmon.

Thank you for reading this last 2019 Alagnak River Fishing Report from Katmai Lodge- written from the comfort of my desk at home!

With the exception of one day it did not rain all summer. There are fires everywhere, with lots of smoke in the river valley much of the time. Anchorage was the same way- you could not see the mountains from town.

Last year’s silver salmon hotspots are dry now. We kept catching fish, but fishing remained tough to the end. Everyone had to switch to jet boats since the river was so shallow.

In spite of tougher than usual fishing, it was a good season. The lodge and the folks I worked with are great, and so is the river. I look forward to returning next summer. That ride home, though, is so looonnnnngggggg. And I get here just in time for a hurricane!

Last week I promised some exciting news- I have a new book coming out! It’s a guide book to fishing Florida by paddle craft. Click this link for more information, or to order!

That’s the last 2019 Alagnak River Fishing Report. Thanks for reading!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2019. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Alagnak River fishing report, Fishing News, Fishing Product News and Reviews, Fishing Reports, Paddle Fishing Florida · Tagged: , , , ,

Silver Salmon Alagnak River Fishing Report

August 24, 2019 by · Leave a Comment

Silver Salmon Alagnak River Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this Silver Salmon Alagnak River Fishing Report from Katmai Lodge.

Even though I need to start packing, I missed last week’s report entirely so will post one this week.

Silver salmon hotspots are dry.

With the exception of one day it has not rained all summer. Weird! Places that were silver salmon hotspots last year are dry land now. There aren’t very many fish, so fishing has been tough. With two anglers you can get a double limit by working hard, but it’s not coming easy.

A cerise fly fooled this buck silver.

Spin fishermen get their silvers by using #4 or #5 Vibrax spinners or jigs. Fly anglers are using floating lines with weighted flies, both articulated and standard, usually featuring cerise. Everyone has their own secret colors. Mine are orange and blue.

Everyone has their secret colors.

You can still catch chums but it’s getting to the point of the season where there are lots of nasty, moldy ones. Lucky fishermen are catching dead ones. Time for some flesh flies!

Silvers go crazy when they feel the steel.

Chums, limited numbers of pinks, and the occaisional king are all spawning. I see trout behind the spawning fish but have not fished for them- for the past two weeks all my anglers have wanted only silvers.

Moldy chums are everywhere.

I have one more party coming in for four days, and I leave on the 30th. There most likely will not be a report next week. But my next report will feature some exciting news!!

That’s this week’s Silver Salmon Alagnak River Fishing Report Thanks for reading!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2019. All rights are reserved.

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Silver Salmon Kick-Off Alagnak River Fishing Report

August 10, 2019 by · 1 Comment

Silver Salmon Kick-Off Alagnak River Fishing Report

We had a day off and got a little silly.

Thank you for reading this Silver Salmon Kick-Off Alagnak River Fishing Report from Katmai Lodge.

Jason with a pink streamer-caught chum salmon.

Chum salmon are still coming, not quite as hard as they were. Bright ones can still be found, though. Pink streamers swung in the current still do the job. And they are still a blast to catch, and delicious smoked.

Charmel got this chum on a Vibrax spinner.

The silvers are still hit or miss. The large numbers of fish that were predicted to move in on last week’s big tides did not. The summer has been historically dry. The river is exceptionally low. Places we caught silvers last year are dry. So whether or not the fish will show up in numbers is anyone’s guess. If they show like we hope they will fishing will be outstanding!

The silver salmon, the beast we await.

With the kings and the chums starting to spawn, trout fishing this week is all about the bead. Find a fine primer on bead fishing at this link: https://www.alaskaflyfishinggoods.com/beads/bead-fishing-201-the-next-level

Even with a leech. adding a bead isn’t a bad plan.

That’s this week’s Silver Salmon Kick-Off Alagnak River Fishing Report from Katmai Lodge. Thanks for reading!

Running by a bluff.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2019. All rights are reserved.

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Alagnak River Fishing Report featuring Matt Cicero

August 3, 2019 by · Leave a Comment

Alagnak River Fishing Report featuring Matt Cicero

Our man Matt.

Thank you for reading this Alagnak River Fishing Report featuring Matt Cicero.

Matt fly fishes, too.

Matt, a resident of Edgewater, Florida, guides here at Katmai Lodge. In other lives he plays bass and guitar, and guides in Florida. He looks like a rockstar, but is a down-to-earth, righteous kind of guy. We are lucky to have him here.

Fishing
The chums still pour in. It’s the time of year when your arms ache from catching too many, big fish after big fish. We’re still swinging cerise streamers for them.

Matt battles the mighty tiger salmon.

 

The tiger, nearly vanquished.

 

Matt with a tiger.

King salmon season closed as of August 1. No more fishing for kings.

The silvers have been very hit or miss because they have not appeared in any numbers yet. Mr. Ed Wasicki kindly gave me several spoonflies to use for them. Haven’t tried them yet, Ed, no fish yet! We’re looking at 24 foot tides this weekend- prognosticators predict the fish will move in on these big tides. We wait eagerly!

With the kings and the chums starting to spawn, trout fishing this week is all about the bead. Next week’s report will feature some details.

Trout fishing now is all about the bead.

That’s this week’s Alagnak River Fishing Report featuring Matt Cicero! Thanks for reading!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2019. All rights are reserved.

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Bears Everywhere Alagnak River Fishing Report

July 28, 2019 by · Leave a Comment

Bears Everywhere Alagnak River Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this Bears Everywhere Alagnak River Fishing Report.

The river is as low as has been seen in several years. While there’s rain falling now, it will take a lot of water to raise the river to “normal” levels.

Here at Katmai Lodge on the Alagnak River we live in bear country. We’re talking Alaska brown bears- large, powerful animals, wild and unpredictable. It’s thrilling seeing them. We see five or six every day. Respect the bear if you want to stay out of trouble. Trouble may find you anyway.

The bear swims out, possibly to join me.

I went to a mid-river gravel bar today to clean fish. All alone, I wanted a place that a bear couldn’t just pop out of the bushes and surprise me. It turns out the gravel bar was a perfect location.

The bear gains shallow water and starts to run- towards me!

In the middle of my task I looked up to see a bear swimming towards me. “Hey bear!” I shouted, to let him know I was there. Surprisingly, he changed course, swimming across the river downstream of me.

This was as close as he got.

Apparently, when he hit the far bank he came back up the river through the brush, reappearing on the shore uncomfortably close to me. He climbed in the water and started swimming my way.

I started yelling at him again, and prepared to cede my location. It was a small brown bear, but he still had 300 pounds on me! To my surprise he again changed course, stopping on a nearby gravel pan. He eventually swam to the far shore again, and I finished my fish cleaning. So no trouble today.

Fishing
The sockeyes are for all practical purposes done. May they have a strong and successful spawn.

The chums are here in strength. We had our limit this morning by 1000 AM, swinging cerise streamers. Big, strong, and aggressive, I love the chums!!

A young Jack Walker with a chum salmon.

Kings are still being caught. The run was not strong, but if you persevere you can get them by casting Vibrax in soft water. Green has been the best color.

Nice kings like this one are still being caught.

The first silvers of the season have been caught this week. I have not seen one, but I have not looked for them yet. Silver fishing is my favorite as far as salmon are concerned. I look forward to doing some wogging!

No one has been trout fishing this week, so I have no report. I suspect beading will be in full swing during the coming week.

That’s this week’s Bears Everywhere Alagnak River Fishing Report! Thanks for reading!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2019. All rights are reserved.

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Brooks Falls Alagnak River Fishing Report

July 21, 2019 by · Leave a Comment

Brooks Falls Alagnak River Fishing Report

Take-off from the Alagnak!

Thank you for reading this Brooks Falls Alagnak River Fishing Report from Katmai Lodge.

Subscriber Sandra from Michigan sent me the following-
“Please post a pic with Lucas in it. My son and I love looking at your posts.”

So here is a pic of Luke, taken last year-

Gratuitous pic of Lucas…

The observant reader may have noticed the title of this week’s post includes the “Brooks Falls” word sequence. Wikipedia says this about Brooks Falls-

Brooks Falls is a waterfall located within Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska. Located on the Brooks River a mile and a half from Brooks Lake and an equal distance from Naknek Lake, the falls are famous for watching salmon leap over the 6 foot falls to get to their Brooks Lake spawning grounds.

Consequently, large populations of brown bears and grizzly bears are attracted to feed on the spawning salmon. Brown bears usually congregate at the falls in July and early September, and many well-known photos of bears have been taken there. Bears in July are the greatest concentrations seen at any year at the falls; up to 25 bears have been seen at one time at Brooks Falls in that month. In September, a smaller number of bears (maximum about 18 at one time) can be seen at the falls to feast on the later salmon runs. July and September are by far the best months for viewing grizzly bears in the Brooks Camp area.

Brooks Falls

Katmai Lodge guests frequently take a float plane to Naknek Lake and walk to the falls to view the action. I was included this week and got the photos below.

 

Pilot gets shut-eye while guest views bears.

 

You can get serious lens envy here.

 

Kayaking with bears.

 

Fishing bear.

 

Snacking bear.

And, in an unusual turn of events-

Tammy with toddler Cash. Is she considering adopting???

Fishing
Sockeyes continue strong. That can’t last much longer. But everyone is filling their fish boxes in the meantime.

The chums have showed up in strength. People are having exhausting 30- and 40-fish days, mainly by swinging pink streamers. I love the chums!!

Kings are still being caught. The run was not strong, but if you persevere you can get them by casting Vibrax in soft water.

Trout fishing is in that transition period when they’re waiting for the egg drop. As a result the trout bite is slower than is was. It will pick up again as the chums start dropping eggs.

In non-fishing news, some blueberries are ripe. We spent nearly an hour today picking and eating blue- and salmonberries. Yum!

That’s this week’s Brooks Falls Alagnak River Fishing Report from Katmai Lodge! Thanks for reading!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2019. All rights are reserved.

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Sockeye Alagnak River Fishing Report

July 14, 2019 by · Leave a Comment

Sockeye Alagnak River Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this sockeye Alagnak River Fishing Report, fresh from Katmai Lodge!

The extraordinary hot, sunny weather we have been experiencing continued through the week. Salmon don’t like the sun. They come into the river out of 100 feet or more of water in the ocean. Suddenly they’re in a river only a few feet deep, with that blazing orb hurting their eyes. Small wonder they don’t bite well.

We went out after supper one evening, to “sockeye school” run by Jamie. Stupid numbers of fish were coming upriver, moving while the sun was low in the sky. Our photos show what a strenuous, stressful time we had on this outing.

Instructor Jamie shows how it’s done.

 

Sockeyes come out of a riffle.

 

Matt casts to sockeyes.

 

No surprise, Tammy caught on fast.

 

SCORE!

 

Matt scores too!

I spent the professional part of my week back-trolling for kings (with zero success) every morning, then trying to catch sockeyes during the brightest, hottest part of the day. We did not do well.

Last night we finally got a small blast of cooler air, accompanied by rain that lasted until about midday today. With the clouds the salmon started moving well, and my new guests both got their sockeye limits in only a couple hours.

A few chums and kings are being caught. We look forward to the impending incursion of chum salmon into the river. I love those beasts!

That’s this week’s sockeye Alagnak River Fishing Report! Thanks for reading!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2019. All rights are reserved.

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Independence Day Alagnak River Fishing Report

July 6, 2019 by · Leave a Comment

Independence Day Alagnak River Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this Independence Day Alagnak River Fishing Report. Hope you had a safe and happy Independence Day!

Anchorage is in the upper right, King Salmon in the lower left.

Last week I wrote, “For those of you not up-to-date on your Alaska geography, the Alagnak River is about 200 miles southeast of Anchorage…” A kind reader pointed out that I was directionally challenged. The river is southwest of Anchorage, not southeast. Sincere apologies to any who suffered due to this error.

Speaking of suffering, we are experiencing historically high temperatures here at Katmai Lodge. I brought long underwear and fleece. I need board shorts and Tevas. We have fishermen who are wet wading, unheard of around these parts.

The king salmon run has been historic too- historically low so far. Quite a bit of effort was expended this week in fishing for kings.

While some nice fish were caught, every one has required a lot of work. Some boats experienced very little success.

Back-trolling and casting Vibrax spinners have been the best techniques. Fly fishers have only caught jacks.

Fellow guide Karl Baird with a nice king salmon.

The sockeyes are just beginning to filter in. I expect we’ll be fishing hard for them next week.

I brought Larry, Matthew, and Andrew up into the Braids yesterday, where we fly fished for rainbow trout and grayling. Lodge policy prevents me from posting photos of guests, so I have to share file photos. But we got some beautiful fish, on articulated leeches and egg-sucking leeches.

My guests next week are from Brasil. Tudo bem!

That’s this week’s Independence Day Alagnak River Fishing Report! Thanks for reading!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2019. All rights are reserved.

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Pre-Season Alagnak River Fishing Report

June 29, 2019 by · Leave a Comment

Pre-Season Alagnak River Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this Alagnak River Fishing Report! And I don’t mean we’re fishing before the legal fishing season. We’re fishing before our Katmai Lodge guests begin arriving.

For those of you not up-to-date on your Alaska geography, the Alagnak River is about 200 miles southeast of Anchorage, and is part of the Bristol Bay drainage. The nearest town is King Salmon. Katmai Lodge is our base on the river.

Ken caught this jack king on a Vibrax spinner.

Speaking of king salmon, some effort has been expended fishing for them. All we’ve caught so far are jacks, precocious males that have not spent much time at sea. We’ve yet to hit a full-grown adult. Back-trolling, spin-casting, and fly fishing have all been tried, with varying degrees of success. The big ones should be arriving any day now.

One of the Lodge’s boats passing us on the river.

Another anadromous fish that has begun showing in the river are sockeye salmon. Hundreds of thousands of these fish will run up the river to spawn, then die. Many people consider them the finest eating salmon species.

Tom got this rainbow on a leech pattern.

Tom Van Horn and I ran up the river last week looking for rainbow trout. We found them, and grayling too. Trout were caught on articulated black leech patterns and egg-sucking leeches. Grayling were taken on dry flies.

Fishing around lumber is a tried and true way to catch trout.

I went up the river yesterday with Luke and Dan, Michigan natives both. Those Michigan fellows know their trout fishing! We did well on leech and mouse patterns.

Luke fooled this nice ‘bow with a mouse pattern.

The weather all week has been spectacular, cool in the morning and bright, sunny, and almost Florida hot in the afternoon. Our biggest weather-related problem has been sunburn.

Tammy used a nymph to catch this Indian Love Stone.

That’s this week’s Pre-Season Alagnak River Fishing Report! Thanks for reading!

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short- Go Fishing!

John Kumiski
www.spottedtail.com
http://www.spottedtail.com/blog
www.johnkumiski.com
www.rentafishingbuddy.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jkumiski

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2019. All rights are reserved.

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Alagnak Season Fishing Report and Photo Essay

September 5, 2018 by · Leave a Comment

Alagnak Season Fishing Report and Wrap-Up

Alagnak River fishng report

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.

Alagnak River fishng report

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.

Alagnak River fishng report

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.

Alagnak River fishng report

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!

Alagnak River fishng report

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.

Alagnak River fishng report

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.

Alagnak River fishng report

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.

Alagnak River fishng report

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.

Alagnak River fishng report

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.

Alagnak River fishng report

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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