You are here: Home / Archives for #alagnakriverfishingreport

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 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.

Filed Under: Alagnak River fishing report, Fishing Reports · Tagged: , , , , ,

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.

Filed Under: Alagnak River fishing report, Fishing Reports · Tagged: , , , , , ,