Alaska Salmon Fishing

Sockeye

Sockeye salmon begin their migration from the salt into fresh water in late June.  Their numbers grow by late June and by the first week of July, millions of sockeye have been caught by commercial nets and entered our area rivers.  The Naknek, our home river has a sockeye escapement goal of 1.2 million fish, though most years closer to 2 million fish swim up the river and into the lake system.  The same goes for most of our surrounding rivers, millions and millions of sockeye enter around the same time, and by the end of July, their migration is complete.  We fish for sockeye in a number of places, though it’s hard to beat the sockeye fishing on the Naknek river!

King

When most people think of Alaska salmon fishing, king salmon come to mind.  The Bristol Bay area has excellent king salmon opportunities.  We operate a camp on the Nushagak, where the largest fishable run of king salmon in Alaska still exists.  On the Nushagak, our anglers fish from comfortable 20’ open powerboats.  Most days, our anglers spend time downstream trolling spinners, backtrolling plugs and fishing the high slack tide with 360 flashers.  We are also equipped to fish with lightweight spin tackle and bobber dogging gear.  It is not uncommon to land 20 to 30 salmon per day on the ‘Nush’ unlike most places where king salmon fishing is taking place.

Silver

Silver Salmon fishing in Bristol Bay is something every angler needs to try at least once.  Aggressive fish, fresh from the ocean, and eight to twelve pounds, what is there not to like!  We fish for silver salmon on the Naknek and its tributaries from mid-August till mid-September when conditions are ideal.  Our favorite silver salmon fishing though, is when we fly to places where we can sight fish in very shallow water.  One of the places where shallow water sight fishing can happen is in Egegik River lagoon.  The lagoon on the Egegik is a very wide, shallow, and sandy bottom area where silver salmon collect by the thousand.  We are able to target these fish by air, as the clear and shallow water makes the fish easy to see!  Once the fish are acquired, we land and begin to fish.  The shallow water makes for excellent fly fishing.  This is a place where top water flies shine, as well as just about any streamer, as long as it’s pink!  For anglers who prefer spin fishing, we use jigs, top-water plugs, and spinners.

Chum Salmon

We fish for chum salmon in mid to late July through early August on the wild and scenic Alagnak River.  The Alagnak is a major chum salmon producer, where thousands of fresh fish enter the river on each tide.  The Alagnak boasts clear waters, easy wading, and lots of casting room, making it the ideal place to fly fish.  Chum salmon are very aggressive and will take a variety of flies and lures, but our favorite way to target chums is with topwater flies!

Pink Salmon

Several hundred thousand pink salmon return to the Naknek, Alagnak, Kvichak and Nushagak during even years.  Pink salmon are very aggressive and we catch them on streamers, top water flies, and jigs fished with spinning gear.

Alaska salmon fishing is the dream for anglers around the world. We combine luxury accommodations with the Alaska wild for experience our guests will never forget.