By Paul B Downing
See the complete article at the link below. https://www.pbdfishreports.com/alagnak-river.html[/leftOneThird][rightTwoThirds]
Our guide, Chad, jumped out of the boat and proceeded to walk it down a side channel toward the main river. My friend Rick Covington and I cast large weighted chartreuse and pink streamers toward shore, stripping them back to the boat, tense with anticipation. The silvers were in and had been busting the surface on their way up this side channel to spawn.
Suddenly a flash of silver appeared behind my fly, causing it to stop short in the mid strip. Then the water exploded as a huge silver thrashed. An instant later it ripped offline to the backing. One rapid change in the direction followed another. Keeping up with this wild thrashing creature was surely a challenge. The silver jumped and ran…a crazed and unpredictable life force. Slowly I began to win but this brute was not yet done. As Chad reached for him, the silver took off again like a shot. Fortunately, I got my rod around and pointing at his disappearing tail before he broke the line or rod. Again I got him close and again he took off, splashing water in our faces as he leaped. But time was on our side and he eventually came to hand. Chad held up a fine male sporting a prominent hooked jaw and red sides. This silver was one of many we caught each day of our week at Katmai Lodge.
Katmai Lodge, located on the Alagnak River, is a scenic hour flight out of King Salmon, Alaska. The Alagnak has extraordinary runs of all five salmon found in Alaska. This area of Bristol Bay has a well-deserved reputation for having some of the best salmon and rainbow trout fishing in Alaska…or the world for that matter!
The lodge is located on a low bluff overlooking the Alagnak just a few miles up from the ocean. Facing west, it offers a great view of the setting sun, but that was hours away, as we had arrived about noon. After getting our fishing license and having a filling lunch, we met our guide Chad Crawford. Discussing fishing opportunities we settled on a tentative plan for the week before we were off to chase silvers.