In the summer of 2023, I was a guide at a remote fly fishing lodge in Bristol Bay, Alaska. I learned many things there, and this post is going to be a guide for everything you will want to know about Alaska fly fishing.
First of all, Alaska is a fly angler’s paradise—wild, untamed, and teeming with opportunity. Alaska offers some of the most thrilling and pristine fly fishing experiences on Earth. Alaska is a fisherman’s dream, I had the opportunity to guide there for the lodge of Angry Eagle Lodge in Pedro Bay. The ecosystem there is unlike anywhere in the lower 48. There is wildlife around every riverbend. Guiding, I saw roughly 20 grizzly bears a day, moose, beavers, ducks, and all the bald eagles you could ever want to see. Alaska offers some of the best fishing in the world, with endless fishing opportunities for all ages. I highly suggest going.
Season:
The peak season is once the salmon come in; it is anywhere from late June to early July. This is the best time of the year to fly fish in Alaska.
I guided on Lake Illiamna, in the cold months, Rainbow Trout and Arctic Char live in the lake. Sometimes there are resident fish in rivers and creeks, but the majority sit in the lake. When the Salmon come up the river, these fish follow them everywhere they go. Once the salmon come into the river, the feeding frenzy begins. You can catch fish before the salmon run, but they are mostly caught using leech flies, mouse patterns, and Dolly Llamas.
The later you show up during the salmon run, the bigger the Rainbows and Char will be. These fish eat the eggs that are dropped by the salmon, they gorge themselves on these eggs. Our clients caught our biggest fish in August and early September.
I believe that August is the best month to go. In August, the fish are not picky regarding what color egg they eat, and they are very powerful.
No matter what river or what species of Pacific salmon you are looking for, there will be Rainbow Trout, and you may also find Arctic Char, Dolly Varden, and Arctic Grayling gorging themselves on the eggs of the salmon. It wasn’t uncommon to catch a rainbow trout that was 25 inches a day in the summer months. Our Lodge targeted Arctic Char, Rainbow Trout, Dolly Varden, Silver(Coho), Sockeye, Chum, and Pink Salmon, along with Northern Pike. Roughly the same time every year, Salmon come back to their home river to spawn.
Game Fish:
The thing that is crazy about Alaska fly fishing that everyone talks about is that Alaskan Rainbows are different. I didn’t believe it either until I was there.
Being from Florida, going on trips to other states and catching like 10-12 inch rainbows that were considered wild were a big deal. All the rainbow trout in Alaska are native, there has never been a time when rainbows were stocked there or “brought back” as some might say.
These fish will jump 4-5 feet in the air and make runs like you’ve never seen.
Rainbow trout, Char, and salmon are all closely related. They all belong to the family Salmonidae, which includes:
- Trout (like rainbow trout — Oncorhynchus mykiss)
- Char (such as Arctic char — Salvelinus alpinus)
- Salmon (like Atlantic salmon — Salmo salar and Pacific salmon species — Oncorhynchus spp.)
- Dolly Varden (A species of char, Salvelinus malma)
- Arctic Grayling (Thymallus arcticus)
Arctic Char and Dolly Varden are a couple of the other game fish that you are going to run into in Alaska. These fish are super fun to catch and are beautiful fish. They can be super hard fighting fish when they get some size. Every Arctic Char that I saw caught or caught sat entirely on the bottom, and they were usually in pairs or more.
Guiding on the Illiamna River, you can see everything. You can see 12 feet down in crystal clear water. These fish would be in schools on the bottom, mostly sitting there, and they were very specific about the egg “path”. I will get into that later on.
The Salmon:
If you’re not familiar with the life structure of a salmon, here is the main gist and why it is important to other game fish.
Typically, Sockeye Salmon is the fish that people think of when someone talks about salmon in general. Salmon spawn once in their lifetime and then die where they were born. Once the salmon has hatched from its nest, which is in a freshwater tributary makes its way to the ocean and lives its life, and once their instinct to spawn kicks in, they travel back to the exact creek where they was born.
Here’s how they do it. Magnetic navigation in the ocean (to return to the general region)
As they leave the stream as juveniles, they memorize the stream or river through smell. Also known as Olfactory memory (smell), kind of like following a scent trail.
Here are some statistics on sockeye salmon. Less than 1%, typically around 0.1–0.5% of the original eggs laid, make it back to their natal stream to spawn. The chances of these salmon making it back to their home stream are very small. With all of that in mind, just imagine how many eggs go downstream once they begin laying eggs.
We also targeted Salmon, the main targets were Coho Salmon and Sockeye Salmon. Salmon fishing is one of my favorites because they are usually in a school of 100 or so fish, usually in a small area. If you miss one, you are more than likely going to hook into another one. Coho Salmon, also known as Silver Salmon, come in after the sockeye are in the river. In Pedro Bay, we only saw a few Cohos come in. There would be a couple here and there.
Sometimes we would fish on the coast. There was a creek that fed directly into the ocean. In this creek, there would be a mix of Silvers, Chums, and Pink Salmon. Dolly Varden would follow these fish up and feed on the eggs themselves. Unlike Salmon, Dolly Varden will lay their eggs and return to the ocean and continue to live. I never had the opportunity to catch or fish for King Salmon while working at the lodge. These aggressive salmon, such as Cohos, Pinks, and Chums, attacked the color hot pink for a reason I do not know. We would throw big streamers, and if it had hot pink on it and it was moved fast enough, these fish were going to eat it. If you are going to fish the Kenai River for Coho Salmon using a spinning setup, I highly recommend a Vibrex and a type of spoon, preferably fire tiger or hot pink.
Egg Patterns:
Let’s talk about egg patterns, Everyone has a different opinion
Colors: Now there are more colors out there than you could ever imagine.
Here are your basic colors that I believe are a must-have in your bead box
Orange
Caramel
Hycanthia
These are your base colors to start with. Now, as I guide, we all hand-paint every single one of our beads. I painted probably 500 beads throughout the entire season. You can buy bead boxes with pre-colored beads, but we painted our own. Egg patterns vary, and there are a ton of different names for the style and color. I would recommend a box that has eggs that look fresh. A fresh egg is clear and has an orange or pinkish tint to it. Here is starter box, if you do not want to go through the hassle of painting your own.
Bait Imitation:
In order to understand what fly or bait to throw during the salmon run there are a few things to take into consideration.
1. How long have the Salmon been in the river?
For the summer that I guided, I caught all of our fish on egg patterns. They come in a variety of different sizes, shapes, and colors as mentioned above. These egg patterns are imitation salmon eggs. If the river is full of predominantly Sockeye Salmon, a 6mm bead would replicate their egg. The predatory fish will begin to key in on what is called a “fresh egg”. These are eggs that look like they were just laid. These are your oranges, pinks, caramels, hyacinthias, and light reds, and they are clear for the most part. In the beginning stages of the salmon run, trout and char usually are not very picky, but I do recommend a fresher-looking egg.
As the weeks go by the more and more salmon enter the river or creek, and now thousands of eggs start flowing downstream. Like all things in fly fishing, I like to try to match the hatch, but whatever egg I find, I try to find a fresher version of the egg life cycle and use that.
Towards the late end of the season, you need to be creative. I would throw eggs that were rotten-looking, opaque white, and sometimes with orange splotches on them. With the late season approaching, the salmon are decaying in the rivers, and chunks of salmon flesh begin floating down. A great imitation is flesh flies.
2. What kind of Salmon are in the river?
Sockeye Salmon, the size of the egg would be 6mm
Silver Salmon and other Salmon Species, you can start with the size of the egg would be 8mm
3. How clear is the water?
If the water is clear, you want to match the hatch as best as possible. The water of Lake DIlliamna, the water was very clear and you could see the trout eat every bead. Fishing the Kenai and other glacier fed rivers, it is going to be clear but chalky. You might want to throw a larger bead, so the fish can see it better.
4. How many people fish the same creek or river?
The more desolate, the bigger and more fish there will be. These fish will eat more often and be less spooky. If they get pressured a good amount, you might have to sit there and try many different baits to get that fish to eat.
Tackle Set Up:
Tackle setup is very important when deciding to take a trip to Alaska. If you are planning to do a guided trip, guides, for the most part, supply everything that you would ever want and need. Now, if you plan to do this yourself without a guide. I highly recommend the 7/8 wt Fly Rod. This is best for your Rainbow Trout and Arctic Char. This is a little light for your Salmon species, but you would still be able to handle them. I have a Reddington set up, but Angry Eagle used the Temple Fork Rods.
Now that you have your fly rod set up, let’s talk about leaders. Leaders come in different lengths and sizes. We made our leaders. This is how I ran my leaders. I did 3-4ft of 20lb Monofilament Line, so there could be a little bit of extra stretch, then I would do 3 ft 15lb fluorocarbon, then either to a swivel or I would tie a blood knot and connect 10lb Fluorocarbon with my bead set up. If you are curious about the difference between Monofilament and Fluorocarbon, check out my other post.
The “micro swivel” would add just enough weight for the bead to get down and look natural in 3-4ft of water; other times, I would have to add a little bit of lead to the tag end of the blood knot. I would place it on the tag end so it would not put any abrasions in the line connected to the hook. I used Owner Hooks the most; they were super strong and never bent out or broke.
Essential Gear:
When fishing in Alaska, you always need to be prepared, especially if you are doing it on your own. After being a part of a quality guide staff, I learned more things about preparing which I am going to share with you. I highly recommend that you get a quality pair of waders; they are all expensive, but I wore Simms Waders and liked them for the most part. Along with that, quality boots with Vibram Soles. Felt is not legal, and I still had a quality grip and never fell because of the soles of my boots.
I always had a backpack with me. I did not like the pack style; it was great for guiding and in the boat, but if I were to do a lot of walking, I would much rather want a satchel such as the Fishpond Satchel. A more affordable option would be the Fish Pond Vest. In this bag, I would have all my leaders, swivels, and beads ready to go. For carrying the beads, I like this Kastking box. It has a clear top so you can see and label the colors with a Sharpie, but it also has waterproof snaps so it keeps the moisture out.
I always carried a pair of cutters and forceps. This leader holder is essential, this is a must-have, I highly recommend this. Your body will get cold and make tying knots a complete hassle. This leader holder makes transitions super easy when you break off.
Location:
Location is very important when thinking about fly fishing in Alaska. There are a few routes to choose from. If you are cheap and on a budget, I recommend flying into Anchorage and fishing the Kenai River; most people I saw were doing float trips down there. They are guided trips, and the guides will supply you with everything that you would need and more. It’s probably the safest, The Kenai Peninsula is famous for accessible fly fishing spots. When my wife came up to Alaska, that is where we spent most of our time fishing.
Now the Kenai gets pressured a ton. Every 10 minutes, I would see a raft float by us. The river has great fishing and big fish, the only problem is that it gets a ton of pressure. There are other rivers to fish in the Kenai Peninsula, but the Kenai was the most accessible and easiest for us.
If you are going to fish anywhere in Alaska, I highly recommend that you get a can of bear spray and keep it on you, accessible at all times. When fishing the Kenai River, I saw many people using Indicators. Since the water is a chalky blue color, I highly recommend indicators. When fishing the Kenai, just like when I guided, start with a fresh egg and slowly work your way to a dead egg. I would try a certain egg for a while, then if I did not get any bites, I would switch to another color.
There are streams all over Alaska to fish, many them are hard to get to. There are many alpine lakes and places were fish are stocked. If you venture to Denali in the summer months. Arctic Grayling are all over out there. Grayling are awesome and very aggressive fish. They love dry flies.
If you have the money or a connection, I definitely recommend fly-out lodges. These lodges offer many packages, from sightseeing, hunting, and catching trophy fish.
Fly-in Lodges:
All of the lodges are good, you just have to find what you want to do. Usually, these lodges are top tier, and Angry Eagle was a fantastic lodge. The staff and accommodations are amazing; they always catch big fish, have the best chefs, and accommodate you to the best of their abilities. These lodges are going to give you the entire experience, and they cater to whatever you, as the guest, want to do.
I can recall one day all my clients wanted to do was bear viewing, to me that was no problem, I would drive my jet boat as far as I could, then float down while they took pictures of roughly 30 bears. For the most part every fishing trip was a full-day experience.
Almost every lodge has at least 2 float planes. Each float plane would take a separate group to a separate place to fish. These lodges mostly target Rainbow Trout, Arctic Char, Dolly Varden, Northern Pike, and all the species of Pacific salmon, ranging from Sockeye Salmon to King Salmon. Every client is different; some of them want to target Trophy Rainbow Trout, and others just want to get the Alaskan Experience. If you are looking for a lodge,
I highly recommend Angry Eagle Lodge, which is the lodge I guided at. Some of the other lodges that are very high quality are Tikichick Narrows, Copper River Lodge, and Alaskan Sportsman Lodge. These lodges fish famous rivers. We went to Katmai National Park a few times, and I have fished the Moraine. Here are some of the other famous places: Battle Creek, Naknek River, Alagnak River, and American Creek. They fish rivers such as the Kvichak, this river is known for monster rainbow trout. These lodges give you multiple opportunities for a fish of a lifetime.
The Drift:
I am going to talk about common mistakes that I saw from clients and easy ways to correct them. Since this is the basics, here are some super simple things to think about. If you are going to be guided on jet boats, take all the things you would need for a day. You never know. Bring an extra pair of dry thermals. The best way is to vacuum seal them in a food processor, and they can fit in the bottom of any bag.
We carried a Garmin Inreach with us at all times; this can save your life one day, and I highly recommend one if you plan to DIY flyfish in Alaska. If you are at a lodge, they will have knowledgeable staff. First step, listen to the guides. Be honest with the guides about your experience level. It will only help you be more successful. The best trips I have had are with clients who are honest with me about their experience. So let’s get into some common mistakes that I have found useful.
If you can see the fish, watch the fish’s movements. Usually, they will be in the same “path,” it’s almost a line, and they will dart left to right. More times than not, they are not being spooked; they are feeding on eggs in the current. For example, if you are watching a Rainbow trout and they are constantly darting to the right. I would cast the bead and have it drift by them on their right side.
If you cast your bead on top of their head, oftentimes you will spook the fish. Secondly, set the hook DOWNSTREAM. I cannot express how many trophy trout and char I have seen lost because the client would not set downstream. Once you set the hook, let them run because those monster rainbow trout are going to take off. Listen to your guide the entire time you fight the fish, and remember to enjoy it.
Final Thoughts On Alaska Fly Fishing:
I truly believe everyone should experience Alaska at least once in their lifetime. It’s an unforgettable place, especially for those who love fishing and adventure. This post is for anyone considering a DIY Alaska fishing trip for the first time. Every journey is unique, but I hope what I share here helps you plan a successful trip, create lasting memories, and maybe even land the fish of a lifetime.