The Alagnak River
One River, Many Names
The Alagnak River starts at the confluence of the Nonvianuk and Kukaklek rivers and flows freely for 64 miles into Kvichak Bay. The name “Alagnak” comes from the Yupik word for “making mistakes” and is also known as the “confused river” or the Branch River by the locals. When you spend time in the braided section aptly called the “Braids” it is easy to understand why!
The Alagnak River serves as spawning grounds for all 5 species of Pacific Salmon and supports a resident population of rainbow trout, grayling, pike, and lake trout. The Alagnak was the first river in the country to receive a Wild and Scenic designation in 1980. This designation provides special protections and ensures the river will remain free flowing and unaltered for future generations to enjoy.
Salmon on The Alagnak
An impressive Alagnak River King caught with Angler’s Alibi!
The first salmon to hit the system are kings and sockeye salmon in late June. The world-renowned sockeye run on the Alagnak measured in the millions the past several seasons and feeds many of the upper tributaries in Katmai National Park and Preserve. These world class fly-out destinations are accessible only by float plane and provide anglers with unbelievable amounts for trophy class sized rainbow trout. It’s hard to believe that while wading such famous rivers and creeks like Battle, Moraine, Kulik, Funnel, and Little Ku; that every single sockeye salmon that is spawning or getting ready to spawn swam up the Alagnak River! It truly is a main artery to the entire system on the North side of Katmai National Park.
Alagnak River Kings
The King Run of salmon on the Alagnak is still going strong but like all rivers in the state, is experiencing a decline in adult kings. We are still catching a lot of kings daily on the tides, but most are smaller in size and have spent less years out at sea. There are a lot of reasons why this is happening, and we are hoping that one day we will see more “normal” runs of kings coming back again, but in the meantime, we are still having fun with what is entering the river in July and still catching those big kings.
Massive Chum Salmon Run
One of the special things we see on the Alagnak over other rivers in the state is our huge run of chum salmon. Now in many rivers, chum salmon get a bad rap because they enter the river after spending time in an estuary and are already colored up before they enter the river. Our chum salmon pour into the Alagnak River on the tides starting in mid to late July and continue through the second week of August or about a month long. These Alagnak River chums are chrome bright and full of fight eating a swung or stripped fly much like a silver salmon, even hitting topwater flies!
The chums are so bright and feisty that many anglers think they have a silver salmon on the line but instead it is a chrome chum salmon that is cartwheeling down the river! The strong runs and “second wind” many chums show upon the first attempt at landing are why they break more fly rods on the Alagnak than any other salmon!
Angler’s Alibi putting guests on dime bright silvers!
Silver Salmon
The silver salmon fishing on the Alagnak starts in early August with some always being caught in late July. These salmon are a crowd favorite amongst anglers with their aggressive nature and propensity to launch many times once hooked and have a high rate of getting unhooked with all the acrobatics that take place! These chrome bullets will move faster than any salmon for a fast stripped fly. When conditions are right and silvers are just coming into the Alagnak on the tide, anglers simply cannot strip or retrieve a lure fast enough NOT to get hit, they will chase down any offering with lightning speed! The table fare of silvers is also one of the best with a solid oil content and dark red meat like a sockeye but less strong of “salmon” flavor.
Pink Salmon
Pink salmon run every even year on the Alagnak and are almost a menace at times with how many swim through the tidewater daily from late July through early August. At their peak, the pink salmon will literally cover entire bars in the lower river taking a break in the sand waves on their migration upstream. They do not pause long and are quick to make it up to their spawning gravel areas. These salmon spawn anywhere from just above the tidewater to tributaries above Lake Nonvianuk and Kukaklek.
They only come in even years due to the volcanic eruption of Novarupta in 2012. We do however see “pinks” on the odd years now more frequently than in the early 90’s and think that one day the rebound will take place, and they will repopulate the runs on every year. It is still a small run, but it is happening from our over 30 years on the Alagnak as a small sample size. Pinks are not the greatest table fare as far as keeping and freezing but they do give anglers great sport with a tenacity, aggressiveness, and airborne characteristics like silver salmon!
The Alagnak River’s Iconic ‘Braids’
Nice Grayling caught with Angler’s Alibi.
The middle section of the Alagnak River called the “Braids”, the two branches of the river system at the forks to the Nonvianuk and Kukaklek lakes, and all the tributaries above the lakes make up a huge percentage of the rainbow trout population in Katmai National Park with rivers like the Little Ku, Moraine, and Kulik rivers just to name a few. Our trout were classified into 3 categories by a study done in the 90’s with two college students that tagged trout with tiny radio transmitters. What they found was there were three types of trout; resident, migratory, and highly migratory trout in the entire Alagnak River system. The resident fish moved only as far as they needed to stay on a food source and were darker in color and even have a greenish hue to them.
The migratory trout would travel from the lower river through the entire river system and into the lakes and rivers above the Alagnak River migrating with the salmon to stay on this rich food source for the summer months. And lastly, there were highly migratory trout that moved from the Alagnak River system to the Naknek River or the Kvichak River through Kvichak Bay. We have caught these trout in the lower river on tides a few times and they even had sea lice on them. No, they are not steelhead but are as close as you can get to them!
Rainbow Trout & Grayling
Trout in the Alagnak are concentrated in the Braids due to the incredible spawning grounds there. Sure, you can catch trout throughout the whole river system but they like the huge food source here both in the summer months and late fall when salmon remain a huge food source for the trout. The Alagnak River also has a fair amount of dry fly action for grayling all summer long and these specimens can get quite large for grayling standards and break the 20” mark at times. Grayling, nicknamed the “arctic sailfish” with its huge dorsal fin, are dry fly eaters and are a joy to target on the Alagnak with smaller 4 weight fly rods.
The Alagnak River is a very special place, and being able to fish its lower, middle, and upper reaches has been both a pleasure and privilege for over 30 years. Knowing when and where to go from as early as June 8th on the trout opener through the first week of October has been a huge benefit for all that we have had the honor of guiding over the years on this special river system. It is our intentions to keep it as magical as it was before anglers ever cast a line on the river for future generations of anglers that call this magical river system their dream destination.
A beautiful catch with Angler's Alibi!