Fishing on the lower sections of the Alagnak River was highly successful in 2022.  The weather throughout the entire season was basically wet and cold. The temperatures were usually in the 50s and the clouds were low most mornings then clearing mid-day and delivering scattered rains.  This weather pattern keep our water cold throughout the season and the salmon showed their appreciation by quickly entering the river and enthusiastically taking our offerings.  We spent more time fighting fish and less time in fishing for them than in the past few years. 

The Kings came in steadily through all of July.  They were larger in number than any year since 2018 but still less than in the 1980s and 1990s.  We are basically catch and release for Kings.  The Sockeye were once again the fish to fill our fish boxes.  2022 was  a record year for the  Sockeye run in Bristol Bay, more than 70 million.  The Alagnak River run was pegged at 2.5 million escapement into the river.  Just visualize that many large fish passing in front of you in a three week period.  Yes, we were able to bend our rods and fill our fish boxes with these beauties. The chums returned in force in mid-July through mid-August.  We got a scare in 2020 when they were absent,  but they returned in 2021 and were even better in 2022.  The Pinks and Silvers started on schedule at the end of July and were in full run by the end of the first week of August.  The pinks were everywhere for a couple weeks, but by the third week of August we had a clear shot at the silvers as they continued coming in until we left at the end of August.  The silver run continues to improve every year and has become our favorite target fish.

It is noteworth that we have continued to maintain and upgrade the facilities at the lodge.  We were blessed with a great mechanic for the last two seasons and supported him with everything he desired.  The result is the lodge is in better condition than it has ever been.  Alaska is a harsh environment, but we are more than holding our own.  There is always room for improvement, but we are in a good place now and will continue to improve. 

We are continuing to make reservations for 2023.  Please call or e-mail and we will try to arrange for you to fish with us in 2023.

The Alagnak Lodge remains a great fishing destination for the summer of 2022. From all signs it should be a good year to come fish with us.

We still have in place our risk-free offer of a full refund or deferral of reservation if you are unable to travel to the lodge due to Covid related reasons.

There was too much uncertainty and anxiety in 2020, so we made a rapid decision to not operate the lodge that year. We did operate in 2021, and the only effect from COVID was the inability of our non-USA clients to fish with us. They plan to fish with us in 2022. We were able to operate the entire 2021 season without any incidents of COVID, and we hope to do the same in 2022.

We now have to acknowledge climate change is real and has had a major impact on the watersheds of cold-water fish such as salmon and trout. In 2021 the Alagnak River was blessed with good climate conditions. Both the weather and the water were cool throughout the summer. We did have a few low and warm water days, but not many. The snowpack in our watershed right now is substantial. Our whole watershed ecosystem is not at all stressed, so we think we will have good water conditions in 2022 on the Alagnak River.  The resiliency of our wilderness location is definitely one of the major factors in why we remain a great fishing destination. Having our entire watershed in a pristine wilderness, with virtually no commercial or agricultural undertakings, gives us hope for our environment's future.

The sockeye run is again projected to be near record levels. It is reasonable to expect the run in the Alagnak River to be around 3 million. The chums returned to form in 2021 and we expect them to continue to give us a lot of action this summer. We have been putting a lot less pressure on the kings the last few years. We have not seen many kings caught in the lower river the last few years, but we will see how it goes. In 2021 we went to voluntary catch and release for the kings. The silvers have become our main fishing attraction. They will be joined by the pinks this year. All in all, we expect to have a lot of hook ups this year.

Last year we were able to add 4 Yamaha 60-40 HP jets to our motor inventory.  We also added a Yamaha 50 hp prop. We now have an all-Yamaha motor fleet with a couple of Yamaha 40s in reserve. We have also taken other measures to increase the reliability of our boats. We continue to do a lot behind the scenes to ensure that you have safe and reliable water transport. With the addition of the jets, we can now penetrate further upriver when it is desirable to do so.

We fell a little behind on the maintenance of the lodge last year after not being there in 2020. We did make several improvements in 2021and should have everything up and running properly by the start of the season in 2022.

Our guides really did an excellent job last year. They were focused on working as a team and the overall fishing success of all our clients rather than competing with one another to be the “best fisherman” on the river. They are young and enthusiastic with a passion for fishing. They are given lots of time and resources so they can spend more time on the river figuring out the behavior of the fish under the ever-changing conditions

Our two chefs have been friends for many years and combined to produce meals that exceeded all expectations. Our first mechanic was not equal to the task, but our second mechanic set a new high standard in getting our motors to run properly and everything at the lodge to function better.  Our year end winterizing was much better than normal due to some of his innovations. We look forward to him continuing his good work in 2022.

We all look forward to fishing again with our returning clients as well as our new clients. The uncertainty driven by the Covid pandemic has disrupted virtually all travel related plans. We do still have fishing opportunities throughout all our season. Please give us a call soon if you have any interest in fishing with us this year.