End of 2024 Season Fishing Report For ATA Lodge, Alagnak River, Bristol Bay, Alaska (August/September)

August and September of the 2024 season at ATA Lodge, is perfectly summed up by this photo and these 5 words...Bent Rods and Tight Lines!

I'd have to say that this may well have been our best season ever in many different ways!  But I mention this related to the fishing in particular!  We didn't have a bad or slow week all season long!  We had many happy guests all season long!  

Some have said, that the whole of the 2024 season was like being back in "The Good Ole Days"!  

This was demonstrated most vividly by the return of the Chum Salmon run this year.  Since the epic chum run of 2019, there had been a very noticeable decline in Chum Salmon numbers across their whole range.  And the Alagnak River, was no exception, with runs since 2020 being well below what we had come to take for granted in previous years!

    

But this season, in 2024 we had a fantastic run with numbers back to "normal"!

Not only did we see the number of Chum Salmon back to where they should be, the size of the Chum Salmon this year was exceptional as well with many large fish be landed every day of August! 

    

I must admit that the "jury was out" as to whether or not the Chum Salmon run would be of any significance after a number of lean years.  But thankfully, they came back in force this year!  

When asked about what I expected the Chum run to be like this year, I made every effort to temper guests expectations, so they would not be too disappointed. But all fears were laid aside when at the end of July, we started to see Chums showing throughout the entire system from tide water all the way up above the lodge.

 

Needless to say, bent rods and tight lines go a long way to putting smiles on the faces of both our guests and staff alike!  These chums pull hard and can take multiple rod bending runs, stripping line of the reel faster than you can imagine.  Just when you think you may have the best of one, it will turn and take another blinding run!

This report will also talk about the pink and silver salmon runs later in the report.  Both of these runs were exceptional this season as well as you will see below!

 

Bear numbers in July are always highest once the sockeye salmon start to appear in the river. And we regularly see in excess of 30 to 40 unique bears a day that time of the season.  Even after the sockeye run has diminished, having headed upstream to our headwaters where they will eventually spawn; we still can see up to and even over a dozen a day while out on the river. 

  

The nice thing about viewing bears on our river is that there are no other people, except our guests around.  There are no crowds of people like at Brooks Falls.  You will encounter them just by being here.  Often we see them looking for their next meal, while we are sitting down and eating ours at the lodge. 

The rainbow trout fishing this year started off very strong in June and sustained well into July on our river, near the lodge.  We continued to catch some great rainbow trout all season long both up and downstream of the lodge.  

In fact, the late season trout fishing saw some the very best specimens that we have ever landed here at ATA Lodge.  We also had a number of weeks in mid August when guests chose to take advantage of flying out to some of the streams and tributaries upstream of us, which are famous for being able to target large trout by fishing for them behind spawning sockeye salmon.

 

But truth be told, the best trout of the season were mostly caught in relative close proximity to the lodge.  We are very pleased to have seen such good fish being caught all season long.  This is especially true as the late season trout fishing had suffered with the decline of the chum salmon runs in the past few years. 

It has always been the huge chum salmon numbers that provided most of the food available for our resident rainbow trout.  So will chum salmon numbers being at a 5 year high, together with this being an even numbered year when the pink salmon also run; it would seem that there was enough food in the system to keep enough of our resident trout near by!

 

Those intrepid anglers, that put in the time and worked hard to hunt for these trout, were ultimately rewarded for their efforts!  Whereas, our trout rarely attain the size of those fish that have the big lakes to overwinter in and sockeye salmon spawning in in the river; we do expect to regularly catch rainbows of 24 inches, with many being caught up to 27 inches.  But this year, we had some really big trout that over those lengths!

The Alagnak River was one of Alaska's first 5 designated Wild and Scenic Rivers!  And it is indeed both Wild and Scenic!   The Alagnak Wild River is a great place to get in touch with your Wild Side!  The wildlife on the bank of the river provide a regular source of wonder and awe.  

This year I was excited to have been able to personally see a Lynx and a Wolverine this season!  I had never previously seen either one of these rarely seen denizens of the Katmai National Park and Preserve.

Over the course of the season, we were able to witness otters, beavers, mink, weasel, a wolf, 2 wolverines, a lynx and of course moose, bears, eagles, osprey, and various other types of birds, ducks, swans and sandhill cranes!

  

   

There are many eagles that can be seen while here.  In fact there are some times in August and September, especially in certain parts of the braids you can literally seen more than a dozen just by turning your head from left to right!  

Many first time visitors are surprised to find out that juvenile bald eagles are not golden eagles (which are also occasionally seen).  They can't believe that the juvenile bald eagles can be so big, and not have a white head.  It takes a few years before their head turns white and mature in to being recognized as the majestic birds of prey they are.

  

At ATA Lodge, we are surrounded by millions of square miles of wild, pristine wilderness.  It is a magical corner of our world that we feel honored to call home each season.  As such, we get all types of visitors that are just passing through as they make their way up and down the river.

    

Moose sighting are a big highlight for those who are fortunate enough to see them while here.  This year, we did see quite a few all season long!  They are such impressive animals.

 

As already mentioned, this season, being an even numbered year, was a Pink Salmon year.  Whereas we get a few Pink Salmon every year, on even numbered years, we get many, many more than odd numbered years. 

For example, last year, we may have caught a total of 30 pink salmon all season long.  But on even numbered year like 2024, there are days that each angler can catch up to 30 or more pink salmon per angler per day!!  

    

The Pink Salmon started to enter the system around the end of July.  That time of year, we start to send a couple boats each day down to the lower river to target fresh salmon that are entering the river on each new tide.  It is a longer boat ride both down and back, but it can be rewarded with some of the best fishing of the season.  Many of these salmon, will still have sea lice on them, having just arrived that very day from the ocean!

    

We tend to find a sweeping sand bar and fish the inside bends of the river to intercept these fresh salmon with a swung streamer.  The fish can be "stacked" and its not unsual to have a rod bent most of the day.

  

While going down to tide water in early August to catch fresh chum and pink salmon, someone will catch the first Silver Salmon (coho salmon), as well!  And as the month of August advances, so does the silver salmon run.  While we may catch the first silver salmon, as early as the end of July, the main run does not start till later in the month.

    

For many anglers, the Silver Salmon it the most coveted pacific salmon to target.  They are know to be hard fighting fish that will chase a swung streamer when they first arrive in fresh water.  They can be acrobatic leapers.  One angler I was guiding this season, had one silver jump over his head!  It must have cleared over 6 feet from the water!

   

  

These silver salmon will take long runs as well, taking you deep into your backing before you can eventually slow them down and turn their head and start to regain you line!

   

  

They come in to the river from the sea, "dime bright" with sea lice.  On a sunny day, the freshest of the fish, can actually make it difficult to take a good photos as the sun's reflection off the side of the fish, makes it hard to focus or washes out the photo!!

    

  

Of course as they spend more time in the river, they start to change color like all the other species of salmon.  Eventually they will turn a deep "bing cherry" red with a black back and head and the males develop a kype that would make even Jimmy Durante proud!

     

The first part of August saw us still catching limits of Sockeye Salmon as well.  Of course the main run of Sockeye is earlier in July.  In fact, this past July we saw in excess of 3.5 million Sockeye Salmon swimming right past our lodge on their way to their spawning streams at the upper part of our system.  But we continued to catch limits into early August, even if it meant having to work at it a bit harder as the main run began to taper off.

  

Everything seems to want to eat Sockeye Salmon!  And in fact they are the "life blood" of our entire ecosystem, sustaining life both underneath and above the surface of the Alagnak River!  

Their journey back from the ocean to the waters where they were born to spawn is fraught with obstacles.  In the sea they are predated upon by orcas, salmon shark, seals and sea lions.  And of course they have to avoid the nets of the commercial fishing fleet as well as subsistence nets stretched from the banks of the estuary and rivers.  And then there are the bears and wolves and eagles.  Yet somehow, vast numbers of Sockeye still manage to return each year to spawn and on that last leg of their journey, anglers relish to idea of taking a box of wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon filets back home with them.

     

Shore lunches are a popular way of enjoying a week at ATA Lodge.  Often times our guests desire to cook their freshly caught salmon on the banks of the river to break up the day.  Sockeye Salmon is one of the best eating salmon in the world, and our guides are happy to prepare a delicious shore lunch for those who would like to do that during their week with us!

 

Once the Sockeye finally make it to where they are going to reproduce, they transform from the "silver bullets" that they are when they first arrive from the ocean into the river; changing color to a deep crimson red with green head and the males in particular develop a pronounced kype.  While we don't target them in this stage of their life cycle, we do happen to catch a few while fishing for trout and char that are feeding on the eggs that they are dropping.  While they don't fight as hard, they do chase and snap at anything that comes into their spawning beds; and they do make from some amazing photos when they are red!

Arctic Grayling love to eat the eggs of the spawning salmon as well.  We will often catch grayling while drifting beads that imitate the eggs that the salmon are dropping once they start to spawn.  Although most of the Sockeye Salmon do not spawn near us, the other 4 species of salmon all spawn just upstream and downstream from where the lodge is located.  

So in most of August and even into September, we often target the grayling, trout and char "bouncing beads" down the river either while wading or drifting from a boat.   We have an amazing grayling fishery, with many large, hungry grayling that regularly attain sizes of 16-18", with many grayling being caught up to 20" or even a bit larger.  

     

Fishing for arctic char and Dolly Varden is best in August and September as well.  Although fishing for these char is not been as good as it used to be in previous years; guests are thrilled to tick these species off their list of fish they've caught while at ATA Lodge.  In the fall, the colors on these fish can be incredible.  The males look like they have lipstick on and those dots are beautifully colored up at this time of the season.  We continued to catch a fair number of Lake Trout as well in August.  Lake Trout are also a type of char.

   

Fishing tends to be so good on our home waters, that most of our guests don't feel the need to fly out to other rivers during their stay at ATA Lodge.  But in August and September, especially if you would like to tick arctic char or Dolly Varden off your list, then a fly out is a great option!  As already mentioned above, these fish are gorging on the eggs of the sockeye salmon which are mostly found in the spawning streams that make up the headwaters of our system.

This is the time to target trophy trout and char feeding on eggs.  So we fly guests to small streams that are easily wadable to fish the most famous trout and char waters of the Katmai National Park or down the Aleutian Peninsula.  We had some epic days this season chasing these fish in some of these small stream situations.

 

And while all these resident fish are gorging on eggs, we make sure that you will not go hungry while here at ATA Lodge as well.  We are so thankful for our hard working staff that take such good care of our guests, not only making delicious meals each day for them, but making them feel like they are a part of our extended family while here!

We are a family run business and try to foster a "family feel" to your stay with us.  It has been such an honor to welcome couples, lifelong friends and fishing buddies, entire families as well as fathers and sons, fathers and daughters, even mothers and sons and mothers and daughters.  This year we had multiple groups that were even made up of 3 generations including Grandfathers, sons, and grandchildren.  Each week had its own unique chemistry, but each week this season was full of family and friends that made this season one of the most memorable in our nine year tenure here!  

    

It's always such fun watching good friends, couples, brothers, and families coming and making memories that they will cherish for the rest of their lives.  No one comes here for any other reason than having a good time doing something they love.  ATA Lodge provides the prefect setting for that to happen.  We are in an area of incredible natural beauty, on a Wild and Scenic River that remotely located far away from the crowds, and surrounded by more wildlife and fish than you could ever imagine!  

Many of guests don't just "feel like part of the family", but they actually become close friends and part of our extended ATA Lodge family; closing to come back again and again, often bringing other family and friends to enjoy this unique experience with those who are important to them!

   

Many new friendships are forged each week, as guests share their experiences on the river each day with other guests around the breakfast and dinner table.  Occasionally we have guests that share their talents with us as well.  Tim this year put on a concert while here, playing the guitar and entertaining all the guests that were there that week.  He is a real entertainer, and we certainly all enjoyed the concert, often singing along to songs we all knew!

   

One of the things I love about the late season, is the dramatic sunrises, sunsets, rainbows and even the occasional northern lights that we sometimes get to witness.  There is something about being in such a remote, and pristine wilderness environment that makes you appreciate much more the "simple things" that make life on our planet so special! 

  

Being a Wild and Scenic River, with no light pollution, or interference of any kind by modern society, the colors in the sky can be so pure that they seem unnatural!  If the weather permits, we often end the week with a bonfire on Saturday night to unwind and celebrate the week we have just finished.  It is a great time to share together and seal the relationships that have developed over the course of the week as well as to say thank you and "until we meet again"!

    

So as we close the chapter on another great year at ATA Lodge, we want to say a very special thank you to all our guests and staff for an exceptional season.  We couldn't have done it without all of you.  You are the reason we get to do what we love.  We love sharing this magical part of Alaska with all our guests and we are already looking forward to welcoming, both returning and new guests next season!

If you are thinking about coming to ATA Lodge next season in 2025, don't hesitate to reach out to find out what weeks still have availability.  Some weeks are already full or almost full next year.  But we do still have many great weeks available each month.  

Things change from week to week, with the different salmon species that come into the river at different times, and how that affects what happens both above and below the surface of the river.  Feel free to email me at atalodge.wayne@gmail.com with any questions you may have and I'll point you to the best time of the season to come depending on what your priorities may be.

Come create your own "Fish Tales" next season at ATA Lodge!  Because "Fish Stories" are not only told here...they are created here!!

You can find most information you'll need to plan you Alaska Fishing Trip of a Lifetime on our website which is www.atalodge.com.  Or call us at +1 877 801 2289 or email us at atalodge.wayne@gmail.com.  

We hope to hear from you soon.  Better yet, we look forward to welcoming you to ATA Lodge!!