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There's no other way to say it....Fishing in June and July at ATA Lodge this season in 2024, was EPIC!
We have had a very busy season and guests have enjoyed not only amazing fishing, but fantastic wildlife viewing and photography as well as delicious meals!
After a stellar opening week of trout and grayling fishing, the month of June continued to deliver the best rainbow trout and grayling fishing of the whole season. Rainbow trout fishing continued to be exceptional, well into the month of July.
We had the honor of having fly fishing author and casting instructor John Field with us as well as Shyanne Orvis who came with her sister in late June and early July!
The fun part about fishing for rainbow trout in June is that these beautiful leopard rainbows are where they are supposed to be, and eager to take a swung streamer, or well presented dry fly. It is our best time for "mousing" as well, when we catch a lot of big trout while skating mouse patterns on the surface for some spectacular top water action!
Guests had a fun time everyday, going out with our guides and catching a lot of beautiful trout before the salmon started to arrive in early July!
June for many of us, is our favorite time to be out on the river fishing. These trout haven't seen a fly in 8 months, and they are not shy! It's great to see our guests enjoying themselves so much and it reminds us of why we love to introduce people to this very special part of Alaska!!
The dry fly fishing for grayling is exceptional in June and July as well. We do have a world class grayling fishery here at ATA Lodge. Many of our grayling attain sizes of 16-18 inches with the occasional 20+ inch grayling being caught. This year was a great year from Lake Trout as well, with many being caught everyday in June and July!
A fly out one week to Contact Creek produced some good char fishing as well. We have caught some char on the Alagnak River, but the char fishing on our river has not been as good as some years in the past. Having said that, we have some great fly out locations for those who would like target char, especially later in the season.
Meals have been not only hearty, but delicious as well. You will definitely not go hungry here at ATA Lodge. Guests have raved about the food they have been fed this season! Each day, a different hearty breakfast is served, then you pack your own lunch the way you like it; and each evening sees a three course, served meal after appetizers consisting of great soups and salads, fantastic main courses and scrumptious desserts.
Fly outs to view the bears at Halo Bay or Brooks Falls was a highlight of the week for many. But in July, after the Sockeye Salmon start running, we have an incredible "Bear Show" right here at ATA Lodge.
During that time of year, we get many photography guests that produce amazing images of the wildlife that can be seen here. Below are some fantastic images captured by some of our guests like Kerry Sublette, Jayne Ryan, Dennis Miller, Sue Braunhut, Carolyn Cheney, and Melissa Carrol (sorry if I've forgetten to mention anyone who shared pictures with us)! We were honored to have Canon Camera EOL Charles Glatzer back with us again, as well as professional photographer John Solnina for the first time (but not the last)!!
During July we often seen 25, 30, and even over 40 unique bears a day within close proximity to the lodge. Photographers go out 2 or 3 to a boat with their camera gear, just like our fishermen go out everyday for 8 hours a day with their fishing rods!
The quality of images that our guests are able to capture are National Geographic quality! Even our fishermen encounter many bears a day on the river and get some great shots just using thier phone cameras!
But it is not only bears that are seen. We see many eagles, osprey, and waterfowl, as well as Moose, Beaver, Otter, Mink, Fox, Ermin, and we have even seen Wolf, Wolverine and Lynx this season!
The Alagnak River was one of Alaska's first 5 designated "Wild and Scenic" Rivers back in the 1980s. We have the privilege of being situated in a very remote part of the Katmai National Park and Preserve. The only access to the area, is our own private airstrip on the property. This ensures that you actually see "more bears than people" while here! Many guests appreciate the fact that they don't have to race other lodges or guide boats to fishing spots; or share a platform for 20 minutes with dozens of other photographers like at Brooks Falls to see our wildlife. You will have the sense when you are on the river, that you have the whole place to yourself!
The Sockeye Salmon started to roll in right on time, and this season we saw in excess of 3.5 million Sockeye Salmon come into the Alagnak River. They all spawn in our tributaries and the streams that feed our watershed. They all migrate upstream, swimming right past our lodge. You can stand on the balcony and watch them swim by, and even catch them right off the dock! It is not unusual to be eating dinner and watch bears fishing for Sockeye Salmon right in front of the lodge!!
There is no place you can go and have better conditions for catching limits of Sockeye Salmon than the upper river where we are located. The Sockeye come right up along the margins of the river, nose to tail, two to three rows wide (sometime 6, 8 or 10 rows wide), and two rows deep...for hours nonstop! This is why the bears are concentrated in our section of the river during this time of the year. The Sockeye are their main food source and easier to catch, both for the bears and our anglers!
Limits can be caught and retained in less than an hour during the height of the run and then guests can continue to catch salmon as long as they want to, practicing catch and release, or break away and target other species. In the two pictures directly above, you can see captured one of my most favorite moments of the season. I had 3 young people in my boat for a day of incredible sockeye salmon fishing. These guys were catching one big sockeye after another, and netting each other's fish, while I cheered them on in-between fileting their catch! We love to see young people getting "turned on" to fishing and the great outdoors. Alaska is a great place to teach the timeless pleasures of experiencing these wild places!!
All I can say, is that the smiles on the faces of our guests, demonstrate just what a great time they are having while here. Their reviews on TripAdvisor tell the story of their experience here. You can read what they have to say, if you like, by following this link below.
We were glad to have some friends of the family come and visit us this July as well. In particular, Ed and Jeanie Spitzer, who have meant so much to us here at ATA Lodge from the very beginning. The timing of their trip was perfect to be able to not just enjoy the great fishing, but to celebrate some very special events that are important to our two families!!
As already mentioned, trout fishing in our own "back yard" continued to sustain and produce some fantastic specimens for our guests! These leopard rainbow trout have to be among the most beautiful trout on the planet.
This season, the kids have been a highlight, seeing them learning how to fish, and often out-fishing their parents. Having young ones in camp adds a special element as their sheer joy reminds us of what got us into fishing in the first place!
July is also the time of season that we catch King Salmon here at ATA Lodge. These big fish, are always a highlight of the week for those fortunate enough to catch one. There are not many Chinook Salmon in the river, compared the the other four salmon species. But these Kings do attain the biggest sizes, and you know about it when one grabs your fly or spinning lure! They can get up to and over 40 lbs here.
Here's a few photos of some of the ones that were caught, including some "jacks", which are immature Chinook Salmon which return to fresh water a few years early for reason. These jack kings, are very fiesty and provide a lot of good action, as they tend to be more "bitey" than the bigger Kings.
There's a reason the Alagnak River was designated a "Wild and Scenic River". It is a truly wild, pristine and remote watershed, with no human habitation, apart for our fishing lodge during the season, in the upper part of the river where we are located. Its beauty is astounding and never fails to impress both the first time and return visitor!
Later in July, the Chum Salmon start to make an appearance in the river. The last few years the Chum Salmon run has been down considerably across their entire range (not just our river) from the huge numbers we had become accustomed to before 2020. So the "jury was out" on what the run would be like this year!
But we are very pleased to report that the Chum Salmon were "back in force" this season!! We have seen numbers that reminded us of the "good ole days" this year. Many, many, hard fighting Chum Salmon were caught this year (but you'll have to wait to see the August Fishing Report to find out just what I'm talking about)! By the last 10 days of July, many of our guests were hooking into some great Chums, and had to "hold on for their lives" to actually be able to land them. Chum Salmon are under rated as a sport fish; but we love them here, as they provide great sport; and many people feel like they are the best fighters, pound for pound, of any of the 5 salmon species we catch!!
We've been treated to some amazing sunrises and sunsets, as well as some dramatic rainbows this season. So I thought I would round off this fishing report with a few pictures from the "Land of the Midnight Sun" at ATA Lodge.
It seems appropriate to end this report with a photo of this stunning sunset that we witnessed around 11 pm after a campfire at the end of the month of July. This picture, seems to sum up what makes this part of Alaska so special. It's not only superb fishing, and prolific wildlife, that makes this location so unique; but the unspoiled, natural beauty of this place is "jaw dropping" at times and just has to be "seen to be believed"!!!
It has been an incredible season so far in 2024 here at ATA Lodge! So many happy faces, good times and laughs! But we do often see some frowns from time to time. Not only when the "fish of a lifetime" throws the hook, making for many a story of "the one that got away"; but more often, when the week is over, and guests realize it's time to head back home; back to the "real world" and leave the "reel world" here behind until their next trip back to ATA Lodge!
If you have been thinking about making a trip to ATA Lodge for the fishing trip of a lifetime, be sure to reach out and enquire about our availability next season in 2025. We are already over half full next season, with some weeks already sold out! But there is still time to get into some great weeks all season long. Send us an email at atalodge.wayne@gmail.com or call +1 877 801 2289 or visit our website at www.atalodge.com for more information!
Hope to hear from you soon! Until then...Tight Lines!