We just finished speaking with Mission Lodge owner Dale Depriest.  He reports that fishing is picking up in the Dillingham area.  Sockeye and Kings have started entering a lot of the rivers, the trout are hungry and aggressive, and tons of Arctic Char are crashing Sockeye smolt at the mouth of most rivers.

The King season was off to a slow start, but has steadily been getting better.  ADF&G lowered the bag limit of kings on the Nushagak, from 4 per year down to 2 per year, in case the run did not materialize.  Dale says this looks to be changing as a bunch of fish have entered the river in the last couple days.  Farther west, fish are entering rivers like the Togiak, Goodnews and Kanektok. For those of you heading out to fish these awesome rivers, be ready to swing or drift some of our new King patterns.

The trout are literally starting to look up on rivers like the Agulawak, Brooks and the American.  When the sun pokes through the clouds, be sure to have a rod ready with an Elk Hair Caddis or Parachute Adams.  When the sun isn’t shining, try nymphing on the buggy rivers or swinging leeches.  Dolly Llama’s in black/white, olive white and all white can be deadly this time of year, but don’t count out some of the more classic streamers like the Woolhead Sculpin or Bunny Leeches as these are still very effective patterns.   If one of the more remote rivers is your destination, don’t forget about the mice!  Bringing a rodent-eating beast to the top is one of the ultimate Alaska treats for a fly angler.

Along with Kings, Sockeye and Chum salmon are entering the rivers, too.  Chum are a lot of fun and aggressive fly-eaters when they first come out of the ocean.  Try swinging or stripping pink streamers like Lead-Eyed Eggs Sucking Leeches in Pink or Hareball Leeches in Pink to connect with these toothy guys.  For Sockeye, try going with a smaller fly and slowing everything down a little.  Unlike their cousins, Sockeye can be very finicky and shy towards fast moving flies, so try dead drifting Sockeye Lightnings or Mercer’s Sockeye Fly.  Once you do hook up, hold on!

Thanks for checking in with us here at Alaska Fly Fishing Goods.  We hope that you have a great week of fishing!

Brad and Mike