the Wine Ranch at Wallula Gap

Fishing Report

Posted by admin on Feb 12 2009 | Comments Off

chile
What about Alaska captures our hearts? What invades our nights, haunting us during sleep, looming over our shoulder during waking hours? For those who venture north in September it could be silvers, fresh from the ocean, full of cartwheeling insanity; maybe it is big shouldered and brightly colored arctic char, whose bulldoggish fights bend rods to the cork; maybe it is rainbow trout, those fish prized by anglers for their beauty, size, and screaming, mad dashes against cranked down drags. For whatever multiplicity of reasons the Alaskan Fall is an angler’s paradise, incomparable to anything in the world. Our group of anglers this past week were heavily focused on silvers, though many came with the intention of sampling a little bit of everything. The Togiak was our most sought after destination and the source of many tired shoulders and arms and a few broken rods. It was there that Jim Konkel, on his first fish of the day, hooked into a horse of a silver that, after the tale of the tape was told, weighed 16.5 pounds and established him as the lodge leader. Traveling all the way from London, Rob Morgan and Kelley Dangor, had nothing but salmon on the brain and came to Alaska to fulfill a long standing obsession with those fish. They took full advantage of their time on the water fishing hard right up to the time the plane was pulling away from the beach and were rewarded with very tired arms and energized spirits at weeks end. No Name Creek, a consistent producer all season long, continued to offer guests some sight fishing opportunities to that trout of a lifetime as well as beefy char and trophy grayling. Also offering some great sight fishing were our destinations in the Togiak National Wildlife Refuge. Wading the small creeks that empty into lakes, spotting large char, resplendent in fall colors, and hooking them in such small water has become a guest favorite. Though not as highly sought as rainbow trout, the arctic char does everything it can to remind us that they too deserve a place in our hearts when remembering Alaska. The Agulukpak has been incredible lately, asserting itself as a place to sight fish to large trout and char that tear into backing when hooked. The Kvichak and it’s steelhead-like rainbow trout, whose brand of struggle is like no other fish that swims in Alaskan waters, was another guest favorite. This is a place of legend that holds a very special spot in every diehard trout angler’s heart. For John and Erik Roen and Jim Davis this is a river that is held in high esteem, warranting at least a couple of trips per week each year searching for that magical, thirty-inch-plus trout that is held in shaky hands after a lengthy struggle or watched departing as line goes limp and chin slumps to chest. Another fishery that really comes alive during the fall is Brooks River. These trout use ample strength and a strong current to peel out line and give anglers a good test of their fish fighting abilities. Throw in some incredible bear viewing along with fantastic trout fishing and Brooks River makes for the quintessential Alaskan experience. We really enjoyed fishing with all of our guests this past week and look forward to doing so again in the future.