What Happened in 2007?
The summer of 2007 was yet another great season.  The water was just right, the fish were right on time and they were there in close to record numbers.  Had a bit of rain, but then the fish do love the water. ;)  We had many bear sightings this season, including Butch's favorite: Molly, and her 2 year old cubs that are nearly as big as her now. We had no major breakdowns in equipment this year, and everyone left with smiling faces and full coolers.  A good time was had by all.


June

Trout season began June 8th, and as always the big rainbows were down from lakes Kukaklek and Nonvianuk.  They have finished spawning and are voracious, eating smolt and leeches.  Butch and I caught 20 trout in one hole near camp in just under an hour!  All the fish were over 15 inches and 4 of them between 24" and 28"!  The sockeye showed up in front of the dock on the 27th, and daily limits were available for the rest of the summer.  The prime weeks we saw well over 40k fish go by every day, all bright chrome and full of fight.  This season's sockeye run alone was over 2 million fish.  Graylings were easy to find as well, chomping on nearly every type of dry fly you chose to cast.   Rainbows cooperated all summer, biting on spinners, dry flies and streamers.

July

July is still my favorite month, with every species of fish around; bright red kings, grayling, arctic char, rainbows, nice clean chum, fresh silvers and even a few off season pinks were caught.  Of course we were still knee deep in sockeye all month.  The chinook were smaller overall this year, but the numbers made up for their size.   Many of the Bristol Bay area rivers had low numbers of kings, with the limit on the Nushagak kept to one fish per day.  It wasn't like that on the Alagnak, we seemed to have more than previous seasons.  We caught our first silver in the third week of July and started dreaming about those wild blueberry pancakes that usually arrive at the same time as the coho.

August

Things finally warmed up in August, and sunny days made it easy to spot all the fish.  The chum and kings were on their spawning beds with trout and graylings right behind them, feasting on the loose eggs.  A patient fisherman can catch up to 100 fish a day if they stick with it.  Its difficult though, with all those salmon still around; they take a lot more time to land. ;) Fresh sockeye filets were still filling up coolers into the second week of August.  Silvers started coming in numbers early and it didn't take long to catch the 3 per day limit as the month wore on.  My best day for coho was with Jersey boy, John Boyce, with 28 landed. 
After Terry, Brian and Butch left for the season, I hacked around King Salmon for a couple of weeks, entering a silver derby on the Naknek river and winning the first three places and placing in the guide division.  A great end to a great season.

Looking forward to 2008

The pinks will be in full force on this even year with huge numbers expected.  In 2006 we caught 430 of these aggressive fish in just under six hours using four rods, we also landed 30 silvers just to shake things up.  Pinks will chase nearly anything with their namesake color, including leeches, icicles and articulating leeches. 
Well, thanks again to all those who joined us in 2007 and before.  Its been a pleasure.  See you on the water!
-Trapper, Terry, Butch & Brian.

Alaska's Alagnak Wilderness Camps & Trap
563 Centerville Road
Pulaski, NY 13142
Phone 315-298-6655
Fax 315-298-6655