Our man Nate reports that the weather is still on the cool side in the Dillingham area. The melt off that had the rivers up, has subsided with the cooler days and the rivers are dropping. The Wood River lake chain is now low for this time of year along with the Nushagak. But plenty of snow in the mountains ensures that there is more melt to come. That will be a good thing as long as the melt doesn’t happen all at once.
The Nushagak king run has swung into full gear over the last few days. Gear guys are doing the best, but some nice fish are falling to the fly. Nate recommends flies like Pick-Yer-Pockets , Jumbo Critters and various Guide Intruders . Chartreuse has been best, but Pink and Fuschia is working, too. With the water being a little lower, try a lighter sink tip like a type III. There are rumors of a few fish being caught on the Togiak, but the first good push of fish has yet to come.
Sockeye are starting to flood into the river systems over in the Bristol Bay drainages. Large schools of reds are now finding their way up the Wood River where they will follow the chain up to find their spawning grounds. The best fishing right now is on the Agulawak. Try smaller flies like Mercer’s Sockeye Fly or Sockeye Lanterns . Fishing for sockeye is set to pick up soon on the other tributaries and rivers, such as the Agulapak and Wind Rivers, that hold later runs.
Rainbow fishing has been good and steady. Rivers like the Kvichak, Agulapak and Brooks have been very good. Lower than normal water may helping the trout fishery. With the cooler air temps, river like the Agulawak, Agulapak and Brooks, haven’t been producing much in the ways of insects. Try swinging leeches or sculpin patterns in black, olive or tan. M.C.’s Sculpin , McCune’s Sculpin and S&B Super Sting Leeches are good bets.
Char fishing at the mouths of rivers like the Agulawak and Agulapak have been on fire. With the outpouring sockeye smolt this time of year, it is pretty hard to match the action of fishing for arctic char. Even though sockeye smolt are very small, try swinging or stripping big bait fish patterns like Ame's Smolt . Or try S & B Super String Leeches in black, pink, flesh or white .
Pike fishing remains hot. The shallows are producing the best. Try big leech patterns like Thunder Moals or Articulated Hareballs in black and white. Large red and white Clousers and Flash Tail Whistlers are working too. Pike fishing should remain good for the next few weeks.
That’s it for this week. Keep an eye out for the next Bristol Bay report. Hopefully the king reports will get better and better. The sockeye should continue to fill the rivers and the dry fly fishing for trout and grayling should get good when the rivers start to warm. Until then,
Tight Lines!