Niagara River Steelhead Fishing - December 12

Well conditions were finally right to hit the Niagara River to do some steelhead fishing. Luckily Mike and I had a trip booked at the right time and with the right person. Captain John DeLorenzo once again put us on a great day of fishing. We fished Artpark the entire day and almost never made a drift without a fish. The morning started off with a bang and we had multiple fish each drift. The steelhead were fresh from the lake and full of fight. The fishing slowed a little during the afternoon, but we ended the day with an amazing 40 steelhead. All the fish were quality fish that were chrome and clean. The best fish of the day was around 16 lbs. The only downfall of the entire day was that with the constant action we did not take enough time to take enough pictures. Here a few of the many fish from the day. When conditions are right, this fishery is one of the best steelhead fisheries in the world. Anybody looking for a good trip should contact captain John DeLorenzo.

Alagnak River Braids

On this day ,we were excited to take the one hour jet boat ride up river to the braids. The Alagnak River is also called the Branch River, because it splits into so many brances or channels. These branches are called The Braids. This is the place on the river where some of the salmon spawn, the place where salmon and trout smolt grow, and the place where the best rainbow trout fishing occurs.

The ride upriver was long and cold, but it was absolutely amazing. Our guide Caleb expertly guided the boat around tight corners and through water as shallow as six inches. Along the way, we saw bears fishing, young eagles learning to fly, and a volcano in the distance. The water in The Braids is much more intimate and we felt at home fishing the swift gravel runs.

We arrived at our first location and once again it did not take long to catch fish. From the first cast of the day to last cast, we were catching fish almost continuously. Many of the fish were smaller rainbow trout, but there were larger trout, grayling, char, and even some salmon mixed in. In this area of the river, we were surrounded by huge spawning king salmon. These giant fish looked like red logs slowly moving through the water. In fact it would not have been to difficult to hook one, landing one on the five weight fly rods we were using would have been a different story. So despite the temptation we concentrated on the beautiful rainbow trout that were ready to do battle.

Each spot we fished rewarded us with nice trout with a few big ones mixed in. When I say we caught fish all day long I am not exaggerating. In fact, if you let your bead sit in the water by your feet too long a baby trout would be on before you could make a cast. An amazing occurance that is fun at first, but quickly becomes annoying.

Our day in the braids was ending too quickly, but in the final minutes of fishing one of us was able to complete the salmon grand slam (king, silver, sockeye, chum, pink) by landing a small jack king salmon. This was a welcomed surprise since we did not target king salmon all week because the season was closed. The ride back to camp was just as exciting with beautiful scenery and wildlife around each curve. We arrived back at camp, ate some delicious food and relaxed for the evening.