# Aleutian Island Adventure: Big King Salmon on the fly



## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

I just returned from The Sapsuk River, Nelsonâ€™s Lagoon, in far out Aleutian Islands of our most beautiful state, Alaska. The target fish for this trip was king salmon on the fly, something not a lot of anglers have ever done and one of the last fish on my unfilled personal bucket list. 

It isnâ€™t easy getting there, nor is it easy to return. The camp was tent structure, with generator and river water.The trip was arranged by Sweetwater travelâ€¦and must say it isnâ€™t for everyone.Morning temperatures were in the 30â€™s and clothing needed to be warm at all times. The area is absolutely stunning with amazing views of active volcanoes, mountains, vast tundra and wildlife. Pavlof volcano is semi-active and in full view of our campâ€¦a stunning sight indeed. 

In this report, Iâ€™ll concentrate on the king salmon fishingâ€¦but I also caught rainbows, dollyâ€™s, char, and sockeyes at various times during the week.Also, anyone wishing to know any other details of the trip logistics, environment, etc. feel free to PM me. I love to talk about Alaska fishing.
In addition, the river is generally well suited to spey casting with very heavy vegetation and steep banks which limit back casting.

The kings in the river were very fresh from the salt(Bering Sea). They still had the sea lice on them that can only survive 24 hours in freshwater, so these kings were full bright and they were extremely hot. They were holding/staging for very brief times in deep pools of the river and the trick was using stealth and expert casts to get them to hit a fly. They were extremely wary. 

In the first 10 minutes of the first day, a 40 pound king inhaled my fly, a chartreuse guide intruder and proceeded to try to destroy my Allen Kraken reel and TFO single handed 10 wt rod. It almost succeeded. I had just recently returned from the Baja fishing for roosterfish and had replaced the spool on the fly reel with a cold water sinking tip line. I didnâ€™t realize that I hadnâ€™t properly seated the new spool on the reel and the 40 pound king quickly exploited this mistake. The reel drag failed immediately, then the spool literally flew into the air (twice) as I scrambled to try to hold onto the huge king. 

My guide Mike sprinted to help me and reassembled the drag and reel with spool while I tried to hang on to the angry king by hand lining. We got in the boat and caught up with the king well down stream probably a couple of miles before finally landing itâ€¦what an introduction to king salmon fishing on the fly. 

For much of the remaining week, I learned to spey cast and caught numerous bright kings ranging from the 10 to 20 pounds(called jack kings),several in the 20 to 30 pound class, a 31,33,35,and 36 pound king to go with the 40 pounderâ€¦but the crowning fish, the largest king salmon that anyone had ever seen come out of that river on the fly and caught on my single handed 10 wt was a 44 pound, roughly 45 inch with a 29 inch girth. It truly was the fish of a lifetime and exactly what I was after for my bucket list. 

The huge king could not be landed from the bank. I simply could not stop its initial run, nor could I turn it in any way with the 10 wt. It quickly ran out 300 yards of backing before the guide could get to me in the boat and we could follow it downstream. 

We followed the great fish in the boat well past our camp downriver â€¦some two plus river miles from where I hooked it upriver from the camp. I got out of the boat and was able finally to drag the huge fish onto a sand bar where we got pictures before releasing (and camp people came scrambling to see this magnificent specimen).

The camp operator said it was the largest king salmon they had ever seen on this river and certainly the largest to ever be taken on the fly there. Upon returning later to Anchorage, I read a newspaper article summarizing the Anchorage King Salmon Derby which is a contest for the largest King salmon of the seasonâ€¦the winning fish was 37 pounds (you can check this out by googling the Anchorage news paper from Monday). My fish at 44 pounds easily dwarfed the winning fishâ€¦in fact my second largest king would have easily won the contest. 
What a trip!! 

Iâ€™ll post only a few of the many pictures providing a representative sampling of these magnificent fish. Anyone wish more pictures or details just PM me. 
The pictures:
1) the 44 pound king with camp in the background
2) close up shot of 44 pound king
3) the 40 pound king
4) a 36 pound king
5) 31 pound king missing part of stomach due to seal attack
6) king on the fly
7) typical jack kings 10 to 20 pounds.

In a separate post, Iâ€™ll provide pictures of the jack kings, rainbows. Dollyâ€™s, char, and others.


----------



## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

*More pictures*

The river (mostly in the upper reaches) has good rainbows, char, and dolly's. Also, Alaska fish and game has a fish weir for counting the various salmon species as they migrate upstream.

Pictured:
1) artic char
2) dolly
3) wildflowers
4) typical sockeye (good eating)
5) 22 inch rainbow
6) Sapsuk river
7) fish weir


----------



## netboy (Dec 12, 2006)

What a trip....great fish and beautiful scenery!
Congrats


----------



## Gofish2day (May 9, 2006)

Great post and thanks for telling me to check the flyfishing forum. The pictures came out great.


----------



## Danny O (Apr 14, 2010)

Holy cow Larry! Amazing Alaskan fishing adventures you chronicle, and this latest trip found incredible species and record making Kings that are quite remarkable on the detail of landing the beast. I'd love to experience it, but two negative elements would deter me. Never mastered the fly and 30 degree temps! 

Congrats on a spectacular trip and magnificent catching of those gorgeous Kings!


----------



## Unbound (Jul 12, 2004)

Looks like an amazing trip. Great atmosphere and great fish.


----------



## Bruce J (Jun 27, 2004)

Wow - what an adventure! 

I did that "not quite seated" reel trick a few years ago, but fortunately it was with a small bonefish and I caught the spool just before it went spinning off into space. Sure would like to see some video of you managing that situation with a 40+ pound king hooked up!


----------



## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

Pet Spoon said:


> Holy cow Larry! Amazing Alaskan fishing adventures you chronicle, and this latest trip found incredible species and record making Kings that are quite remarkable on the detail of landing the beast. I'd love to experience it, but two negative elements would deter me. Never mastered the fly and 30 degree temps!
> 
> Congrats on a spectacular trip and magnificent catching of those gorgeous Kings!


 Thanks PS....you would be great at spey casting...but no answer for the 30 deg temps, LOL.


----------



## Fishsurfer (Dec 14, 2014)

Sweet. Really beautiful place. Doing what God intended us to do.


----------



## southpaw (Feb 25, 2009)

Congrats on those fish of a lifetime. Great write up as well, I really enjoyed reading that.


----------



## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

Bruce J said:


> .... Sure would like to see some video of you managing that situation with a 40+ pound king hooked up!


 My buddy who witnessed it said it was a "cluster", one of the best he had ever seen.

Just to clarify...the Allen Kraken did not fail...it was operator error in seating the new spool in the reel. The Kraken performed flawlessly later on other kings including the 44 pound monster.


----------

