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They say a picture paints a thousand words! Well, we say these happy faces tell the story of ATAL! We have been so blessed with fantastic clients these past weeks since our doors opened! And they have been creating memories to last a lifetime and thankfully they have been willing to share their "stories" and pictures with us (and now with you) of their time on the Alagnak Wild River while staying at ATA Lodge!
As week 3 of July rolled in we started catching King Salmon in good numbers! These are strong, hard fighting fish that have only been in the river from a few days to a few weeks as they stage to start spawning in August.
But it's not just the Kings (Chinook Salmon), but Chum Salmon as well that have been rolling past our doors on their way up stream to spawn.
Of Course all these salmon are great for the Bears! And our bear viewing and photography has been great, whether on the Alagnak or seen on some of our fly out adventures like Brooks Falls where Clemens Vanderwerf captured this amazing photo!
The Sockeye Salmon have run strong throughout the whole month of July and are still coming in fresh from the sea even though we are now already into August!
So whether Fisherman or Bear, there have been plenty of fish to catch as these amazing photos testify!
And catch them we have! Here's a picture of another fine Chum Salmon, caught on the lower river as it made its way upstream.
And who says that fishing is just for guys? Our gals have been catching plenty of fish too, sometimes even out fishing the boys!
Since the Sockeyes have been running strong now for over 4 weeks, those that have made it up to the Lakes have started to turn red!
This big bull moose, crossed the river wading UPSTREAM against the current, right in front of our lodge during dinner one evening last week! The clients all got up from the table and rushed to the balcony with their cameras to get pictures like this one! I'm sure glad I keep my camera handy!
As we moved in to the last week of July, our Aussie delegation, did their countrymen proud, landing plenty of big Chum and King Salmon everyday!
One day, I did a run up to the Lake and I'm not ashamed to say, we have some of the most stunning scenery around!
Thunder from Down Under - another big King Salmon brought to hand by Aussie Angler Shane Mensforth who was on his 3rd hosted trip to ATAL bringing a group from Australia, and he has already booked to come back in 2018 with another group!
The Return of the Sockeye is a sight to behold, when in their Tens of Thousands they come back to the same rivers in which they were born to spawn and ensure the next generation of salmon continue to come back year after year, providing us (and the bears, wolves, eagles, etc.) with plenty to eat and enjoy!
We don't just fish for salmon. We have some great fun fishing for Northern Pike on our "Hike for Pike" - its a great way to spend the day and see and catch something different!
Among our clients we have had many of whom that are accomplished photographers (some of these photos are by Robert Van Mayr, Clemens Vanderwerf, Dan Womack)! Shoot the Light with "Canon Explorer of Light" Photographer Chaz Glatzer, came and did a wildlife photography workshop - and wow did they get some awesome captures! We even had Fish Eye Guy Photographer, Pat Clayton here with us for a couple weeks to capture the very best of what this amazing resource has to offer!
We really enjoyed showing Pat around and are now getting to enjoy his amazing underwater photos that bring a new perspective to what is going on both above AND below the water!
We are fortunate to have such majestic creatures to share the river with and such beautiful locations from which to experience them!
We catch some BIG fish on the Wild Alganak, but sometimes, size doesn't matter - catching Grayling on a dry fly is lots of fun too and there are plenty here to keep us busy!
Sea of Red! Another great shot by Pat Clayton!
This shot was taken by Christy Worsteling of IFISH with Tackleworld!
This is a juvenile bald eagle - majestically soaring over the Alagnak River!
We have even had XXL Norway's Flemming Wilberg here for a week and look forward to many more Scandinavian Clients to come "Share the Adventure" with us here!
We can't wait to have the IFISH crew back up here next year to film a few television episodes for their Travel Fishing Program! So "watch this space" for more great images of the Wild Alagnak River at ATAL....A True Alaska Lodge!
Places next season are filling up fast, so get in touch to book your trip to ATA Lodge for 2017!
www.atalodge.com
phone us on 877 801 2289