Bristol Bay Alaska and the rivers in its watershed are home to the most abundant trout and salmon runs available in the United States. Fly fishing success here is like no other place on Earth! 

The Alagnak River in Bristol Bay offers arguably the best salmon fishing in the world.

Access upstream into the Katmai National Preserve is very exclusive and limited by the National Parks. It's a fly-fishing trip of a lifetime. 

ATA Lodge offers some of the very best available Fishing Trips for Alaskan Salmon in the world renowned Bristol Bay fishery.

Our fishing is not congested with boats, day-trips operators, or other lodge operators. We offer the best salmon and trout fishing for a limited number of fishermen each week. Our clients can expect to enjoy some of the best Alaskan fishing trips available in the entire Katmai region.

About Bristol Bay

The Bristol Bay watershed in southwestern Alaska sustains the biggest salmon runs found anywhere in the world. Bristol Bay and its rivers are pristine with thriving wildlife populations.

Salmon Resources

The Bristol Bay watershed provides an environment for countless varieties of wildlife, consisting of 29 fish species, more than 190 type of birds, and more than 40 different terrestrial animals. It is home to a thriving sport fishery for Pacific Salmon as well as various resident fish like rainbow trout, arctic char, dolly varden, lake trout and grayling. The watershed is incredibly healthy and its river systems support the ideal habitats for all five varieties of Pacific salmon found in North America: sockeye, coho, chinook, chum, and also pink salmon.

Because there are no hatcheries in the watershed, Bristol Bay's salmon populations are completely wild. These fish are anadromous - hatching and rearing in freshwater systems, moving to the sea to grow into adult fish, then returning to freshwater rivers to spawn and die. They are remarkably strong hard fighting fish.

One of the most abundant salmon varieties in the region is the sockeye salmon. The Bristol Bay watershed sustains the biggest sockeye salmon fishery anywhere in the world, and is home to about 46% of the global population of wild sockeye salmon. The average annual migration of sockeye salmon in Bristol Bay has been approximately 37.5 million fish.  But recent years have seen returns in excess of 60 million in recent years.  Annual commercial and sport fishing harvest of sockeye over this same duration has averaged 27.5 million providing the perfect ratios for a sustainable and thriving fishery. Bristol Bay's fishery management policies have proven to be the most successful anywhere in the world.

Alaskan Cultures

The Alaska Native societies existing in the Nushagak River as well as Kvichak River watersheds - the Yup'ik and also Dena'ina - are two of the last intact, ongoing salmon-based societies in the world. Salmon are essential to the whole lifestyle in these societies as subsistence food and also as the structure for their language, spirituality, and social framework.

These cultures have a strong connection to the landscape and its resources in the Bristol Bay watershed, this connection has been preserved for at least the past 4,000 years and remains in component because of the continued pristine condition of the region's landscape as well as organic sources.

In the Bristol Bay area, salmon constitute about 52% of the subsistence harvest. Subsistence from all sources (fish, moose, and also other wildlife) represent approximately 80% of healthy protein taken in by these populations.

Bristol Bay's Location

Bristol Bay lies at the northeastern end of the Alaskan peninsula which is in Southwestern Alaska. Click on map for larger views.

Getting To Us