Hosted Trip Recap: Alaska’s Naknek River Camp - Part 1

I recently got back from our hosted trip to Naknek River Camp in Bristol Bay, Alaska. Our group had an absolutely fantastic time! We caught ten different species of fish between us, including coho salmon, king salmon, sockeye salmon, chum salmon, Naknek rainbow trout, leopard rainbow trout, arctic grayling, dolly varden, arctic char, and northern pike. And, aside from the species caught, we got to fish in so many different areas during our week. The diversity that the Bristol Bay offers and Naknek River Camp caters towards is endless.

Seven of our customers joined us for a weeklong adventure with big goals to be achieved. If it hasn’t already been implied, the amazing guides with NRC made those goals become reality! Big fish were landed, new species were crossed off the bucket-list, and coolers were filled.

Before I get into our trip recap, I’d like to take the time to let you all know about our trip in 2026. This trip will be August 29 - September 5, 2026 at NRC and includes a full six days of fishing. We already have spots booked for this trip, so if you’re interested in joining you can email myself ( xavier@goldenflyshop.com ) or follow the link here ( https://www.goldenflyshop.com/pages/naknek-river-lodge-hosted-travel ) to see all the information regarding the trip and book your deposit! As you read on, you’ll see this is a trip that you don’t want to miss.

Our first day was spent traveling to King Salmon, a seamless travel experience through Alaska Airlines. We flew directly to Anchorage from Denver, then took another flight through Alaska Airlines from Anchorage to King Salmon. This is a blessing in disguise because the vast majority of Alaska fishing lodges require a private flight to the final destination, which makes travel fares costly. Not with NRC!

After arriving, we checked in and began the usual BS’ing before our next day of fishing. During this time you can fish the Naknek unguided for whatever is willing to bite your fly. One of our guests took full advantage of this perk and managed to land a 30” rainbow trout right from the dock at the lodge! That’s one way to set the tone of the trip!

Day 2 was our first day of fishing and with much anticipation, our group split up and did some fishing. Six of our group members took a boat ride across the mighty Naknek Lake headed towards Brooks River. If you don’t know about this famous river, let me fill you in. Brooks River is home to Brooks Falls, one of the most beautiful displays of nature on earth. With that comes a great share of people, but the vast majority of them are photographers who could care less about the fishing. Well we sure care about the fishing, and after the short session of Bear School, our group set out to the water to catch the hard fighting rainbow trout that call this river home. 

Meanwhile, another guest and I cruised downriver to target coho salmon, also known as silver salmon. Our goal was to throw streamers and get our coolers filled with fresh salmon. In all honesty, the salmon fishing was tough while we were there. Ironically, the weather was too nice during our stay which kept the salmon mostly tight-lipped. That said, our first day was action packed with numerous fish thrown in the cooler and many more that popped off during the fight. Our guide knew exactly where fresh fish would be and got us right on them. These fish were more than willing to eat our silly colored flies and gave us great fights filled with aerial displays similar to baby tarpon. Both parties had an amazing day and couldn’t ask for much more.

Monday was our second day of fishing and the third at the lodge. This was a day of rolling with the punches. Fog was thick on this day which led to a cancelled fly-out for four of our guests, as well as difficult navigation for two of our guests looking to chase pike. Although our guests didn’t go on their fly-out, they were able to experience some great salmon and rainbow trout fishing on the Naknek. Likewise, the two who were looking for pike had a rough start to the morning. But the afternoon led to giant pike! While one guest was fighting and landing a 38” pike, the other hooked into and landed a 36” pike. That’s a lot of fish in the boat at the same time!! The fish in Naknek Lake are some of the most beautiful pike and brought a great tussle in and out of giant weedbeds. They caught a good number of other pike in the 24-30” as well, but nothing compared to their amazing double.

One of our guests was looking to do some hiking further into the backcountry looking for great fishing. He wasn’t looking for trophies nor new species. He just wanted to hike to where most people are not willing to go. So I joined him in this adventure. We set off to a small creek that we could access from a short boat ride, strapped our boots tight, and bushwacked through beartrails to lesser known territory. Boy did we find ourselves a special place. Not only did we find large rainbow trout, but we found a lot of them, with the vast majority of them being sightfished! 

After our hike we found a place where we wanted to start fishing. Immediately we saw two large rainbows sitting in the same small pocket picking off eggs from the spawning sockeye. My rod was already rigged so I made a cast to the fish that was closer in. I knew the fish on the outside was larger, but ultimately I wanted our guest to get this fish. Also, if I had cast across the first fish, I would’ve inevitably spooked it, so it was a win-win scenario. I made my cast and immediately hooked up! After a great fight and a few photos, the fish was back on its way. Our guest’s rod was still not rigged up, so I handed him my rod so he could get the other. One cast later, BANG! A two foot, male rainbow trout went three feet out of his way to eat his egg pattern. 

These two fish were just the beginning of an amazing day fishing for large rainbow trout in water barely bigger than Bear Creek. It was absolutely worth the hike, even though we fell in the water, dodged branches, and avoided deep holes all throughout. Certainly not the hike for everyone, but for those of you who are willing to do it, I’ll coordinate this outing for you on next year’s trip!

The following day was the day of all days. One guest and I set out on a fly-out to a tiny creek loaded with giant dolly varden. For many people who have fished Alaska, a large dolly varden is considered 20”. Not here. We caught over a dozen fish between 24-26” and even landed a 29” male dolly! Below you can see an incredible double we had; I had just landed a 26” female when our guest hooked the 29” monster. Our guide was jumping out of his boots! It was truly an incredible day that I won’t drag on about. I would like to say, this is a fly-out that isn’t the easiest to get to, we hiked some serious miles to get to these fish. But we were willing to trudge it out. For those who are willing to hike, I’d be happy to get you to this creek!

About a 1.5 hour plane ride from us, our four other group members were able to get out on their fly-out. Their goal was large leopard rainbow trout, big sockeye, and great bear viewing. The guys had a phenomenal day and achieved all three of their goals! The day started out with inflating the rafts that allowed them to move down and across the stream to reach the better stretches that can’t be hit by foot. The rafts were dropped down a giant hill, and one group unfortunately had a momma bear and two cubs come between them and their raft. Nothing bad happened, but they did have to wait a few extra minutes to get fishing.

Many people question “why would I fly to Alaska just to catch rainbows?” Those who know, know. These fish fight so much harder than our fish here at home; we all saw more backing on this trip than we have on any of our saltwater trips. This fish rip line and don’t give up! One of our guests had so much fun on this day that when I had got back from my fly-out, I received one of the most genuine hugs I ever received. He was giddier than a child during Christmas! Moments like these are why I do what I do.

Two of our guests were not interested in doing any fly-outs. So during our fly-out day, they opted to take boat trips that were included in the cost. One guest went back to Brooks because he loved the river and the big rainbows that reside there. Plus, he was looking for redemption after losing a monster two days prior. Not only did he get redemption, but he landed more fish than anyone else who went to Brooks that day. He wasn’t fishing the best run, or the best bead color. In fact, he and his guide were just fishing the “B” water that most people walk by. 

On the other hand, our other guest was looking for arctic char and northern pike. He started the morning chasing the arctic char so he could sightfish before the clouds and wind rolled in. After some trial and error, he was fortunate enough to land a 28” arctic char! Followed up by another 8 pike that were eating streamers like it was going out of fashion. He even harvested one and we had it for dinner, it was delicious!

I hope you enjoyed reading along in our first part of our hosted trip recap to Naknek River Camp in Bristol Bay, Alaska. Stay tuned next week for part two where I talk about the second half of our week. If you’re interested in joining our 2026 hosted trip, reach out to me via email ( xavier@goldenflyshop.com ) or follow this link here: https://www.goldenflyshop.com/pages/naknek-river-lodge-hosted-travel . Take care!