The Naknek River is 56km long and flows into Kvichak Bay, an arm of Bristol Bay in south-west Alaska. It’s known for its sockeye and other salmon, as well being a highly regarded rainbow trout fishery.

By this time of year, the fishing for king and silver salmon has come and gone. Sockeye salmon are running up the river systems to spawn in their millions, depositing even more millions of eggs. The large rainbows feast on the eggs and it’s these fish that are the main target species at this time. The rainbow fishing on the Naknek is world class. The fish are always in great condition, grow very large and by all accounts are pretty much the hardest fighting rainbows on the planet.

I recently stayed at the Naknek River Camp for a week, allowing me six full days of fishing. By Alaskan standards, the camp is a relatively affordable option. A no frills yet very comfortable establishment, it’s located on what is the best stretch of rainbow fishing on the river. The camp emphasis is on providing the best bunch of guides they can muster, and getting clients onto the best fishing the area can offer.

Although swinging streamers can be quite effective, beads in various sizes painted to represent sockeye salmon eggs and fished across & down will take a lot more fish. I was introduced to flyfishing in a fashion I wasn’t accustomed to: using a shooting line (in my case a Rio Slick Shooter running line) straight to a short level leader, under which the rig of lead weight, egg bead and trailing hook is tied. So there was no use of an actual fly line in the traditional sense.

It’s essentially a ‘Czech Nymphing’ type of fishing. Casts are made slightly upstream; from a couple of rod lengths out to about forty feet. The thin shooting line cuts through the fast water and provides a much better drift than a normal fly line can. You need to feel the lead weight bouncing along the bottom for as much of the drift as possible. This is extremely important, and I found that a drift that was off the bottom never attracted a take from a fish.

I soon discovered just how hard these Naknek River rainbows fight when on the first morning I hooked into a 28 inch fish of approximately 8 pounds. It took me way downstream and was landed almost ten minutes later. A 30 inch rainbow is considered a trophy fish on this river, so I was stoked that my first one was just shy of that mark. Throughout the week I landed many fish in the 20 to 25 inch range, beautiful silvery specimens in brilliant fighting condition, stomachs almost bursting from over-indulging on the sockeye eggs.

I also caught quite a few of the superb-looking Arctic char on both the Naknek and on a float plane trip out to a remote location where the char grow to trophy size. Grayling also made it onto my catch list, providing even more variety than I’d anticipated.

With respect to the rainbow trout fishing, the Naknek delivered in spades, living up to its reputation. The guides suggested I should come back mid-August to experience the amazing fishing for the even more powerful silver salmon that are caught in large numbers up to 15 pounds. I have a feeling I may just do that!