July 23 more pix from the Royal Coachman AK

July 22 Royal Coachman Lodge AK

We are rolling into the sixth week of guests here at the Royal Coachman and the fisheries are, as always, ever changing here from week to week. We are now focusing more attention to the Dolly Varden of the Bristol Bay area which, as you can see, are an amazingly beautiful fish and great fighters as well! Also we have still been tareting big Northern Pike which have still been good but slowing down a little. The King Salmon fishing has also started picking up recently after a slow start to the runs. We are catching some really nice Rainbows on Caddis and droppers such as pheasant tails and copper johns. And the Sea Lice Chum salmon fishing has been great at the Kulukuk River, but have already started spawning and dying on other rivers such as the Upper Nushagak and the Holitna Rivers. The weather has been a little bit tough on us the past few weeks, especially in the mornings when we are trying to fly out to our destinations. Early morning fog and some rain have caused delays in our flying but luckily we have great local fishing right in front of the lodge for those situations! Here are some pics from the past few weeks of guests.....

Royal Coachman Lodge Week 2-3

The fishing remains great at the Coachman. We have been targeting rainbows on dry flies and droppers lately and doing well. The other day a guest I was fishing with on a remote river landed a 32 inch Sheefish, which is only the second on record that that has been landed at the lodge! They are a whitefish and known as the freshwater tarpon of the north. To me they look like a mix between a snook and a tarpon. The Char fishing is still amazing as they continue to gourge on salmon smolt and fry. We have been targeting Northern Pike on Dahlberg Divers and 6 inch leaches and producing some absolute monster fish! The Lake trout have started moving down into the river in front of the lodge and our new guests on Sunday got to experience some good laker fishing within hours of arriving. Unfortunately the King Salmon runs on the Nushagak River have been dangerously low the entire King Salmon Season has been shut down early, (just for the Nushagak). Here are some pix from the last couple weeks.