King Season (Early June-Late July):
King season at Lava Creek Lodge is a phenomenon that any serious swing angler must experience. Big kings–averaging 15 to 25 pounds–begin to filter into the lower river in early June, and soon the runs closest to the lodge are stacked with aggressive, chrome fish. As long as you’re at Lava Creek Lodge, you won’t be competing for water with other outfitters, so you’ll have the best runs to yourself every day of the week.
The Alaska Peninsula’s rivers are wide, shallow, and low gradient; the perfect recipe for a swing angler’s paradise. Our home river has a firm, sandy bottom created by ancient volcanic eruptions that scattered cinder across the landscape, so rather than slipping on mossy boulders and fighting their way through churning whitewater, anglers at Lava Creek Lodge enjoy comfortable wading in the river’s gentle current. Lava Creek Lodge guides know the ever-changing river intimately and use a specialized fleet of boats to access every piece of holding water on the river, leaving no stone unturned to locate fresh pods of kings.
The runs on the home river often set up for anglers to stand on shallow sand bars and cast towards cut banks where the kings hold and rest. Unlike many king salmon fisheries, the best holding water at Lava Creek Lodge is rarely more than six feet deep, and most runs can be covered with casts of 50 feet or less. This makes for very civilized fishing conditions where anglers won’t find themselves worn out by trying to chuck gargantuan flies and ultra-heavy sink tips all day. Instead, our guests only tire out from pulling on big, bright kings.
Anglers at Lava Creek Lodge will find themselves happiest with 8 and 9-weight spey rods, or 9 and 10-weight single-hand rods, depending on the angler’s preference. While single-hand anglers enjoy successful fishing each season here, we find that two-handed rods are the best tool for the variety of fishing conditions present during king season. Our guide staff is composed of experienced spey anglers who relish the opportunity to help their clients improve their two-handed game, whether they are complete beginners or seasoned veterans. We typically use T-14 MOW tips and unweighted or lightly weighted flies to get in the zone, making Lava Creek Lodge’s kings accessible to anglers at all levels of casting ability.
Any angler who has spent considerable time chasing anadromous species like kings, steelhead, sea trout, and Atlantic salmon understands that these fish are enigmatic and unpredictable. Every day on the water during king season is different, and hunting down the biggest pods of fish takes both wit and persistence. There will be times during the season that–for whatever reason–one or two runs fish better than any others, and when this happens, our guides commit to a cooperative effort that allows all anglers the chance to fish the most productive runs. You can rest assured that you will have the chance to experience one of the best remaining king salmon fisheries on Earth during your week at Lava Creek Lodge, and you’ll have it all to yourself.