Alaska: Chelatna Lake Lodge

Alaska:

Chelatna Lake Lodge

It is truly hard to put into words what it’s like to fish the final frontier. Everything from the landscape to the wildlife is truly breathtaking. My first trip to Alaska would be a three month endeavor guiding at Chelatna Lake Lodge. The lodge is situated on Chelatna Lake just outside of Denali National Park and on the headwaters of Lake Creek. The lake itself is eight miles long, over 2700 acres in size and 460 feet deep. With that being said there are also just under three miles of Lake Creek accessible from the lodge by jet boat. Additionally, there are two smaller feeder creeks to Chelatna Lake itself that can offer tremendous fishing. Fishing in other tributaries to Lake Creek is also accessible by hiking or by aircraft. The species available to the lodge are Northern pike, Arctic grayling, rainbow trout, lake trout, and all five species of pacific salmon native to Alaska.

By JOSEPH CLARK

When it comes to species to target around Chelatna Lake, or even in Alaska in general, it’s hard to beat the beauty of Arctic grayling. At the beginning of the season, they are the most consistent fish to target in Lake Creek. During June and early July, rainbows in Lake Creek are usually harder to come by and are found further downriver. However, Arctic grayling are abundant in the upper Lake Creek during this time.

Targeting grayling

Early in the season, it seems for every ten fish you catch, eight are grayling. The diet of a grayling mostly consists of aquatic insects, but they can also be caught on streamers or baitfish patterns.

One of the most enjoyable ways to catch grayling is with dry flies. In this area, we have an abundance of caddisflies, but stoneflies, midges, and mayflies are also present. The biggest hatches occur when the clouds break, and the sun starts to warm the tundra. During these hatches, you can find many grayling feeding on the surface.

My go-to setup for fishing these hatches is a 4 – 6-weight rod with a floating line and a 12-foot leader. For flies, I often use tan caddis dry fly patterns in sizes 14 - 16, but I believe that presentation is more important than the specific fly.

“The biggest hatches occur when the clouds break and the sun starts to warm the tundra”

When approaching a group of rising fish, always make longer casts and let the fly drift into them. Consistently casting ten to twenty feet above a feeding grayling will yield greater success.

During periods of cloud cover or rain, which seem to occur most of the summer, grayling can be seen eating emergers. The easiest way to tell the difference between a fish eating emergers and feeding on the surface is by watching their heads.

Typically, when a grayling eats just under the surface, only their dorsal fin breaks the surface. When fish exhibit this behavior, swinging nymphs is the most effective technique. For targeting these fish, indicator rigs with two flies are ideal. The point fly should be a larger pattern such as a size 1012 stonefly, followed by a flashback hare’s ear in olive or tan. With Lake Creek being larger in size, we would anchor the boat twenty to thirty feet above the fish and then swing the flies downstream into them.

Salmon start appearing

As we transition into August, the river undergoes a huge transformation. During this time of year, we tend to catch far more rainbow trout. As the sockeye salmon make their annual spawning run from the Pacific, the rainbows follow closely behind. While there is a lull in the fishing when the salmon first arrive (around the last week of July), what follows is truly amazing. As sockeye stage up to spawn on shallow gravel bars in Lake Creek, the trout will sit just downstream, awaiting the salmon to drop their roe. This behavior can also be found in the smaller feeder creeks at the north end of Chelatna Lake. This is typically referred to as “The bead bite.” When this type of fishing is in full swing, it can be some of the most hectic and exhilarating trout fishing imaginable.

The “Bead Bite”

When targeting trout and the occasional grayling feeding on salmon roe, indicator rigs are a must. This is where the somewhat controversial bead rig comes into play. Essentially, a bead rig is no more than a plastic bead resembling the size and color of salmon eggs pegged on the leader above a hook. While some might not consider this fly fishing, it is the most effective way to catch fish during this time of year.

In my opinion, this is no different from any other “hatch” you might encounter. Due to the abundance of salmon eggs, fish are mostly keying in on them. Rigging is similar to any other indicator rig, with the bead pegged on the tippet three to six inches above the hook.

This gap greatly reduces the chance of gut hooking fish, as trout are gorging themselves on salmon roe.

Bead size and color can vary, but six-millimeter beads worked best for me. Color varies depending on the freshness of the eggs. For example, when the sockeye first lay their eggs, they are a bright translucent orange. As the roe spends more time in the river, they turn a more opaque pink or cream color.

For hooks, I prefer barbless curved hooks in sizes 10-12. Leaders are the same as you would use for typical indicator fishing, but you can use slightly heavier tippet to help with fraying, as the bead will slide up and down the tippet while fishing. The bead bite has provided many 30-50 fish days, and on multiple occasions, we have lost trout while fighting them due to other fish eating the bead pegged on the tippet.

Lake trout

While trout and grayling fishing on Lake Creek and its tributaries can offer some amazing days on the water, we also enjoy fishing Chelatna Lake itself. Unfortunately, Chelatna does not have any Arctic char or a fishable population of Dolly Varden; however, the lake is full of lake trout.

Lake trout are one of the various species of char that the last frontier has to offer and one of the funniest species to target in the lake. Though lake trout at the lodge only average from 15-20 inches, the sheer number of them makes up for the lack in size. With the lake being over 460 feet deep and over 2,700 acres in size, finding these fish might seem like a daunting task. However, just like any other char, they relate to places with current and highly oxygenated water. Any trickle coming off the hillsides into the lake creates great holding water for juvenile salmon and, in turn, lake trout. These “creeks” can often fluctuate greatly with the amount of rain or snowmelt earlier in the season, but we always find fish around them. Generally, when fishing in these situations, using sinking lines is the best approach. Lake trout also congregate around the two deltas at the far north end of the lake, where the two main feeder creeks flow into Chelatna.

The delta itself is made up of sediment that the creek has deposited into the lake over time. This causes steep drop-offs, and paired with the current flow from the creek, creates tremendous habitat for lake trout.

“The delta itself is made up of sediment that the creek has deposited into the lake over time”

There are times when the fish will push salmon smolt to the surface, and using a slow-sinking intermediate line can be beneficial. However, generally, a 6-weight rod with a full sinking line and a 12lb leader is the ideal setup. For flies, any baitfish flies in sizes 2-6 would work. My favorites are MFC’s sparkle minnow, clousers, Cowen’s Somethin’ Else, and polar fiber minnows. For fly color, olive and gray hues seemed most productive.

Northern pike

The other species we target in the lake, and by far the most aggressive, is Northern pike. While invasive, they are one of the most exhilarating fish to catch at the lodge. Nothing beats watching a pike t-bone a big streamer in shallow water.

Although Chelatna Lake is an incredibly deep reservoir, it still has shallow grassy areas that make ideal pike habitat. The appropriately named “Pike Pond” has by far the highest density of fish, but we also find pike near the outflow of Lake Creek.

Northern pike at the lodge average around 20-25 inches, with some even exceeding 30 inches. We target these fish by casting along the shallow grass lines and in deeper weed beds.

As far as tackle goes, an 8-weight rod with a floating or slow-sinking intermediate line is ideal. Leader setup varies, but typically a 6 - 8 foot tapered leader with wire tippet is the safest bet.

If wire is not available, I’ve found that a straight piece of 40 - 50 lb fluorocarbon works, but constantly checking your leader for frays and burrs is a must. Flies can vary, but with how aggressive pike can be, even tin foil could get the job done. I also would not recommend tying on any fly you care about due to the pike’s toothy nature. Lighter streamer patterns such as Lefty’s Deceiver, bucktail Deceivers, or Game Changers in bright flashy colors work great.

You can also catch these fish on various popper and topwater fly patterns such as baitfish poppers, Pole Dancers, Dahlberg Divers, and even mouse patterns. Topwater fishing for pike can elicit some extremely explosive strikes, but they often miss the fly on the first swipe, so keeping a cool head is often rewarding.