Fishing Report for July 5-12 and July 12-19

Date: July 26, 2023

It’s been another fantastic two weeks on the Goodnews River!  The water temperatures, as well as ambient temperatures, remained cool and consistent, mostly overcast with scattered rain. The week of July 5-12 continued to provide plentiful numbers of sizable King salmon. As most of our Guests this week were from Great Britain, they enjoyed fly fishing with the 2 hander with great results.  One party reported catching 20 kings , including jacks , to the net in a single day. And despite the closure of all the Rivers on the west coast of Alaska by ADF&G to sport fishing for Chum salmon (including the Goodnews), there were plenty of them hooked and released while fishing for Kings.   

The week of July 12-19  saw a small break in weather , with an afternoon or two with sunny blue skies. With an absence of rain came a decent drop in the water level and an increase in clarity . Lodge owner Mike Gorton and veteran guides describe the past few weeks as “ The best King run they’ve seen in several years” On a sunny afternoon guests had a great chance to head up river to successfully target Grayling and Rainbows , and enjoy a beautiful shore lunch. On overcast days Guests were successful in catching and landing large Kings. One of our junior fishermen managed to land 4 30lb+ Kings in a single day! Chums , Sockeye , as well as Pink Salmon continued to show themself in increasing numbers daily .It was a great week for Guests to harvest Sockeye to take home to their family and friends . 

Next week we are excited for our “Kids Kast and Katch” week hosted at the lodge. We are anticipating a lot of fish and fun for everyone, so be sure to come back here in a few  weeks to read all about it!