SILVERS ARE IN!!

We have been seeing HUGE numbers of Silver Salmon the last two weeks. Clients have been landing dozens of fish every day. The run is continuing to develop, and we expect to hit the peak in the next 7-10 days. The Silvers will continue to run well into September, providing ample opportunity for guests to be up to their armpits in fish for the rest of the season!

The Dolly fishing has continued to be nothing short of incredible. Folks have been heading upriver during their stay for non stop light line action.

The Sockeyes, Chums and Pinks have all made their way in and are parked up river in their spawning grounds.

We received several consecutive days of precipitation over the last two weeks, providing a bump in water levels and drop in water temps. This has provided great conditions for the Silvers to thrive in. We typically see heavy rains in mid to late August, so we are anticipating more water over the coming weeks. this will provide the great slough and soft water Silver fishing we all know and love!

Tune in two weeks from now for more updates on the Silver Madness happening here at The Goodnews River Lodge!

The Last two weeks of King season were an absolute blast! We saw huge chrome fish all the way to the finish line. Our biggest King of the season goes to Cait last week, weighing just under 40 lbs!
At the peak of the Sockeye run, guests have filled their boxes to take home and enjoy. Chums have continued to run dime bright and aggressive as ever, a great fight on a fly rod. We have not seen a great number of Pinks in 2025, typical for an odd numbered year.

Our first Silvers were caught around July 20-21, we are seeing more and more of them every day.

The Dolly Varden have begun to follow the Sockeye up the river, and the light line fishing has been a hit. Many great Rainbow and Grayling have been caught as well.

Air and Water Temperatures have remained cool with frequent showers. We are expecting the water levels to rise with rain as they typically do in August. We have just kicked off our annual Kids Week, getting ready for some great fun. Check back in two weeks for pictures from the Dredge hike and MORE FISH!

We have just finished up with our first week of the season, many fish were caught and great times were had by all! We are pleased to see this many Kings in our first week, that’s Goodnews! As the days go on, more and more King Salmon will enter the Goodnews River in full force. We are anticipating an epic King Season.

The weather in Goodnews Bay has been mild the last few weeks, but storms have arrived in the past 36 hours. This will provide the oxygen rich environment Salmon thrive in. The current water levels are below average. If we know one thing, it is that it likes to rain in Alaska! We are hoping for the coming storms to bring us up to a more typical water level. The water temps have cooled recently due to the rain showers. This is great for the fish, as they can make a quicker recovery, and make them more active! The water clarity is excellent. Our guides have been tying on smaller sparse flies in these conditions with good results, think Squidro and other sparse intruder flies with dubbing, rubber legs and dumbbell eyes. Tune into our website every two weeks for an updated fishing report, you can find it with the link below. Please enjoy all the wonderful pictures taken this week!”

The fishing on the Goodnews has been nothing short of incredible lately. With Silvers coming in hoards, our guests are busy hooking up on dozens of them every day. 

Water temperatures have remained optimal for Salmon fishing, in the mid to low 40’s. We experienced a large rainfall of about 1.5”, bringing the water levels up. This made for a great push of Silvers into the sloughs with great popper fishing. Many of our clients are now landing upwards of 20-30 silvers per day, with some landing 40-50. We are seeing more and more Silvers enter the river, and the fishing keeps getting better and better.  We would like to congratulate the three clients that complete the Grand Slam these weeks! 

With more rain in the forecast, the water levels are expected to rise even higher. This should bring even more Silvers in, and the slough fishing will be world class. We are very excited to enter the peak of the Coho run in the next week or so. Being fully booked for the rest of the season, we are anticipated a lot of fish and a lot of fun!

Tune in bi weekly for fishing reports on the Goodnews River

We have reached the peak of our King Season. Consistent rain has caused the water levels to rise, and an abundance of King Salmon to come in. All of our clients were happy hooking up on large fish, as well as many adolescent Chinook. We are continuing to see huge numbers of Chum, Sockeye and Pinks. There were several reports of Dolly Varden caught these weeks as well.  Water temperatures remain in the low to mid 40’s, creating a thriving environment for the fish. We are heading into our last week of King season, followed by our annual “Kids Week”. Many are patiently awaiting the first Silver so Grand Slam season can officially begin! A big thanks to all of you that joined us for 2024 Kings, we are excited to see you again next year.

We have just completed our first two weeks of the 2024 season! Things have been business as usual on the Goodnews River. Clients report catching several Kings over 30 lbs, with plenty of adolescent Kings around to keep things fun. We experienced a few sunny days the week of June 19-26, followed by much needed rain showers and overcast weather. Water temperatures have been holding steady between 44-48 degrees. We are seeing more and more Kings come into the river every day, including abundant numbers of Sockeye and Chum. Rainbow and Grayling fishing has been exceptional, we have enjoyed fishing for them before our season gets into full swing. 

Tune in throughout the season to catch up on the current fishing report on the Goodnews River. Reports will be posted biweekly.

Silver season is finally here! The week of August 2-9 saw good numbers of Coho start to enter the river system. Fun was had by all, catching and fighting aggressive Silvers on both fly and spin gear. Two more grand slams came to the net this week, making 8 so far in 2023.  We had some very beautiful sunny days at the beginning of the week, but around mid week we experienced a typical August storm, and some clients chose to happily tie flies in the lodge, while others wade-fished close to the lodge with great success. The rest of the week was mostly overcast with light winds, and lots of fish. Water levels have dropped slightly , and water temps remain in the 50-55 degree range.

The week of Aug 9-16 proved to be an outstanding week for Silvers. Most groups were harvesting their daily limit before lunch, and continued to catch and release dozens more. Large pushes of Silvers on incoming tides made for world class fishing. We are seeing substantial amounts of Silvers staging up river as well. The weather was mostly overcast, with some pleasant sunny afternoons. Water levels and temps remain similar to last week, with the water not quite high enough to push the Silvers back into the sloughs, but high enough to create lots of soft pockets. 

With this kind of start to our Silver season, what will the remaining weeks of the season produce? 

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!