Many guests come to Alaska West in mid to late July looking for the Salmon Grand Slam – all five species of Pacific salmon, all caught on flies, all on the same day. The Kanektok River is one of very few places on earth where guests ‘slam’ every year.
The variety and productivity of the Kanektok never cease to amaze us, and the wide range of fishing techniques and available species in mid to late July make for some fun times on the river.
Who will be the next to Slam?
Kings crush krinkly critters.
Chums chase chartreuse (and purple).
Sockeye swim swiftly.
Pinks promptly pound poppers.
Silvers soar skyward.
All photos by Cameron Miller.
I have only encountered the grandslam of salmon one other time with a plus plus. Fishing the Skeena River one day in 2006, I caught on fly, 7 pinks, 9 crazy silvers, 32 sockeye, a 24 pound female chum, a 50 pound king that flipped off on the shore and back to swim another day and the most amazing, was 25 caught (out of 32 hooked) turbo charged steelhead. I broke two rods and burned out a drag on one reel….lost one whole flyline. The rest of the week was good but nothing like that….and I took pictures of each salmon species for the record and maybe a dozen of the steelies. Amazing!