The Crystal Creek Lodge Blog is a place of possibilities, where you can learn deeper insights into how to explore the tens of millions of acres of wild Alaska surrounding us. Whether you’re after fishing, wildlife, the perspective of history or simply feeling the awe of being in wide-open spaces, it’s all here. Enjoy the journey.
Autumn in Alaska is full of Wonders The best time to visit Alaska depends on many things, but September is always considered a wonderful time of the season. The truth is, this time of year has some special things going for it. Whether it’s for solid fishing, uncrowded adventuring, or amazing sightseeing, you’ll leave blown…
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The Naknek River produces some of the largest and hardest fighting rainbow trout on planet Earth. From mid-August until mid-October, we have the opportunity to catch steelhead-like rainbows that move into the river from Naknek Lake. During this time, you start to see the trout transition from eggs to eating salmon flesh. So, you can…
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Naknek River, Alaska If you were wondering what fishing would be like in late September and October at Crystal Creek Lodge, check out this photo gallery of the big Naknek River rainbows that we see each fall (click on the image to enlarge). This late fall time is ideal for landing one of these giant…
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A Crystal Creek Lodge Hat Trick is three fish in the net, and that’s about 20 lbs. of Rainbow Trout in the bag courtesy of (left to right) Dan Michels, Shannon Ward and Cole Marston. What a magnificent September day! Check out our Fishing page and our Adventure page to learn more about opportunities to…
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Two fish, caught from two rivers, two days apart. One, a 20-inch fish that lives it’s life year round in a stream far from a lake connection, turns pigmented, spotted, green and bright red from exposure to sunlight. The other, a 29-inch fish, remains chrome and without pigment from living it’s life year round in…
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Shown are Charles and Mindy of Wasilla, Alaska holding two fat Naknek River Rainbow Trout caught on August 4. We had a slight weather delay, waiting for the morning fog to burn off before we could fly out. Charles and Mindy chose to opt out of their fly-out day to spend the day on the…
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The streams of Bristol Bay are turning red as the bright-red Sockeye Salmon swims into the gin-clear water. It’s an amazing sight to see from the window of an airplane flying 500 ft. overhead. The Rainbow Trout are coming out of the lakes to follow the salmon and gorge on their eggs. The first spawning…
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