For many people, Alaska Wilderness Outpost means something special: a place full of possibility and a chance to experience the wild Alaska we come here to find. That’s what Outpost is all about and 2026 delivered! We ran five great weeks of fishing, each bringing the kind of days you remember for a lifetime!
We started the season in mid-June, when many guests come for trout and grayling. This year, the early weeks brought incredible dry-fly fishing, with large hatches of mayflies and caddis. Once the bugs began hatching, we’d switch to dry flies and enjoy nonstop action.
The Chubby Chernobyl was one of our favorite flies. I still have plenty of chewed-up foam to show for all the fish that crushed it! Many first time guests were surprised by how good the dry-fly fishing was. As our longtime guest Brian said more than once, “This hatch is biblical.” when clouds of bugs would surround us as hungry fish rose all around. At OUTPOST Creek dry fly fishing is a big ticket item!
The mouse fishing was another highlight. Many guests spent entire days mousing and found consistent action throughout. There’s nothing like drawing in a bigger, aggressive trout and watching it strike on the surface. When the mouse bite is on, there’s nothing better. Skate it, swing it, strip it, whatever fits your fancy!
By the middle of our second week, good numbers of chum salmon had started to arrive, with Dolly Varden following behind. This year brought one of the bigger chum runs we’ve seen in a long time. We watched groups of fish move upriver all day. These strong fish crush streamers and put one heck of a bend in the rod. I believe they’re some of Alaska’s most underrated fish, and I love days spent targeting them. We found chum throughout the river, including on our farthest hikes into Section 5. These are some incredible fish! With so many chum salmon in the creek this season, our trout had plenty to feed on. They’ll be big, healthy, and ready to go when we return in 2027!
As the salmon arrived, we began seeing more bears, too. Sightings were limited early in the season, but by the final weeks we were seeing many bears a day. We always enjoy watching these beautiful animals in their natural habitat. Brown bears are one of my favorite things about Alaska. You can stand there fishing while the second-largest land predator on Earth goes about its day, catching fish nearby. There’s no place quite like Alaska to see these bears in the wild, living as they’re meant to.
Dolly Varden fishing also picked up near the end of the season. When they arrive in force, you can catch them all day. They’ll take mouse patterns and love crushing streamers, so there’s no need to fish a bead out here! When we do have a good number of these fish we occasionally take some back to camp and grill up a delicious appetizer.
The king salmon run came a little later for us this season, and dry conditions kept many fish holding in deeper water during the final couple of weeks. A welcome rain near the end lifted the creek and brought a few good kings to hand. Catching them just before the season wrapped up made for an exciting finish and a great reminder that things can change quickly on the river.
Between fishing days, camp had some memorable moments of its own. This year, head guide Rick Gildea celebrated a birthday at camp. Paul, aka Frog, happened to be back as the “camp dog”—the guide who cooks and handles camp chores for the day. Before flying out of town, we picked up cake mix and frosting in King Salmon. Paul made a triple-layer chocolate cake using nothing but a frying pan. We were all impressed, and it tasted even better than it looked. Nice work, Paul!
Paul had another memorable moment this summer when a short video reel of him holding an umbrella in the rain went viral on EPIC’s Instagram. It brought in more than four million views! It’s pretty funny that Paul’s umbrella video got more traction than our fish and bear videos. Maybe the internet just loves Paul. Want to check out our Instagram? Search epic.remote.alaska
Paul with his famous umbrella
We spent so many great days on the river, watching beautiful fish come to the net. The smiles, the fist bumps, high fives, and excitement you could feel across the water is what it’s all about. Outpost is a very special place, and we’re grateful to everyone who made the long journey to join us in 2026. Thank you for being part another great season. We can’t wait to see you all next summer!
Our OUTPOST 2026 photo gallery can be viewed here: https://epicanglingadventure.com/outpost-2026
If you’re still looking for a fishing trip next summer, now is the time to make plans!
