South Platte River

Took a trip for this past spring break out to the South Platte about 45 minutes outside of Denver. There were some monsters in the stretch of water we were fishing. However these fish have seen everything under the sun thrown at them and this created some very tricky fishing. The ticket? A leech-hair bugger and a SJW nymphed to feeding fish. I was very surprised that this ended up working but we could not get any other flies to work. All in all it was a good time with great friends on a beautiful stretch of water.

Winter Browns

Now that I am back in Montana the fishing is looking like it will be much slower. There is a lot of slush and ice in the rivers around here and the Gallatin was the closest to campus that was going to be fish-able. The nice thing about fishing during the winter though is the complete lack of people around. In two days I have only seen two others on the river and nobody where I hiked into. After stringing up the usual winter midge rig, I started casting into a slower slot towards an ice shelf. After several casts I finally managed to hook up. Lost the first one but to my surprise I hooked another fish a couple casts later. Even more surprising is that it took a size ten copper john instead of either of the midges. Certainly not complaining about it though.

Until Next Time

It is time to head back to school again so I say goodbye to the Puget Sound saltwater scene until next time. It is still by far my favorite place and style to fish. Before I left again knowing that it could be awhile until I am back, I decided to throw topwater. I used a home tied gurgler fly and found some resident coho that were willing to take the fly. I will certainly miss fishing the saltwater and look forward to being back again.

Winter Sea-Runs

First semester of school is over with and now is the time I get to be home for a little while. Around here in western Washington, there is one fishery that continues to go on strong during the winter months. That is the sea-run cutthroat fishery. After being gone for three and a half months I had no real idea of where the fish might be. There were a couple things to keep in mind.

First, in the Puget Sound, there are early and late entry cutthroat. This is where they go up the rivers to spawn and come back down in the early summer. The early entry fish tend to be further up north in the sound. The late entry fish tend to be the south sound and hood canal fish. This meant that I would be focusing much of my efforts in the deep south sound. 

Second, as these fish are one of the few opportunities that can be pretty hot action, there is also a lot of pressure on them. Particularly on nice days and especially with how many people are constantly at certain locations. Take Purdy for example. The least kept sea-run location in the entire sound. On the days I stopped by there, there was a minimum of four other people on the beach. I wouldn't call these fish spooky but when you have that many people beating the water, its time to move on. 

The current consensus may be that the fishing is slow but I did not find that to be the case. Once I got away from people and into the south sound, there were plenty of fish to be found. Ranging from 8-17". Most of these were still chrome colored however one of the larger fish caught was starting to show its spawning colors. The distinct yellow hue that takes over these cutthroat pre and post spawn is absolutely beautiful.

So in short, this is an excellent time of the year to go chase those sea-run cutthroat trout. 

Alaska Trip Video

Here is a compilation of a lot of the shots that were taken on my Alaska trip. All of this was shot on the GoPro Hero HD.

Alaska Days 4-7

Alaska Days 4-7

Well, the daily grind of getting up at 2:30 AM has mostly continued. These however are the dues to pay when it comes to fishing here. These are the final days that we are staying with some friends so hopefully I should have more actual fly fishing to report on starting on day 6.

Day 4: Homer Halibut

I hope that you have been working out, because lifting weights from 150-300 feet down in strong current quickly becomes hard work. We left the launch at about 4:15 in the morning and started the haul out to the halibut grounds. The weather started off pretty nice but by the time we were out in the fishing area, it was solid 6’ seas. Slightly terrifying when you’re in a 22’ boat and the nearest land is easily 5 miles away. However, with how good the fishing was, we quickly forgot about the seas and were hooking halibut on almost every cast that was sent off into the depths of the Cook Inlet. There aren’t too many pictures as I was terrified of losing my phone overboard.

Day 5: Kenai Reds 2.0

Refer back to day 2 for a recap of how these things are fished. On this day we caught a few more but the fishing was still pretty slow. Also got to experience combat fishing after getting high and low holed by an older couple. Oh well, had to get the Alaska experience at some point. Warning! Sockeye start to get gnarly teeth when they begin to change color. Got back to the house and realized that I got scratched in several places on my hand.

And finally here is a lifesaving product that is well worth the $9.

http://buffusa.com/buff-products/stripping-guards/pro-series-stripping-guards/tarpon

Here is the preliminary review. After slicing my finger with fly line last time fishing reds because I forgot these things, I certainly wasn’t going to forget it again. They made it so there was absolutely no line burn, slicing, or hot spotting. Better yet, there is zero wear to show for it so far. I will review these fully when I have put a bunch more use to them.

Day 6: (SECRET) Creek Dollies

For day 5 we left our friends in Ninilchik and tried to go to the mecca of all tourist dolly varden fishing. Seeing as this is one of the most talked about spots in all of Alaska, it was just as busy. After arriving at the Quartz Creek campground, we quickly realized that there was no way that we were going to get to stay there as the campground was absolutely packed. Slightly disappointed, we hit the road again and came across an out of the way campground that had vacancy. Here was our view upon arrival. 

The disappointment quickly faded as this was taken a mere 50 feet from the camp spot. This meant that it was now time to hit the river.

First lesson. Dolly Varden are not leader shy. I had one snap my 8lb tippet like it was nothing so I switched up to 12lb and did not break another one off. Second lesson. Alaskan fly shops are there to sell you crap. They don't expect return business and therefore attempt to sell you all kinds of stuff that is probably not needed. This was realized when I met some kind Alaskans that traded me some of the beads they painted themselves, shared their methods, and let me fish with them for the rest of the evening. They made it very clear that they were not fans of the fly shop I visited and without them, I would have had a very difficult time catching the dollies. Although you can see them in the slower crystal clear water, it was much more effective to dead drift a bead in quicker slots. Here is a couple shots taken. 

 This was probably some of the most fun I have had fishing. It was great company, great fishing and beautiful scenery. A note on the wildlife though. Upstream of our campsite I ran into some grizzly cub prints that were literally filling with water as I watched. You cannot see but I have a bear spray canister that takes a half second to pull out of my holster. The people that I was fishing with  have had to pull out bear spray at this very location. Fortunately the bear was only bluff charging but I would not want to take that chance empty handed. So simple warning when fishing some of these small streams in Alaska, be loud, be aware, and have a backup plan like bear spray or a firearm. Even in Montana, I carry my bear spray most of the time.

 Day 7: Delta Clearwater River
When in Alaska, one must chase grayling. These fish now rank among my favorite fish of all time. On our way up to the Delta Clearwater, we stopped at a rest stop that had a clear stream running by it. After attempting to catch the whitefish I saw a large fish with a sail. Grayling. Throwing on the first dry fly I could find in my bag, I threw a short cast out and got an instant rise out of one of the grayling. My first grayling. These fish really are always looking up. On top of sight casting to these

fish, which is a total blast, I shot one cast and threw mends at it around the corner until I couldn't see the fly. Instantly as it started to drag, another grayling hit the fly. The downside to catching fish here is all the people that have no idea the difference between a trout, a grayling and a salmon but will not hesitate to tell you that you can't be salmon fishing. However this was an excellent and perfectly legal place to catch grayling. 

 After this stop we arrived at the Delta Clearwater. This is one of the only spring fed rivers in Alaska and the water runs freezing cold and clear all year long. After wading along the bank for awhile unsuccessfully casting to more whitefish while attempting to locate some grayling, a guy in a jet boat asked if I wanted to fish with him. I said sure and we started our way upriver. Once we got to our spot, it was fish after fish and three times as many missed strikes. These fish were taking anything that was dry and drag free. On another interesting note, I observed them attempting to chase down white buggers very aggressively. This was an excellent learning experience and I was once again beyond lucky to get to fish with guys (and gal) that were very experienced and knowledgeable about the species that I was targeting. Here is a release shot on one of these beautiful fish.

 The Delta Clearwater was the last place that I fished in Alaska and unfortunately Canada did not work out for fishing as expected. This was an awesome trip and I am very grateful for all the opportunities that presented themselves along the way. I wish I had gotten the last names of the people that helped, but I would like to thank, Dave, Delta-Clearwater Dave, and Kara for all the help. If anyone has questions about what fishing in alaska is like, feel free to shoot me an email or drop a comment!

Tight lines,
Connor E

Alaska Days 1-3

Fishing Alaska. Seems to be one of the things on everyone’s fishing bucket list. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity this summer to head to the land of the midnight sun and fish. I’ll break the trip down here with a recap and any tips that I have found useful.

Day 1: The flight from Seattle to Anchorage.

Flying with a bunch of fly fishing gear can be a frightening thought. Will the baggage handlers play catch with my gear? Will my luggage be routed to Timbuktu instead of my destination? These thoughts and many more were racing through my head as we left for the airport at 4am. It was however a very smooth flight and thankfully nothing went wrong. Here is roughly what I took and how I packed them.

I flew on Alaska Airlines

Carry on – Standard sized school backpack

GoPro, GoPro mounts, Laptop, Chargers for everything, Extra battery pack, Jacket, 2 Fly boxes, 2 fly reels

Notes – There were zero problems carrying the fly reels or fly boxes. Not a single question raised.

Carry on #2 – The fly rods

Echo Classic 7wt Spey rod 12’ 9” 4 Piece

Blue Halo Gear 5wt 8’ 3 piece

Scientific Anglers 5/6wt 9’ 4 piece

Redington Pursuit 8wt 9’ 4 piece

Notes – The rods were packed into three separate tubes, the spey rod in its original case, the 5/6wt in a borrowed 9’ 4 piece tube and both the 8wt and the 5wt in a homemade PVC case (tutorial to come). Once all the rods were packed in their respective tubes, the base of all the tubes were made even then the bottom was wrapped in a single length of duct tape and also up further. This is how you make 3 separate tubes count as 1 carry on. Generally airlines allow a longer length for carrying on fly rods and this trip on Alaska Airlines was no exception. Several other passengers were carrying two piece 9’ fly rods.

Check in bag – Medium large sized standard suitcase

Waders, wading boots, sling pack (full of various fly gear), extra clothes, fly reels

Notes – Weighed 38lbs. You do not want to go over 50lbs. It is far cheaper to check a second bag than get charged the overweight fee. This was a pretty tightly packed bag but it certainly worked well.

After arriving in Anchorage, the first stop we made was at Cabela’s to pick up a license and other Alaska specific gear (more on that later). They had a bin full of $0.50 flies that were a steal! Nothing that I can see using in Alaska this time of year but they will certainly be put to use in Washington and Montana.

Day 2: Seward Silvers

Day two was not much of a fly fishing day. We left Seward in search of silvers and I totally left the fly rod in the house we were staying at. We fished plenty from a boat and caught several silvers and many pinks. Most of these fish were caught in 30ft or less of water. This means that with a full sinking line or a heavy tip, there would’ve been a good chance at catching these guys. If I were to head out again, I would bring an 8wt, a full sink type 6 or 8 and some 1/0 clousers. This would give me the opportunity to catch pinks, silvers, and rockfish. All of which were pretty abundant.

Day 3: Kenai River Reds

Let me put this right up front and say THIS IS NOT FLY FISHING! This is flossing with a fly rod. To say the least it was pretty disappointing when I learned that most of the salmon are flossed down on the Kenai Peninsula and that catching them clean on a fly is extraordinarily difficult. It is also well known that bead flies are the other major “fly” here and although it is a lot better than flossing, beads are always under scrutiny as to whether it is fly fishing or not.

The Gear - 9’ Redington Pursuit 8wt, 8/9 Okuma SLV reel, 10ft type VI sink tip WF fly line, 20lb backing, large split shot, barrel swivel, 25lb test leaders and tippet, Russian River fly

Basically in this type of fishing, you cast slightly upstream and drift it down. When you feel a bump (generally felt like a snag), you set the hook and hopefully it is “flossed” in the mouth and game on. It was a total blast to hook these sockeye on a fly rod. They really can become knuckle busters particularly when they try to run into the main flow of the Kenai River. That was when it was time to hit the brakes and pull them in. Many people feel that an 8wt is not enough but not once did I feel under gunned. However, I might not feel this way if it were truly shoulder to shoulder combat fishing. Although this is certainly not fly fishing, it was still a blast

One note to those traveling is that Alaska is a no felt state. Felt soles are illegal and you will be ticketed. I was not able to track down a pair of rubber soled boots in time so I used duct tape. The fix for everything. No felt exposed, and the grip was substantially better than I expected. Even in the swift waters of the Kenai.

Future days to come! Tight lines,

Connor (who really does currently have leaky waders)