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) 

What's Poppin?

I'm not sure how many people started out fly fishing for panfish but the percentage has got to be waaaaayyy up there. One of the best parts of fishing for these little fighters? Poppers. Who doesn't love going into wherever you buy flies and picking up brightly colored and patterned poppers? Here is several that I picked up one time. Nothing fancy but they certainly work.

Standard run of the mill $1 a pop poppers.

Crappie, Bluegill, and Bass have all hit these things. Locally, most of my success has been on green but a lot of other guys have been using poppers with red on them for bluegill.

One of my bluegills caught on a popper

Little largemouth caught on a popper (Unfortunately also my largest)

How to Fish Poppers

One of the great things about poppers is how easy they are to fish along with the excitement of seeing the take. Here I will break it down by species that I have personally caught along with advice that has been given to me.

In general strip your line to make the popper pop once or twice then let it sit until all the rings have disappeared. Then repeat. If you aren't getting any strikes, speed it up or be a little more patient. The bass above immediately took the popper after a quick three pops. The one before it was extremely aggressive and would hit it multiple times per pop.

Bass - I am certainly no expert unless the specialty is bass under 6". I tend to fish weed lines with the poppers. Shoot a cast over into the edge of the weeds and slowly pop, wait, repeat. This has worked for largemouth. Smallmouth have liked rocky points where it gradually slopes into the water. Some good friends of mine frequently fish big poppers on lakes at night around structure and cover and have excellent results.

Crappie - This is one of my favorite fish to catch. Generally these guys tend to hang on the shade side of structure such as lily pads or the ends of docks. They will sit and watch your fly for minutes at a time. Be very patient. There will be a lot of rejections but short twitches seems to get them too strike.

Bluegill - These tend to be found in the shallowest water out of all these listed. Frequently they will be in a foot or less around woody structure. Keep the popper sized pretty small and you will find yourself hooking up with fish after fish after fish. These can be a total blast and my rod of choice is a 2wt although some areas grow frisbees with fins and a 2wt would probably not cut it. They will pretty much take any retrieve. Most of the time you can see the schools and observe how they react to your fly.

Quick Tips
Sometimes it is difficult to keep the popper floating. Especially in the small sizes. There are two solutions.

1) Smaller tippet.

2) Gink. Seriously the best floatant out there hands on. Put some on your fingers and coat the fly and the 6-8" of tippet connecting to the fly. You can find it almost anywhere that has fly fishing gear but here is the link for the product on amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Anglers-Accessories-Gehrkes-Gink/dp/B00T6SMDDY


We all got into fly fishing somehow and for many, this is still one of the best parts of summer that holds many memories. So go out there and find a lake or pond, tie on a popper and go have a blast!!

Thanks for reading and tight lines!

Alaska 2015!

It is now official! In 130 days I fly off to the land of the midnight sun. Here is a very brief itinerary of what I have so far. The problem I have found with Alaska is that there is so much water to cover and so little time. Here is roughly how the trip will progress.

July 25th - Fly into Anchorage Alaska then head down to the Kenai Peninsula
August 5th - Start the drive on the Al-Can back to Washington
August 12th - Home in time to start packing for college

Obviously this is very empty as far as specifics. As the trip becomes closer I will be posting more details and as the trip progresses and WiFi becomes available, reports and updates.

For those who are curious these two websites have proven to be pretty valuable so far.

Washingtonflyfishing.com/forum
Alaskaflyfishinggoods.com

For general trip reports and broad information I have extensively browsed the forum. For suggestions on flys to tie, the Alaska Fly Fishing Goods website has been fantastic.

One of the most important parts of this trip is that it is done on the cheap. This will be my "senior year trip" per say. This means that we will be camping, staying with friends, I will be tying all the flys, and Ramen noodles will become a best friend.

This blog will be the trip log so that people can see what we did and potentially realize that they themselves can do alaska. Below is a running tally of the costs.

Thank you for those of you who read this blog!
Tight lines,
Connor

Trip Costs
One Way Airfare, Alaska Airlines $199
Total: $199

New Locations, New Species, New Knowledge

     Well, yesterday I hit the sound after several months. A little back round on my lack of sea-run cutthroat experience. This was my 7th time out and I finally got into my first sea-runs and coho. Here is the advice I would give so far.

1) If you have a gut feeling on a place to fish, GO WITH IT! I had a feeling to skip some of the beaches on my list and ended up meeting a gentleman that had a lot to teach which ended up getting my into fish.

2) Try a new beach! The Puget Sound is not a small place at all. I branched out a bit from my normal areas and hit a new location. This is where I caught my first sea-run ever. (not the beach pictured above)

3) Keep it simple on flies, these feisty fish don't seem to be all that picky.

My First Ever Sea-Run

Here is the picture of my first sea-run cutthroat. Notice the Clouser like fly in it's mouth. I will get tying instructions up on this fly because it was extraordinarily productive for the day. All 5 fish were caught on it. They were not digging the Miyawaki poppers at the time. 

Rezzie Coho

The other first that I encountered that day was catching this resident coho. These guys much like the cutts fight very very well. This coho was also caught on the Clouser like fly.

In summary, I guess the best thing to do is to go out and get your line wet. You cannot catch anything if your line is in the water... And who knows, you may meet somebody out on the water that opens up opportunities and is willing to share some of their knowledge. So get out there!!

Tight Lines,

Connor

Victory Shot. Keep them wet as much as possible. Be very quick when taking photos like these.

The Miyawaki Beach Popper

My version of the Miyawaki Popper. A less bulky than the Orvis Variety

After a surprise gift card to Cabelas and a nagging idea to try to make one of the famous Miyawaki Poppers, I have finally thrown a bunch together. Now if you have been to the Orvis store recently you probably will have made two observations.

1) They want $10 EACH for the poppers

2) Said poppers are rarely in stock

A quick online search reveals that at the next place they can be found, they go for $6 a piece. 

After tying several up, here are some observations

1) They are not extraordinarily time consuming

2) They cost nowhere near half of what Orvis charges to make

3) There are endless possibilities for customization of the fly

4) Stinger hooks are not as difficult as they seem

5) YouTube videos on how to tie these are non-existent

Here is the basic materials list that I use for the Miyawaki Beach Popper

Size 4 Streamer Hooks - As cheap as they come, this is the hook you will clip

Size 6 Eagle Claw Hooks - This is for the stinger. I couldn't find the upturned eye hooks but when I do, it will easily be swapped out

Wapsi Perfect Popper #4 Foam Popper Head

Drill Bits - 3/16, 7/64

Power Drill - This will make your life easier
Super Glue/Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails - The help keep the fly together

Craft Fur - I love olive and white for my colors

Flashabou - Pearlescent is the standard

Peacock Hurl - To top it off

GSP Thread - I use white because its what I have. 

Grizzly Hackle - I use both Whiting Grizzly Necks and Red Grizzly Bugger packs 

20lb Backing - I just used some backing I pulled of a reel that came with a starter kit

All of the materials in one place (except the flashabou)

As soon as I have the video made it will be posted to both this page and YouTube seeing as the only one for the Miyawaki Popper makes it difficult to see what is actually going on in the process of making the fly.

Step by Step

1) Using the 3/16th drill bit drill into the foam popper approximately 1/8th of an inch into the center of the popper.

The slit can help align the drill bit so you are centered. Do NOT worry if it is off center, it works out in the end. This fly has a lot of room for ugliness and error that will get covered up in the end.

2) After the larger hole is bored into the foam, take the (smaller bit) and drill through the foam out the nose.

Sometimes you get lucky and no foam comes off around the hole.

3)Take a piece of backing 4-5", fold over an inch of backing and tie a figure 8 knot

Remember it must be big enough to get the hook through

4) Take a piece of stiff mono filament, insert it through the loop created by the figure 8 knot then fold the mono filament and insert it into the eye of the hook, pulling the backing through the eye

5) Push the backing loop over the hook and pull

6) Take your size 4 junk streamer hook and make wraps along the shank of the hook until you reach the point

Note, its not all that much wrapping

6) Tie in your stinger hook setup. Lay the backing flat so that the point of the hook is facing up. Place the knot right behind your wraps. Make several wraps behind the figure 8 knot. Wrap the thread all the way up to the eye of the hook securing the backing. Double over the backing and wrap back towards the figure 8 knot. Once you reach that, snip the excess backing and wrap to 1/4 of an inch behind the eye.

7) Take a piece of grizzly hackle long enough to extend from the eye back about 1/4 to 1/2 of an inch past the stinger hook. Tie it in.

8) Take a piece of white craft fur a bit less than the diameter of a pencil and tie it in. This should be roughly the same length as the hackle but it may be shorter

9) Tie in several strands of flashabou. Color is preference but pearl is commonly used. Do NOT make them all even

10) Take slightly less olive craft fur than used in step 8 and tie that in over the flashabou

11) Tie in a few pieces of peacock herl slightly shorter than the hackle used in step 7

12) Using tight wraps, wrap all the materials from the eye back for about 3/8ths of an inch

13) Carefully jam the popper head onto the tied in materials until the eye of the hook sticks out of the hole you drilled. The longer side of the popper will be on the underside of the hook (Popper groove up)

The thread wraps should be covered by the popper head. If they are not, on your next popper shorten the distance you wrap back from the eye.

14) Run the thread up the groove in the popper, whip finish and use super glue, head cement, or Hard as Nails to secure the wraps. I have not tried head cement but Hard as Nails and Superglue do not cause the foam to dissolve.
      Super glue is the best material for filling the groove in the popper. The original Miyawaki popper recipe uses Rainy's Pee Wee Pop heads which have the hole drilled and centered. This is the more expensive way but there are no holes to drill or hook grooves to fill. 

15) Finally, clip the size 4 hook just behind where you ended the wraps. BE VERY CAREFUL!! Eye protection would not be unwise. I keep mine in the vise when I clip to hook to help prevent flying pieces.

Finished Product

Not too hard after all! In the picture above I did not quite clip the first hook yet.

How do I fish this thing?
Traditionally people fish this like a popper. This leaves a nice V wake when pulling it through the water. This is a very popular sea run cutthroat and coho pattern but I certainly plan on trying it on pinks before I'm off to Bozeman in the fall. I have also learned recently that in lakes, you can fish these on a light sink tip or intermediate line. The result of which is a jigging like action.

I certainly cannot wait to put these to the test this coming summer on the lakes for bass, stocker trout, and potentially if I size everything up, pike or muskie. In the meantime, I am still in the pursuit of my first sea run cutthroat.

I hope this sheds a little light on how to tie this pattern,
Tight lines,
Connor