Back from AK

Share your fishing adventures, especially ones using antique tackle!
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Paul M
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Back from AK

Post by Paul M »

I just returned from my trip to King Salmon, Alaska. The weather was bitterly cold and fishing was generally poor, however, I did catch this big resident rainbow on my 9/10 Loomis Dredger GLX, the Airflow Skagit head and ridge running line. I used a full 12 feet of the sinking tip and the fish never had a chance against my Ross Momentum 7 reel. I was swinging a heavily weighted, articulated flesh fly. I got this great fish as a result of a long double spey cast into unwadable rapids. I also caught quite a few rainbows over 20 inches on my 8/9 Kispiox, using a floating tip and beads.

Image

One surprise was that in the sub-zero weather my #5 Ross Canyon Big Game reel froze up in an unexpected way. One particularly cold afternoon, the drag stopped dragging and it felt like it was in a free-spool state, no matter how much I torqued down the drag button. At least it did not lock up and I could palm the reel for the rest of the day so it was not a total loss. The reel recovered after it was warmed up. I had no troubles with my Big Game #4 or the Momentum. Maybe the #5 slipped into the water at the wrong time.

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Last edited by Paul M on Mon Oct 22, 2007 7:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Jason
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Post by Jason »

Looks like you had a good time. By sub-zero I'm assuming you mean 0 degrees celcius? I'm about 700 miles north of there and the rivers here are getting quite stiff. I got my auger sharpened and I can't wait to hit the ice.
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Post by RAM »

Not bad for a slow day Paul! I would consider that fish alone worth the trip to AK. This said, however, I can't imagine wade fishing in sub-zero temps. When the thermometer gets into the 30s here the creek fishing for smallies is over. They all head somewhere. Never figured just where-deep water under a rock for winter I figure. Great pic and congrats! Bad Bob

P.S. A. Grayling: If I lived in AK I would have to hibernate like the grizzlies. Never was one for winter fishing. You guys are a lot tougher than me. Although, when young (I think I was once) I would canoe rivers in snow and crack ice on still pools. Never more! BB
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Paul M
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Post by Paul M »

Thanks for the comments. It felt much colder than it looks in the first pic. It was below zero celcius until noon, most days of my trip. The following pic is more indicative of the temperature. Note a thinsulate hat, topped with two hoods, unseen toe and hand warmers, fingerless gloves with fold down mits, capilene undergarments, 3 pairs of smart-wool socks and 2 layers of fleece, top and bottom, covered with waders and a waterproof wading jacket.

Image

While it was relatively "slow", I probably caught 50 fish over the course of the week. We didn't get a chance to fly out (due to local blizzards) in which case I might have caught another 50-100 fish, as I have at Kulick and Brooks in prior years. There were mostly char, a lesser number of rainbows and I caught my very first grayling, which looked to be over 20".

The rainbow in the first picture was about 29" long. The one in this picture is a shade under 25". I have caught them up to 30.5" in past years and am always hoping to get a 36 incher, which seems to be the largest they can get there.

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Ron Mc
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Post by Ron Mc »

thanks for the photos, Paul - the later you can catch those bows, the fatter they become.
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Brian F.
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Post by Brian F. »

Nice Fish, Paul! At least with it being that cold, no bears to worry about?
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Paul M
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Post by Paul M »

Hey Ron:

Late as possible was the plan to find the fish bulking up for winter but I think this year we made it a week too late or 3 too early. There were loads of salmon carcasses still in this river so there was so much biomass, we had a tough time competing with the natural food source. Because of that , flesh flies worked less well than beads or black leech flies.

Brian:
We saw several active brown bears on this river and ancient bear trails everywhere. The garbage bins behind the motel were surrounded by an electric fence :shock: for good reason. But, follow the bears and ye shall find the fish!

Even when you don't see them it is always wise to loudly say "Hey, Bear!" before you step into the bushes for a fuid adjustment break. Let them know you are coming so there are no surprises.

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