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King Salmon: The best specific rod for king salmon is a 10 wt. fast tip.
An 8 wt. is the minimum, and an 11 wt. is maximum. The reason that
a fast-tip rod works better for king salmon is twofold. First, you need
backbone in the butt section of the rod to fight the fish, and you also
need backbone to cast large flys.
Sockeye Salmon: The ideal size rod for sockeye salmon is about an 8
wt. with a minimum of a 6 wt. and a maximum of 10 wt.
Probably a good all-around rod for king salmon, coho and sockeye
salmon is a 9 wt.
Steelhead: Steelhead in this river run from 28 to 38 inches, and a 6
wt. to 9 wt. rod is ideal, but again if you are bringing one rod, a 9 wt.
would cover everything.
Pink Salmon: I prefer to fish a pink salmon on a 4-wt. rod, and we
have several 4-wt. camp rods available for loan so a person does not
need to bring an extra rod if you want to fish pink salmon and Arctic
char/Dolly Varden at the same time. The ideal weight rod would be
about a 4-6 wt. rod for pink salmon and Arctic char/Dolly Varden.
Fly Fishing Reels: Reels should match the rod size and it is very
important for king, sockeye, and coho salmon to have 100 yards of
backing. With the new Kevlar line it is possible to use a smaller reel
and still have plenty of backing with the fine diameter Kevlar
backing line. Because of the tremendously powerful and long runs of
king and coho salmon, I personally very much like anti-reverse reels
to prevent your knuckles from getting banged up. I suggest either
the Orvis or Billy Pate anti-reverse reels.
Fly-fishing line: The best lines for fishing the Ayakulik are floating lines
with a short, sinking tip. They have just become available from Orvis.
For several years we have been making these lines by taking a
floating line and adding a section of sinking tip onto it that is
substantially shorter than the standard 15’ sink-tip line.
King Salmon: Several of the fly patterns that are used for king salmon
we developed on our own or were developed independently by
different guides around Alaska. Particularly, the “king killer” or “fat
freddie” were adapted from a small egg fly tied on #6 hooks. We
kept making them bigger and bigger until we found that a laser-
sharp 4/0 hook and a quarter-sized egg pattern was the most
attractive to king salmon. We also use various “bunny leach”
patterns for kings.
Coho Salmon: We have found the best flys for coho salmon include
the “popsicle” and various colored “bunny leach” patterns.
Steelhead, Char, and Pink Salmon: We have found that a “bead
fly” is most effective, although, shunned by some purists.
King Salmon: We have found that a rod and reel combination to go
with 17 lb. test line is about ideal for king salmon. If you go much
lighter you spend a lot of time connected to a fish in a tug-of-war.
Coho Salmon: A person can drop down to 12-15 lb rod and reel.
test for coho salmon. If you go much lighter, again, you will
experience a lot of break-offs.
Steelhead: About a 12 lb. line rod and reel works well for steelhead.
For Pink salmon and Arctic char/Dolly Varden you can get by with 8
lb. test line, although, neither species seem to be very line shy, and it
is probably easier to stick with 12 lb. test.
| More Fishing Tips: |
| Depth of Drift |
One of the big secrets to fly-
fishing for king, sockeye, and
coho salmon is adjusting the
depth of the drift. You must
adjust the depth for the
speed of the current and the
level of the fish.
King salmon will slide
horizontally for several feet to
grab a fly drifting toward
them, but will must less
frequently rise to a fly or go
down to a fly. Thus, the
depth of the drift is very
important.
Coho salmon are a great
deal more aggressive, and
will chase a fly more
aggressively than other
species of Pacific salmon. A
few from each pod will rise to
dry flys, which makes
incredibly good sport. One of
our favorite dry flys is called a
“pink pollywog”, although,
we have found everything
from brightly-colored poppers
to a variety of floating flys
attract the coho salmon. It
seems like only a few out of
each pod are that
aggressive, and after you’ve
caught one or two, you will
need to switch to a wet
streamer. Coho salmon are
not as sensitive to the depth
as king salmon, but you will
tie into more of them at the
depth they are stratified at.
With sockeye salmon it is
imperatively important to
have the drift exactly right.
Chrome-bright sockeye
salmon will grab a fly and spit
it out much like when you
were a kid, running down a
trail, inhaling a mosquito, and
spitting it back out. They
basically do not aggressively
chase flys with one
exception. When sockeye
salmon on spawning beds,
the male salmon will very
aggressively strike flys, and
nine out of ten that are
caught out of a pod will be
very red, kype-nosed males.
Pink salmon fall in between
king and coho salmon as to
their aggressiveness toward
flys. They strike a variety of
flys, I had the best luck with
about a #4 chartreuse fly
until the “bead flys” came
along. Without a doubt a
single bead salmon egg
imitation is the deadliest fly
for chrome-bright pink
salmon. One can have a
tremendous day with a 4 wt.
fly-rod, catching and
releasing chrome-bright
pinks. It seems that a drift in
the bottom one-quarter of
the water column works the
best on pinks.
Arctic char/Dolly Varden will
very aggressively attack wet
flys and bead flies, and
occasionally feed on the
surface. Natural drag feed
drift with a strike indicator
with a salmon egg imitation
fly or a bead fly is very
effective for these beautiful
and exotic fish.
Steelhead: There are dozens
of books written about
steelhead fishing and most of
the better ones apply to
fishing steelhead on the
Ayakulik. The newer
techniques are just as deadly
on the Ayakulik as in other
places, and I will briefly
discuss some of the newer
techniques.
Rig with a weighted fly and a
strike indicator lance enough
to keep this fly in the strike
zone.
Cast up stream with a
floating line and send line up
current to maintain a drag
free drift - hang on!
fishing for king, sockeye, and
coho salmon is adjusting the
depth of the drift. You must
adjust the depth for the
speed of the current and the
level of the fish.
King salmon will slide
horizontally for several feet to
grab a fly drifting toward
them, but will must less
frequently rise to a fly or go
down to a fly. Thus, the
depth of the drift is very
important.
Coho salmon are a great
deal more aggressive, and
will chase a fly more
aggressively than other
species of Pacific salmon. A
few from each pod will rise to
dry flys, which makes
incredibly good sport. One of
our favorite dry flys is called a
“pink pollywog”, although,
we have found everything
from brightly-colored poppers
to a variety of floating flys
attract the coho salmon. It
seems like only a few out of
each pod are that
aggressive, and after you’ve
caught one or two, you will
need to switch to a wet
streamer. Coho salmon are
not as sensitive to the depth
as king salmon, but you will
tie into more of them at the
depth they are stratified at.
With sockeye salmon it is
imperatively important to
have the drift exactly right.
Chrome-bright sockeye
salmon will grab a fly and spit
it out much like when you
were a kid, running down a
trail, inhaling a mosquito, and
spitting it back out. They
basically do not aggressively
chase flys with one
exception. When sockeye
salmon on spawning beds,
the male salmon will very
aggressively strike flys, and
nine out of ten that are
caught out of a pod will be
very red, kype-nosed males.
Pink salmon fall in between
king and coho salmon as to
their aggressiveness toward
flys. They strike a variety of
flys, I had the best luck with
about a #4 chartreuse fly
until the “bead flys” came
along. Without a doubt a
single bead salmon egg
imitation is the deadliest fly
for chrome-bright pink
salmon. One can have a
tremendous day with a 4 wt.
fly-rod, catching and
releasing chrome-bright
pinks. It seems that a drift in
the bottom one-quarter of
the water column works the
best on pinks.
Arctic char/Dolly Varden will
very aggressively attack wet
flys and bead flies, and
occasionally feed on the
surface. Natural drag feed
drift with a strike indicator
with a salmon egg imitation
fly or a bead fly is very
effective for these beautiful
and exotic fish.
Steelhead: There are dozens
of books written about
steelhead fishing and most of
the better ones apply to
fishing steelhead on the
Ayakulik. The newer
techniques are just as deadly
on the Ayakulik as in other
places, and I will briefly
discuss some of the newer
techniques.
Rig with a weighted fly and a
strike indicator lance enough
to keep this fly in the strike
zone.
Cast up stream with a
floating line and send line up
current to maintain a drag
free drift - hang on!
| Fly rod sizes: |
| Flys: |
| Casting and Spinning Gear: |
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| Ayakulik River Expeditions ~ Post Office Box 8974 Kodiak, AK 99615 ~ (907) 942-7192 ~ ayakulikriver@yahoo.com All images copyrighted 2004, 2005. Webpage design by Boreal Productions, 2004. Contact webmaster. |
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