It’s Saturday the 20th and my friend, father and I have just arrived at a river on the kodiak road system. It is alive with fish eveywhere. To put the sight in persective there are about 15 thousand 3 to 8 pound humpies and 2 thousand 10 to 30 pound chum salmon every mile. Truly a site to behold. However those fish are not our target, we are after dolly varden which come up this river to feed on eggs and flesh and then spawn before heading back to another river to winter.We walk up the river to a good riffle while always talking and looking out for bears which frequent the area. My friend puts on an alevin and cast under some overhangin alders in the riffle and strips it in fast while seeing a wake tear after is fly until is line goes tight. Fish On He says while i am still tying on a fly. The fish is a nice one and fights well on his 5 weight. After about 4 minutes he lands the 22 inch male thats a fat 4 pounds and is in spawning colors that makes it look like a brook trout. Me and my father head to a deep pool. At the tail out i spot lots of humpies and a few big dollies. I have on a painted pegged bead and cast 15 feet above the fish and watch with anticipation as it tumbles toward the dolly. The fish turns his head and i see the bead dissapear. I set the hook and the fish immediately jumps showing its chrome sides indicating it hasn’t been in the river too long. Another nice fish, probably around 5 pounds. My dad soon lands a couple of 16 inchers on a sculpin pattern of mine. I soon realize it will be a fish filled day and a the end it was. We caught over 100 fish in 4 hours between the 3 of us with around 10 of the fish being over 4 pounds and every one 16 inches and over. Add to the fact we never saw another person just ducks, fish and deer it was a day that makes you feel lucky to live here.
Those are nice numbers – 22 inches, 4 – 5 pounds and 100 fish in 4 hours…..I guess that’s why its Alaska. I would love to come up there and join you for an outing like that – especially in the fall when the dolly’s are in their spawning colors. beautiful fish and your right the do look like and seem to be much like the Maine Brook Trout or the Arctic Char. Do they fight well? I know you said they do…but how do they measure up to some of the native rainbows you get up there? Great read. thanx
Your story makes those of us in the lower 48 jealous. The best part for me was “we never saw antoher person” I have always been concerned that a fishing trip to Alaska would mean fishing with lots of other people.
If you were salmon fishing on the road system you would see other people, not nearly as much as the mainland but you would still expect company. Dollies just are not as glamorous as salmon so most of the tourists and locals target them not dollies.
They fight really well especially this time of year, probably because they have full bellies of eggs and their metabolisms are through the roof. However they probably don’t fight as well as our wild rainbows, those bows jump and run a lot more than dollies and pound for pound fight as hard as any salmon.
i did fly in fishing trip in june-not considered great time but caught m,any dollies on fly-rod-when we landed in our beaver we had company-a mom br.bear and2 cubs we watched them until she decided we were not leaving and rounded up cubs and wandered off??loved it except for mosquitos??
i did fly in fishing trip in june-not considered great time but caught m,any dollies on fly-rod-when we landed in our beaver we had company-a mom br.bear and2 cubs we watched them until she decided we were not leaving and rounded up cubs and wandered off??loved it except for mosquitos??
i did fly in fishing trip in june-not considered great time but caught m,any dollies on fly-rod-when we landed in our beaver we had company-a mom br.bear and2 cubs we watched them until she decided we were not leaving and rounded up cubs and wandered off??loved it except for mosquitos??
sorry did not realize it would reprint like that–not very good with this thing??