Kenai Opener

Kenai Opener

I like to swing leeches/sculpin using a sink tip when I can.  One of my go to early season leeches is the Al Green. It will often produce, especially on dark days. I also like to swing Waylon Jennings, Exasperator Sculpins and Mini Dolly Llamas.  Another way I like to fish the Mini Llamas is to high stick nymph/drift them with a long leader and no indicator, keeping the line just tight enough to feel the fly bounce along the bottom. Then at the end of the drift, let the LLama swing out. Don't retrieve the fly immediately, but let it hang in the current for ten to fifteen seconds. Maybe twitch the rod a couple times while the fly hangs. Bows like to follow their prey and often need a few seconds to be enticed. I do this when I am swinging too.

If the bows aren't pouncing on the leeches and sculpin, try fishing fry and smolt. There are several ways to fish fry and smolt. You can utilize the standard streamer technique of casting out and stripping the fly back. Often a floating line and a 9' leader works for this, but sometimes a short sink tip is needed to get them down. Try a variation of retrieve lengths and speeds until you figure how the fish want it. You can dead drift them w/ pr w/o an indicator or you can swing them. The Honey Hole is a great pattern to dead drift. When I swing smolt, I will often twitch the rod tip to giver the fly a little action during the swing. I don't often hang  a fry/smolt pattern at the end of the swing.

If smolt are doing the trick, try dropping a small piece of washed out flesh below a washed out bead. Some trout can never get enough, even if its old and moldy. You can also try dropping a nymph or a smolt under a washed out color bead. Sometimes the two for one is irresistible. Sometimes swing this setup at the end of the drift will work, but I find that's usually not the case.

Be sure to be using the lightest fluorocarbon that you can get away with when nymphing or dead drifting. I don't think it makes too much different when swinging or streamer fishing, but when drifting flies, it sure can.

I hope that you find this helpful. If you have any questions that I can help with, please shoot me an email to mike@alaskaflyfishinggoods.com

Best of luck on the opener,

Mike