6/29/2023 Fishing Report
We hope everyone that wandered up to Windfall this year found some fish. It has been another short sockeye season for us on the road system, but at least this year the water was fishable and there were good numbers of sockeye up there. As of this point Windfall will close to sport fishing until August 1st. This includes salmon, trout and Dollies. If you want your sockeye, there will be personal use/sportfish opportunities down at Sweetheart Creek. Time to make friends with someone who owns a boat!
The king fishing has continued to be great for some and really tough for others (like me!). Every tide is different and the best way to tie into the kings is to fish as much as possible. It seems like color and pattern, while important, have not really been the difference between catching fish and not. If you put a fly in front of kings that are willing to bite, chances are you will hook up. Really pay attention to what tides and locations worked for you this season. We probably have about another week or so of good king fishing, perhaps a little longer. If you haven't gotten your king yet there is still time to get out there.
The Dolly fishing continues to be good in the normal spots and the fish are getting bigger. Not only are the Dollies get fat from eating all the salmon smolt, but the bigger fish are starting to show up near the mouths of creeks in anticipation of the egg drop. There will be good streamer fishing for a couple more weeks in the salt, as well as in some of the rivers as they start to flood in to stage. Even before the chums and pinks start to spawn the Dollies will start keying on eggs. If you are fishing the streams around town and striking out with streamers, it's never a bad idea to throw a bead. Make sure it's a fresh color (bright orange) and getting down to the bottom. We will talk more about bead colors in the next couple weeks as this becomes the best way to catch trout and Dollies.
Now that we are almost in July the pinks will be showing up on our local beaches. Our sources say there are quite a few fish out in the ocean, and it is a humpy year, fingers crossed that they keep swimming this way. Floating lines and lightweight pink flies are the name of the game to catch these fish before they enter the streams. This fishery is a ton of fun and great for anglers new to the sport. Once you find them, they will readily take flies and actually fight pretty good for the size.
As always, we love featuring your photos for our fishing reports. If you have a great fish, scenery, or action photo that has to do with fishing around town send it our way! You can email photos or videos to cory@alaskaflyfishinggoods.com. Please remember to handle fish with care, especially if you are practicing catch and release. Consider getting a net with a rubber basket to help land fish quickly and keep them in the water until you are ready to snap a quick photo.
See you on the water!
The Crew at AFFG
Listed below are the hot patterns of the week. Fisheries change here through-out the season and we do our best to get you the hot flies. Listed below are our recommended patterns for the particular species available. Happy fishing
Hot Flies - King Salmon
Hot Flies - Dolly Varden
Hot Flies - Pink/Chum Salmon
