9/21/2023 Fishing Report

Not much has changed since last week.  If you were able to get out on the day or two that were decent there are some gorgeous Dollies around as well as cohos in the creeks.  Out in the channel the story has been different.  The occasional fish has been seen here and there, but with the high and muddy water spotting fish is difficult.  Lucky for us we are in the middle of yet another atmospheric river...

We encourage everyone to seize the opportunity to get out whenever it presents itself.  It is starting to feel like each nice day may be the last for an extended period of time.  If you do venture out onto the creeks, we recommend you throw a headlamp into your bag.  It's getting dark a lot earlier now and it is very easy to fish just a little bit too long.  As we moved into the September now is the time to start thinking about some lake fishing for nice trout before the water freezes.  Windfall has a great cutthroat population, and they will be actively feeding until it gets cold.  Dredge lakes are another good location to try.  A size 8 Sculpzilla crawled along the bottom will often produce hard takes.

I took the three pictures below the other day at Fish Creek to illustrate how different the eggs can look this time of year.  The three eggs were all located about a foot from each other.  That day only a couple beads worked, and they didn't even work all that well.  Switch your colors often and try smaller beads when the water finally drops.

*We understand that folks want fish, but, if possible, release most of the wild cohos after you catch them.  By all means, keep a fish for a BBQ, just leave the freezer filling for hatchery fish.

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 Beads/Flies - Dolly Varden

Hot Flies - Coho