Hooked up to a nice Dolly!
The freshwater fishing season is kicking off nicely. Some rain this past week bumped rivers up and encouraged pink and chum salmon to move in and the Dolly Varden are coming in with them. It is a great time to break out your trout rod and chase some Dollies. Since the salmon are just starting to move in they aren't actually putting down eggs yet. This means you can fish a variety of flies or beads for Dollies.
Some of our favorite Dolly flies for this time of year are Honey Holes in Pink/Orange, AK Clouser Minnows in Hot Pink/White, Fryolators in Olive, and Battle Creek Specials. Try fishing them on the swing with small strips to impart some action. Dollies will hammer them! Some of the best spots are Sheep Creek, Lower Montana Creek, and Cowee Creek. If you prefer to fish beads, our SE Starter Bead Box is an ideal way to get loaded up with the right colors and sizes.
Nice Dolly out of a local creek.
If salmon are more your game, try fishing in front of Sheep Creek where the freshwater and saltwater mix. There are good sized schools of chum out front and when they get in the current they will take a fly. Humpy Hookers, Searunner Specials and Lead Eye Egg Sucking Leeches in Purple #2 are particularly effective.
Echo Cove has been quite slow so far this season for pinks. There are a few around but not the enormous schools that we have seen in previous years. Time will tell if there will be a late push of fish or if this year will be a slow one out there.
Three really nice late season kings!
Finally, although it is the tail end of the king season, kings are still being caught fairly regularly. Most are not super bright anymore, but they are big, still good for the smoker, and some fresh fish are still in the mix. Fish Creek is the most productive spot and fishing just downstream of the holding pond is a good bet. Mr. Bodangles in Pink, Squidro in Pink/Orange and Dolly Llamas in Fuschia/Pink are all winners.
On a shop related note, for the first time in quite awhile we are sitting pretty good in terms of our inventory of Simms waders & boots. It has been a challenging year to get our hands on Simms gear, so if you checked with us last spring and we were out of stock give us another shot. Or if your waders are getting leaky, now is a good time to consider a new pair as we head in to the heart of the fly fishing season. It's good to be warm & dry!
See you on the water! Brad, Mike, Cory, Rocky, Finley, Gage and the crew at AFFG.
