As we roll into July the king salmon are quickly tapering off and new fisheries are opening up. For the next week, Dolly Varden, along with a smattering of salmon, will be your best fishing bet around Juneau.
Dollies have started showing up in freshwater in Montana Creek, Cowee Creek and the mouth of Sheep Creek. There aren't many salmon in yet, but the Dollies are staging in anticipation of their arrival. In terms of what to use to catch them you have two choices: Small attractor/fry patterns or beads. Although there are not eggs in the creek yet, beads still work well.
Good bead choices are 8mm or 10mm in Mottled Peach Roe, Mottled Peachy King, Mottled Montana Roe and Mottled Mango. If you want a variety of these beads in both sizes, pegs, hooks, split shot and indicators, check out our S.E. Starter Bead Selection.
If you'd prefer to stick with flies, go with a Honey Hole in Olive/White or All White, or an AK Clouser in a variety of colors. If you are at the mouth of Sheep Creek try a Humpy Hooker in Pink. Dollies hammer these flies in Sheep Creek.
If you really want to pursue salmon, there are still some kings around. They have been a bit tougher to entice the last week and most of the fish that are in the area are the tail end of the last big push. Fish Creek, Sheep Creek and the mouth of Salmon Creek at low tide are the best spots. There are still bright kings in Lena Cove but they don't seem to want to eat much. Chum salmon are also in the area in pretty good numbers. Amalga Harbor, the mouth of Sheep Creek and in front of DIPAC are all good spots. A Humpy Hooker in Pink or a UV Calamari in either Pink or Chartreuse are most effective at getting these tight-lipped fish to eat.
Finally, the very first pink salmon have shown up. Their numbers are quite low this year so it likely won't be easy to catch a whole bunch of them, but they are nosing in on the road system. Lower Cowee Creek or Echo Cove out near the Sand Spit are the spots to check out.
Enjoy the week of fishing and we'll see you on the water.