Working the small water for Dollies.
The weather in Juneau continues to be unseasonably warm and dry. It makes fishing incredibly pleasant, but most of the creeks would benefit from a good shot of rain. Creeks that don't have a glacial component are very low. Montana Creek, Sheep Creek and Fish Creek are all about as low as we ever see them. They do have good numbers of pinks, chums and Dolly Varden in them, but they are mostly confined to pools instead of the riffles and runs.
Beads continue to be the best way to target Dollies. 8mm is typically a better bet when the water is low. Peach Roe, Peachy King and Fluorescent Orange all have been effective. As always, fishing behind spawning chum is where it's at.
Drop your egg behind these!
Cowee Creek continues to be the place with the most water flowing. It has a slug of pink salmon in it which you can target if you don't mind catching salmon that are a bit past their prime. Humpy Hookers or Pink Starlite Leeches will get it done. The Dollies are actively feeding on eggs. You can fish upstream or downstream from the bridge with equal success. One tip: Use plenty of split shot. The big boys are not moving off the bottom much so you need to get the bead in their face to get a grab.
On to coho......Sheep Creek has been a bit slow to pick up after the initial few were caught. Reports of sporadic success have come in, and bright fish can be seen jumping a ways out in the channel, but they haven't pushed into the creek mouth or beach areas in great numbers yet. If the last couple of years are any indication, the next week to 10 days will be when we really start seeing solid numbers of silvers at Sheep Creek, out in front of Bayview and in other channel hot spots.
