The days are getting shorter and darker, but miraculously the Silvers are continuing to stay chrome. It is no surprise that there are still copious amounts of fish out there, too! They may not be every cast, but there is a fair amount of fish all over the Thane system, with a good number of them hanging out at the mouth of Sheep Creek itself. The 9 mile, 5 mile, and Free Candy fisheries continue as well, with strong numbers of fish milling around. The silvers have been out in the Channel for a few weeks now, and some are beginning to blush slightly, but its about a 50/50 split of chrome to blushed fish. Now, because the fish have been out there for a couple weeks, and the sun is putting a bit of a beat down on them, the silvers have been a bit tight lipped as of recently. Although there are a ton of fish around still, it may take some work to land them. Hang in there!
We have not heard much about creek fishing in the area, we assume there are fish in both Montana and Cowee. With the lack of rain in the last month the creek water levels are low, and wed imagine the silvers are hiding in their slots and log jams making them difficult to find. At this point in the season, it can be fun to creek fish, but we urge anglers to use catch and release practice with the wild silver runs if possible The hatchery harvest continues, so if youd like a few for the smoker, the Channel is a great place to start!
Top patterns continue to be the black and white Dolly Llama, Megawatt in all colors, and the Clouser Minnow in most color options. When fishing low water, try fishing smaller profile patterns such as the Deep Six and Egg Sucking Leech. Try throwing a variety of colors to the tight-lipped fish, we like purple/pink, black/white, fuchsia, etc.
As always, we'd love to share what you've been up to. Send fishing photos to Kayla@alaskaflyfishinggoods.com.
Happy Fishing!
