After some epic foul weather, fishing opportunities are on the upswing. The rain has backed off, river levels are dropping into prime shape, saltwater beaches are clearing up nicely, and coho fishing is just about to take off!

The Montana Creek Stream Gauge shows the water level dropping nicely after last weekend.

Starting with coho, as of this report, we have not had a winner of the First Coho on the Fly Contest. First and Second Place prizes are still up for grabs so get out there and give it a go. A quick refresher on the rules; the coho must be caught on the fly, while on foot on the Juneau road system (no boat caught fish) and a photo of the fish must accompany it with a fly rod in the photo. Send entries to info@alaskaflyfishinggoods.com or tag us on Instagram.

Good early season spots to try are Sheep Creek, the mouth of Fish Creek and Bayview area, Point Louisa and the mouth of Montana Creek. With all the high water we have had plus a set of big tides, some early fish could have moved in and are now just becoming fishable. Early fish are often big fans of Clouser Minnows in Chartreuse/White and Pink/White and of course Dolly Llamas in a variety of colors.

And while Sheep Creek has been stuffed with chum salmon for weeks, there haven't been many pinks out front. That changed recently and a nice sized school of pink salmon are there and eager to grab a fly. Cowee Creek on the other hand has not seen many pinks yet.

Pink salmon from Sheep Creek.

Dolly fishing is absolutely on fire right now. During the super high water last week the Dollies were still in the creeks hanging behind the chum salmon and looking for stray eggs. Unfortunately, wading the rivers wasn't possible. But it is now and anglers working Montana Creek, Cowee Creek, Fish Creek and Sheep Creek are all finding nice fat Dollies that are more than willing to grab a bead. We have just made up another batch of SE Starter Bead Selections and they are ready for action. If you are venturing out to one of the local creeks to look for coho, you might want to bring along a trout rod rigged for Dollies, too!

A nice Dolly from a local creek.

Good luck out there and we'll see you on the water!

Brad, Mike, Cory, Rocky, Finley and Gage.