Alaska Fishing Report
September 22 through 23, 2005
Greetings from Icy Bay Lodge Alaska:
September 22, 2005: Steve Love from Virginia Beach Virginia was high angler today catching more than 40 Silver Salmon. Many of the anglers caught at least 20 fish today with more than 150 silvers released by quitting time. Joe Lovas caught several on top water flies as did Eric Ulobarri I managed to land several on top water at the home pool in front of Icy Bay Lodge. Several of the anglers shot some ducks today over neat the Yahtse River. All u can eat dungeness crab was on the dinner menu tonight, we all pigged out, every one is having a great week.
September 23, 2005, Today we split up between the Icy Bay flats and the Yahtse River. All anglers caught and released plenty of chrome bright Coho salmon. The anglers using Davis Spanker flies spanked them today and several were caught on top water flies today. I am packing my gear for the flight back to Anchorage tomorrow. This was one of the best vacation weeks I have ever had in Alaska, George Davis, and Joel Dickey are great guides, Andy is an awesome chef and the food is excellent at Icy Bay Lodge. Jason and Jill Davis do a very good job making this first class lodge run smoothly. If you think that you might want to join me for a week at ICY BAY LODGE you should check out the website www.icybaylodge.com and then contact me for available dates. More Reports to follow!
Regards,
Jake
for George Davis
At Icy Bay Lodge Alaska Fishing Report September 20 through 21, 2005
Greetings from Icy Bay Lodge Alaska:
September 20, 2005: Today at Icy Bay lodge the sun came out and the weather was beautiful, all anglers loaded up for a trip to the Yahtse River. Some of the anglers fished near "Jakes Fishing Hole while others fished the "Slider Hole", the "Top Water Hole", "The Confluence", and the "seam at the Mouth" where the river enters the Ocean. Steve Love and Eric Uliberri were the high anglers catching more than 40 Silvers each. All anglers had double digit catches today and the total catch for the day was over 300 coho with quite a few being taken on Top Water Flies. Today was the best day of fishing so far this year here at Icy Bay Lodge. At one point George Davis took Joe lovas to a spot on the slew and told him exactly where to cast the pollywog fly. Joe made the cast and the fish ate the fly George took the pictures of the fish eating the fly, Jumping, and being released. WOw!
September 21, 2005 Today we all fished the flats of Icy Bay between Chromer Flats and the Aquariam Hole. The fish were spread out over several miles of cosatline so we only caught a few fish during the very low tidse. As the tide came up the fish moved into a cove and bunched up, the group started catching one on every cast and at times I could see as many as 6 anglers fighting fish all at the same time. The group of anglers caught at least 100 Chrome Bright Coho and I caught 3 of my fish on Top Water using Lee Haskin's Gurglers. Northern Lights tonight! More reports to Follow.
Regards:
Jake
For George Davis
Icy Bay Lodge Alaska Fishing Report September 18 through 19, 2005
Greetings from Icy Bay Lodge Alaska:
September 18, 2005: Today at Icy Bay Lodge anglers Steve Love, John Jones, Joe Lovas, Tom Love and Mike Love fished the area over near the Yahtse River were they caught 85 Chrome bright silvers. The tide was one of the highest of the year and the wind was blowing strong causing hi seas and large tidal surges. The waves were crashing over the beach and muddied the river at high tide. Steve Love was the high fish angler of the group today releasing 37 silver salmon in one day.
Wayne Morris from Montana, Eric Ulobarri from Colorado, Paul and Neal Gorman fished the salt water flats of Icy Bay. The high winds made the bay waters real muddy which made spotting fish very hard for guide Joel Dickey. This group only managed to catch 12 salmon for the day, and I caught a few fish here at the home waters of the Icy Bay Lodge. All 10 anglers combined today released 96 silver salmon today!
The high tide and waves had logs floating up into the front yard of Icy Bay Lodge today. Late in the afternoon we saw lots of fish moving in so it should get better tomorrow.
September 19, 2005. I fished with Eric Ulobarri, Wayne Morris, Neal and Paul Gorman today at the Yahtse River today. The seas and tide were very high again today and at 2 PM the ocean came over the spit and muddied up the main river. Neal and Paul Gorman released 35 salmon between then, Wayne caught 27 salmon, and Eric released 38 to be top angler of the day. I wound up releasing 19 salmon for the day, 5 of those on top water flies.
, I spent most of the day experimenting and caught 14 salmon using 14 different flies.
The high wind and muddy sea conditions made fishing difficult in Icy Bay today, Steve, Tom, and Mike Love, fish with Joe Lovas and John Jones. The group only managed to land 6 silvers today however the wind has died down and the water is clearing. All 10 anglers combined at Icy Bay Lodge released 125 silver salmon today!
More reports to follow!
Regards:
Jake For George Davis Icy Bay Lodge Alaska Fishing Report September 10 through 17, 2005
Greetings from Icy Bay Lodge Alaska:
This prime week at Icy Bay Lodge found anglers from many different locations assembling to test their skills against the large Chromer Coho of the Icy Bay region of Alaska. Chris Eckley and Damon Troyan, from Ohio, DR Bob Campitelli, DR Mike and his brother in law Ed Howadin from Florida, Bob Brownstein, Danny Hayes, Dick Reamer and Bobby Kelly from North Carolina, all joined Tom Corson and his two sons David and Michael for a wild week of Fly Fishing for Silvers.
The weather was rainy with wind and cool conditions on Sunday, then
Monday, the sun came out for beautiful photo opportunities and warm weather fishing conditions until Friday when it clouded over and rained all day. Chris Eckley and Damon Troyan came to Alaska on a cast and blast vacation and were rewarded with their limit of ducks (Pin Tail, Teal, Gadwells, widgeon, and Mallards) every day and still managed to catch at least 15 chrome bright Coho salmon every day.
Doctor Bob was the high rod angler of the week, on his best day he landed 48 Silvers on the Davis spanker fly. Bob Brownstein on Wednesday went September 14th went down to the mouth of the Yahtse River with George Davis to check it out. At high tide as the current slowed to slack and the water was smooth and dead calm, George suggest that Bob tie on a Top Water Fly and all hell broke loose, at one point Bob was hooking a Chromer on Top Water flies on every cast.
Another day Chris Eckley related that "on the Chrome Flats and Bonefish Alley" the silver were tailing like Bonefish. Every time that an angler landed a lady spanker or ab chartreuse DAVIS Spanker near the mouth of a tailing Chromer the fish would charge up and eat the fly. These Saltwater Coho really battle, many times running up to 100 yards into the backing before being caught and released.
Overall the silver salmon Season at Icy Bay Lodge is in full swing and all anglers caught lots of Chromers, Today as I sit and write this report I am looking out across Icy bay at the freshly snow covered peaks and I can see silvers jumping here in the home waters of Icy Bay. More than 1000 silver salmon were caught on fly this week by our guests, fishing just keeps getting better. More reports from Icy Bay Lodge to follows.
Regards:
Jake
Sent for George Davis
Icy Bay Lodge
ALASKA FISHING REPORT
September, 12, 2005
Greetings from Troutfitters in Coopers Landing Alaska:
September 12, 2005: I fished with Danny Cline, Curt Trout, and Curt’s friend Nick, with Troutfitters Owner/Guide Dusty Byrd in the Refuge of the upper Kenai River. We had windy cold weather and due to all of the Sockeye Salmon spawning in the river the trout were hard to find. Curt caught a few nice fat rainbows and several dollies, nick caught a few fish, Danny caught a real nice super fat Dolly Varden of 24 inches, while I released 6 fat rainbow trout all in a 4 hour trip.
Dusty did a great job of putting us on the fish, the river is packed full of spawning Sockeye salmon which spreads out the trout. This is the third year that the refuge slowed down for a week before turning on in mid September for the really big fish. Danny is flying out tomorrow, and I will be in Anchorage for a day or two. More reports to follow!
Regards;
Jake
ALASKA FISHING REPORT
September, 11, 2005
Greetings from Troutfitters in Coopers Landing Alaska:
September 11, 2005: Danny Cline from west Virginia and I fished with guide Billy Couliette on the Kenai River today from 6:30 AM to 3:30 PM and we had a good day of fly fishing for trout. Today Danny caught his first Alaskan rainbow trout and his largest rainbow ever, a fat 27 inch by 14 inch beauty.
We both caught more than a dozen trout over 22 inches with my largest today being a fat 26 inch rainbow. The weather was raining and sunny off and on with very cold wind in the early morning. As usual Billy Couliette found the fish in even on a crowded Kenai River on a typical September Sunday. Danny and I will fish with Dusty Byrd on the upper Kenai tomorrow. More reports to follow.
Regards:
Jake
Alaska Fishing Report
September 8, & 9, 2005
Greetings from Icy Bay Lodge Alaska:
September 8, 2005, Today Jim Seegraves, Paul Wooten, Byron Johnson, Ed Rubright, and Michael Pike to the Yahtse River and experienced excellent Silver Salmon fishing. Byron Johnson caught between 25 and 30 Silvers in the beat now known as Jakes swimming hole. This group of five anglers caught and released over 100 silvers with guide George Davis navigating the eight wheeled Argo amphibious vehicle through the extreme trail from Icy Bay Lodge to the Yahtse River.
I took the day off today to relax and take pictures around the lodge. Danny Cline, Jeff Clark, Ed Repins, & Jerry Siminski traveled with guide Joel Dickey to the flats of Icy Bay where they found some tailing Silvers. Danny Cline managed to release a dozen Chromers and the group of four anglers caught at least 40 silvers for the day. The weather today was sunny and clear, this was the perfect day to view all of the beautiful scenery.
September 9, 2005; Today, our last day at Icy Bay Lodge turned out to be the best day of fishing for the whole group. Jim Seegraves group fished Icy Bay and caught over 80 silvers during this last fishing day. Each angler in our group fishing the Yahtse River caught at least a dozen silvers. More than 150 silvers today were caught by all anglers combined fishing out of Icy Bay Lodge.
Three of the anglers fishing with me were beginner fly fishermen and all caught at least an average of 10 salmon per day on fly. It was pleasing to me to watch these novice fly anglers transform into good casters and successful fly anglers. One day Jerry Siminski caught and released more than 3 dozen silvers on fly making him the high catch angler of the day.
Finally, I can’t say enough regarding the wonderful adventure and excellent food, service, and fishing provided by George and Jill Davis, guide Joel Dickey, and chef Andy the staff at the beautiful Icy Bay Lodge. I am off to Troutfitters in Coopers Landing for some trout fishing with Danny Cline. I will be back to Icy Bay Lodge from September 17th to 24th. More Reports to follow.
Regards:
Jake
Alaska Fishing Report September 6, & 7, 2005 Greetings from Icy Bay Lodge Alaska:
September 6, 2005, Rain all day but the silver salmon are moving in big time and all anglers at Icy bay lodge are catching plenty on fly. Now they are starting to take the Top Water Flies aggressively.
The group fishing over on the Yahtse River today; Ed Rubright, Byron Johnson, Jim Seegraves, Paul Wooten, and Michael Pike, caught over 80 silvers today. Michael caught 32 to be high angler of the day. Byron Johnson landed the biggest fish of the day a beautiful chrome bright Waleback!
The second group; Jeff Clark, Ed Repins, Jerry Siminski, Danny Cline, and I, fished Icy Bay at the Aquarium hole and Chrome flats and caught the beginning of the Icy Bay run. The group caught a couple dozen fish with Danny Cline and Jerry both breaking into double digits in these saltwater flats. The fishing is really starting to get good now!
September 7, 2005, Today the anglers changed places as the weather started with rain then cleared late in the day with the sun coming out late in the day.
The group fishing Icy Bay in the saltwater caught 30 some fish today with Mike Pike fishing the home pool in front of the lodge and landing 8 chromers in two hours of fishing. Byron Johnson was the hot rod today releasing 15 silver salmon.
Danny Cline, Jerry Siminski, Jeff Clark, Ed Repins, and I headed to the Yahtse for some Top Water action. We arrived to high water with tailing fish so we tied on top water flies and climbed out of the argo into waste deep water. Every angler in our group hooked up on the first cast and I caught my first chrome bright Coho on Top Water of the day a beautiful 14 pound hen.
Danny cline fell down and got partially wet then while I was trying to help Ed release his fish I slipped into a hole and went into the water over my head. I swam to the bank and was soaked from head to toe with waders full of water. After several more fish we loaded onto the Argo and headed for the sandy beach where George Davis would build a bonfire in the pouring rain, so I could strip down and get dry.
Today Jerry was the hot rod releasing 35 silvers with the entire group except me all catching at least 10 silvers, Danny Cline released 20 fish today, more than 80 salmon were released during the day of fishing by our group. When I got warm after the rain stopped I caught 4 more on Dries and several on purple spankers. At one point in the day when the fishing started to slow down George took my rod and tied on a purple spanker and caught one on the first cast, then I caught a fish on my next two casts using that fly.
The sun is out this morning and it will be a beautiful Alaskan sunny day with lots of chrome bright Coho salmon to be caught. More reports to follow.
Regards,
Jake Alaska Fishing Report September 4, & 5, 2005
Greetings from Icy Bay Lodge Alaska:
I arrived yesterday September 3rd in Yakutat where I met up with 7 other anglers heading to George and Jill Davis's "Icy Bay Lodge" which is about 50 miles up (Northwest) the Gulf (Lost) Coast of Alaska from Yakutat. To my pleasant surprise the construction of the Lodge; which sits on the beach of Icy bay, in the footprint of Mount Saint Elias, was complete.
As Dave (Owner and Pilot from Yakutat Coastal Air Taxi)landed the Beaver on the primitive airstrip, after a flight over some of the most beautiful glaciers and coastline in the world, we were met by George Davis and guide Joel Dickey who would transport us in chariots towed by ATVs to the lodge. After a 20 minute ride through the woods we emerged on the beach about ½ mile from the lodge.
This lodge is awesome, Cedar Planked, gas heat, flush Toilets and hot showers in each cabin, satellite TV and High Speed internet service, warm clean cabins and some of the best meals served in any lodge I have ever seen. As we pulled into the yard we were met by Winchester and Remington the two, one year old straw colored Chesapeake bay retrievers along with 175 pound Zuce the camps bull mastiff (Bear Dog). Jill Davis and Andy (the lodge chef) were standing on the front porch to greet us as we arrived.
My friend and client Danny Cline from West Virginia, on his first trip to Alaska, changed into his waders and walked down the beach 100 yards or so and began casting spankers into the flats of Icy bay. Shortly later Danny caught his first Alaskan salmon on fly, a chrome bright pink salmon of about 5 pounds.
Anglers at the lodge this week consisted of two groups fishing together, Fishing with me was Danny Cline from West Virginia, Jeff Clark, Jerry Siminski, and Ed Repins from Florida. The second group consisted of anglers Jim Seegraves and Paul Wooten from Tampa Florida, Michael Pike from Anchorage AK, along with Byron and Ed Johnson from Spokane WA. These gentlemen are all a pleasure to spend time with in this remote wilderness.
September 4, 2005: The bad news is that the large migration of Silver Salmon have not yet arrived to the Gulf Coast of Alaska. They are almost 2 weeks late so the fishing is hard and there are not many salmon. We fished with guide Joel Dickey today in the aquarium hole in the salt water behind the hook in Icy Bay today. I hooked a silver during the first hour of fishing, broke my 12 pound tippet, and spooked a group of a dozen or so silvers. Danny cline caught several pink salmon shortly after that Ed caught his first Icy Bay pink salmon. Our group ended up catching 5 or 6 pink salmon and no Silvers today.
The second group headed over to the Yahtse River with guide George Davis where they found a few silvers holding in the river. That group ended up catching 10 silvers during there first day of fishing. The Silvers are almost two weeks late and should arrive anyday. September 5, 2005: Today we switched guides and fishing locations with my group heading for the Yahtse River with guide George Davis and Jim Seegraves group fishing the "Chrome Flats" in the salt with guide Joel Dickey. Seegraves crew found some silvers moving onto the flats and wound up catching 10 salmon for the day.
Our group arrived at the Yahtse where Danny cline caught his first chrome bright silver salmon ever. George looked at the mouth of the river where it flows into the ocean and saw some fish coming in through the surf. There were seals everywhere which usually means lots of salmon. George came back to get me and Jeff Clark and put us at the river mouth, I caught a 12 pound chromer in my first cast, then Jeff caught his first, then I got a bigger one on my next cast. Jeff caught his second silver then I caught one on a Top Water fly and we saw hundreds of Silver Salmon pouring in from the ocean, The Salmon Have Arrived!
George went and brought the rest of the group down to the first holding pool and pointed out the hundreds of salmon. Shortly after they arrived Danny, Jerry, Ed, and Jeff were all hooked up to silver salmon at the same time using Davis Lady Spanker flies in pink.
After several fish Danny switched and caught his first silver on a Top Water Fly. During the day I managed to catch 2 on Top Water with a total of nine Silvers released, while our whole group caught between 40 and fifty chrome bright silvers. Several fo these fish were the large "Lost Coast Wale Back Chromers" which weighted over 16 pounds.
Welcome to salmon season at"ICY BAY LODGE", wish you were here. More reports to follow.
Regards:
Jake
ALASKA FISHING REPORT
AUGUST 31, 2005
Greetings from “The Great Land”:
August 31, 2005: Today my good friend Curt trout (Founder of Troutfitters, and Kenai River legend angler) and I fished with Guide Josh Hayes www.alaskatroutguides.com and his friends Jake Zirkle, and Captain Craig Offret (owner of the offshore charter boat Prodigy out of the port of Seward).
We started in Sterling and fished the middle river out of Joshes power boat with a 35 hp outboard motor. The weather was mostly sunny with 60 degree air temperature, and the trout were biting well.
Craig caught his all time record trout, a beautiful fish of over 24 inches which put a big smile on Craig’s face. Later near the end of the day we videoed Craig as he broke his personal record with a beautiful 26 plus inch rainbow trout.
Jake caught several monster rainbows, while Curt and I both landed some beautifully colored very fat Rainbows and Dolly Varden. By the end of the day we all ad released over a dozen fish from 20 to 27 ½ inches and up to 10 pounds.
Josh Hayes is a great fishing guide, I recommend and I use his service when Troutfitters does not have one of there guides available. I strongly recommend Josh; he has this game dialed in. Of course spending the day fishing with my dear friend Curt Trout was one of the highlights of my Alaska trip so far this year.
I am preparing for my first trip to Icy Bay Lodge this coming Saturday. I will meet some friends in Yakutat and head out to visit my friends George and Jill Davis at their Icy Bay Lodge. Stay tuned for some great Silver Salmon on top water reports!
Regards:
Jake
ALASKA FISHING REPORT
AUGUST 30, 2005
Greetings from Troutfitters in Alaska:
August 30, 2005: Ken Korth from Victoria Texas and Richard Hile from Austin Texas joined me for a day of fly fishing for rainbow trout with Troutfitters www.aktroutfitters.com guide Jason (J-Rock) Rand on the Kenai River. The weather was partly cloudy with a few showers and 50-60 degree air temperature.
We fished for 8 hours and all caught trout over 24 inches, late in the day the fish turned on and we caught 8 or ten large trout one after the other. I personally landed a trout near 26 inches long, while Both Ken and Richard released at least one 26 inch trout.
The trout are getting fatter each day and I keep hearing the stories about that monster Rainbow, which I come here to catch. He is in this river and it is just a matter of time before I get to release him after a lap dance! I will be fishing with Josh Hayes tomorrow, after which you will receive another report!
Regards:
Jake
ALASKA FISHING REPORT
AUGUST 21, 22, 2005
Greetings from Troutfitters in Coopers Landing Alaska:
August 22, 2005: Gary has to fly out to NJ this evening so we decided to fish the Middle Kenai with Troutfitters www.aktroutfitters.com Guide Jason (J-Rock) Rand for a half day float. Katie Yates and Cameron Muse (Troutfitters Staff), joined Jason, Gary, and I as we started our morning trip at 8:00 AM.
The Kenai River was fishing real well this morning, we all caught lots of fat Dillies and Rainbows. Each angler released lots of real nice trout however Katie was defiantly the hot rod today.
Katie caught and released 5 trout in the 24-26 inch range, then went on to capture a fat Rainbow which measured 26 ¾ inches and weighted about 10 pounds. Congratulations to Katie she is becoming a great angler.
What a fun day we had, Jason is an excellent guide who works hard and makes the day on the water very enjoyable. I did have a real big rainbow trout on during the last few minutes of our drift, it jumped when hooked, jumped up stream, jumped near the boat, then jumped down stream and spit the hook, this was a legend trout so I will have to go back and catch it later.
Regards:
Jake
August 21, 2005: I took today off to work on some scheduling for Bonefish Schools and Sailfish Schools next winter. Troutfitters www.aktroutfitters.com walk in guide Cameron (Trout) Muse took my friend Gary Caputi on a hike up the Russian River.
They saw lots of wildlife and lots of Salmon and Trout while fishing their way down the Russian. Gary reported catching several dozen beautiful rainbows up to 20 inches during their 4 hour fishing trip. Below is Cameron holding a pretty Russian River Rainbow. More reports will follow soon.
Regards:
Jake
ALASKA FISHING REPORT
AUGUST 21, 22, 2005
Greetings from Troutfitters in Coopers Landing Alaska:
August 22, 2005: Gary has to fly out to NJ this evening so we decided to fish the Middle Kenai with Troutfitters www.aktroutfitters.com Guide Jason (J-Rock) Rand for a half day float. Katie Yates and Cameron Muse (Troutfitters Staff), joined Jason, Gary, and I as we started our morning trip at 8:00 AM.
The Kenai River was fishing real well this morning, we all caught lots of fat Dillies and Rainbows. Each angler released lots of real nice trout however Katie was defiantly the hot rod today.
Katie caught and released 5 trout in the 24-26 inch range, then went on to capture a fat Rainbow which measured 26 ¾ inches and weighted about 10 pounds. Congratulations to Katie she is becoming a great angler.
What a fun day we had, Jason is an excellent guide who works hard and makes the day on the water very enjoyable. I did have a real big rainbow trout on during the last few minutes of our drift, it jumped when hooked, jumped up stream, jumped near the boat, then jumped down stream and spit the hook, this was a legend trout so I will have to go back and catch it later.
Regards:
Jake
August 21, 2005: I took today off to work on some scheduling for Bonefish Schools and Sailfish Schools next winter. Troutfitters www.aktroutfitters.com walk in guide Cameron (Trout) Muse took my friend Gary Caputi on a hike up the Russian River.
They saw lots of wildlife and lots of Salmon and Trout while fishing their way down the Russian. Gary reported catching several dozen beautiful rainbows up to 20 inches during their 4 hour fishing trip. Below is Cameron holding a pretty Russian River Rainbow. More reports will follow soon.
Regards:
Jake
ALASKA FISHING REPORT
AUGUST 20, 2005
Greetings from Troutfitters in Coopers Landing Alaska:
August 20,2005: My good friend and Alaska guru Tony Weaver, joined Gary Caputi, Dusty Byrd and I for a day on the middle Kenai River fishing with Dusty’s partner and Troutfitters www.aktroutfitters.com owner Billy Coulliette.
This morning was a day for Tony and Gary to shoot some scenery and fish pictures while Dusty and I got to fish and Billy rowed the drift boat. It was awesome; we hit hot fish after hot fish with many double headers, with several 23 and 24 inch fat trout.
By mid day the rain started and we had enough pictures so Gary and Tony began to fish. The river turned on and the big, fat, jumping Rainbow trout began to feed aggressively. We all caught Rainbows and Dollies in the 23-24 inch range and several fat 25 to 26 inch fish were released.
Over 100 trout were caught and released in our drift boat today, Tony, Gary, and I had one of the most fun days of trout fishing ever. If you want to experience some of this great Trout fishing give Troutfitters a call and reserve a float on the Kenai, you will have a wonderful time fishing with the great fly fishing guides of Troutfitters. More reports to follow!
Regards:
Jake
ALASKA FISHING REPORT
AUGUST 19, 2005
Greetings from Coopers Landing Alaska:
August 19, 2005: Today my friend Gary Caputi and I fished with Troutfitters owner and master Kenai trout guide Dusty Byrd www.aktroutfitters.com along with Mack Mather and Jeremy Boyd in the Kenai River refuge between sportsman’s boat launch and Jim’s landing. We started our drift at noon and got off of the water after nine in the evening.
Dusty is a great guide and had us hooked to doubles and triples of rainbow trout and Dolly Varden all through the day. Jeremy and Mack are excellent experienced fly anglers who understand this trout fishery well, which makes watching them fish this river a pleasure to observe.
Each angler caught lots of big fat trout today and we all had a great time. The highlight of the day was when Gary hooked a fat 20 inch plus rainbow trout which jumped several times, ran down stream, ran up stream then became entangled in an overhanging tree stump as the fast current took us down stream over 100 yards before Dusty could stop the drift boat. Gary said that his fish was still on the end of the line, so Dusty and Gary walked up stream against the fast moving water and finally untangled the leader from the stump. That big, fat, trout jumped again then Gary reeled it in and released this beautiful rainbow trout.
Today was one of those days in every fly fisherman’s life that makes you understand why you choose to do this crazy sport. I sure am having a great vacation, more reports to follow.
Regards:
Jake
ALASKA FISHING REPORT
AUGUST, 18, 2005
Greetings from Coopers Landing Alaska:
August 18, 2005: Today Gary Caputi and I fished the middle Kenai River with Troutfitters owner, Billy Coulliette, and guides Brian Borchers and Josh Hayes. The weather was partly cloudy with some rain and 60 degree temperatures. We fished for 8 hours and each caught Rainbow trout in the 22 inch class.
Each angler caught between eight and twelve trout and all caught fish up to 22 inches. Brian hooked and jumped a Rainbow that was the largest fish of the day however the hook pulled shortly after the second jump. About half of the fish that we caught were fat Dolly Varden, the rest were beautiful colored Rainbow trout. My largest Rainbow was about 23 inches and Gary’s was the same size.
Josh Hayes caught the biggest trout of the day it was a beautiful Rainbow which measured twenty six inches. As usual fishing with my friend Billy Coulliette was a treat, he makes the day of fishing into a wonderful experience. Tomorrow I will be fishing the upper Kenai with Billy’s partner and co owner of Troutfitters guiding service www.aktroutfitters.com Dusty Byrd. More reports to follow shortly.
ALASKA FISHING REPORT
AUGUST, 15 AND 16, 2005
Greetings from Talkeetna Alaska:
August 15, 2005: My good friend Gary Caputi and I joined Troy Letherman (editor of Fish Alaska Magazine), for a day of trout fishing with guide Mike Coughlin, 907-495-2699 (Susitna Valley River Guides) www.susitnavalley.com who specializes in Rainbow Trout fishing in the valley. We floated one of the many streams between Wasilla and Talkeetna along the Parks Highway witch feed into the Susitna River.
The river was higher than in the past when I fished in this area with a few log jams, and lots of great scenery. There were no kings left in the river so the rainbows were on the few chums and lots of pinks which were spawning. Each angler caught and released several nice bright colored rainbow trout, and Mike landed a beautiful 23 inch fish.
Mike is a good competent fly fishing guide, he specializes in trout fishing and he understands his fishery which makes for a pleasant day floating the beautiful streams of the highway system.
August 16, 2005: We stayed last night at Chad Valentine’s Denali Anglers in Talkeetna and prepared for a days fishing with my friend Kelsey Kaso who owns and operates “) The Fly Outfitters” 907-223-3116, www.talkeetnaonthefly.com out of Talkeetna Alaska. Kelsey was born and raised in the Talkeetna area and has run or worked on river jet boats his whole life.
Gary, Kelsey, and I boarded his 22 foot, 50 mile per hour, heated jet boat and headed up the 65 mile run up the Susitna River to just below devils canyon to fish several clear water trout streams.
The first place we fished was a creek with an Indian name that held lots of spawning chum salmon and quite a few nice rainbow trout. Gary Caputi landed several chum salmon, one pink salmon, and three nice fat 18 to 20 inch rainbow trout. I managed to release 2 beautiful trout in the 16 to 18 inch size.
We headed up to a small creek just below the canyon that was loaded with spawning chum salmon and a few red kings. Gary caught a fat trout right away at the mouth of the creek. My ankle was hurting so I decided to wet wade with bare feet and sandals in this 55 degree water, (what a rush). I caught a fat 20 inch Bow and Gary caught several more before we left.
We boarded the jet boat and ran up into the mouth of “Devils Canyon” for some picture taking then back to Talkeetna for a great meal at the West Rib restaurant and bar.
Kelsey operates a wonderful jet boat guide service and I highly recommend that you visit this area and fish with Kelsey if you get to this area of Alaska. I will be back here many times for sure!
Gary and I are headed for Troutfitters in Coopers Landing on the Kenai Peninsula today. We will be fishing the Kenai area starting tomorrow. More reports to follow soon.
Regards:
Jake
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